National Duals weekend is kind of the halfway mark at least in my opinion of the season, and stuff has been wild so far. Just some long, rambling, assorted thoughts on the action we've seen at the ten weights so far.
125: I personally think Ness, Donahoe, and Escobedo are the class of the weight here, and the three do have a history with each other. Donahoe and Escobedo have only wrestled once, Donahoe won. Ness and Escobedo split last year, and with his win today Ness is now 3-1 lifetime over Donahoe. Guys like Precin, and
Charlie Falck are definitely capable of getting up there too, but as of right now I just haven't seen it yet.
133: The first of several weights that are all kinds of jumbled up. Kicking off the season Ruggirello was looking like he wanted to try and run away with things, but he's cooled off. Scott has probably established himself as the guy to beat here, but guys like Ruggirello, Reiter, Gomez, Grey, Kennedy, and Slaton have shown themselves as dangerous competitors for him here too. Scott gassed bad when he was trying to go for the major against Slaton, and thats kind of been a thing for certain OK State lightweights. Having
John Smith in his corner gives him a big advantage though.
141: Another weight where no one knows much. Russell got knocked off twice this weekend, Griffin has been beaten, Strayer got knocked off and may not even be the best 141 pounder on his own team, Mendes is still undefeated, but save for Rivera to the best of my knowledge off the top of my head he really hasn't wrestled anyone yet. Speaking of Rivera he's now up to two matches lost when healthy over the last two years. Morgan, like his teammate Scott will definitely be there, and Ryan Lang still may make his way back down here. I like Morgan and Rivera here.
149: Maybe the toughest weight in the country headlined by the Evil Boring Ducking Staller and The God of Wrestling, but the top ten here is absolutely ridiculous. O'Connor, Jenkins, Burroughs, Palmer, Rowe, Churella, Caldwell, and as of right now Lang. Regardless, I still think Dustin takes it here, prospective matches between him and
Metcalf, and him and Caldwell are still up there as probably top 5 for the rest of the season.
157: Poeta looks tough. Henning hasn't seemed to have wrestled a whole, whole lot, his biggest match this year was probably the decision he dropped in the Vegas semi's to Poeta, but as a returning finalist he deserves his props. CP can beat anyone here if he wrestles, it really makes me laugh as a fan of his to watch him sometimes. He dillydallies and dances around for a minute and a half, then forces his left underhook in and takes people down EASILY. Gillespie has dropped tough matches to CP, and to Poeta, but he's great from every position, and I think he manages to sneak back into the semi's come tourney time.
165: Still Perry, and Tann's weight to lose. Perry has dropped some matches he shouldn't, but he always seems to bring it come tournament time, and Tann is just so solid. Guys like Lewnes, and Marable specifically have flown under the radar up to top 5 rankings. I think Sponseller from Ohio State is the best true freshman in the country and winds up somewhere on the AA list.
174: This is
Keith Gavin's weight to lose. Beyond him, Borschel has knocked off a bunch of the top guys, but he's also dropped several himself to Mason, and Dretsch just off the top of my head. Luke, and Sinnott are both very tough, as is
Brandon Browne. Lucas has some big wins this year, but he always seems to keep matches close, and hasn't shown himself as adept at winning the close ones as some others have.
184: Unless someone can figure out a way to deal with Varner's brickwall strategy and take him down when he just stands in the middle because he's so big and strong you can't move him then this is probably Varner's weight to lose. Something is wrong with Kish, go ahead and call me sour grape eating, bitter Gopher fan, but the Kish that I've watched this weekend, and really in any of his matches so far this year hasn't been the same guy that was just mauling people last year. Sinnott, Pucillo, and Todd have shown themselves to be consistent performers,
Raymond Jordan, and
Vince Jones are as well when they're healthy.
197: Glenn, and Davis are absolute monsters. This is probably the second toughest weight save for 149, and the situations are actually pretty comparable, you've got the big two who sit on the top, and then a murderers row going down the list. Tamillow is deservedly ranked #3 and wrestling with Herbert all the time has paid off big for him. He's improved a ton over the last two years. You've got two former NCAA #1 seeds in Michalak, and Askren. Then guys like Flaggert who always seems to beat Michalak, Brester, Taylor, and Herbst who absolutely woodshedded Askren in the Vegas finals.
285: I keep saying that I think Bergman wins this weight, but
Dustin Fox with his victory over him this weekend has established himself as the guy who deserves the #1 ranking for now. Big Ed has shown flashes, but he also may not even be the best heavy on his own team. Dlagnev pwns everyone here anyway though.
Seasons Half Gone: Reflections on The Ten Weights 
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