Why You Should Be Watching College Wrestling Tonight
Why You Should Be Watching College Wrestling Tonight
Five reasons you should be watching the first two duals of the college wrestling season tonight Live on Flo.
The college season is finally here, and the very first two dual meets of the year will be LIVE on FloWrestling tonight!
Watch Northern Colorado at West Virginia
Morgantown, WV | 7:00 PM Eastern
Coming first is a Big 12 dual: Northern Colorado at West Virginia at 7pm eastern time. Coming right after that is Buffalo at Wisconsin, which starts at 8pm eastern time. Skip Thursday Night Football, and catch up with your favorite show later on Netflix or Hulu, 'cause college wrestling is back, baby!
Madison, WI | 8:00 PM Eastern
Fans of both teams will be tuning in no matter what, but why should you, John or Jane Doe wrestling fan, be watching? Glad you asked. Here are five reasons to watch a few hours of college wrestling tonight.
1) New Eras In Morgantown And Madison
Two of the highest profile moves of the offseason were Tim Flynn taking over at West Virginia and Chris Bono grabbing the reins in Wisconsin. In just a few hours, we'll get our first look at their new teams, both against coaches who have pushed their programs to new heights in the time they've been there.
In early April, Flynn left Edinboro after 21 season to become the Mountaineers head coach. The thinking is that if he can coach three individual NCAA champions and finish third as a team at Edinboro, then who knows what he can do with Big 12 resources at WVU.
Likewise, Bono carried South Dakota State to a 12th place showing last year (finishing ahead of Oklahoma State), buoyed by Seth Gross, the first national titleist in program history. Less than a week later, he was named head coach of the Badgers.
Buffalo at Wisconsin Video Archive
2) Ranked Matchups In Both Duals
Not only will it be nice to see college wrestling once again, but we'll see some high profile matchups that will already have seeding implications for the 2019 NCAA tournament in Pittsburgh. Remember, all 33 qualified wrestlers in each weight class will be seeded this year.
In the first dual, senior Rico Montoya of Northern Colorado is ranked 14th and sophomore Matthew Schmitt of West Virginia is ranked 19th at 133 pounds. The two split last season, with Montoya taking an 8-5 win in Greeley, and Schmitt winning 9-2 at Big 12s, which you can watch below.
In the battle between the Bulls and the Badgers, three-time NCAA qualifier Bryan Lantry of Buffalo is ranked 14th after bumping up to 141 and taking on 16th ranked transfer Tristan Moran of Wisconsin. This one is especially intriguing considering Lantry was a 133 last season and Moran was a 157. Speaking of transfers...
3) New Blood All Around
All four schools wrestling tonight on Flo will have unfamiliar faces in the lineup. Buffalo's got a transfer at 165 in Troy Keller, along with redshirt freshman Jake Lanning at 174 and new starter Logan Rill at 184. Opposite them are transfers Connor Brown at 125 and Moran at 141 for the Badgers, as well as new starters Mason Reinhardt at 184, Brady Wetter at 197, and Trent Hillger at 285. Yes, not only are the coaches new, but half of the Wisconsin lineup were not starters for them a year ago.
Northern Colorado has four new starters, which includes Mason Hulse at 149, Jordan Robison at 157, Macoy Flanagan at 165, and Dalton Robertson at 184. West Virginia replaced Zeke Moisey with Pitt transfer KJ Fenstermacher at 125, and Big Board freshmen Josh Ramirez at 174 and Noah Adams at 197 make their varsity debuts this evening.
4) The Cradle Machine Evan Wick
Look, there's 20 matches happening tonight. But only one features a #2 ranked wrestler who finished third at NCAAs last season. He scored 18.5 team points in Cleveland and had five pins on the year. There will be many good wrestlers on your laptop/phone/tablet/Roku/Apple TV tonight, but Wick might just be the best of all of them.
5) College Wrestling Is Back
It's been 229 days since the last Division 1 match. Seriously, that's the only reason you really need.
Northern Colorado at West Virginia Projected Lineups
125: Sean Cannon (Northern Colorado) vs. KJ Fenstermacher (WVU)
133: Rico Montoya (Northern Colorado) vs. Matt Schmitt (WVU)
141: Owen Lamb (Northern Colorado) vs. Joe Wheeling (WVU)
149: Mason Hulse (Northern Colorado) vs. Christian Monserrat (WVU)
157: Jordan Robinson (Northern Colorado) vs. Zach Moore (WVU)
165: Macoy Flanagan (Northern Colorado) vs. Nick Kiussis (WVU)
174: Sethan Bogulski (Northern Colorado) vs. Josh Ramirez (WVU)
184: Dalton Robertson (Northern Colorado) vs. Jackson Moomau (WVU)
197: Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado) vs. Noah Adams (WVU)
285: Robert Winters (Northern Colorado) vs. David Smith (WVU)
Buffalo at Wisconsin Projected Lineups
125: Kyle Akins (Buffalo) vs. Conner Brown (Wisconsin)
133: Derek Spann (Buffalo) vs. Jens Lantz (Wisconsin)
141: Bryan Lantry (Buffalo) vs. Tristan Moran (Wisconsin)
149: Jason Estevez/Kyle Todrank (Buffalo) vs. Cole Martin (Wisconsin)
157: Alex Smythe (Buffalo) vs. Zander Wick (Wisconsin)
165: Troy Keller (Buffalo) vs. #2 Evan Wick (Wisconsin)
174: Jake Lanning (Buffalo) vs. Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin)
184: Logan Rill (Buffalo) vs. Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin)
197: Sam Schuyler/Brett Perry (Buffalo) vs. Brady Wetter (Wisconsin)
285: Jake Gunning (Buffalo) vs. Trent Hillger (Wisconsin)