D1 Roster Battles: 184-285
D1 Roster Battles: 184-285
Six roster battles at 184, 197, and 285lbs that we're looking forward to as the Division 1 season approaches.
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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 already beginning to ramp up, and will feature depth charts, potential NCAA brackets, lineup looks, and redshirt reports. As part of the leadup to a few of those, here are a few roster battles to keep an eye on during the 2018-19 preseason.
This series will be broken up into three parts, and we finish it off with the upperweights at 184, 197, and 285lbs.
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys just have to be mentioned in every roster battle article, because they have so many options between 125 and 184. For more on that, here is my deep dive into their depth chart. It boils down to, what weights do Joseph Smith, Chandler Rogers, and Jacobe Smith go? If none of them go 184, then Edinboro transfer Dakota Geer will be the guy.
Missouri, 184lbs
Dylan Wisman vs Canten Marriott
Wisman only wrestled in one tournament last year, but was the Tigers’ starter at 174 in 2017. He did not end up qualifying as a redshirt freshman, but Marriott was able to last year at 184. Wisman went 14-11 and had wins over a couple All-Americans the year he started, beating Brandon Womack and Kyle Crutchmer, while Marriott’s best win during his 26-8 campaign last year came over Chip Ness.
Coming out of high school, Virginia native Wisman was the more highly regarded prospect, being #40 on the 2015 Big Board. However, size and injuries could mean that Marriott is the favorite. With the loss of Willie Miklus, Mizzou will need whomever takes over this spot to step up in a big way.
Minnesota, 197lbs
Will Balow vs Dylan Anderson vs Bobby Steveson
Balow has wrestled just one dual in his career, and that was in January of 2016, and he only wrestled in one tournament last year. Entering his redshirt sophomore year, Anderson was the starter for all of the second half of last season, but went 2-9 to end the year, including going 0-2 at Big Tens. Steveson is the only NCAA qualifier of the group, having made the big show in 2017 down at 184, and was the most highly touted recruit coming out of high school. The post Scott Schiller/Brett Pfarr era has not been kind so far to the Gophers.
Lehigh, 197lbs
Chris Weiler vs Kyle Gentile vs Jake Jakobsen
Weiler is absolutely the front-runner, but I felt compelled to mention 197 for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh has been known to have 2s and 3s that are usually among the best backups in the country. Gentile started nine duals in 2017 and was their representative at EIWAs that year. Jakobsen challenged for the starting spot last year, but eventually lost out to Weiler. However, Jakobsen did go 5-3 in duals with a win over Frank Mattiace. Half of Weiler's wins came by bonus, he placed at the Southern Scuffle, and made it to the Round of 12 at NCAAs.
Penn State, 285lbs
Anthony Cassar vs Nick Nevills
Talk about a fascinating transition in the back third of the Penn State lineup. Indications as of now are that Shakur Rasheed is going 184, switching with Bo Nickal who will be 197. Instead of Cassar battling for the 197 spot as he did last year, he is getting bigger and heading up to heavyweight. The Nittany Lions already have a two-time AA in Nevills, so the expectation for Cassar if he wants the spot is that he has to place at NCAAs. We've seen 197s bump up to heavyweight and excel before, so it's not super far fetched to think Cassar could have success.
Virginia Tech, 285lbs
John Borst vs Billy Miller
The plan for Virginia Tech at 197 and 285 has changed drastically over the past few seasons. Andrew Dunn replaced three-time All-American Ty Walz last season and qualified for NCAAs but is no longer on the roster. Jared Haught made the NCAA finals in March to finish his career as a three-time AA, and the plan initially seemed to be to slot in John Borst at 197. But then Tom Sleigh transferred in from Bucknell, and the plan changed to Borst going heavyweight. After that, Billy Miller transferred in from Edinboro. Additionally, the Hokies have true freshman Dakota Howard at 197. So it seems that Borst will get a shot against Miller to be the heavyweight, but Sleigh will be the guy at 197 and Howard will come off redshirt next year and compete for that weight.
