Rutgers wrestling will have five Scarlet Knight grapplers competing this weekend, with three of five wrestlers being seeded within the top ten of their respective weight classes. Taking the mat for Rutgers will be No. 3 Sebastian Rivera (141), No. 10 Mike Van Brill (149), No. 26 Jackson Turley (174), No. 6 John Poznanski (184), and No. 33 Billy Janzer (197).

As per every year, a quality national tournament can erase the negative memories of a rocky regular season. Rutgers went 0 – 4 in dual meet action, with five matches being cancelled due to COVID-19 complications. The shortened regular season did not allow head coach Scott Goodale and his staff to decide on an official starting lineup until the Big Ten tournament, where three weight classes had wrestle-offs prior to the conference championship for the starting job.

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Rivera, Van Brill, and Poznanski are all legitimate threats to the podium, and can score some much-needed team points for Rutgers. Of course, Rutgers wrestling will also need some help from Turley and Janzer, who are not in favorable positions to medal, but can add team points to the board if they can produce a handful of wins.

For Sebastian Rivera, this weekend is about securing the elusive national title he has been chasing since his college career began. Whereas for Mike Van Brill and John Poznanski, this tournament is about proving they belong amongst the elite in college wrestling. Ultimately, for any wrestler to reach the NCAA podium, there is a great deal of work to be done.

Sebastian Rivera’s path to the finals should ultimately be decided in a rematch with Penn State’s Nick Lee. If Rivera can make a run to the finals, he will likely face Iowa’s Jaydin Eierman, who beat Lee in this year’s Big Ten final.

Both Mike Van Brill and John Poznanski are positioned quite well in their brackets, with plenty of potential opportunities to make the top eight.

Mike Van Brill has wrestled well all season, but changed the tides in his favor this post season. Van Brill was dropping very tight matches to highly ranked opponents, but made the necessary adjustments in the Big Ten tournament to avenge former losses and upend higher seeded opponents.

For John Poznanski, the mission is simple – he must continue to do what he has done all year. Poznanski may be a true freshman, but certainly does not wrestle like one. And although experience is not on his side, he has been battle tested between both the regular season and the Big Ten tournament.

Unfortunately for Jackson Turley and Billy Janzer, their low seeds put them at an unlikely advantage to make the podium. That does not mean they cannot contribute to Rutgers’ team score with wins throughout the earlier rounds and wrestlebacks.

Turley earned his starting opportunity late in the year, but seized the chance he got with two raked wins in his first outing. Had Turley been able to keep momentum in his favor during the Big Ten tournament, he would have been seeded in a better spot. After losing his opening round match at the Big Ten tournament, Turley was pinned by Jake Allar, a foe Turley tech falled in the regular season.

For Billy Janzer, it was not so much his Big Ten tournament that hurt his seeding, as it was his entire body of work this year. Janzer went 2 – 2 in dual meet competition, with a 1 – 3 performance at the Big Ten. It was enough to get him to the dance with a wild card bid, but still not enough to position Janzer in a better spot than the last seed at 184-lbs.

This year, the tournament format will be a bit different, as there will be two sessions of five weight classes in the first three rounds. Fans can follow and watch along through the schedule below:

Thursday, 03/18

11:00 am – Session 1A ESPN 3/ESPNU

2:00 pm – Session 1B ESPN 3/ESPNU

6:00 pm – Session 2A ESPN 3/ESPN 2

9:00 pm – Session 2B ESPN 3/ESPN 2

Friday, 03/19

11:00 am – Session 3 (Quarterfinal A) ESPN 3/ESPNU

3:00 pm – Session 4 (Quarterfinal B) ESPN 3/ESPNU

8:00 pm – Session 5 (Semifinals) ESPN/ESPN 3

Saturday, 03/20

11:00 am – Session 6 (Medal Rounds) ESPN 2/ ESPN 3

7:00 pm – Session 6 (Finals) ESPN

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