Earlier this afternoon came the news that for the first time in history, all 10 Boise State wrestlers would be competing at the NCAA National Championships in Philadelphia. Now the Broncos must go out and prove that the respect was earned. At times in the last few years, several of the Broncos have wrestled very tentatively when they get to this level. It is obvious to fans but by now it should also be obvious to them that wrestling tentatively is the quickest way to get beat, get injured, or both. You have to go all out and wrestle aggressively to do well.
The Championships begin Thursday, March 17 with the early matches. I have shown the first-round matches for each of the 10 Broncos below.
125--Alan Bartelli. Bartelli is unseeded despite an impressive late-season run that included a third-place finish in the prestigious Pac-10 Conference Championship. Not only that, they put him against #8 Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma in his first match. Patterson was the Big 12 Champion last year and the runner-up this season. He has a record of 25-7. The respect given the Bronco team in general did not translate to Bartelli. Prove 'em wrong, Alan!
133--Andrew Hochstrasser. Andrew drew the #2 seed at 133 pounds, which is about where he has been all season long. "Hoch" will face Nathan McCormick of Missouri in the opening round. McCormick came in third at the Big 12 Championships. McCormick is 21-13 on the season.
141--Levi Jones. Despite being nationally-ranked all season, Jones has to wrestle in the "pigtail" match against Corey Manson of Cornell. I want to mention that Cornell is the favorite for the national title. Boise State has aspirations of that title. You can see where I'm going when I say that this match, even though it is a pigtail match, is pretty important in the team standings. Manson is 24-15 this year.
149--Jason Chamberlain. Chamberlain could have been higher possibly if he had done a bit better in the Pac-10 Championships. As it is, he is seeded #6 and will face Dane Johnston of Pittsburgh, who is 16-16 this year.
157--Adam Hall. Hall draws the #1 seed at 157 pounds. He will face another Cornell wrestler, D.J. Meagher. Again the huge importance of coming out strong to not allow a Cornell wrestler (or anyone for that matter) to shock him in overtime. It makes one wonder why they put a 19-4 wrestler against Hall in the first match.
165--Kurt Swartz. The older Swartz may not have gotten here were it not for a fantastic Pac-10 Championship win. He will face #4 Josh Asper of Maryland in the opening round. Asper was the runner-up in the Atlantic Coast Conference last year and captured the championship this season.
174--Jake Swartz. Jacob of course was one of three Broncos named today to the at-large pool. Two brothers competing at the same time in the National Championships; it doesn't get much better than that. He will face Matt Fullowan of F & M.
184--Kirk Smith. Well, here's the biggest question mark. He only wrestled 10 times this season to protect an earlier injury, then gets hurt against Oklahoma State in the final regular season match. Only Kirk knows how well he can do, but he did not look good at all when he left the mat in Corvallis. He opens with Duke's Diego Bencomo, who went 21-13 in getting second place in the ACC.
197--Matt Casperson. Matt received an invite as well to Philadelphia this afternoon. In my mind, someone who is glad to be invited is going to be more loose than someone who is a high seed. Hopefully "Casp" will surprise the field. He'll take on #8 Zac Thomusseit of Pittsburgh in the first round. Thomusseit was the Eastern Wrestling League runner-up last season who this season has a record of 21-3.
285--J.T. Felix. Felix is one of the surprises of the team, but not because he was invited today. Rather, J.T. went out and finished second at the Pac-10 Championships to get the automatic berth. He likely would not be going if it weren't for that. If Felix can continue to surprise, he would greatly improve Boise State's team chances. Felix squares off against Dominique Bradley of Missouri in the opening round. Bradley enters the match with a record of 22-3.
So there you have it. History. But to be honest, history is made more by what you do in particular situations. The Broncos are fortunate to all be wrestling in Philadelphia, but life is what you make of the moment. And that chapter will be written by their performance in the Championships.
Good luck to Coach Greg Randall and the Boise State Broncos--make us proud!!
This blog will have constant updates so stay tuned.
(Click on story link for the complete NCAA Wrestling brackets.)
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