2018-19 Redshirt Report: 133 Pounds
2018-19 Redshirt Report: 133 Pounds
The 133 pound redshirt report takes a look at impact guys coming off redshirt or injury or who working their way into the starting lineup.
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Are you wearing your best red colored shirt right now? If not, that's ok, but we'll still be pressing on with Redshirt Report season!
For the fourth year in a row, FloWrestling will be doing a weight-by-weight breakdown of the best guys who did not wrestle last season. The word "redshirt" is being used as a catch-all term for pretty much every good non-starter from a year ago. This includes actual redshirts, injuries, and a few who just couldn't crack the starting lineup.
Previous Redshirt Reports
Some weights will have more names than others, because not every weight is created equal. That is the case at 133, which will be a little shorter than the list we put out for 125lbs.
Keep your eyes peeled for more NCAA content this summer in the leadup to what promises to be an excellent 2018-19 season. On to the monsters about to impact the Division 1 landscape this year at 133 pounds.
Austin Gomez, Iowa State
You can’t take much from Gomez’s redshirt season, other than that he is more than capable of teching non-D1 guys. In winning the 61kg Junior world team spot though, he did pick up wins over Sawyer Degen and Trey Chalifoux at the U.S. Open, and then Vito Arujau twice in the Trials finals. All of them have been in college rooms for a year.
He took just two losses over the final two years of his high school career, one to Tyler Eischens and one to Joey Silva, and finished out as a three-time Illinois big school state champ. The guys he beat in the finals: Jason Renteria, Tony Madrigal, and Kendall Coleman. Gomez’s pace is going to be an issue for his opponents all year long, and it will be fun to track how often he scores off short offense in the third period.
Vito Arujau, Cornell
Arujau greyshirted this past season and competed for Finger Lakes WC. Vito did not compete much, winning the Cleveland State Open over Micky Phillippi and losing a goofy finals match in the Bearcat Open to Cam Kelly. In freestyle, he made the JR finals opposite Gomez and then won the U23 spot over Roman Bravo-Young.
I’ve long said Vito is underrated because he’s best friends with Yianni. Meanwhile, he’s a Super 32 champ, a Cadet world silver medalist, and has a laundry list of wins over current or soon to be college starters. However, with U23 worlds happening in November, don't be surprised if we don't see Arujau wrestle in any duals until January.
Micky Phillippi, Pittsburgh
After transferring from Virginia, Phillippi sat behind Dom Forys last year. With Forys graduated, Phillippi now assumes the starting spot for the Panthers with three years of eligibility left. It took him a year and a half, but his most recent folkstyle tournament was the best of his career. At Midlands, he picked up wins over Phillip Laux, Ben Thornton, Korbin Myers, and Dylan Duncan en route to a fourth place finish.
The #16 recruit from 2016 Big Board, he still has plenty of time left in college to get back on that type of place and end his career with multiple podium finishes. To do that, he'll have to learn to beat the likes of Nick Piccininni and Sean Fausz, the two guys he lost to at U23s that kept him from placing there.
Gary Wayne Harding, North Carolina
An under the radar transfer was that of Harding to UNC to finish out his career. Last year, he beat NCAA qualifiers Corey Keener and Rico Montoya at the Southern Scuffle, and was an NCAA qualifier himself in 2015 and 2016. He backed up Kaid Brock all of last season, and missed 2017 with an injury.
He won't put up a lot of bonus point wins, but he'll compete hard and ride you like a dog. Harding being the Tar Heel's 133 also gives Zach Sherman an opportunity to redshirt this season. The question becomes, how much can his 133lb national championship winning coaches in Coleman Scott and Tony Ramos impact Harding's big game in just one season?
Cole Manley, Lock Haven
The FloNats champ had a solid but unspectacular redshirt year at Virginia Tech. Now closer to home at Lock Haven, he'll be in a fight for the Bald Eagles' 133 spot with DJ Fehlman. His 14-4 record spanned four tournaments: the Hokie Open (1st), Wolfpack Open (5th), Storm Open (3rd) and Southern Scuffle (DNP). Manley should try to learn from Ronnie Perry, because that's the type of career I'd be looking to take after if I was in Manley's position right now.
Justin Mejia, Fresno State
If anyone had a more long and drawn out recruiting process AFTER high school than Mejia, I'd like to know who they are. The four-time Cali state champ is back home after bouncing between commitments to Iowa and Illinois, never enrolling or wrestling for either school. Depending on how much the Bulldogs coaching staff offered him, he's a potential low risk, high reward guy. His results nationally were never as impressive as the clear reign he had over the Golden State, so it remains to be seen if Mejia was just a very good high school wrestler, or a guy who can make waves on the college level in the right situation.