Keystone Classic Preview

Christian Pyles

The Keystone Classic is going down this Saturday at the historic Palestra in Philadelphia on the Campus of the University of Pennsylvania.  Teams joining Penn in attendance for the Keystone Classic are American University, Appalachian State, Arizona State, Bloomsburg, Indiana, Northwestern, Pittsburgh and Rider.  

Here’s a weight by weight preview of who’s there, and who could come away with a Keystone Classic title!

125-Some real studs here.  I’m interested to see if Pittsburgh’s #7 Anthony Zanetta is ready to step up and not just have the flashes of brilliance, but a sustained consistency throughout a season.  He’s a giant killer with wins over Waters (twice) and Megaludis.  He will be challenged by App States #13 Dom Parisi, Rider’s #15 Robert Deutsch and American’s #16 David Terao.  I like Zanetta to roll through this tournament, but Deutsch is not to be overlooked.  Indiana’s Joe Duca has been in and out of the rankings here and has a shot at a top 3 finish if he is on his game.

133- #14 Nick Wilcox of Bloomsburg is the top dog here along with #17 Shelton Mack of Pittsburgh and currently unranked Dom Malone from Northwestern.

There’s a good bit of history between Wilcox and Mack since they are conference opponents.  In their previous 7 matchups, Mack has won 4 of the 7.  Obviously it’s a match where it’s about as close to a toss up as it can get.  Malone is a bit of a wildcard up at 133 now, and may prove to be a noisemaker at this weight.  

141- It might be a one man show here with CJ Cobb the only ranked wrestler here.  That being said, keep your eye on Ethan Raley of Indiana.  He was a JUCO runner up last year and has been very solid so far notching wins over Edgar Bright and Nate Skonieczny.  Northwestern’s Pat Greco is another tough guy to watch out for here.  

149-This could be the weight I’m most excited about.  Super Frosh Jason Tsirtsis from Northwestern comes in as the 5th ranked guy here.  While he’s a favorite, by how much is certainly in question.  Giant killer Bryce Busler of Bloomsburg (ranked 14) is coming off an overtime win over #1 Kendric Maple.  Is he for real or was his win over Maple an outlier.  I tend to believe he’s the more/less a top 12-16 ranked guy.  I like Tsirtsis here.  A win here for Busler will completely change my thinking about his prospects.  

This weight will have solid depth from a few unranked guys: Nathan Hoffer of ASU, Dylan Cottrell of App State and Mikey Racciato of Pittsburgh.  All 3 of these guys bring talent to the table.  Whether they can push Busler or even Tsirtsis is another question entirely.   

157-Can anyone push Taylor Walsh here?  He steps in as the only ranked participant.  Walsh has always had big moves and tons of talent.  The question for him has always been consistency.   One day he’s beating Joey Napoli, Josh Demas and Danny Zilverberg, the next he’s losing to Zac Cibula and Ryan Watts. He currently is 11-0 with 8 pins, but hasn’t faced elite competition as of yet.  He should walk to a title here.  However, what should happen and what does happen doesn’t always align for Taylor.  

Ray Bethea is coming off a tournament victory at the ESU open.  The Penn Sophomore could be the guy to challenge Walsh here.

165-Quite a few ranked guys here.  Josh Veltre, the 6th ranked wrestler from Bloomsburg comes in as a favorite, although I wouldn’t say a heavy one.  He’ll be pushed by Northwesterns 10th ranked Pierce Harger,  Indiana’s Ryan LeBlanc (ranked 17),and Rider’s Ramon Santiago (ranked 18).  

In their last and only meeting LeBlanc edged Veltre in a 6-4 match.  Harger in their only meeting had an 8-2 win over Veltre and is 2-0 against LeBlancSo despite a significant rankings disparity, this is going to be far from a runaway for Veltre.  In fact, I believe Harger is probably the guy to beat here.

I’m also curious to see if Cody Wiercioch is given the green light from the PIttsburgh coaching staff.   The blue chip recruit from Canon-McMillian, PA is a True Freshman this year.  App States Zack Strickland is currently unranked but could be a guy to make some noise if he’s underestimated.  

174- We’ve got four top 20 guys here at 174 including two in the top 10!  #8 Lee Munster of Northwestern and #9 Tyler Wilps of Pittsburgh seem to be the odds on favorites to make the finals.  They’re being pursued by Arizona States 15 ranked Kevin Radford (down from 184 pounds) and Rider’s #19 Jim Resnick.

Resnick actually has a win over Munster.  I view this weight similarly to 165.  There are some higher ranked guys, but I don’t see a clear elite talent here.  Upsets are possible and almost bound to happen in a weight like this.  Could be some serious rankings shake ups!

184-Here’s where I see a pretty substantial favorite.  I am really high on Max Thomusseit this year.  Solid in all positions and just a beast physically.  The Pittsburgh Panther is currently the 6th ranked 184 pounder in the country.  He will be challenged by Penn’s own Lorenzo Thomas.  Thomas is currently ranked 14th at 184.  He notched wins over Alex Utley, Vic Avery and Jack Dechow last year, and is looking to build off of those results.  Thomusseit has two fairly lopsided wins over Thomas already in his career.  Seeing Max anywhere but 1st at the end of this tournament would surprise me.

Rider’s Clint Morrison will provide depth to this weight class, but will need a career day to wind up on top.  Also providing depth is Indiana’s currently unranked Luke Sheridan.  Sheridan notched a win over Rizqallah of MSU earlier this year.

197-Some studs here are entered here at 197.  We’ve got #10 Richard Perry of Bloomsburg, #12 Daniel Mitchell of American and #19 Nick Bonaccorsi of Pittsburgh.  They’ll be pushed by a pair of unranked opponents: Donald McNeil of Rider and Alex Polizzi of Northwestern.

Perry and Mitchell have wrestled twice in their careers.  They met earlier this year with Perry a 3-2 winner.  Mitchell won last year by technical fall!  So I don’t think I’m being cliche  when I  say that one can go either way.  I think Alex Polizzi is poised to break through here and get himself ranked.  I like him to finish third here over Bonaccorsi and Rider.  

285-The Showdown.  Rematch time for McMullan.  #2 ranked Mike McMullan of Northwestern get’s the opportunity to right the wrong from a year ago when Adam Chalfant knocked him off in the finals of the Keystone Classic.  McMullan has since avenged that loss, but Chalfant, the 7th ranked wrestler from Indiana is among the most athletic and powerful heavyweights in the country.  

Check out the match from last year here.