We now look at the 157 lb weight class in the NCAA Wrestling Championships, which start Thursday in Cleveland. This is yet another weight class with a Penn State wrestler ranked No. 1, and it also has the biggest question mark on Ohio State’s entire roster. What can we expect to see at this weight? Let’s dive in.
Favorites: P.J. Duke (Penn State), Antrell Taylor (Nebraska)
Duke just beat Taylor in the final of the Big Ten Championships, and the match wasn’t particularly close. However, Taylor did upset Duke back in January, which means it’s a matchup the Cornhusker can win. Duke is certainly the likelier champion from this weight class, but he’s not as prohibitive a favorite as some other Nittany Lions are.
This weight class is actually a bit wide open. No. 3 seed Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) had been the most dominant wrestler all season, until he lost the Ivy League final to Jude Swisher (Penn, seeded No. 6 at the NCAAs). No. 4 seed Kaleb Larkin (Arizona State) switched from 149 lbs mid-season, and his only loss since was a close battle with Shapiro. Kannon Webster (Illinois) is seeded No. 7 here, and he only has three real losses on the season––all very tight battles with Duke, Shapiro, and Taylor.
And then, of course, there’s Brandon Cannon.
Ohio State’s Wrestler: Brandon Cannon
Cannon is seeded No. 8 at these NCAA Championships, but that doesn’t come close to telling the whole story of his season. Cannon spent the entire season looking like a top two wrestler in this weight class. We were all expecting this to be a showdown between Ohio State and Penn State in both the Big Ten and NCAA finals (just like at 125 lbs and 133 lbs––we’ll get to those weight classes later). Then Cannon got hurt in January, and his season hasn’t been the same since.
Cannon came back for the Big Ten Championships. He didn’t look fully healthy or confident, but he had to compete there in order to qualify for the NCAAs. He was dominated by both Duke and Webster, but did finish fourth and punched his ticket to these NCAA Championships. The question is how healthy Cannon will be for these NCAAs, and what he can do if he is. He’s slated to meet Duke in the quarterfinals. If Cannon gets there and is fully healthy, we could see a great battle. If not, it’s probably a path to the wrestlebacks.
Sleepers: Ty Watters (West Virginia)
I feel like I discussed all of the major sleepers above, but there’s one more wrestler in the bottom half of the bracket to look at. Watters is a bit underseeded at No. 11. He’s better than that, and will have a chance to show it. He’s a threat to Swisher in the quarterfinals, and even if he loses I expect him to do some serious damage in the wrestlebacks.
Other Previews:
Heavyweight (Nick Feldman)
197 lbs (Luke Geog)
184 lbs (Dylan Fishback)
174 lbs (Carson Kharchla)
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: NCAA Wrestling Championships Preview: 157 lbs
Reporting by Yesh Ginsburg, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
