2018 Confidence Picks presented by Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans

NCAA Wrestling Opening Weekend Confidence Picks

NCAA Wrestling Opening Weekend Confidence Picks

It's opening weekend for NCAA wrestling! Here are our confidence picks presented by Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans.

Nov 1, 2018 by Andrew Spey
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We've waited long enough. The season is finally here. The NCAA Division I wrestling season will finally kick things off with a tremendous slate of opening weekend action. 

You can watch five DI duals LIVE on FloWrestling. Here's at least one thing from each dual we're confident you'll see. 

Confidence Picks presented by Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans

Northern Colorado at West Virginia

  • West Virginia's redshirt freshman Noah Adams will start his varsity career off with a bang. The 197-pound blue-chip recruit will likely have the very solid veteran Jacob Seeley as his first opponent. 
  • #14 Rico Montoya of Northern Colorado and #19 Matt Schmitt will have the first battle between ranked wrestlers of the year at 133 pounds. 

Buffalo at Wisconsin

  • Second-ranked Evan Wick will slap in a cradle at some point in his match. Evan is approximately eleven feet tall, making it difficult for the average 165-pounder to stop his cradles. 
  • Wisconsin coaches will jump around. Head coach Chris Bono and assistant coaches Jon Reader and Matt McDonough constitute one of the most animated staffs in college wrestling. 
  • Buffalo's Alex Smythe will turn some heads. Perhaps one of the most unknown studs in the NCAA, Smythe begins what could be his breakout year in Madison, Wisconsin. 

Ohio State vs. Navy

  • Myles Martin will win his first match of what could be an undefeated senior season. As of the preseason, Martin will be a favorite in every match he wrestlers at 184 pounds. 
  • Navy's lower weights will scrap. At 141 and 149, Navy has Nicholas Gil and Jared Prince, two unranked but tough as nails competitors who will give their ranked Buckeye counterparts all they wanted and then some. 

Rutgers vs, Fresno State

  • We will find out what weight Nick Suriano will wrestle. At least to begin the season. Rutgers' national finalist will take the mat at either 125 or 133, setting up a whole season of storylines at either weight class. 

Northwestern at North Dakota State

  • Both teams will unveil a blue-chip stud in the lighter weights. Yayha Thomas for Northwestern and Jaden Van Maanen of North Dakota State, at 141 and 149-pounds respectively, will make their varsity debuts in the season opener for both teams.