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2016 NCAA Preview: 165 pounds
Notable 165-Pounders to Watch
Editor’s Note: Due to press deadlines, the following profiles of WIN’s ranked wrestlers were written prior to the NCAA qualifying tournaments.
2015-16 Head-to-Head Matchups of Top 10 165
Updated 2016 NCAA Brackets
1. Alex Dieringer, Oklahoma State, Senior, Port Washington, Wisc.
NCAA Resume: 15-1 (3rd, 1st, 1st) in three tournaments — The only time this Cowboy lost in the nationals was a 3-2 tiebreakers against Iowa’s Derek St. John in the 157-pound semifinals of the 2013 NCAAs. Otherwise, Dieringer has won 12 straight bouts since then, including a third-place victory over Northern Iowa’s David Bonin in 2013 and a 2014 championship over Minnesota’s Dylan Ness (13-4) before moving up to 165 last year and a 14-7 victory over Indiana’s Taylor Walsh for a second straight title.
2. Isaac Jordan, Wisconsin, Junior, Urbana, Ohio
NCAA Resume: 8-4 (7th, 7th) in two tournaments — The only differences in the Badger’s two national appearances was that he competed at 157 pounds and seeded No. 5 in 2014 and wrestled at 165 as a No. 3 seed last March. Otherwise, Jordan lost a quarterfinal bout each NCAA and settled for seventh place; beat Stanford’s Jim Wilson in 2014 and Rutgers’ Anthony Perrotti last March.
3. Bo Jordan, Ohio State, Sophomore, St. Paris, Ohio
NCAA Resume: 5-1 (3rd) in one tournament — Seeded fifth a year ago, the Buckeye won three straight bouts, including a quarterfinal pin against Northern Iowa’s Cooper Moore, before losing 6-1 to eventual champ Alex Dieringer. Once in consolation, Jordan beat Virginia’s Nick Sulzer and Jackson Morse to claim third.
4. Stephen Rodrigues, Illinois, Senior, Mt. Kisco, N.Y.
NCAA Resume: 1-4 in two tournaments — This Illini was unseeded at 141 in both nationals with his only win coming last March in a consolation bout against Bucknell’s Tyler Smith.
5. Daniel Lewis, Missouri, RS Freshman, Blue Springs, Mo.
NCAA Resume: first tournament
Other notable wrestlers in alphabetical order:
• Injuries limited Cooper Moore of Northern Iowa to just 17 matches before the MAC tournament as he ended the regular season on a five-match winning streak, including an avenging victory over Iowa State’s Tanner Weatherman on Feb. 5. In last year’s NCAAs, the Panther scored pins in his first two bouts, including a second-round fall over fourth-seed Nick Sulzer of Virginia.
• Rutgers Anthony Perrotti became the school’s All-American since 2002 when he claimed eighth place after winning three consolation bouts, including a 10-second fall against Oregon State’s R.J. Pena and a R12 win over Boston U’s sixth-seed Nestor Taffur. That NCAA magic did not continue last year when the Scarlet Knight went 0-2 in St. Louis. Now in his final year, Perrotti stood 20-3 before the Big Tens. That included a 1:35 pin over Midlands champ Chad Welch of Purdue.
• Max Rohskopf of NC State is a big reason the Wolfpack are challenging the elite teams this season as this junior from Killbuck, Ohio, has only seen half as much action compared to last season when he finished 25-16 (1-2 at the NCAAs), but his 13-1 mark this season prior to the ACCs including a 15-0 technical fall against Virginia Tech’s Dave McFadden. Rohskopf did not give up many points this winter, as seven of his decisions were shutouts.
• Iowa State’s Tanner Weatherman has qualified for the NCAAs in each of his first three seasons, but is still searching for his first All-American honor after losing in the Round of 12 the past two seasons.
• Chad Welch is one of three brothers who wrestle for Purdue, but this Boilermaker became his school’s second Midlands champ and first since Dave Gibson in 1963 when he pinned Iowa State’s Tanner Weatherman in the finals. After going 51-46 the past three years — which garnered him an NCAA berth in 2014 and ‘15 — the native of Newburgh, Ind., stood 26-5 before this year’s Big Tens.