Just like every other sport, wrestling has roster battles every single year. Sometimes, it's as simple as the loser goes up or down a weight. Other times, a very talented wrestler will wind up sitting on the bench.

The NCAA content is going to slowly ramp up over the next several months, featuring depth charts, potential NCAA brackets, lineup looks, and redshirt reports. As part of the leadup to a few of those, here are some roster battles to keep an eye on during the 2018-19 preseason.

This series will be broken up into three parts, starting with the lightweights at 125, 133, and 141 pounds.

Oklahoma State

Before starting at any given weight, we have to discuss the Cowboys. One of the following guys is likely going to be sitting on the bench this year: Nick Piccininni, Daton Fix, Kaid Brock, or Kaden Gfeller.

Fix and Piccininni could battle for 125, with the loser heading up to 133lbs. That could mean either facing Kaid Brock, or Brock and Gfeller wrestling off for 141lbs. Their situation has been discussed ad nauseum on FRL and honestly probably deserves its own article at some point.

Arizona State: 125lbs

Brandon Courtney vs Ryan Millhof

How about this one to kick off 125? A former All-American taking on a two-time Junior trials finalist. Courtney will be prominently featured in the 125 Redshirt Report once that gets rolled out, and probably had the best season of any non-starter at the opening weight, considering Daton Fix only wrestled one tournament. An injury-filled junior season ended with Millhof not placing at NCAAs, though his two losses there came against Nathan Tomasello and Sebastian Rivera.

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Michigan: 125lbs

Austin Assad vs Drew Mattin

With returning NCAA finalist Stevan Micic firmly ensconced at 133, the Wolverines have a choice to make at 125, one that may come down to the end of the year. Mattin has a redshirt available and Assad is a senior, so the obvious choice seems to be put in Assad.

But Assad is oft-injured, including last season and the year before, when they literally had to pull Connor Youtsey out of "retirement." Assad is no slouch, it's never been a question of talent with him, but rather if he can stay on the mat for an entire four-month season.

North Dakota State: 125lbs

Paul Bianchi vs Brent Fleetwood

This is a fun Big 12 one. Fleetwood transferred to NDSU as a two-time NCAA qualifier with one year of eligibility left. Bianchi wrestled in the big dance last year and has already used his redshirt. Generally speaking, it's really hard for me to believe a kid would transfer if he didn't walk in as the favorite to start, but we've seen it before.

NC State: 133lbs

Sean Fausz vs Tariq Wilson

Look, I've never spoken to Fausz and by all accounts he is one of the most disciplined weight cutters in all of college wrestling, but man is that dude BIG. He only wrestled in four dual meets during the season, all of them important conference matches or against marquee non-conference opponents.

So it's not unrealistic to think he goes up, especially with the capable Tommy Cox waiting in the wings, who has wrestled in 21 duals over the past two years. Also, with Kevin Jack graduating, that leaves a vacancy at 141. That spot could be filled by Wilson if Fausz goes up, or Jamel Morris if Wilson stays at 33 no matter what Fausz does.

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Cornell: 133lbs

Vito Arujau vs Chas Tucker

This one seems to be a guarantee that a qualified kid will be on the bench. Tucker qualified for NCAAs last season after missing a few seasons due to injury (noticing a pattern here?), and Arujau just made the U23 world team. Cornell doesn't have redshirt issues as an Ivy League school, but Tucker will likely wrestle the first part of the season anyway.

The U23 world championships are in mid-November, and those that participated in it last year eased into the season. So it's reasonable to expect Arujau to miss CKLV and some early-season duals anyway.

Campbell: 133lbs

Nathan Boston vs Noah Gonser

A couple transfers duking it out in the late stages of their careers. Boston is a senior who has never qualified for NCAAs, while Gonser made the national tournament for Eastern Michigan back in 2017 (may their program rest in peace).

There is the possibility one goes up to 141, as Nathan Boston wrestled there for seven matches during his redshirt freshman season at Iowa State. Gonser meanwhile has gone two years at 125 and two years at 133; Jonathan Ryan was the Camels' starter at 141 last season and is back again this year.

Penn State: 141lbs

Nick Lee vs Jarod Verkleeren

Look, this one is pure conjecture. At some point, we knew Penn State wouldn't be able to work all of these guys in, plus Nick Lee still has a redshirt he can use. Essentially, this one boils down to, is Verkleeren going 141 or 149, and does he like his chances better against Lee or Brady Berge? We haven't seen Verkleeren that low in years, and Berge still has yet to make 149 in college. But Jason Nolf will absolutely be the Nittany Lions' 157 this year, so, something's gotta give.

Iowa: 141lbs

Carter Happel vs Vince Turk vs Max Murin

Remember last season when Turk and Happel alternated duals until the end of the season? Well, add in Murin this season! A (not so) short timeline:

Turk beat Happel 6-2 in a wrestle-off on November 4. A week later, Murin beat Happel 5-2 in the Luther Open finals. Turk started the first five duals, losing to Illinois and Rider. Then Happel was injected for Maryland and Rutgers, going 1-1. 

At Midlands, Turk was unseeded and did not place. Happel finished sixth, picking up a common opponent win over Mike Van Brill of Rutgers, who had beaten Turk the previous round and avenging a loss from the dual. He lost to Murin 5-2 in that fifth-place match.

After Midlands, Turk and Happel alternated every dual. When Happel pinned returning AA Tommy Thorn, it seemed like he had taken control of the starting spot. However, Turk started the final three duals, and qualified for NCAAs without a wildcard. In Cleveland, Turk went 3-2 and lost before the bloodround. At the U.S. Open in April, Murin made the 65kg finals.