NCAA Preseason Scouting Report: 133 pounds

Photo: Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young (right) and Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix have met in the last two NCAA finals at 133 pounds, with RBY winning both bouts.

Will the 2023 NCAA final at 133 pounds be another Roman Bravo-Young vs. Daton Fix match-up? That is the major question of the second-lightest weight class as the Nittany Lion has beaten the Cowboy in very close matches the past two NCAAs. They are expected to be two of the top guys at 133 next March in Tulsa, Okla., prior to some of the weight-class movement that often happens each season.

This preview appeared in the latest issue of WIN Magazine. Click on cover or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe to WIN Magazine.

Check out WIN’s NCAA Preseason Preview of 133 pounds that could also be found in WIN’s latest issue. WIN is previewing all 10 weight classes Oct. 10-21.

133-pound NCAA Wrestlers to Watch

Roman Bravo-Young

• Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young returned this season as a graduate student after the Nittany Lions’ chose to accept his extra COVID year. RBY won both championship matches against the Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix: 4-2 in sudden victory in 2021 and 3-2 last March.

Bravo-Young, a native of Tucson, Ariz., is a three-time NCAA All-American as he also finished eighth as a true freshman in 2019. He was seeded No. 5 in the cancelled 2020 NCAAs.

Daton Fix

Fix, who represented the U.S. at World Championships twice in freestyle; in 2019 and then in 2021 when he won a silver medal, has been the heartbreak kid in college wrestling … as the native of Sand Springs, Okla., is a three-time national runner-up. That included a tough 4-2 sudden-victory loss to Nick Suriano, then with Rutgers, in the 2019 NCAA finals. Those losses accounted for three of the four career setbacks against 72 victories in a stand-out Cowboy career.

Michael McGee

• Arizona State’s Michael McGee certainly found a happy home in Tempe, Ariz., after the native of Bollingbrook, Ill., was forced to move west after his first college home — Old Dominion — dropped the sport in 2020 after he competed in two NCAAs. As a Sun Devil, McGee has earned two All-American honors; sixth in 2021 and fourth in 2022.

Lucas Byrd

• Lucas Byrd of Illinois is certainly the “consolation” kid as the Illini has earned two All-American honors … but has only won one championship bracket match; that coming in 2021.  In the consolation wrestlebacks, the native of Cincinnati, Ohio, is 10-2; going 5-1 in both 2021 and 2022 … and claimed fifth place each tournament. He also scored falls in both fifth-place bouts, including in 2021 when he defeated Arizona State’s McGee.

Chris Cannon

• Northwestern’s Chris Cannon is also a two-time All-American; finishing seventh in both 2021 and 2022. The native of Oceanport, N.J., and former Blair Academy product reached the quarterfinals in each tournament, including last year when he was seeded No. 10.

• There are three wrestlers at 133 who just missed out on All-American honors last March when they came up short in Round-of-12 bouts. Two of them competed at 133: Pitt’s Micky Phillippi and Michigan’s Dylan Ragusin. 

Micky Phillippi

Phillippi is from Deery, Pa., and is a two-time ACC champ who has qualified for the NCAAs four times and reached the NCAA quarterfinals in 2019 when he also lost in the Round of 12.

Dylan Ragusin

Ragusin, from Elk Grove Village, Ill., has qualified for two NCAAs, including the cancelled national tournament in 2020 when he competed at 125 pounds. Last year, he moved up to 133, won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and took a third-place Big Ten finish into the No. 6-seed spot in Detroit.

Brody Teske

• Brody Teske, a two-time national qualifier, has a new school (Iowa) and weight. The native of Ft. Dodge, Iowa, returned to his home state three years ago after first competing at Penn State. He first transferred to Northern Iowa where he competed in two NCAAs, at 125, including 2021 when he reached the quarters as a No. 5 seed. Last year, he went 2-2 as a No. 15 seed.

But, he is expected to be challenged by sophomore Cullan Schreiver, who waited his turn until multiple-time All-American Austin DeSanto finished his Hawkeye career a year ago.

• Michigan State’s RayVon Foley will return for his final year. The Spartan finished seventh in 2019, but wasn’t able to return to the medal stand since.

• Sammy Alvarez, who qualified for Rutgers as a freshman at 125 in 2019, is expected to return to the line-up at 133.

2022 NCAA All-American Matches

1st – 1. Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) dec. 2. Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), 3-2

3rd – 5. Austin DeSanto (Iowa) dec. 3. Michael McGee (Arizona State), 7-4

5th – 7. Lucas Byrd (Illinois) pinned 4. Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech), 6:59

7th – 10. Chris Cannon (Northwestern) dec. 11. Devan Turner (Oregon State), 5-4

Click here to view WIN’s 2022-23 Preseason Tournament Power Index

WIN’s Preseason Rankings: 133 pounds                                                                                                                                            

Click here to view WIN’s 125-pound Preview

WIN will preview additional weights between now and Oct. 21

• Oct. 12 – 141 pounds
• Oct. 13 – 149 pounds
• Oct. 15 – 157 pounds
• Oct. 17 – 165 pounds
• Oct. 18 – 174 pounds
• Oct. 19 – 184 pounds
• Oct. 20 – 197 pounds
• Oct. 21 – Heavyweight