This is where things will get interesting.

I never usually take a lot of stock in the first day at the championships. I just want to see as many of our guys advance through the bracket as possible. I don't care about the standings on Thursday. But Friday is where things start forming into shape.

- Action gets going at 11 AM eastern. Same format as yesterday with the "split" sessions. 125-157 quarters and wrestlebacks goes first. 165-285 quarters and wrestlebacks start at 3 PM eastern. There are 4 quarterfinal matches and 12 consi matches at each weight this morning and then semis and bloodround matches (all-american round, round of 12, it's got a bunch of names) will be this evening. Only main bracket matches this morning will decide AAs. Consi matches tonight will decide AAs.

- Last time we had five guys advance to the quarters was 2017 (Dance, Chishko, Epperly, Haught, Walz). It was also the last year we had five AAs (Dance, Chishko, Haught, Walz, Mastriani). If Friday morning doesn't go according to plan, don't panic. Our guys that are in the quarters drop back to the consis and need to win just one match to place.

- I replied to someone about this last night but, as we get into placement territory, here's how the scoring breaks down, using Latona as an example: if Sam wins his match this morning, he will get an advancement point (plus any bonus points) AND six additional points for placement. As a semifinalist, he cannot earn any lower than six points for his team. Again, Friday is where you'll see team scores go all over the place. It's best to evaluate at the end of the session once the dust settles. Not it in real time.

Placement Points
1st.16
2nd..12
3rd10
4th..9
5th..7
6th..6
7th..4
8th..3

Bonus Points
Major Decision..1
Tech Fall..1.5
Fall, Default
Forfeit, DQ..2

- The 2017 team placed 6th, 2018 we placed 8th (pins in placement matches from Haught and McFadden helped greatly), 2019 we placed 11th, one point behind Nebraska for 10th (if McFadden had one one more match on the frontside or if Mekhi had gotten the major over Joseph we'd be talking about a tie but, hey, I think we'll take a natty and OW!). If we want to place in the top 10 with three AAs, a finalist will help. Mekhi scored 23 points for us in 2019 (a little more than half of our team score which was 44). But, we'll know more after this session.

- Lamont will be tough matchup for Latona. Don't just look at the singlet that says Utah Valley. This kid is a junior who has one loss on the season to Teske of UNI in the finals at B12s. A win could setup Latona-Camacho IV in folkstyle. A loss and he'll probably face the winner of DeAugustino (Northwestern) and Cronin (Nebraska).

- Schmitt from Mizzou is another tough guy (who from Mizzou isn't). Lost his first match of the season to Price from SDSU (who Korbin just beat) but won out the rest of the season. Schmitt is a junior.

- Bryce will also face a tough Mizzou guy in Mauller. Handled his MAC schedule the whole season. A win with a chance to face O'Connor again is the best case scenario. His backside match to place in the bloodround this evening will either be against Lovett from Nebraska (another funky guy) or Josh Heil from Campbell (who will probably wrestle angry after yesterday's fiasco).

- Mekhi has the right to do whatever he wants today. The man is a warrior. Hartman from Bucknell is tough. The good news though is that, if he does choose to wrestle today, he can get down to weight this morning and then not wrestle until 3 PM eastern. The more time the better for that shoulder.

- Bolen has been wrestling with a purpose. Keckeisen from UNI is a redshirt freshman and talented. This will be an interesting contrast. A win would give him a chance against Aaron Brooks. A loss will put him against either Lyon from Purdue, Rocky Jordan from Ohio State or Charles Small from Hofstra, who I like. Winnable matches.

- Catka wrestled a smart match last night. He'll get a kid from Air Force that was destroyed by Gable. A win could put him up against Jordan Wood, which will be tough.

I'm happy this tournament is back and I'm glad our guys are scrapping and wrestling well.

[Post edited by AllenHokie732 at 03/19/2021 10:04AM]