Potential Match-ups vs. NW
125: #25 Aguilar vs. #11 DeAugustino
133: #9 Alvarez vs. Utterback (I'm assuming Rivera is still out)
141: Aragona vs. McKenna
149: Angelo vs. #18 Thomas
157: MVB vs. #1 Deakin
165: Donner/Turley vs. #13 Oster
174: Scott vs. #22 Morland (Inj defaulted last match)
184: #15 Janzer vs. Jessen
197: #17 Pagano vs. #9 Davison
285: Correnti/Esposito vs. Heyob
NW Heavily Favored (2): 157 & 165
- Not much else to say about Deakin since he is undefeated, ranked #1 at 157, as well as #10 in Flo's Hodge Ranking. He has a very high (67%) bonus rate so MVB has his work cut out for him. He will need to wrestle his best match of the year in order to keep this close. Deakin has 6 MDs and 4 pins in his 15 wins, of which more than half of them were against ranked opponents. He is battle tested and the real deal. Tough stretch for MVB, but he looked great against Dellavecchia last week so hopefully that carries over.
- Either Donner/Turley have a tough match-up against Shayne Oster, who has wins over #14 Smith (OSU), #15 Braunagel (Illinois), #19 Conigliaro (Harvard) this year. His only loss since Midlands was against #1 Joseph (PSU). He has a 38% bonus rate so either guy will have to work hard and stay out of bonus territory.
NW Favored (4): 125, 149, 174, and 197
- NW will be slightly favored at 125 but this is a match that Aguilar can win if he is aggressive and looking to score points. DeAugustino wrestled very well against Glory at the Midlands (lost only 4-0) but he struggled & lost against Cardini (Illinois) and Medley (UM) recently just like Aguilar. He is an extremely low bonus guy (5%) so he doesn't score a ton of points but defends very well which has been trouble for Nic recently.
- Once again NW will be slightly favored at 149 but Angelo could certainly win as well given his style. Thomas struggled/lost against Rooks (Indiana) twice this year and Angelo was able to get the 13-7 decision a few weeks ago. He also beat Hrisopoulos (MSU) 5-2 last week, while Angelo was able to get the 16-5 MD in early January. Not quite a toss-up since Thomas seems to be more consistent but once again not a high bonus guy (13%) vs 30% for Angelo so his ability keeps him most matches.
- Not sure if Morland is going to wrestle as he injury defaulted his last match with a knee injury but if he wrestles it will be a tough match-up for Scott as he was a NQ last year as a redshirt freshman. He is 9-7 on the year but 5 of those were to top 10 opponents: #2 Hall (PSU), #4 Lydy (Purdue), #10 Bastian (Utah Vallley), #8 Skatzka (Minn), and #5 Steiert (UNI). If he doesn't wrestle that's a big swing for RU.
- Davison is ranked #9 in the country coming off a loss to #1 Moore (OSU) in which he kept to a decision. He #16 beat Rasheed (PSU) about a month ago, but Pagano is wrestling very well and beat #10 Laird (Rider) last weekend so he certainly has the ability to keep this close and even win. He will most certainly be fired up since its Senior Night and they are honoring one of his best friends in Sam Cali, so anything is possible here.
Rutgers Heavily Favored (3): 133, 184, and 285
- Sammy needs to come out being aggressive and looking for a TF (or hopefully a fall) against Utterback. He is 1-10 vs. D1 opponents this year and his lone win was back in November at the Lindenwood open. His 10 losses have been comprised of 5 MDs, 2 TFs, and 1 Fall. He gives up a ton of points (21 a few weeks ago to Piotrowski of Illinois) so bonus points are an absolute must here.
- At 184 Jessen is 11-13 on the year against D1 competition, but he did beat #20 Embree (UM) about a month ago. Other than that he has been less than spectacular, as he is 3-8 vs common opponents with Janzer, while Billy is 6-3. If Billy wrestles his match, controls the action, he shouldn't have much of an issue here.
- Esposito's opponent is winless on the year (0-12) so hopefully he takes care of business with relative ease. Heyob's given up bonus points in 6 of his 12 loses and he hasn't scored more than 5 points all year. Doesn't look like he has much of an offensive attack and just gets stuck (and stays) underneath. Any bonus points here would be huge as well.
Tossups (1): 141
- Once again Aragona finds himself in a tossup match and one that is most likely a necessity for RU to have chance to win the dual. McKenna is a redshirt senior who is 5-7 on the year, never been a NQ, or never had a winning season. Both of them have had similar seasons thus far and results against top guys like #1 Pletcher (OSU) and #2 Lee (PSU), so there isn't much to take away from those matches. I would think RU is considered a slight favorite here, but with Mckenna being a redshirt senior he is considerably older and it could make a difference. With that being said, this is the type of match that JoJo should win and hopefully his season will be on a different trajectory after his huge win over Lipari on Sunday. He obviously has a ton of talent so hopefully his confidence is at an all time high as well. I think JoJo rolls here.
