The Missouri Open (Tiger Style Invite) Preview (Part Two)

For the first part of the preview, scroll down the blog a little. There, you'll get the teams involved, ticket and streaming information, site of the tournament, and a preview of the individual matchups from 125 to 157.

MARYLAND'S WRESTLING OUTFITS

They aren't singlets. They aren't really standard two-piece wrestling wear. I don't know what to call them. Maybe Sorority lounge wear? If the bottoms managed to grip the legs instead of dangle around, like 1980 gym shorts, perhaps I wouldn't imagine a comely Kappa Delta sorority sister wearing them while eating popcorn and doing homework. The first time I saw those sexy satin shorts, I looked for a pink teddy bear embroidered on the back and a ΚΔ on the front. They are festooned with Maryland's awful colors. 

They couldn't be more awful. 

You'd think a team that is already saddled with the name "Maryland"--not only derived from a girl--but also from a girl who was queen of England--would go with something less suggestive of a college girl slumber party. Wouldn't you? WOULDN'T YOU?

165  Danny Braunagel. 

Little Brawny had a nice runnerup finish at the MSU Open. He'll have a big test in Missouri. Keegan O'Toole is 45-1 in his career with  third- and first-place finishes at the NCAA tournament. As long as you don't fall for one of his cradles, a wrestler like the Brawlnagel can keep it close with the Tiger, and then who knows what can happen? O'Toole has one match under his belt this year, a major decision over a Division Two Lindenwood wrestler. 

So, it may be that he's not quite in the flow? 

Legend Lamer is #16 on wrestlestat.com, and he's qualified for two NCAA tournaments and has a Round of 16. The Cal Poly standout has not wrestled this year so far, and, most importantly, he was at 149 last season. How does he handle somebody bigger and stronger than he is? He will likely be on Danny's side of the bracket, so we should find out. 

Evan Barczak is #24 at wrestlestat.com, which might make him Drexel's second best wrestler. He's a two-time NCAA qualifier, and this is his sixth year in college. He has a pretty nice 83-48 career record that includes a win over John Martin Best of Maryland, who is #45, and will be at the Tiger Invite. This is Martin Best's first year starting after a 5-4 true freshman campaign. He's not beaten anybody of note, and his last match was a one-point win over #161. Still, he has kept decision losses to two points against Peyton Mocco and Jake Wentzel, two grapplers who are top ten talent. Drexel's starter is at #55, but he had a losing record last season. 

174  Edmond Ruth, Trey Sizemore & Caden Ernd.

The ILLINI have an embarrassment of riches at this weight. All won multiple matches at the MSU Open, and Ruth finished in third. This bracket will present severe tests for the ILLINI. Michael O'Malley of Drexel is their best wrestler, sporting a #7 ranking, three NCAA berths, a Round of 12 and a Round of 16. He's the least talked-about #7 wrestler in the country. He's also a pinner, and he's beaten some very solid names. THE ILLINI MUST STAY AWAY FROM O'MALLEY'S TWO OVERHOOKS. He will use them for inside trips and hip tosses. He pinned Gerrit Nijenhuis with them as well as a couple of folks at the NCAA tournament. 

The Missouri Tigers will bring Peyton Mocco at #10, a three-time qualifier and a Round of 12er. Danny Braunagel has a 1-0 record against Mocco, with the 11-5 win coming in the 2020-2021 season. Dominic Solis is the #58 guy from Maryland. He started for them last year and finished with a 15-17 record. He did beat DJ Shannon at the B1G Championships. Cal Poly's Brawley Lamer is at #85 having wrestled one match this year: A 2-8 loss to the #76 wrestler. Brawley has a losing career mark. 

184  Dylan Connell.

The MSU Open wasn't quite the start that Dylan wanted, but he still ended up with a winning record, and his wrestlestat.com rating jumped up after he dismantled #41 Jack Jessen of Northwestern. Of course, whenever Northwestern loses, or when you read about Northwestern losing, or even if you just think about it, drink a beer. That's the rule. 

