Southern Scuffle could feature trio of No. 1 vs. No. 2 meetings

By Mike Finn, WIN Editor

The 2015 Defense Soap and Flips Southern Scuffle will be held in Chattanooga, Tenn., Jan. 1-2, and could set up a trio of No. 1 vs. No. 2 meetings of ranked wrestlers.

Those three weights are:

• 165 — No. 1 Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State vs. No. 2 Nick Sulzer of Virginia: Dieringer is the defending national champ at 157 pounds in the NCAAs and Scuffle, while Sulzer finished fourth nationally last year at 165.
• 184 — No. 1 Max Thomusseit of Pittsburgh vs. No. 2 Gabe Dean of Cornell: Thomusseit, who redshirted last season, moved up to the top spot in WIN’s rankings after Dean lost two matches at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Dec. 5-6. Dean, who finished third in last year’s NCAAs, made a national name for himself in last year’s Scuffle when he handed Penn State’s Ed Ruth — the eventual three-time NCAA champ — his only loss in three years.
• 197 — No. 1 J’den Cox of Missouri vs. No. 2 Kyven Gadson of Iowa State: Cox, who has seen some action at heavyweight this season, is the defending national champ at 197 pounds. Gadson, who finished fourth in 2014 Nationals, moved up to No. 2 when the Cyclone defeated Minnesota’s Scott Schiller at the CKLV Invite.

Other Notes:

• Two other former Scuffle champions return: Cornell’s Nahshon Garrett (125), who finished second in the NCAAs; Missouri’s Drake Houdashelt (149).
• The Scuffle, which is in its 12^th year, began at the University of North Carolina Greensboro in 2003, but moved to the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2011 when Greensboro dropped its program.
• Only four different teams have won the Southern Scuffle: Cornell (2008, 2009 & 2010 (tie), Minnesota (2004, 2005 & 2007), Missouri (2003 & 2006) and Penn State (2010 (tie), 2012, 2013 & 2014). All but Minnesota — which chose to wrestle in Hawaii, Dec. 30 — are in this year’s field.
• Appalachian State, Duke, N.C. State, North Carolina, The Citadel and Virginia are the only teams that have competed in the Southern Scuffle every year since it began in 2003.

2015 Southern Scuffle Pre-seeds and WIN’s Rankings

 125:

1. Nahshon Garrett- Cornell (2^nd)
2. Alan Waters- Missouri (3^rd)
3. Jordan Conaway- Penn State (7^th)
4. Tyler Cox- Wyoming (10^th)
5. Darian Cruz- Lehigh (NR)
6. Eddie Klimara- Oklahoma State (9^th)
7. Evan Silver- Stanford (11^th)
8. Trey Andrews- Northern Colorado (NR)
9. Tim Lambert- Nebraska (17^th)
10. Max Soria- Buffalo (18^th)
11. Sean Boyle- Chattanooga (20^th)
12. Dalton Macri- Unattached (NR)

133:

1. Jimmy Gulibon- Penn State (7^th)
2. Mason Beckman- Lehigh (5^th)
3. Rossi Bruno- Michigan (9^th)
4. George DiCamillo- Virginia (12^th)
5. Earl Hall- Iowa State (15^th)
6. Nick Soto- Chattanooga (20^th)
7. Mark Grey- Cornell (NR)
8. Mackenzie McGuire- Kent State (17^th)
9. Kevin Devoy- Drexel (19^th)
10. Matt Manley- Missouri (18^th)
11. Troy Heilmann- North Carolina (NR)
12. Gary Wayne Harding- Oklahoma State (NR)

 141:

1. Lavion Mayes- Missouri (6^th)
2. Zach Horan- Central Michigan (7^th)
3. Geo Martinez- Boise State (14^th)
4. Joe Spisak- Virginia (18^th)
5. Joey Ward- North Carolina (NR)
6. Anthony Abidin- Nebraska (NR)
7. Randy Cruz- Lehigh (16^th)
8. Dean Heil- Oklahoma State (12^th)
9. Tyler Small- Kent State (NR)
10. Dante Rodriguez- Iowa State (NR)
11. David Pearce- Drexel (NR)
12. Brandon Gambucci- Duke (NR)

 149:

