Redshirts or not, the lightest NCAA weight just became everyone’s favorite. Rutgers sophomore Nick Suriano and Iowa freshman Spencer Lee are on a collision course that will culminate in just a few days at the 2017 Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30 in Hoffman Estates, IL. 

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Assuming that both make the finals, here are a couple of keys to success for Suriano. 

Transition

While Suriano may not have the same top prowess as Lee, the RU 125-pounder can still rack up some serious near-fall points with his transition game — more specifically, his double to a turk. 

You can tell that Suriano has been drilling this series since he was a toddler. While most people take a half a second to congratulate themselves on the takedown they just scored, Suriano goes directly for the jugular (sometimes literally). The fact that he can score that double to a turk off a mat return is more evidence of the number of reps that he has in on the position. 

Efficiency

One thing that you don’t see a whole lot of is scrambling out of Suriano. It’s not that he can’t scramble, it’s just that he usually doesn’t have to because his attacks are so efficient. 

When you think of some of the most economical leg attacks, there are a couple of things at play. First, the angle: ideally attacks should come from an angle that is close to 90 degrees. In other words, if you think of the wrestling mat as a big clock, Suriano’s opponent will be facing 12 o’clock and Suriano is attacking from 3 o’clock or 9 o’clock. This way you have to deal with less of your opponents' lines of defenses.

Angles of attack aside, Suriano can time his opponents' hands better than most of the of the NCAA. I did a Behind The Dirt on Suriano’s “Micro-Level Change.” He does those level changes both from tie-ups and from space. Every single time he does a micro-level change Suriano is getting a look at what, exactly, his opponent does with his hands when he feels threatened. By the fifth or sixth time, Suriano has got a beat on your hands and he simply goes underneath them as you reach. 

The final ingredient in an efficient leg attack is getting your hips to your opponent's legs as quickly as possible. If you take a look at the GIF above, the first leg attack that Suriano hits is a perfect example: He makes an outside step with the left leg, circles a little bit, steps in between his opponent's legs with his right leg, and then his lift and finish become very easy at that point. It doesn’t get much better than that… at any level.  

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, he can do all those things with both hands. Yikes. 

Motor

Suriano has one of the best motors that I’ve seen in a long time. It's not that Lee doesn’t have a gas tank, but when you’re redshirting it’s just a little bit different. There’s usually just a little bit less of a sense of urgency in the way that you wrestle. 

To be honest, I really don’t see this being a blowout on either side, so conditioning may come into effect. And if it comes down to a late takedown, I like Suriano.