2012 – 125 lbs. Preview

Qualifiers (returning All-Americans in bold, qualifiers in italics)

Right now, it looks to be a two man race for the top, though it could be argued that one of those two is pretty heavily favored. A 2011 All-American at 133, Fitzenreider dropped to 125 halfway through the year and has been on a tear ever since. His signature win so far has been the decisive 10-1 major decision win over the #2 ranked Anderson of Wartburg. Anderson has only lost that one match to Fitzenreider this year and has pretty clearly separated himself from the rest of the pack in the incredibly competitive IIAC. Four of the top five ranked wrestlers in the d3wrestle.com pre-Nationals rankings are from that conference including 2011 All-American Hood of Cornell.

Reynolds of Mount Union is a returning semifinalist at this weight, though he has only wrestled three times at 125 and 12 times overall this year. Whether he will be at the top of his game after a long layoff and only two times down to weight is an open question. The other returning All-American at this weight is Gauthier of Rhode Island College. He has ten losses on the year and is not seeded. He has lost four times this year to the Coast Guard freshman Giorgio who won the NEWA title. Another wrestler with a limited schedule this year is Sutter of Whitewater. He wrestled an open tournament or two at 141, then a few matches at 133 in January after officially joining the roster before making the final cut to 125 in February. He won the WIAC and is 9-0 in varsity matches.

Overall, it is a weight dominated by newcomers, as three of last year’s top four graduated and the fourth missed the regional with an illness. Fitzenreider looks like a heavy favorite, but it is a deep weight where there will probably be some surprises.