Sammy Alvarez has recently announced himself as one of the top 133-pounders in the country. Jordan Decatur just notched his first ranked win since having his redshirt pulled. The two will meet on Friday night in a Covelli Center dual.

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The landscape at 133 has shifted quite a bit in the last few days as Sammy Alvarez's results have been much improved and Jordan Decatur's redshirt has been pulled.

A season ago, Alvarez and Decatur were capping off their high school careers in New Jersey and Ohio, respectively. Alvarez was the #34 recruit in the class of 2019 while Decatur was #5. Now, a year later, both true freshmen have worked their way onto the starting lineup and into the national conversation.

Jordan Decatur's first event of the season was the Cleveland State Open where he went 4-1 at 141, including a loss to the home team's #23 Evan Cheek. Over the weekend, his redshirt was pulled and he won the F&M Open.

Last night, Decatur made his dual meet debut against #15 Josh Kramer of Arizona State. The match was tied headed into the third period with Decatur on bottom. He earned the escape, not an inevitability for a true freshman, and then iced the match with a late takedown. The win would be big for the team who edged ASU by just one point.

133 LBS

Jordan Decatur def. #15 Josh Kramer | D, 5-3

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— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) January 7, 2020

Despite Decatur's sterling debut, Sammy Alvarez had a better weekend. Alvarez entered the Southern Scuffle as the fifth seed with a 10-4 record but won the whole bracket.

Alvarez had two top-eight wins along the way taking out then #5 Micky Phillippi of Pitt in the semis before upsetting then-#8 Cam Sykora in the finals. These are two massive wins that change the way the rest of the nation's 133-pounders have to approach Alvarez moving forward. 

Alvarez's results this season, like Decatur's, have improved as he has gained experience. After the Southern Scuffle finals, he talked about the consistency that has contributed to his progression

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The performances of these freshmen set up an intriguing matchup for Friday night's dual between Rutgers and Ohio State. The Big Ten already has the top four wrestlers in the country in Seth Gross, Austin DeSanto, Sebastian Rivera, and Roman Bravo-Young, and Travis Piotrowski sits at #8. That depth just expanded after Alvarez and Decatur's weekend performances. 

In addition to their importance in the 133-pound field, the success of Decatur and Alvarez will be important to Ohio State and Rutgers. Ohio State is currently ranked fourth in an incredibly tight team race. Good results from Decatur could help their bid for a top-four trophy immensely. 

Alvarez is developing a leadership role for a young Rutgers squad. The Scarlet Knights are coming off a season where they saw the first two NCAA champions in program history. Now without either of those two in the lineup, Alvarez's success suggests that Rutgers is still on track.

This is a matchup we didn't know we would see a week ago. Now it's a must-watch. It will be fascinating to see how these two stack up in Columbus on Friday.