We are now all a few days in to our bracket breakdowns and analysis for the 2017 NCAA Championships. From now until the NCAA Championships, I'm going to take a deeper look at the draws for the contending teams. This will include Oklahoma State, Penn State, Ohio State, Iowa and Virginia Tech.

We will begin with the top ranked and defending NCAA Champions

125 - #3 Nick Suriano

There's not much to say here in my opinion. If he's healthy, his draw is fine and he's my pick to make the finals. If he's not, I think you're looking at zero points at this weight. I lean towards the latter after seeing his gait at Big 10's.

EDIT: Nick Suriano is officially out of the 2017 NCAA Tournament. 

141 - Jimmy Gulibon

Difficult draw. He has Gasca, who pinned him right away. If he loses that he'll have Diehl, who also pinned him at Big 10's. Much has been made about Jimmy's ability, so I won't elaborate. He's good enough to beat a lot of these guys, but at this point, he's a lottery ticket. Hope for the best, but realize it probably won't yield a return.

149 - #1 Zain Retherford

Zain, like a few guys in NCAA wrestling, transcends draws. I see him pinning up to the semis. Then I see a lopsided decision or major against Sorensen. If it's Micah, then that is very possibly another tech fall. In the finals, if it's Collica I think we're looking at another decision. It's unlikely we'll see Zain duplicate what he did last year at NCAA's where he bonused start to finish.

157 - #1 Jason Nolf

I like Nolf to bonus all the way to the finals. He'll probably open with a combination of two pins/techs in the first two rounds before a major or tech in the semi's over Berger or Smith. Then in the finals, should he see Kemerer again, that is likely another decision (but a major can't be discounted).

165 - #3 Vincenzo Joseph

It's interesting that he'll have Subjeck, who upset Cenzo this year, in round 1. I expect bonus there this time around. He'll also likely take out Ashworth to make the quarters. Then things get very interesting. Daniel Lewis is a real problem. He can match Vincenzo's power and may have a slight advantage on the mat. Vincenzo has been more consistent this year, so I lean his way, but with a degree of caution. If he wins, he'll have a winnable semi against Massa, but I like Massa to get it done. The odds suggest he'll lose one of those matches between Lewis and Massa.

Scenario 1: Lewis beats Cenzo. This will put him against a combination of Chandler Rogers or Dylan Cottrell. A match that favors Cenzo. After that, he'd see Anthony Valencia and then Zeke Jordan. Should he down Zeke once more, he'd wrestle Lewis for 3rd.

Scenario 2: Cenzo beats Lewis, loses to Massa. I see him finding his way to the 3rd place match here as well. He'll go through Chad Walsh and Lewis to do it.

So the road to 3rd involves beating a combination of Daniel Lewis and Isaac Jordan. He'll need two outstanding wins over relative equals to get it done. If he beats Massa, then PSU is playing with a little house money.

174 - #5 Mark Hall

The variability with Hall will make this an intense prognostication. There's no real evidence based on Marks 16-17 season that he'll win this tournament, but part of me deep down won't accept that. If he wins it all and goes through Valencia to do it, I'm not surprised.

I'll also say that his draw will make bonus points difficult. Kocer is a high quality unseeded wrestler with wins over two All-Americans this season alone. After that he'd face Casey Kent who was 4th at this weight last year. Mark has already beaten him pretty handily, however.

Then Mark will have the winner of the Epperly/Lujan bout in the quarters. Assuming that's Epperly, it's probably a one point match or so if Epperly is on his game. Epperly is very positionally sound and makes it very hard for guys to get to his legs.

Should Hall win that one and lose to Valencia, he'll likely have Ryan Preisch or Kyle Crutchmer. Preisch is obviously the more difficult match up for Hall considering their last meeting. After that, I think Hall faces Realbuto or Epperly for 3rd. Given Mark's style, he's going to be in a lot of coin flip matches. This weight is exceptionally deep and he'll be in wars from the word go. High, high variability in outcomes for Mark, and his draw is not great.

184 - #2 Bo Nickal

You have to love Bo Nickal's draw to the semi's. His bonus track record and success against TJ Dudley nearly guarantees him a trip to the semi's. In two meetings, Nickal has outscored Dudley 24-14. In the semi's he'll have either Myles Martin or Sammy Brooks. PSU fans will likely hope to see a mullet standing across from Bo on Friday night and not Myles Martin. I think that's what happens. Match ups matter, and while I thought Martin/Brooks was a coin flip coming into this season, two matches in it seems like Brooks will have his number.

For the challenges that Martin has given Nickal, Bo is still 4-2 against him. I think Bo wins this time around, the odds suggest this will be the case. If it's Brooks, I think many wrestling fans will be curious to see how Sammy can do in a 7 minute match. He was pinned so quickly, it was tough to really see how the match up worked. Then again, we more/less have our answer there I suppose. So yes, Nickal will be back in the finals, where he'll have his toughest match of the season in Gabe Dean.

197 #5 Matt McCutcheon

I think we see McCutcheon cruise to the quarters by Brunner and Mattiace. In the semi's he'll have an almost guaranteed one takedown bout with Jared Haught. I think this is a coin flip match. If he wins, he'll fall to J'den next round. If he loses, he'll likely face someone like Kevin Beazley or Ricky Robertson in the blood round. I think he wins no problem there and then again against Ryan Wolfe of Rider.

The consolation semi is where it gets dicey again as he'll take on the Pfarr/Moore loser. If McCutcheon wins his quarter with Haught, he'll have someone like Studebaker or Weigel. So there's real benefit in him downing Haught. If he loses in that quarter, I think he finishes 5th over Preston Weigel. If he wins it, he could be 4th behind Moore or Pfarr who will finish 3rd.

285 #5 Nick Nevills

The final piece of the PSU puzzle slots in with a solid draw to the quarters. While Billy Miller is a talent, i see Nevill's advancing to the quarters and beating Kasper. I think his athleticism will be a match for some of Kasper's high flying skills. I think Nevill's will be able to dictate where that match is wrestled and earn the win. Then he'll face Kyle Snyder…we can just move on.

Assuming the Kasper win and Snyder loss, Nevills will face a combination of Tanner Hall or Austin Schafer. More winnable bouts that will bring him to the 3rd place match where he'll likely see the Walz/Medbery semifinal loser. I favor either of those guys in that match against Nevills.

If Kasper were to beat Nevills in that quarter, I think he sees Kroells in the round of 12, and wins. Then he'd see the Walz/Medbery loser in the consolation semi. This is why a win over Kasper is so important, you want to delay that Walz/Medbery meeting as long as possible. For the record, I do think those are winnable matches for Nick, albeit difficult.

So those the draws for PSU. I think most of them are navigable, but they'll have key guys in a number of losable matches. All in all, I think PSU is in a good position to win another NCAA Title.

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