Larry Early III downs Joseph Smith at Who's #1.

Between the ASICS FloRankings and my redshirt reports, you probably have a good idea of the NCAA landscape. Picking college wrestling's top sleepers is always one of my favorite activities coming into the DI season.

The definition of a sleeper is pretty nebulous. For me, it's all relative to expectation. A guy who starts the year unranked but winds up being a top-12 guy is a sleeper. In the same way, a wrestler who is regarded as a top-15 guy and becomes a title contender is also a sleeper.

I come to my conclusions as to who a sleeper is based on a few things: Eyeball test, inside information, freestyle results, and sneaky good NCAA wins.

Here are a few of my favorites coming into this year.

Malik McDonald, 197 - N.C. State

He was downright mediocre last year as Michael Boykin's backup, but the North Carolina product is ripe for a big year this year. People became aware of him when he wrestled J'den Cox about as well as you could expect a backup to wrestle J'den.  

Then at Junior World Team Trials he dominated Lance Benick, who was the No. 1 kid in high school before heading to Arizona State. He has a great build, and though his foot speed may not be there, his defense is strong enough that it will keep him in matches. Look for a quick ascent to the top 12 of 197.

Joey LaVallee, 157 - Missouri

The book on LaVallee has been low-scoring matches where he is looking to win with one takedown. His matches are not particularly pleasing aesthetically, and he struggled to get into the top 12 of the rankings, typically hanging around the top-15 range.

Look for LaVallee to emerge as a top-six guy by March. He redshirted last year and apparently has made some tremendous gains. He is someone with sneaky wins throughout his career. He'll take some ugly losses, for sure, but wins over Richie Lewis, Cody Pack, and Anthony Collica put him in a pretty solid tier already. When you combine the apparent improvement, I think there's a big season coming!

Josh Marchok, 197 - Stanford

You read that right, 197 for the career heavyweight. Marchok is a fifth-year senior who is making the sacrifice. He's always been solid at 285 but was behind Junior World bronze medalist Nathan Butler.

If Marchok can remain healthy, the 197 landscape could be ripe for the picking. Look for the Stanford senior to make his way into the top 15.

Paul Fox, 157 - Stanford

People forget about Fox because he was injured in January and missed the rest of the year. Even if you were paying attention, Fox probably slipped under the radar. The Stanford staff is high on Fox's potential. He knocked off Matt Cimato, Christian Pagdilao, and Matt Frisch last year before going down with injury. Up a weight, Fox could be very solid against the 157-pound field.

Ali Naser, 133 - Arizona State

We've seen him in freestyle before. Now it's time to see where Naser stacks up in folkstyle. He will get some resistance for the starting job from Dalton Brady, but I believe he will ultimately be the starter.

Scrapping with Nahshon Garrett and now Ryan Millhof on a daily basis will pay big dividends for Naser down the line. I think he has a great shot at placing this year at 133 pounds. He'll be ranked before too long. I don't care what style it is, if you beat Coleman Scott, Nathan Tomasello, Obe Blanc, Sam Hazewinkel, Dan Mitcheff, and Jon Morrison, you're in the mix. If his folkstyle chops are requisite, he is a potential All-American with serious upside.

Naser takes out Nathan Tomasello last November:

Josh Terao, 133 - American

Terao draws attention because of what his brother was able to do. While Josh might not be David, yet, I think he's going to have a very solid year for American.

Josh didn't do anything spectacular last year in redshirt, but he beat who he was supposed to. Watching him this spring in freestyle, his athleticism and feel will make him a tough matchup. I think he winds up ranked and maybe a top-15 guy by the end of the season.

Jaydin Eierman, 133 - Missouri

Most of us know the name. I think Jaydin goes household this season. He's going to bonus lots of people. I think Eierman will emerge as a title contender this year and enter the Clark, Tomasello, and Richards tier. His style is insane and not conventional. Many will have a hard time preparing for what Eierman will bring to the table.  

Can he run the gauntlet at NCAAs? Perhaps not, but we could see him poach one of the big four before it's all said and done.

Eierman and Yianni go nuts in Vegas:

Larry Early III, 157 - Minnesota

It sounded like LE3 would be going 165 this year. This seemed to be what made the most sense for Minnesota as far as getting all its talent in the lineup was concerned. It seems those plans have changed. Early seems to be excelling in the room and is planning to wrestle 157 this year. People are selling a little bit of their Early stock after a ho-hum redshirt year. I'll happily buy it all up at this point.

Though Joseph Smith has made huge strides that we haven't seen in Early yet, it is worth recalling that Early was 3-0 against Smith. If Early beats out Jake Short (who is currently ranked ninth) that in itself is very telling. It may be a little while before this one comes to fruition, but I think we'll see it. 

Other Sleepers:
Tyler Marinelli, 165 - Gardner Webb
Tyler Goodwin, 133 - Maryland
Ronald Perry, 141 - Lock Haven
Christian Brucki, 174- Central Michigan

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