NCAA Preview: 141

Weight Class Preview: 141
Qualifiers by Weight

Mike Bonora is the highest returning placewinner and has not dropped from the top spot in the rankings all year.  He has not lost to a D3 opponent this year, but like a lot of New England wrestlers, has not seen many of the other competitors.  He has convincing wins over qualifiers Beshada, Rittenburg, and Horwath, but has yet to face a seeded opponent.  His track record, however, suggests he’ll be just fine this weekend.  He has defeated 3x D1 NCAA qualifier C.J. Ettelson at the Midlands in December and will be tough matchup with a compact body and attacking style.

Hall is a 3x qualifier who took last year off when Ricky LaForge made the finals for Delaware Valley.  He has no D3 losses at 141, but does have some at 149.  He has wins over Manoogian, Adams, and Grawin, and he also defeated McKray of Wartburg who was highly ranked until Kelly beat him out for the spot.  Kelly is 18-1 with his only loss at 133 to Hulegaard.  He has topped Mercer, Adams, and Grawin and has very solid defense, even when giving up his leg.

At 4 and 5, Hult and Manoogian have yet to face each other, even though their teams wrestled a dual meet.  Hult is back for one more year and has settled into 141 nicely after starting at 149.  He is difficult to score on and able to turn a lot of wrestlers.  He’s beaten Baum, Horwath, and Rittenburg.  Manoogian is a returning qualifier who has had an abbreviated season, but he does have a win over Sanchez.  Sanchez is looking for that first All-American award and has beaten Adams, Grawin, Mercer, and Bautista.

At the lower seeds and beyond, Beshada isn’t in a bad spot on the bracket to sneak in and place, while late addition Baum is in a similar situation.  If the seeds go as planned, those two could be wrestling on Friday night to see who moves on the All-America round.  The winner of that match may have to face #7 Bautista to place, however.