With the 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships coming up this weekend, Rivals wrestling analyst Lex Knapp has decided to go one by one in each weight class offering his predictions and a breakdown of the top and bottom halves of the bracket.
With that being said, let's take a look at the 157-pound bracket.
THE TOP SEED -- David Carr (Iowa State)
THE DARK HORSE -- No. 6 Austin O'Connor (UNC)
THE SCARLET KNIGHT – N/A
TOP HALF OF THE BRACKET.....
Returning champion, David Carr, comes in at the one seed, and is the guy to beat if you want to make it out of the top side of the bracket. There is a slew of talent up top, that makes this one of the more competitive brackets, and a very tough bracket to predict. The Big Ten is well represented, as Brady Berge (PSU), Kaleb Young (Iowa), and Will Lewan (Mich) all reside up top, with the possibility of Young and Lewan meeting each other in the pre-quarters. The seeding committee certainly was not kind to Berge, who drew the 16th seed, and will face Carr if he makes the pre-quarters. My sleeper on this side of the bracket is No. 5 Quincy Monday, the 20 – 3 junior from Princeton. Monday’s three losses this season are to the the two, three, and four seeds in the bracket, all of which were within a few points. I like Monday to avenge his loss against No. 4 Ed Scott, and meet Carr in the semi’s where he will have his hands full. Monday is a top talent, but Carr is on another level, making David Carr my pick to make it to the finals out of the top-half of the bracket.
BOTTOM HALF OF BRACKET.....
The second seed, Ryan Deakin, has been within a fingertip away of that elusive national title he is chasing. Could this be his year? If it is, he has plenty of work to do before making the finals. Jacori Teemer has established himself as one of the top guys at 157-lbs, after placing 4th at the 2021 NCAA championships. There is no question that Teemer is capable of making a run to the finals if he is wrestling well. Teemer could se a very tough quarter-final, with either Jared Franek or 149-lb NCAA champion, Austin O’Connor. O’Connor, who is seeded 11th, is someone who could blow up this bracket, and make the finals as a double-digit seed. I do like O’Connor to pull the upset over Franek, but I have the seeds holding for the two and three, with a Teemer – Deakin semi-final. Teemer was edge 1 – 0 by Deakin in the 3rd place bout of last year’s tournament, making this a very difficult match to pick. I am giving a slight edge to Deakin, with him facing Carr in the finals.
PREDICTIONS.....
1. Carr (Iowa State)
2. Deakin (Northwestern)
3. Teemer (ASU)
4. Monday (Princeton)
5. Scott (NC State)
6. O’Connor (North Carolina)
7. Humphreys (Lehigh)
8. Lewan (Michigan)
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