125: #25 Aguilar vs. #11 DeAugustino
133: #9 Alvarez vs. Utterback (I'm assuming Rivera is still out)
141: Aragona vs. McKenna
149: Angelo vs. #18 Thomas
157: MVB vs. #1 Deakin
165: Donner/Turley vs. #13 Oster
174: Scott vs. #22 Morland (Inj defaulted last match)
184: #15 Janzer vs. Jessen
197: #17 Pagano vs. #9 Davison
285: Correnti/Esposito vs. Heyob
NW Heavily Favored (2): 157 & 165
- Not much else to say about Deakin since he is undefeated, ranked #1 at 157, as well as #10 in Flo's Hodge Ranking. He has a very high (67%) bonus rate so MVB has his work cut out for him. He will need to wrestle his best match of the year in order to keep this close. Deakin has 6 MDs and 4 pins in his 15 wins, of which more than half of them were against ranked opponents. He is battle tested and the real deal. Tough stretch for MVB, but he looked great against Dellavecchia last week so hopefully that carries over.
- Either Donner/Turley have a tough match-up against Shayne Oster, who has wins over #14 Smith (OSU), #15 Braunagel (Illinois), #19 Conigliaro (Harvard) this year. His only loss since Midlands was against #1 Joseph (PSU). He has a 38% bonus rate so either guy will have to work hard and stay out of bonus territory.
NW Favored (4): 125, 149, 174, and 197
- NW will be slightly favored at 125 but this is a match that Aguilar can win if he is aggressive and looking to score points. DeAugustino wrestled very well against Glory at the Midlands (lost only 4-0) but he struggled & lost against Cardini (Illinois) and Medley (UM) recently just like Aguilar. He is an extremely low bonus guy (5%) so he doesn't score a ton of points but defends very well which has been trouble for Nic recently.
- Once again NW will be slightly favored at 149 but Angelo could certainly win as well given his style. Thomas struggled/lost against Rooks (Indiana) twice this year and Angelo was able to get the 13-7 decision a few weeks ago. He also beat Hrisopoulos (MSU) 5-2 last week, while Angelo was able to get the 16-5 MD in early January. Not quite a toss-up since Thomas seems to be more consistent but once again not a high bonus guy (13%) vs 30% for Angelo so his ability keeps him most matches.
- Not sure if Morland is going to wrestle as he injury defaulted his last match with a knee injury but if he wrestles it will be a tough match-up for Scott as he was a NQ last year as a redshirt freshman. He is 9-7 on the year but 5 of those were to top 10 opponents: #2 Hall (PSU), #4 Lydy (Purdue), #10 Bastian (Utah Vallley), #8 Skatzka (Minn), and #5 Steiert (UNI). If he doesn't wrestle that's a big swing for RU.
- Davison is ranked #9 in the country coming off a loss to #1 Moore (OSU) in which he kept to a decision. He #16 beat Rasheed (PSU) about a month ago, but Pagano is wrestling very well and beat #10 Laird (Rider) last weekend so he certainly has the ability to keep this close and even win. He will most certainly be fired up since its Senior Night and they are honoring one of his best friends in Sam Cali, so anything is possible here.
Rutgers Heavily Favored (3): 133, 184, and 285
- Sammy needs to come out being aggressive and looking for a TF (or hopefully a fall) against Utterback. He is 1-10 vs. D1 opponents this year and his lone win was back in November at the Lindenwood open. His 10 losses have been comprised of 5 MDs, 2 TFs, and 1 Fall. He gives up a ton of points (21 a few weeks ago to Piotrowski of Illinois) so bonus points are an absolute must here.
- At 184 Jessen is 11-13 on the year against D1 competition, but he did beat #20 Embree (UM) about a month ago. Other than that he has been less than spectacular, as he is 3-8 vs common opponents with Janzer, while Billy is 6-3. If Billy wrestles his match, controls the action, he shouldn't have much of an issue here.
- Esposito's opponent is winless on the year (0-12) so hopefully he takes care of business with relative ease. Heyob's given up bonus points in 6 of his 12 loses and he hasn't scored more than 5 points all year. Doesn't look like he has much of an offensive attack and just gets stuck (and stays) underneath. Any bonus points here would be huge as well.
Tossups (1): 141
- Once again Aragona finds himself in a tossup match and one that is most likely a necessity for RU to have chance to win the dual. McKenna is a redshirt senior who is 5-7 on the year, never been a NQ, or never had a winning season. Both of them have had similar seasons thus far and results against top guys like #1 Pletcher (OSU) and #2 Lee (PSU), so there isn't much to take away from those matches. I would think RU is considered a slight favorite here, but with Mckenna being a redshirt senior he is considerably older and it could make a difference. With that being said, this is the type of match that JoJo should win and hopefully his season will be on a different trajectory after his huge win over Lipari on Sunday. He obviously has a ton of talent so hopefully his confidence is at an all time high as well. I think JoJo rolls here.
