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This is kind of a sneak good dual about to go down on the west coast this weekend, as the up-and-coming Rutgers head out to face returning Pac-12 champion Oregon State in a top 20 dual matchup.
#17 Oregon State – #18 Oregon State lineup comparison
125: #10 Ronnie Rios vs Sean McCabe
133: Joey Palmer vs Anthony Giraldo
141: Jack Hathaway vs #3 Anthony Ashnault
149: Joey Delgado vs Tyson Dippery
157: Abraham Rodriguez vs Richie Lewis
165: #12 Seth Thomas vs #9 Anthony Perrotti
174: Tyler Chay vs Phillip Bakuckas
184: Corey Griego vs Nicholas Gravina
197: #15 Cody Crawford vs Hayden Hrymack
285: #5 Amarveer Dhesi vs #7 Billy Smith
Matches favored: Oregon State – 3, Rutgers – 3.
125: Last season Rios impressed many with his breakout season going 32-6 with wins over Tim Lambert (Nebraska), Zeke Moisey (West Virginia), and Tyler Cox (Wyoming). This year Rios already has another win over Moisey and should be a solid favorite over McCabe. The only top ten wrestler McCabe faced ended in a 13-5 major decision for Dylan Peters (UNI) so bonus will be on the table for Rios.
133: While there is no clear favorite based on rankings, Giraldo was recently ranked in the top 20, but fell out due to a loss to Josh Alber (UNI). There was a lot of buzz around Giraldo leading up to the season, and while he may have not totally “arrived” I think he takes this one.
141: This should be a match for the Rutgers with Ashnault coming in a top three wrestler vs the sophomore Jack Hathaway. Hathaway was solid in his freshman season winning 27 matches as well as a Pac conference title, but Ashnault should prevail here
149: Neither wrestler particularly standout as a favorite at this weight, though both are making a move to a new weight this season. Dippery is a former 141 coming up after a redshirt season and Delgado is coming down after going 14-6 as a sophomore. This is a pivotal match both teams will need to win the dual.
157: Neither wrestler enters this contest ranked though Lewis is a 2015 JUCO All-American and is off to a 5-0 start to the season. While I considered this a tossup above, given what we have seen in the very early stages of this season, I have to say the edge in this matchup goes to the Rutgers wrestler.
165: This is a key matchup in the dual which will favor Perrotti of Rutgers, but Thomas is a solid middle of the pack guy at this weight class. Perrotti may still be working his way into this this weight – as evidence by his 6-4 loss to Oklahoma’s Clark Glass, another middle of the pack guy at this weight. This is a potential swing match in the dual.
174: This is another toss up weight where we have two wrestlers who currently sit outside the top 20 of rankings and are in that fringe NCAA qualifier mix. Resumes alone make it hard to pick either Chay or Bakuckas, though I would lean toward Bakuckas of Rutgers based on the experience edge of starting and more (quantity) wins under his belt.
184: Here we have a matchup where again there are two wrestlers who don’t have an extensive resume of wins to be able to pick a clear favorite over the other. On the one hand Griego went 15-2 last season and this past weekend was able to pick up a 7-3 win over Cody Caldwell (UNI). Gravina is coming up from 165 where he wrestled as a freshman, and so far he is off to a 4-1 start at the weight. I like what I have seen in the five match sample of Gravina, with his wins over Cadlwell and Joel Dixon (Oklahoma).
197: In order for Oregon State to win this dual the Beavers will be leaning heavily on the fact they are favored in Crawford’s matchup with Hrymack. Crawford’s resume is definitely more polished with him getting wins over Timmy McCall (Wisconsin) and Alex Polizzi (Northwester) in St. Louis at NCAAs, whereas Hrymack is coming off a 13-12 season with no real significant wins.
285: Dhesi missed last season with a knee injury, but he already has earned his way to a top five wrestler in this week’s rankings. Dhesi and Smith have one common opponent on the season – UNI’s Blaize Cabell – and while Smith lost 9-3 to Cabell, Dhesi was able to win 11-5. The transitive property doesn’t always apply in wrestling, but Dhesi handling Cabell is a big win and despite being so close in the rankings, I think the Oregon State wrestler enters a favorite as opposed to a tossup.
Others Duals to Watch:
#7 Lehigh vs Pittsburgh
Highlight mathcups:
Dom Forys (Pitt) vs #15
Mason Beckman (L) has the making of a good match at 133. Forys is still working on establishing himself at 133 and Beckman is in a bit of a slump. Another Pitt wrestler looking to establish himself at a new weight will be
Mike Racciato vs #8
Randy Cruz at 141. 174 on up will most likely prove to be too much for Pitt to handle, though #16
Max Wessell (L) and #19
Ryan Solomon (Pitt) are only separated by three spots in the rankings.
#16 Oklahoma vs #4 Michigan
Highlight matchups: #1
Cody Brewer (OK) vs #6
Rossi Bruno (Mich) at 133 is a matchup between two returning All-Americans. At 285 #8
Ross Larson (OK) only lost 2-0 to #3 ranked
Adam Coon (Mich) the last time they met. Oklahoma’s #8
Clark Glass (165) and #14
Matt Reed (174) could give the Sooners some much needed wins over #17
Garrett Sutton and #19
Davonte Mahomes if they are going to keep the upset bid alive.
Oregon St. Wrestling@OSU_Wrestling
