2015 NCAA Div. I Championships: 165 pounds

This page is a preview of the 165-pound weight class at the 2015 NCAA Division I Championships, which will be held March 19-21 in the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.

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2015 NCAA Preview: 165 pounds

Was Oklahoma State’s Alex Dieringer, the 2014 NCAA champion at 157 pounds, ready to make the jump to 165 this season? There’s no question about it he was.

Alex Dieringer

By capturing both the Southern Scuffle and Big 12 championships, where the Cowboy defeated a pair of All-Americans — Virginia’s Nick Sulzer and Iowa State’s Mike Moreno, respectively, in those finals — the native of Port Washington, Wisc., enters his third NCAA tournament with a 28-0 record and eight pins. The last time Dieringer lost an NCAA bout was in overtime of his 2013 semifinal match against eventual champ Derek St. John of Iowa.

Sulzer and Moreno, otherwise, have the most NCAA experience of those at 165 pounds. Sulzer, a senior from Cleveland, Ohio, has finished eighth and fourth, respectively, the past two NCAAs. Moreno, a senior from Urbandale, Iowa, claimed sixth and fifth the past two years. Sulzer’s biggest moment this winter came from a championship in Las Vegas and enters the NCAAs with a 12-match winning streak after winning a second ACC title. Moreno, meanwhile, ended the regular season with a pin against Wisconsin’s Isaac Jordan.

In a battle of first cousins, Badger sophomore Isaac Jordan edged out Ohio State redshirt freshman Bo Jordan in the Big Ten final. This was the first college meeting of these talented cousins of St. Paris (Ohio) Graham High School, where they wrestled for Bo’s father Jeff Jordan, whose brother Jim is the father of Isaac.

Meanwhile, there are two seniors named Walsh: Indiana’s Taylor and Navy’s Peyton. The Hoosier senior (Cherry Hill, N.J), who is looking to earn his first AA honor after competing the last two NCAAs at 157 pounds, won the Schalles Award last season as the nation’s top pinner. Peyton (Glen Allen, Va.), who missed last year’s postseason because of a knee injury, captured his first EIWA title this March.