The most merciful thing in the world is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

Previous Previews: 125 pounds | 133 Pounds | 141 Pounds | 149 Pounds

But we're not going to worry about the consequences of our scientific voyage of discovery. We're going to plunge headfirst in the sea of 157-pound NCAA knowledge, without regard to the terrifying consequences.  

Speaking of terrifying, Jason Nolf is no longer around to brutalize the 157-pound field. Not counting an injury default, Nolf won an astounding 84 matches in a row, going undefeated in his last three years of eligibility. 

So no Nolf, but a cavalcade of talented contenders return for another season of middleweight mayhem. 

Contenders

#1 Hayden Hidlay, North Carolina State

#2 Kaleb Young, Iowa

#3 Ryan Deakin, Northwestern

Last year's top three all graduate (#1 Nolf, #2 Tyler Berger, and #3 Alec Pantaleo), which leaves Hayden Hidlay as the preseason favorite. Hidlay won the first 26 matches of his varsity career, taking his first loss and only loss of the 2017-18 season in the 2018 NCAA finals. 

Hidlay started last season ranked #2 but an early-season loss to Larry Early knocked down his ranking and was partly to blame for him receiving the #5 seed, which meant Hidlay had to go through Nolf in the semifinals. That infamous match, which you can watch below, ultimately went Nolf's way. Hidlay won his next wrestleback match against Deakin but then fell to Pantelo to finish fourth in his sophomore campaign.

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Young and Deakin are 2A and 2B on the contenders' list. They met three times last season. Deakin won in the finals of the 56th Midlands, but Young would get his revenge twice in Pittsburgh, winning in sudden victory in both the quarterfinals and the fifth-place match. 

Hidlay has the early Vegas odds in his favor, but Young and Deakin aren't far behind. Young will have the pressure of the Hawkeyes' potential title run propelling him forward and Deakin will be looking to build off his Final X appearance over the summer. 

Other Contenders

#4 Larry Early, Old Dominion

#5 Brady Berge, Penn State

#11 Jacori Teemer, Arizona State

#18 David Carr, Iowa State

Larry Early's aforementioned victory over the preseason favorite provides evidence for his inclusion in the top tier of contenders. Eight losses on the season though drops the All-American to tier #2. Still, the senior Monarch will be expected to improve on his eighth-place finish from 2019. 

Brady Berge didn't make the podium down at 149 in his redshirt freshman campaign. The Minnesota native might be a better fit up at 157 however, and the junior freestyle junior world bronze medalist also has the benefit of another year in one of the best wrestling rooms in the country.

Jacori Teemer and David Carr are two redshirt freshmen who we think have the potential to contend for a title. Teemer finished fifth at Midlands (down at 149) and then won the National Collegiate Open at 157. Carr only dropped one match last season while redshirted, then went to Estonia and won a freestyle junior world championship at 74kg. For those reasons, we are very bullish on these two youngsters. 

Watch Carr drill live at practice over the summer:

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The Rest of the Best of the Rest

You've seen the best of the rest, now check out the rest of the best. 

#6 Eric Barone, Illinois

#7 Josh Humphreys, Lehigh

#8 Anthony Artalona, Penn

#9 Talen Rahmani, Pitt

#10 Jarrett Jacques, Missouri

Barone has a win over Young. Humphreys has beaten nearly a dozen national qualifiers including All-American Christian Pagdilao. Artalona made the bloodround as a true freshman. Rahmani also made the bloodround, though at his third NCAA tournament. Finally, Jacques had a very promising true freshman season for the Tigers.

Sneaky Blinders & Landmines

Nomad calls them "sleepers," CP and Bratke call them "sneakers," we call them "sneaky blinders" because it sounds like the show Peaky Blinders and that show rules and everyone should watch it. 

#15 Logan Parks, Central Michigan

#21 Quincy Monday, Princeton

#23 Luke Weiland, Army

Parks placed seventh at Midlands and went 1-2 at NCAAs. Logan has had close matches with some of the best in the division. He also has a very rad wolf-moon tattoo, which is worth some sleeper points. 

As the son of an Olympic gold medalist, Quincy Monday certainly has the right wrestling pedigree. He also had a solid true freshman season, placing third at EIWAs and qualifying for the NCAAs. 

