Top 5 Storylines At The 2022 Soldier Salute

A breakdown of the top matchups and storylines at the 2022 Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa on December 29-30.

Dec 21, 2022 by Jon Kozak

Top 5 Storylines At The 2022 Soldier Salute

The first iteration of the Soldier Salute will go down in Coralville, Iowa on December 29-30 and will feature a number of the top wrestlers in the country. The tournament will be streamed live on BTN+ but instant archives will be available to watch on FloWrestling. Check out the article below for a breakdown of the top storylines and potential matchups.

Will We See Lee?

#1 pound-for-pound wrestler in the NCAA Spencer Lee made his return to the mat against Iowa State in early December after having ACL surgeries on both of his knees. Though Lee came out on top with a 16-5 major decision, he was noticeably fatigued by the end of the match. So how close is Spencer Lee to 100% and when will we see him on the mat again? Those questions could be answered at the Solider Salute and Hawkeye fans everywhere will have a close eye on the 125-pound bracket looking for Lee’s name.

If he is in the bracket, Lee could be challenged by two potential ranked wrestlers in #14 Ethan Berginc and HM Tanner Jordan. Berginc is 13-1 on the year and notably defeated 2022 All-American Brandon Kaylor and #8 ranked Liam Cronin this year. Tanner Jordan had a great CKLV where he defeated #24 Caleb Smith and finished in 6th place. Both Berginc and Jordan would be great measuring sticks for Lee as he works to get back to 100 percent.

Three Big Dawgs At 141

The bracket at 141 has the potential to feature 3 top 15 ranked wrestlers in the country in #3 Real Woods, #7 Cael Happel, and #15 Clay Carlson. Real Woods is considered by many to be one of the favorites to contend for a national title this year. However, he’s only wrestled 2 matches on the season, has never wrestled Happel, and is 0-1 in his college career against Carlson. The Soldier Salute will be a huge test for Woods and truly tell us if he’s a favorite to win it all this year for the Hawkeyes.

Cael Happel is 7-1 on the year and has 2 notable wins over Clay Carlson. His performances early in the season points to major improvements since last year and Happel looks to be a legitimate All-American threat. The question now - has he made enough improvements to challenge Woods?

Happel’s win over Carlson at the 2022 CKLV:

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Then there’s Clay Carlson. He earned All-American honors in the 2021 season and finished in the round of 12 last year. On top of the two close losses to Carlson, he also recently lost in overtime to Brock Hardy. Despite those setbacks, Carlson has proven over the course of his career to be a tough out for anyone in the country and is more than capable of winning this entire bracket and putting himself back into the top 10 in the country.

Who Will Tanner Cook Pin Next?

Tanner Cook is 9-1 on the year with 6 of his wins coming by fall! On top of that, Cook’s last 4 wins have all come by pin - all in the first period and under 1 minute. Included in those are pins over #7 Carson Kharchla and #13 Bubba Wilson. Cook is one of the most exciting wrestlers in the country to watch and is always looking to end the match early with a big move.

Though Cook is dangerous, he’ll face stiff competition in Coralville. #16 Patrick Kennedy, #12 Austin Yant, and #24 Josh Ogunsanya are all ranked wrestlers who could potentially be in the bracket. Any of those three has the ability to take out Cook and move up the rankings at 165 pounds.

Cook's pin over Carson Kharchla:

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Cook's pin over Bubba Wilson:

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Can AJ Nevills Challenge Cassioppi?

South Dakota State’s AJ Nevills pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year when he took out Cohlton Schultz at the CKLV earlier this December. Nevills next challenge - #3 Tony Cassioppi. Nevills and Cassioppi have only met one time in competition - all the way back at the 2018 Midlands where Cassioppi came out on top in a high scoring, 12-8 match. Both wrestlers have made big jumps since then and it will be fascinating to see how the rematch plays out 4 years later!

Cassioppi's win over Nevills at the 2018 Midlands: