Metropolitan Conference Preview
Please Note: These are predictions of what will happen at a specific tournament on a specific date. They are not seedings or rankings. We have seen all the results and made predictions based off those results. We may predict someone to win, even if they recently lost to a conference opponent, but that does not mean we did not see the results.
All week long, d3wrestle.com will be publishing previews of each of the NCAA qualifying tournaments to be held this weekend. In addition to predicting winners and identifying the top athletes at each weight, we will attempt to predict all 160 qualifiers based on the number of wildcards available for each qualifying tournament. With nine qualifiers, d3wrestle.com will publish two each day, with the last one appearing Friday morning.
Metropolitan Wrestling Conference – 16 qualifiers
Predicted Team Champ: The College of New Jersey
Top Individual: Justin Bonitatis, TCNJ
Returning NCAA Qualifiers: Kyle Flickinger (York 133), John Barnett (TCNJ 149), Tyler Branham (TCNJ 149, 2007), John Niedrich (York 157), Justin Bonitatis (TCNJ 165, 8th NCAA), Frank Heffernan (Wilkes 174), Gregory Osgoodby (TCNJ 174, 7th NCAA), Michael Reilly (King’s 174)
The always tough Metro conference has a good number of returning qualifiers and a pair of All-Americans in Bonitatis and Osgoodby. Bonitatis is likely the top wrestler in the conference this year, though freshman phenom Tyler Erdman is giving him a run for his money. Both could place high in March. The talent is somewhat bunched in this conference, as there are weights like 174 that could conceivably have four qualifiers who could be All-Americans, while weights like 141 and 184 are unlikely to result in any place winners. The team battle should come down to Wilkes and TCNJ, but it seems like TCNJ’s 149-184 should be able to score enough points to get the job done.
Weight by Weight (predicted qualifiers in bold)
125 Prediction: Tyler Erdman, Elizabethtown
Top Challenger: Shaun Farnham, Wilkes
133 Prediction: Josh Pauling, Wilkes
Top Challengers: Sean Messina, Hunter; Kyle Flickinger, York
141 Prediction: Anthony Dattolo, Wilkes
Top Challengers: Gregg Martino, NYU; David Alsieux, Centenary; Bill Tenpenny, TCNJ
149 Prediction: Tyler Branham, TCNJ
Top Challengers: Erik Smith, Wilkes; Jon Stillo, Centenary
157 Prediction: John Niedrich, York
Top Challengers: Dan DiColo, TCNJ; Taylor Green, King’s
165 Prediction: Justin Bonitatis, TCNJ
Top Challengers: Patrick Knight, NYU; Matt Regan, Centenary
174 Prediction: Gregory Osgoodby, TCNJ
Top Challengers: Brian Thomason, York; Frank Heffernan, Wilkes; Michael Reilly, King’s
184 Prediction: Scott Kelley, TCNJ
Top Challengers: Joey Scott, Hunter; William Gouger, Wilkes
197 Prediction: Zach Pizarro, Wilkes
Top Challenger: Brian Scher, Hunter
285 Prediction: Andrew Feldman, Wilkes
Top Challengers: Deron Sharp, Elizabethtown; Arkadiy Levitin, Hunter