JensenS

Now we come upon what should almost assuredly be the toughest weight in the conference next year.

157

Illinois
Kyle Dooley: I've already noted that this weight is going to be the toughest in the conference and the possibility exists should Illinois decide not to redshirt Jackson Morse and use him here instead that the weight could possibly become even tougher. As it is Dooley is a solid guy here but probably not someone who is going to set the world on fire.

Indiana
Kurt Kinser: Seems like Kinser has been around forever. Its interesting to think back on him when he was a freshman and remember that he was the guy who went to NCAA's ahead of Tyler Safratowich after he pulled a big upset in the first round at Big 10's over Ryan Lang. With Kinser you basically know what you're getting after all these years. He's going to be a guy that goes out and gets after guys with his hand fighting. He's going to look to throw his lefty headlock although he didn't get it as much last year as he did the first two and then he's going to be good enough on the mat.

Iowa
Derek St. John: I had spent most of the off season assuming that St. John would be up at 165 based off some interviews/testimonies that I'd read earlier in the spring but word now apparently is that he'll be down at 157 at least for this year. He came out last year and was kind of up and down as a redshirt. Pretty sure (going off memory) that he actually won the "wrestle offs" when they were held. He then came out and dropped some matches early in the year including to his teammate Matt Ballweg who he had defeated during wrestle offs. Had his best go of things at Midlands where he got on the podium and had a headline win over Salazar when he majored him 9-0. He's someone who Iowa people like to hold up as typifying the aggressive style that they like and in watching his freestyle matches this spring he does like to get after it.

Michigan
Aaron Hynes: Hynes comes back down to 157 after bumping up last year in order to make space in the line up for redshirt freshman Dan Yates. In looking at his record last year (14-19) in comparison to two years ago I think its safe to say that he's probably better served down here. He has some history with a few of the guys in this weight class wrestling Kinser and Welch two years ago and getting beaten badly by Sponseller last year. He's a solid wrestler who will seemingly do well back down at this weight.

Michigan State
Anthony Jones: I've read that Jones may possibly take a redshirt this year and if that does wind up being the case I think it would serve him well, but we'll continue on here as if he's wrestling. I came into the year last year with Jones as my super ultra mega sleeper and suffice it to say at least for the early part of the year he didn't even remotely fulfill my expectations. He struggled. Things though for whatever reason really came together for him at Big 10's and NCAA's as he placed 3rd or 4th at Big 10's and then made the Round of 12 at NCAA's recording two wins over Kinser at Big 10's and a fall over Bryce Saddoris at NCAA's.

Minnesota
Jake Deitchler: Deitchler was a major league tease for Gopher fans last year. Coming into the year I and all other Gopher fans were very excited to see him out at the 157 spot. Injuries kept him out of the early part of the year before he came out at the Midlands and made a definite impact in his only competition of the year where he won several matches before getting turned like a door knob by Jake Patacsil. Once he made it into the consolations he actually pinned All American Steve Brown. Then after Midlands we didn't see him again because he was declared ineligible due to benefits he got while wrestling Greco. Now he's back with a full four years of eligibility and if he's able to keep himself healthy this year he should be a very solid contributor for the Gophers.

Northwestern
Jason Welch: I'm wondering how many people actually remember that Jason Welch was a Big 10 finalist two years ago as a true freshman? Even for me personally it seems like that happened about a thousand years ago. Welch redshirted last year and to the best of my knowledge didn't wrestle a folkstyle match, then came out during the spring and was dispatched pretty easily in freestyle matches including a match against St. John where he was beaten badly. Those who read this board knows that I put a lot of stock in freestyle results with exceptions. Jason Welch is one of my exceptions because he's a guy that has been bad at freestyle ever since he was in high school he's just never seemed to click there. He'd have periods two years ago where he'd wrestle a little too wide open and it would come back and bite him. If he's cleaned that up he'll go far this year.

Ohio State
Colt Sponseller: Sponseller comes in this year looking to avoid becoming the ignominious answer to the trivia question "Best guy never to be an All American" and in attempting to avoid that fate is dropping down to 157. He's a guy who's wrestling style has really changed from his first season and a half in the line up in comparison to the last year and a half that he's wrestled. Up until about the middle of his sophomore year he was a wild man, he'd put up a lot of points against pretty much everyone utilizing his gas tank to try and wear people down but he'd also give up a lot of points against pretty much everyone. Since the middle part of his sophomore year he's adopted a more controlled wrestling style against higher level opponents where he still wrestles a physical brawling style but he doesn't take as many risks as he once did. For the most part its served him well. His one weakness since he's been in the line up has been from the bottom. Whether that is a result of just having a hard time getting away from big guys or from some technical deficiency, I guess this season will tell us.

Penn State
David Taylor: I think in Mr. Taylor we've got our early season favorite for the most polarizing wrestler in the nation not named Jordan Oliver. While Oliver is a guy who is hated for being a "staller" (the Dustin Schlatter as it were) I think Taylor is going to be the guy who people turn against because how much his fans love him and talk about him (the Brent Metcalf). I say this recognizing the fact that when you read down a few more lines you'll see that I'm part of or will be part of the supposed problem. I think Taylor is going to be tough next year. Watching him last year as a redshirt and looking at his match results you could see that he already had the ability to ride and turn guys the one question would be how he'd be able to handle neutral. In my opinion his efforts this spring wrestling freestyle have answered that question. He looked smooth in the matches I saw even with the rules not really allowing him to utilize his scrambling ability. Its going to be fun to watch this guy this year.

Purdue
Colton Salazar: Salazar came out last year early in the year and put up the high profile early upsets when he knocked off Kinser and Saddoris en route to winning the Spartan Open. For most of the rest of the year he was kind of quiet. As I mentioned he took a beating from a redshirting St. John at Midlands. He's a guy like Anthony Jones though who peaked at the end of the year as he actually wound up as a Big 10 finalist. Just an all around solid guy.

Wisconsin
Kalvin York: York comes in this year for the Badgers after going 3-4 as a redshirt last season. Like Kyle Dooley he's a guy who may have a little bit of a rough go of things wrestling in this particular weight class.

Best Freshman
David Taylor: My pick to win, that makes it pretty easy to discern that he's also going to be the best freshman. Just a very complete wrestler. Ability on top will allow him to steal points and/or shorten matches if it comes to a point where he needs to do that. As it is I think he's tough enough on the feet to where he'll be able to put points up there and won't have to rely on just his top skills.

Most Improved
Jason Welch: Welch had two problems during his true freshman year. One of which I've already talked about, his tendency to wrestle just a little too wide open. The other one was the fact that he just didn't seem physically developed yet when you watched him wrestling against older guys. Even if he just fixes one of those issues that should be enough to make him the most improved guy, I personally expect him to have fixed both of them.

Conference Final
David Taylor v. Colt Sponseller

Full
1. David Taylor
2. Colt Sponseller
3. Jason Welch
4. Jake Deitchler
5. Derek St. John
6. Colton Salazar
7. Kurt Kinser
8. Anthony Jones
9. Aaron Hynes
10. Kalvin York
11. Kyle Dooley

NCAA Qualifiers: Taylor, Sponseller, Welch, Deitchler, St. John, Salazar, Kinser, Jones