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.

2015-16 Notes: Dieringer is looking to become the 16th all-time Cowboy — and first since Jake Rosholt (2003-06) — to win three national championships in a career. Since losing to Iowa’s Derek St. John, 2-1, on Jan. 10, 2014, Dieringer had won 74 straight matches heading into this postseason. That included a 25-0 mark this winter, with 22 ending in bonus victories, nine by pin.

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

2015-16 Notes: Beating his first cousin Bo Jordan of Ohio State, 6-4, on Feb. 12, helped this two-time All-American go undefeated (21-0) heading into the Big Tens. Otherwise, this Badger also won the Navy Classic in November and the Las Vegas Invite in December when he beat Purdue’s Chad Welch for the title.

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

2015-16 Notes: The Buckeye actually began the season at 174 pounds and won five bouts (including three by fall) at that weight before dropping down to 165 on Dec. 12 when he defeated Missouri’s Daniel Lewis, 6-4. Heading into the Big Tens, Bo earned bonus points in ten of his 14 victories.

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.

2015-16 Notes: After competing at 141 pounds the past two years, the former transfer from Rutgers has had little trouble facing bigger foes at 165 pounds this season by going 21-2 prior to the Big Tens. Except for losing once to the Jordan cousins, this Illini defeated the likes of Stanford’s Jim Wilson in the finals of the Reno TOC and Penn State’s Shakur Rasheed, 10-9. Rodriques did not wrestle for Rutgers after earning his release on Nov. 1, 2011.

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.

2015-16 Notes: The former four-time Missouri state champion has made the most of his experience as a first-year starter, going 22-4 with eight pins prior to the MAC tournament. That included eight wins at the Las Vegas Invite, where he defeated conference rival Cooper Moore of Northern Iowa. Lewis also recorded a pair of wins over Cornell’s George Pickett and lost by just one point (4-3) to Oklahoma State’s Alex Dieringer.

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.