The 2024 Southern Scuffle wrestling tournament is right around the corner. Here are some of the biggest storylines to follow for this year's New Years wrestling event.

Impact True Freshmen In Action

This year's Southern Scuffle field includes four true freshmen who have already earned national rankings. Little Rock's Nasir Bailey and Stanford's Tyler Knox are ranked 9th and 14th respectively at 133 lbs, Bucknell's Noah Mulvaney is ranked #16 at 165 lbs, and Stanford's Lorenzo Norman is ranked #27 at 174 lbs.

Mulvaney is the only one of those four who has competed at more than five events, so Bailey, Knox, and Norman could remain in redshirt. Their performances at the Southern Scuffle might be a deciding factor in whether their coaches decide to use them for an NCAA push this year or keep them in developmental roles until the 2024-25 season.

Nasir Bailey's #9 ranking is due in large part to his performance last week at the Collegiate Duals. He teched Iowa State's #10 Evan Frost and notched a 12-8 victory over Pitt's #16 Vince Santaniello. He now has a 9-1 record, and his lone loss was a 4-0 decision to returning NCAA champ Vito Arujau.

Nasir Bailey's thrilling Tiger Style Invite finals victory over Zeke Seltzer

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#14 Tyler Knox is 5-3 on the season, and he's been tested early. The Massachusetts product has victories over #13 Nic Bouzakis and 2x NCAA qualifier Reece Witcraft and losses against 2x All-American Sam Latona, #10 Evan Frost, and #18 Dom Zaccone.

Bucknell's Noah Mulvaney already has 16 matches on the season. His best victories have come over 2x NCAA qualifier Bubba Wilson and #9 Josh Ogunsanya. His losses were at the hands of All-American #3 Izzak Olejnik, #10 Garrett Thompson, and #15 Giano Petrucelli.

While Norman has the lowest ranking of this group, he also has the best victory. The Stanford first-year wrestler knocked off former Cardinal legend and NCAA champion Shane Griffith at CKLV after knocking off highly touted Oklahoma State freshman Brayden Thompson. His losses this season are to #25 Sal Perrine, former high school teammate #26 Danny Wask, and 2019 NCAA champ #2 Mekhi Lewis.

More Potential Chaos at 125 lbs

The top spot at 125 lbs has changed hands 5 times in the first 9 weeks of the NCAA wrestling season, and the rest of the rankings at that weight have been even more transient. This Scuffle field has former #1 Nico Provo, 2023 Big 12 champ Stevo Poulin, undefeated Brayden Palmer, and rock-solid Ethan Berginc at the top of a potentially volatile bracket.

Stanford NCAA qualifier Provo earned the #1 spot in the country after winning a loaded CKLV bracket but then lost 5-2 to Virginia Tech's Cooper Flynn. Northern Colorado's Stevo Poulin was a Big 12 champ last season but fell in a wild 11-6 bout to West Virginia's Jett Strickenberger earlier this year. Chattanooga's Brayden Palmer is undefeated this season. He won a bracket with NCAA finalist Matt Ramos in the mix at the Clarion Open this fall, but this might be his biggest test of the season. Ethan Berginc has notched a victory over All-American Brandon Kaylor in his career, but he hasn't found those results consistently and has a 10-5 record this season.

Nico Provo's CKLV finals victory over Brett Ungar

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This weight class has been ripe with storylines all season long, so it's fitting that it's one of the most interesting brackets at this year's Southern Scuffle.

Can Stanford Replicate CKLV Success

Before the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, wrestling fans might not have expected Stanford to emerge as one of the most complete teams in the country, but that's what they did. They placed 7th which put them ahead of traditional powers like Michigan, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, and Arizona State. Now they boast eight wrestlers ranked in the top 33 in their weight classes.

The question now is whether Stanford's performance was an outlier or the norm. Can the Cardinal prove again that they're ready to put ten NCAA tournament level wrestlers on the mat in a tournament format? That's one of the biggest storylines to follow this weekend in Chattanooga.

Their Scuffle lineup includes #2 Nico Provo (125 lbs), #14 Tyler Knox (133 lbs), #27 Jason Miranda (141 lbs), #9 Jaden Abas (149 lbs), #6 Daniel Cardenas (157 lbs), #23 Hunter Garvin (165 lbs), #27 Lorenzo Norman (174 lbs), #16 Nick Stemmet (197 lbs), along with 6 unranked wrestlers looking to make names for themselves.

Provo, Miranda, Abas, and Cardenas are the highest ranked wrestlers at their respective weight classes, so they may have some added pressure to bring home titles from Chattanooga.

Midterms For Head Coaches In 1st Season At New Programs

Three programs impacted by this off-season's spinning coaching carousel will be on display at this year's Southern Scuffle. In May, Roger Kish left North Dakota State to head to Norman and take over as the Oklahoma head coach. The void Kish left in Fargo was filled by long-time Bison assistant coach Obe Blanc. Former Princeton top man Chris Ayres moved West this September to lead the Stanford Cardinal. All three teams will be in action in Chattanooga.

Roger Kish recaps first meeting with his OU team

All three coaches have seen success in the first few months of the season. Four of Obe Blanc's Bison are currently ranked in their respective weight classes including freshmen Gavin Drexler and Adam Cherne. Stanford currently has eight wrestlers in the top 33, and Oklahoma has 9.

The Southern Scuffle will serve as a solid mid-season test as these three coaches look to lead their squads toward conference duals and a post-season push.

Tracking This Year's Transfers

Much has been made of the transfer portal's impact on NCAA athletics in recent years. The Scuffle will play host to double digit wrestlers who have new college homes this season. Here's a list:

133 - Hayden Halter, Chattanooga (formerly Illinois)

133 - Dom Serrano, Northern Colorado (formerly Nebraska)

133 - Jace Koelzer, Oklahoma (formerly Northern Colorado)

133 - Dom Lajoie, Stanford (formerly Cornell)

141 - Ryan Sullivan, Clarion (formerly West Virginia)

157 - #25 Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, Clarion (formerly Oklahoma)

165 - #21 Cael Carlson, Oklahoma (formerly Minnesota)

165 - Justin Hayes, Citadel (formerly The Citadel)

165 - Guillermo Escobedo, CSU-Bakersfield (formerly Wyoming)

165 - Mannix Morgan, Oklahoma (formerly NDSU)

174 - Travis Mastrogiovanni, Northern Colorado (formerly Oklahoma State)

184 - Roman Rogotzke, Indiana (formerly SDSU)

197 - #3 Stephen Buchanan, Oklahoma (formerly Wyoming)

197 - Noah Pettigrew, Northern Colorado (formerly North Carolina)

285 - Kaleb Snodgrass, Chattanooga (formerly Lock Haven)

285 - Juan Mora, Oklahoma (formerly NDSU)

All The Ranked Wrestlers

Here are all the top-33 ranked wrestlers who will be in action at the Southern Scuffle.

125 - #2 Nico Provo, Stanford

125 - #8 Stevo Poulin, Northern Colorado

125 - #15 Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga

125 - #30 Ethan Berginc, Army

133 - #9 Nasir Bailey, Little Rock

133 - #14 Tyler Knox, Stanford

133 - #22 Kurt Phipps, Bucknell

133 - #28 Braden Basile, Army

141 - #27 Jason Miranda, Stanford

141 - #28 Gavin Drexler, North Dakota State

149 - #9 Jaden Abas, Stanford

149 - #10 Noah Castillo, Chattanooga

149 - #17 Kellyn March, North Dakota State

149 - #22 Willie McDougald, Oklahoma

149 - #25 Graham Rooks, Indiana

157 - #6 Daniel Cardenas, Stanford

157 - #25 Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, Clarion

157 - #33 Jared Hill, Oklahoma

165 - #16 Noah Mulvaney, Bucknell

165 - #21 Cael Carlson, Oklahoma

165 - #23 Hunter Garvin, Stanford

165 - #30 Baylor Fernandes, Northern Colorado

174 - #11 Donnell Washington, Indiana

174 - #27 Lorenzo Norman, Stanford

184 - #30 Adam Cherne, North Dakota State

184 - #31 Giuseppe Hoose, Oklahoma

197 - #3 Stephen Buchanan, Oklahoma

197 - #16 Nick Stemmet, Stanford

285 - #17 Josh Heindselman, Oklahoma

285 - #26 Josiah Hill, Little Rock

285 - #28 Dorian Crosby, Bucknell

285 - #29 Lucas Stoddard, Army

285 - #31 Nick Willham, Indiana