Watch Monday pack NCAA qualifier Hunter Ladnier in under two minutes:

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Weiland is one of Army's six returning NCAA qualifiers on the Black Knight roster. The senior from Missouri also made a trip to nationals as a sophomore. Weiland, like most of his West Point teammates, is a tough out you do not want to see in your side of the bracket. 

New Blood

#11 Jacoori Teemer, Arizona State

#18 David Carr, Iowa State

#22 Will Lewan, Michigan

Justin McCoy, Virginia

Peyton Robb, Nebraska

Jaden Mattox, Ohio State

Mason Phillips, North Carolina

Kendall Coleman, Purdue

157 is a very young weight class, with only eight seniors currently ranked in the top 25 (compared to 15 seniors at 149 and 13 at 165). It's also tied with 125 in having the most ranked freshmen at three. Expect that number to increase as the season progresses. 

Besides Teemer and Carr, who we've already covered, Michigan's Will Lewan snuck into the rankings after a quality true freshman campaign on a redshirt. Other blue blood programs feature blue-chip talent in their first varsity season. McCoy, Robb, Mattox, Phillips, and Coleman all have the potential to earn a ranking, if not an All-American medal. 

Key Dates

Friday, November 15: Old Dominion at NC State

Will Larry Early be able to replicate his early-season upset over Hayden Hidaly from 2018?

Friday, November 22: Penn State at Arizona State

A very tough early test for both Jacori Teemer and Brady Berge. It doesn't get much easier for Berge next week, either, when he is scheduled to wrestle Lehigh's Josh Humphreys in Bethlehem. 

Sunday, November 24: Iowa at Iowa State

How real of a deal is David Carr? We'll find out when he wrestles All-American Kaleb Young in Ames. 

Friday-Saturday, December 6-7: Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

This tourney should appear as a key date in every weight class preview, as this event is a veritable beast, likely to feature more All-Americans than any other tournaments save the NCAAs and maybe Big Tens. Slated to participate in Vegas are #1 Hidlay, #3 Deakin, #11 Teemer, #13 Thomas, #17 LaPrade, #18 Carr, #22 Lewan, and unranked freshmen McCoy, Mattox, and Robb.

Monday-Tuesday, December 30-31: The 57th Midlands Championships

Another rematch of Deakin vs Young in the finals perhaps? Throw in Barone, Artalona, Hartman, and many more and you've got a killer bracket for the prestigious annual midwest tournament. 

Friday, January 31: Penn State at Iowa

Young vs Berge but just, in general, this dual meet is going to be out-of-control bonkers entertainment. 

Thursday, February 20: Lehigh at Penn

EIWA and NCAA seeding will be on the line when Artalona and Humphreys are scheduled to clash. 

Spey's Spredictions

1) Hayden Hidlay, NC State

2) Ryan Deakin, Northwestern

3) Kaleb Young, Iowa

4) David Carr, Iowa State

5) Brady Berge, Penn State

6) Anthony Artalona, Penn

7) Josh Humphreys, Lehigh

8) Jacori Teemer, Arizona State

R12) Eric Barone, Illinois

R12) Larry Early, Old Dominion

R12) Zach Hartman, Bucknell

R12) Jarrett Jacques, Missouri

Unlike the coward Daniel Nomad, we predict bloodrounders in these previews.

There is a lot of talent at 157, as is usually the case with middleweights. This year the second and third tiers seem unusually deep, at least at the preseason mark, so we expect to be proven wrong many times in our predictions. 

At the top, we think it's finally Hidlay's year to climb to the top of the podium, giving Wolfpack head coach Pat Popolizio his third national champion (after Gwiazdowski and Macchiavello). We think Deakin inches past Young in the semifinals, although it could just as easily go the other way, as it did twice in Pittsburgh. 

We're pretty bullish on junior world champ David Carr, so much so that fourth feels too low. Carr may very well win the whole dang thing and it would not surprise us in the slightest. 

The bottom half is all freshmen or sophomores, who we think will conspire to deny seniors Barone and Early an All-American medal in their final attempt. Harman and Jacques round out the top 12 with more youth. 

We hope you've enjoyed correlating all the disassociated knowledge regarding the 157-pound weight class this impending NCAA season. In any event, we at least didn't find the new vistas of reality we opened up to be too terrifying. Nomad tackles 165 on Monday. We will see you on Tuesday for 174!