1. Josh Kindig- Oklahoma State (2^nd)
2. Drake Houdashelt- Missouri (3^rd)
3. Dylan Cottrell- Appalachian State (10^th)
4. Gus Sako- Virginia (11^th)
5. Alec Pantaleo- Michigan (13^th)
6. Gabe Moreno- Iowa State (12^th)
7. Edgar Bright – Pittsburgh (NR)
8. Zach Beitz- Penn State (15^th)
9. Michael DePalma- Kent State (NR)
10. Luke Frey- Penn State (NR)
11. Mike Racciato- Pittsburgh (18^th)
12. Shawn Greevy – Chattanooga (NR)

157:

1. James Green- Nebraska (2^nd)
2. Ian Miller- Kent State (3^rd)
3. Brian Realbuto- Cornell (4^th)
4. Mitch Minotti- Lehigh (NR)
5. Dylan Alton- Penn State (NR)
6. Joseph LaValle- Missouri (7^th)
7. Russell Parsons – Army (11^th)
8. Anthony Collica- Oklahoma State (14^th)
9. Steven Hernandez- Boise State (20^th)
10. Brian Murphy- Michigan (17^th)
11. Tommy Gantt- North Carolina State (NR)
12. Immanuel Kerr-Brown- Duke (13^th)

165:

1. Alex Dieringer- Oklahoma State (1^st)
2. Nick Sulzer- Virginia (2^nd)
3. Dylan Palacio- Cornell (5^th)
4. Jim Wilson- Stanford (13^th)
5. Peyton Walsh- Navy (14^th)
6. Mike England- Missouri (NR)
7. Austin Trott- Gardner Webb (NR)
8. Austin Wilson- Nebraska (18^th)
9. Dakota Friesth- Wyoming (NR)
10. Chandler Smith- Army (NR)
11. Elton Ramos- North Carolina (NR)
12. Chandler Rogers- Oklahoma State (NR)

174:

1. Robert Kokesh- Nebraska (1^st)
2. Matt Brown- Penn State (4^th)
3. Tyler Wilps- Pittsburgh (5^th)
4. Tanner Weatherman- Iowa State (6^th)
5. John Eblen- Missouri (NR)
6. Andy McCulley- Wyoming (17^th)
7. Jordan Rogers- Oklahoma State (19^th)
8. Keaton Subjeck- Stanford (15^th)
9. Brian Crutchmer- Oklahoma State (NR)
10. John Staudenmayer- North Carolina (NR)
11. Bo Nickal- Penn State (NR)
12. George Pickett- Cornell (NR)

184:

1. Gabe Dean- Cornell (2^nd)
2. Max Thomusseit- Pittsburgh (1^st)
3. Nate Brown- Lehigh (5^th)
4. Willie Miklus- Missouri (19^th)
5. Nolan Boyd- Oklahoma State (11^th)
6. Matt McCutcheon- Penn State (NR)
7. Ben Stroh- Wyoming (NR)
8. Dominic Abounader- Michigan (17^th)
9. Timothy Dudley- Nebraska (NR)
10. Jacob Kasper- Duke (NR)
11. James Suvak- Virginia (NR)
12. John Lampe – Chattanooga (NR)

197:

1. J’den Cox- Missouri (1^st)
2. Kyven Gadson- Iowa State (2^nd)
3. Conner Hartmann- Duke (5^th)
4. Morgan McIntosh- Penn State (6^th)
5. Max Huntley- Michigan (8^th)
6. Nick Bonaccorsi- Pittsburgh (17^th)
7. Elliot RIddick- Lehigh (14^th)
8. Shane Woods- Wyoming (11^th)
9. Zach Nye- Virginia (19^th)
10. Jace Bennett- Cornell (15^th)
11. Bryce Barnes- Army (NR)
12. Cole Baxter- Kent State (NR)

285:

1. Austin Marsden- Oklahoma State (4^th)
2. Jimmy Lawson- Penn State (7^th)
3. Adam Coon- Michigan (5^th)
4. Denzel Dejournette- Appalachian State (10^th)
5. Riley Shaw- Cleveland State (19^th)
6. Jon Gingrich- Penn State (NR)
7. Devin Mellon- Missouri (14^th)
8. Collin Jensen- Nebraska (18^th)
9. Nathan Butler- Stanford (NR)
10. Josh Marchok- Stanford (NR)
11. Tanner Harms- Wyoming (NR)
12. Ethan Hayes- Virginia (NR)