The Lions' Pride

The finals will start at 174, sets up the match of the year to finish the tourney...
Taylor vs Dake!

Definitely not common, I can't remember when they haven't started at 125. They obviously realize the anticipation by fans to see Taylor vs Dake! Guessing television played a major role with this decision.

I believe Kilgore from Kenn State.

At least Pearsall and Lawson got pretty winnable first round matchups considering they're unseeded. That's nice.

Here's a statement about the ordering, gotta let the wife know not to expect me to do anything around the house around that time ...

That press release might as well just say "Dake v. Taylor is best for ratings, so it will be last."

Waters beat McD of IA 4-0 when McD was #1. The kid is 29-0 with some other quality wins.

Couple thoughts:

125 - I'm sort of glad that Nico is #4 and not #2 or #3 ... If he gets that far (I fully expect it) I'd rather have him go up against Waters a guys he hasn't faced compared to McD or Delgado. Thorn actually isn't the pushover I'd want to wrestle in the first round (speaking of waters) ... then again Rappo (PA boy) could beat Thorn. Garnet scares me, but faith in our boy Nico!!!

133 - Stiebers to lose, IMO ... Ramos is good, but can Steiber actually lose a match? I think it's a tough draw for Conaway. He can be wreckless at time, but is also very streaky. I want two wins out of him, period.

141 - Class seems loaded with names I've seen come through high school. Personally like Mitchell Port, but again this is all about Stieber and Maple ... hopefully they both make it to the finals because that should be some great fun. I'm sort of surprised Maple wasn't #1, but he may have gotten the better draw.

149 - Really need Andrew Alton to make a run, he might have to be a wrestleback terror. I'd sort of feel bad if Oliver didn't win it, but who knows. I'm surprised to see Villalonga have the season he did ... just expected more I guess.

157 - How would you like to be Derek St. John? David Taylor at your weight first year, Kyle Dake the next ... they each move up and boom you weight class gets a bit deeper. The top group is close. I don't know whether DSJ will end up being labeling national champion or the guy that will always fall short. Dylan needs to beat the guys he has actually already beaten or wrestled this year. He gets to the Welch match and that's a win, but we still need him to carry on through wrestlebacks should he lose.

165 - Dake vs. Taylor obviously, but Yates from VT is no slouch ... not sure he is on the same level as the other two, but he should be one heck of a primer for DT. I actually like Dake as a wrestler and a person, watching some intereviews, etc ... but I want our guy to give him a loss to end his amazing career on. Dake win 18 pins on the year ... wow.

174 - Justin said it ... Matt Brown #2? Holy crap ... that's wonderful, congrats to Matt. The Asper guy out of MD is good and I'm happy to know that if Brown advances through he will get the winner of Evans and Storley (assuming they both go through). Storley dropped considerably with his less than glorious showing at the BIG TEN championships. That's gonna leave a mark. Brown has a pretty good draw, time to capitalize.

184 -RRUUUTTTHHH. Pretty familiar names, Bosak, Hamlin, Steinhaus. Ruth should roll to the finals and hopefully is getting tons of bonus points. I expect him to win it all and he is just a couple points better than his field. Should make for some great matches at this weight though.L

197 - I think the good news is that Kilgore hasn't had a close match in a few months. Dude has been wrecking folks. It should end up being a great finals assuming Kilgore and Q meet up. Andrew Campollattano wrestled Kilgore 4 times so far this year. My sleeper would have been Nathan Burak of Iowa, but he got the worst draw. I'm glad Q gets Wilps and not Hernandez.

HWT - Lawson hopefully wins one and then win another in the wrestlebacks. I think Tony Nelson should have been the #1, returning national champ, tough conference, etc. I'd like to see Dom Bradley wrestle though, I feel like he would be fun to watch. Feels like Ben Apland has been around forever ... he has essentially be Michigans version of Cam Wade (Wade did fare a good bit better in his career though).

I believe, Wilps also defeated (maybe pinned) Q this season. I was hoping to only seeing him in the final.

Wilps pinned Q at the All Star Classic.

While I agree we shouldn't be putting any weight into the first exhibition match of the season, Q telling you he's gonna pin someone and then doing it also doesn't give me any extra confidence. I just think he's the better wrestler by a good bit and will win.

I know that, Nit. I don't put any stock into that match. I agree with you saying he was trying new things, and I really don't think he was too concerned with winning or losing. My previous post was just to point out that Wilp's pin over Q was in an exhibition match.