NCAA Wrestling Championships: 165 Pound Preview – 2021

NCAA Wrestling 165 Pound Preview

The NCAA wrestling championships are almost here! I have been breaking down all the weights at the tournament for Vendetta. Here is the preview for the 165-pound weight class. I broke down the 125, 133, 141, 149, and 157-pound weight classes earlier this week.

The Story

There are four undefeated wrestlers in this weight class. Alex Marinelli from Iowa is the number one seed, a spot he has been in before. He was the top guy at 165 in the 2019 NCAA tournament, but didn’t wrestle to seed and placed seventh.

Anthony Valencia from Arizona State is the two seed with a record of 10-0. The PAC 12 champion hasn’t wrestled a traditional schedule with competitions being mostly within the conference.

There is a wrestler who has won a national championship before in this bracket. Mekhi Lewis from Virginia Tech is the four seed and is looking to defend his title from the 2019 tournament. He upset Vincenzo Joseph as the eighth seed and brought home the first wrestling championship for Virginia Tech.

Dark Horse(s)

Keegan O’Toole from Mizzou might not seem like an actual long-shot because he is undefeated this season, but he is a freshman and never experienced a tournament like this before. I expect him to make some noise and he could very well end up in the finals Saturday night.

First Round Match to Watch

Kennedy Monday from North Carolina will square off against Cameron Amine from Michigan in the first round. The 22 and 11 seeds both come from huge wrestling families and both are capable of becoming All-Americans.

Prediction

The seeds don’t mean anything when it comes to this tournament, anyone can rattle off a few wins and upset some people. I think this weight is going to be the least “chalk” of the tournament.

Marinelli get’s upset by Lewis in the semi-finals, Keegan O’Toole will shock everyone on his way to the finals. I got Lewis over O’Toole in the finals.

TL//DR: NCAA wrestling championships 165 pound preview. This weight is stacked from seeds one through eight.

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