NCAA Wrestling Championship Prediction: 165 LBS
It’s that time of the year again people! MARCH MATNESS! That’s right I said MATness, not madness. The college wrestling postseason is right around the corner and it has been one hell of a season so far. I will be doing a count down the next two weeks of my picks of which wrestler is going to take the crown at each of the 10 weight classes in Minneapolis, Minnesota March 19th – March 21st. I’m so excited people you have no idea. In this article we will take a look at who I think will be standing at the top of the podium for the 165 LB division.
Vincenzo Joseph is by far my favorite college wrestler over the last 4 years. A 2x PIAA State champion out of Pittsburgh Central Catholic at 138 LBs and 145 LBs, I never thought that Cenzo would ever be wrestling at 165 LBs. Let alone being one of the best to ever do it. Honestly, I thought he would be a 149 pounder out of high school. Guess he’s been eating too many meatball subs after his matches. In his freshman season, he pinned then #1 ranked and 2x NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez in the NCAA finals giving IMar only his second career loss. The next year as a sophomore he AGAIN beat Isaiah Martinez in the finals this time by a score of 6-1. This was Martinez’s last collegiate match in an illustrious career in which he won over 100 matches and was a 4x NCAA finalist.
Now it looks like Vincenzo is on a similar path to Martinez. After winning NCAAs in his freshman and sophomore campaigns he was upset in last year’s finals falling to Virginia Tech’s freshman phenom Mekhi Lewis. This year, however, the Penn State senior does not have to worry about Lewis due to him taking an Olympic redshirt. But even if Lewis was in the mix, Vincenzo tech called him at the 2019 Dave Schultz invitational. There is however still a big test in front of Joseph on his quest to becoming a 3x NCAA champion. That test is junior Alex Marinelli of Iowa.
Marinelli, known as the Bull by fans, holds an all-time record of 3-1 against Joseph, with the most recent win coming yesterday in the Big 10 finals. I feel like everyone is going the bull to win in the finals, and why shouldn’t they? It’s the safe pick. He’s been absolutely dominant with his loan loss coming to Vincenzo Joseph in the PSU vs Iowa dual meet. But the thing that people forget is that Marinelli always blows it, where as Vincenzo always peaks at nationals. There is no way in his last NCAA tournament Vinny doesn’t leave it all on the mat. I don’t even see Marinelli making the finals. Even if he does, the Nittany Lions got it. WE ARE! Don Chach out!
