By Justin Worsley
At 6 p.m., the road to the National Championship was unveiled for 330 lucky college wrestlers. The 33-man bracket had little difficulty or controversial seeding issues, and as usual the Big Ten conference dominated to seeding, grabbing 11 wrestlers who are seeded in the top three of their weight classes, including four top seeds. The Big XII conference isn't far behind with seven wrestlers who have earned top three seeds.
One of the most anticipated finals that could happen is in the 149 weight class where Iowa's Brent Metcalf, a wrestler seen by many as the nation's greatest, is seeded second over Ohio State's Lance Palmer. Metcalf earned a 3-1 decision over Palmer earlier in the season, however, Palmer got his revenge in the Big Ten tournament final, where he dominated Metcalf for a 9-3 decision.
Metcalf was on fire all of last season until the national finals, where he was shocked by N.C. State's Darrion Caldwell. Caldwell sat out this season due to a shoulder injury.
Along with Caldwell, defending 157-pound champion Jordan Burroughs will also be forced to sit out this post-season after tearing his PCL and LCL during a December match against Steve Brown of Central Michigan.
In a season dominated by underclassmen, five wrestlers will defend their national title. Cornell's Troy Nickerson is seeded second at the 125-pound weight class behind Indiana's undefeated Angel Escobedo. Escobedo earned a win by injury default over Nickerson in the Southern Scuffle tournament finals.
Michigan State's Frankie Gomez has taken the third seed at the 133-pound weight class after being upset in the Big Ten Conference Championships by Iowa's Daniel Dennis. Gomez and Dennis, the second seed, could meet again in the semifinals.
Edinboro's Jarrod King won the title at 165 last season and is currently the second seed behind Wisconsin's undefeated Andrew Howe. King's only loss this season was to seventh-seeded Rick Schmelyun of Bloomsburg, who dominated King 15-2 in the semifinals of the Southern Scuffle.
Jake Varner showed no signs of rust all season as he went 26-0, cruising to a top seed in the 197-pound weight class, where he was crown champion last year. The Iowa State wrestler could face a very tough Lamar Brown from Rutgers early in the tournament, however, he is heavily favored to repeat his title reign.
After winning the heavyweight title last season in a bracket filled with upsets, Missouri's Mark Ellis failed to impress during his senior season, losing ten matches and opening the way for conference rival David Zabriskie from Iowa State to claim to top seed of the tournament. Zabriskie, who has defeated Ellis three times this season, was the top seed last season, however, was upset in the semifinals by Duke's Konrad Dudziak. Zabriskie finished fifth last season.
The NCAA national wrestling tournament being on Thursday, Mar 18 in Omaha. For more information, including tournament brackets, visit ncaa.com
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