Get with the program!

It seems that Mizzou is stocked to the brim with blue chip 184ers. Sean Harman is their starter. He wrestled at 174 last year and recorded a nice 20-7 record that included dual wins over Dustin Plott and Hayden Hastings. The Tigers also have the #32 wrestler as a backup and then there's true freshman Clayton Whiting, who beat Abe Assad last year while he was still in high school. 

I knew that Bernie Truax had moved up to 197, so I thought Dylan would catch a break against Cal Poly, but it isn't as big a break as I had thought. They have the #22 wrestler at the weight in Adam Kemp, who wrestled at 174 last year. This fellow won a match against the #19-rated wrestler at last season's NCAA tournament. Interestingly, he beat Foca, Kauffman and Fisher during the season, but lost to Ethan Smith and DJ Shannon by one point. Strange!

Maryland's starter is at #111, but Brian Bonino of Drexel is #37, and he's been a starter for four years now, yet still sports a losing 38-41 career ledger. The Little Rock starter is at #143. There doesn't seem to be any physically over-powering wrestlers here except for the true freshman Whiting, who looks like a 197 pounder. This should give Dylan the opportunity to work his clean technique. 

197  Zac Braunagel, JoJo "Bulldog" Braunagel, Isiah Pettigrew & Chase Waggoner.

The ILLINI have a full team of exciting wrestlers at this weight. It was a joy to watch each of them at the MSU Open. Of course, Zac Braunagel had the big "upset" win over returning All American Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State. The Brawlnagel has jumped up to #6 on wrestlestat.com. This talented ILLINI crew will get a SERIOUS test at the Missouri Open. 

Start off with Intermat's #4 and #5 wrestlers in Rocky Elam of Missouri and Bernie Truax of Cal Poly. Then, add in #25 Jaxon Smith of Maryland. Throw in the Brawlnagel, and you have a massive set of semifinals. My guess is that Zac would get a rematch with Bernie Truax in that slate of semis. The ILLINI lost to Truax twice last season at the ILLINOIS Matmen Open with the best result being a 1-6 decision. We should get to see if he has something new planned for that long drink of water from Cal Poly. 

The Drexel wrestler at this weight is dropping down from heavyweight, so a matchup with him could show us how Zac is gonna deal with the fatties at 197. O'Malley is in his fourth year starting but has a career 33-39 record. Little Rock has a freshman who'll probably redshirt this year, and who is already #61 on wrestlestat.com with a 2-1 record. He beat #59 Levi Hopkins of Campbell 9-5 and lost by major to Yonger Bastida. He could be pretty decent. 

285  Matt Wroblewski, Mike Bosco & Daniel Renshaw.

Last week, the heavyweights at the MSU Open were measured by Michigan's Mason Parris. This week, at the Tiger Style Invite, the one doing the measuring will be #6 Zach Elam. This is his fifth year at Mizzou and fourth year starting. Surpisingly, he has two Round of 12s, but no AAs. It hurts to run into Tony Cassioppi and Trent Hilger in blood round matches. Elam got off to a quick start this season with a nine-second pin of the Lindenwood heavyweight. Missouri has a passle of backup heavyweights they can enter here including Ryan Boersma and three others. 

Maryland also has five 285ers on the roster led by #13 Jaron Smith, brother of the 197 pounder. The Terp is in his eighth year at Maryland. He had a decent 20-15 record last season that saw him make the Big Dance. WroboCop is 0-3 against him, with the decisions becoming increasingly worse from a one-point loss to a 0-9 major. 

Cal Poly has the #49 wrestler who moved up from 197 two years ago. This is his first year starting. Little Rock has the #50 guy who's in his second year of varsity and is a pinner. Drexel's guy is at #113. So, given all of that, it seems there will be a full range of skills and abilities present for the ILLINI big guys to test themselves.