Let's pretend for a minute that our hearts weren’t ripped out of our collective chests and the announcements from the NCAA had stopped after we were told there would be no fans. What would have happened at the NCAA wrestling tournament if it had gone on as scheduled? 

Well, it’s funny you should ask . . . 

[Insert Wayne’s World dream sequence GIF]

Wow, what an incredible first session at the NCAA wrestling tournament! Thanks for coming here to FloWrestling for all your results! Let’s recap the action-packed start to the crown jewel of college wrestling!

First we have to mention the setup. I think we need to start mixing in football stadiums regularly. It really adds a nice bit of flavor to the constant complaining about how the arenas are too small. Now they’re too big! We’re going to Goldilocks this thing eventually. Until then it should be noted that, as far as being televised, the football field made for an excellent viewing experience.

Our first taste of wrestling was the pigtail round. It was a relatively uneventful affair outside of at 125, where the Cornell legal team really threw their weight around after it appeared that Dominc LaJoie had lost on a controversial push out stalling call, pushing the Big Red competitor into a match with Spencer Lee.

Once we made it to the Championship Proper round, Spencer Lee again proved the Wrestling Nomad to be quite the wrestling soothsayer as he scored zero points in the third period while techfalling the legal eagle LaJoie in a minute and 45 seconds of action. The biggest upset at 125 came when Joe Manchio stunned the crowd by beating ACC champion Jakob Camacho. There was also a slight upset when Jack Medley of Michigan said Thank You For Your Service (TYFYS) to Trey Chalifoux of Army by letting him advance to the second round. The most exciting match in the next round, for however long it lasts, could be Lee vs pinning savant Jacob Schwarm.

At 133 we mostly went chalk, outside of Noah Gosner out of Campbell being stunned by Todd Small from Iowa State. In a stunning fall, Anthony Madrigal from Oklahoma stunned one-time top-10-ranked Taylor Lamont of Utah Valley. It should not be forgotten that Lamont actually got this spot by putting on a mask and robbing Lucas Seibert of West Virginia. In the next round, I’m looking forward to Ridge Lovett and Chaz Tucker as well as Austin DeSanto and Cam Sykora, but I think the most exciting matchup may actually be Seth Gross vs superfrosh Mosha Schwartz. Mosha’s body type can match some of Gross’ physical advantages, and he’s looked better and better as the year has gone on.

As we made our way to 141 lbs., the only upset on paper we had was Lock Haven’s Kyle Shoop upending UNI’s Michael Blockhus. The most exciting match at this weight was a spirited Sa’Derian Perry coming up just short in his upset bid over Real Woods, but Woods prevailed in overtime. We have not been able to confirm if Grant Leeth was required to weigh in with his neck brace. Strap yourselves in or Round 3 of Max Murin and Mitch McKee.

The 149 lb weight class is probably the best Round 1 from a matchup perspective and has our first top-five seed go down. Winners in parentheses, but DiBlasi-Parriott (Pariott), Purinton-Rohlfing (Purinton), Thomsen-Andonian (Thomsen), Prince-Mauller (Prince!), Alirez-Verkleeren (Alirez), Thomas-Kolodzik (Kolodzik), and Lee-Martin (Lee) is a frisky set of matches for the first freaking round. I have Brock Mauller saying TYFYS to Jared Prince as Prince moves on to Round 2 in a stunner and Brayton Lee devouring the turkey sandwich from Wisconsin with a barrage of late takedowns to come from behind. In Round 2, the matchup I’m most interested to see is going to be superfrosh Sammy Sasso vs superfrosh Andrew Alirez in an alliterative battle for the ages.

At 157 we had two big upsets with Eric Barone and Taleb Rahmani defeating Josh Humphreys and Will Lewan, respectively. Otherwise we were mostly chalk, but I anticipate a wild Round 2 in this weight, notably with Peyton Robb coming up against Jesse Dellavecchia. Now, obviously I can’t predict the future, but I think there may be an upset brewing in that match. (Spoiler alert.)

165 pounds went completely to chalk, although Shane Griffith of Stanford continued refusing to wrestle the top guys at the weight. Wrestle Vincenzo Joseph in Round 1, you coward! In Round 2, matches to watch include Isaiah White vs Ethan Smith, which was a barnburner at the dual, David McFadden vs Thomas Bullard (my favorite prop bet of Round 1 is what will be higher: David McFadden escape points vs Thomas Bullard leg attacks), and Kennedy “I could literally do anything from pin Joseph to get pinned in 30 seconds” Monday v. Vincenzo Joseph.

The 174-pound weight class is one of a few that has a presumed top two. Neither guy is tested in Round 1. This weight had both Joey Gunther, Gregg Harvey, and Daniel Bullard both showing that they do not “Support the Troops” as they advanced to Round 2 over military opponents. Connor Flynn had the biggest upset when he beat Iowa State Cyclone Sammy Colbray.

Many see the 184-pound weight class as having the widest range of possible champions, but Round 1 stayed almost entirely chalk. The only slight upset was Owen Webster upending Zach Braunagel of Illinois. The most interesting moment at this weight came when Marcus Coleman seemed confused when Nino Bonaccorsi stepped on the mat and, when the whistle blew, Bonaccorsi started wrestling instead of forfeiting after one second. The best matchup in Round 2 will be trying to figure out if Abe Assad can finally figure out the puzzle that is Cam Caffey’s leg defense.

197 pounds is bringing us into the homestretch for the first session. Ben Darmstadt survived a strong effort from Hunter Ritter, and Lucas Davison had to go all the way to rideouts to beat Jake Woodley but otherwise we were all chalk. Round 2 is going to have some insane matchups with Moore-Pagano, Norfleet-Brucki, Warner-Traxler, Lane-Darmstadt, Sloan-Brunner, and Davison-Adams. Methinks we’re going to see some wild results in this weight.

Heavyweight is going to be an interesting weight to see how it plays out . . . outside of the top two, which seems pretty set in stone. Cassioppi pinning Andrew Gunning was big for the team race, but the most interesting moment for us was when Gable Steveson nearly got himself pinned when he turned his back on Max Ihry with four seconds left to finish off a 15-second choreographed dance routine he had planned to celebrate his victory. Going forward, Jordan Wood vs Tate Orndorph and Gary Traub vs Cassioppi are intriguing, but I’m most excited by seeing Josh Hokit vs Matt Stencel!

Thanks for sticking with us for your (fake) NCAA tournament recap. See you after tonight’s session!