NCAA Preview: 285
Weight Class Preview: 285
Qualifiers by Weight
Trevor Hiffa has been the wall-to-wall top wrestler at this weight, and he has backed it up with an undefeated D3 record, topping all three qualifiers he’s faced in convincing fashion. None of those three (Taylor, Panizzi, and Williams) are high seeds, but the All-American sits at the top of the bracket at 26-1. One thing that may work against Hiffa is his size. He is a small heavyweight which allows him to move well, but he’ll have to be wary of some of the larger wrestlers like Borchers, who outweighs him by 50 pounds. Bilquist comes in undefeated in D3 as well and has defeated Borchers and Panizzi. He was 0-2 at the NCAA last year, but his only loss on the season is to a wrestler from Virginia Tech the first week of the season. He is very tough to score on.
Rutledge is the highest returning placewinner, taking 3rd for Knox last season, but he recently fell in the tiebreaker to the freshman Corsello of Elmhurst, though he has two wins over the Blue Jay. He also has a loss to Borchers’ backup. He is, however, big and strong with the talent to take this weight class. Corsello is the only qualifier he’s wrestled this year. Borchers has been waiting his turn behind 4x finalist Blake Gillis for a few years, and he has made the most of his time in the spotlight, climbing the rankings and winning the IIAC over Miller of Luther. His only D3 losses are the match that opened the nation’s eyes to Corsello and a 3-2 loss to Bilquist. Corsello is set up nicely to place in the bracket with a bye into the quarterfinals and a first consolation match against the 22-20 Payne should he fail to top Borchers again.
The next tier down has the likes of Bowers of Heidelberg and Miller of Luther. 2x qualifier Miller was a 2006 All-American who only has 18 matches this year including a wins over qualifiers Payne and Laurent to go along with the IIAC finals loss to Borchers. Bowers qualified last year, going 1-2 with a loss to Rutledge to be eliminated. This year, he’s 2-1 against Laurent and beat Corsello.
The rest of the field includes NCAA falls leader Taylor of Oswego. He has 25 of them and the top contenders will have to be careful with him. Panizzi is a heavyweight who shoots, while Geesman is 265 and solid with 20 falls of his own, including one over Taylor.