WIN Magazine NCAA Previews • 133 pounds

133-Pound Scouting Report

Ohio State’s Logan Stieber (right) got a leg up against 2011 national champion Jordan Oliver to win a questionable NCAA title last March in St. Louis.

There were some who called the 2012 championship win by Ohio State’s Logan Stieber against Oklahoma State’s Jordan Oliver controversial. Oliver appeared to score a late takedown against the Buckeye, who instead held on for a 4-3 win against the defending NCAA champion.

Then there were some who questioned the Buckeye’s No. 1 ranking after a mid-season injury forced the sophomore to miss some key matches, including against Iowa’s No. 2 Tony Ramos in early January.

But at the recent Big Tens, Stieber answered many of those questions, especially when he scored a takedown in sudden victory against the Hawkeye to capture his second conference title.

Stieber has done quite a bit since winning four Ohio state championships for the tiny community of Monroeville, Ohio. That includes earning a No. 4 national ranking by USA Wrestling at 132 pounds on the Senior freestyle level.

Ramos, meanwhile, will continue to be a nemesis for the Buckeye … as will Wisconsin’s Tyler Graff, a 2011 All-American who took an Olympic redshirt last winter who earned a No. 3 seeding in Des Moines.

A.J. Schopp

Meanwhile, here are some other talented wrestlers who could make an impact on the top four placings at this year’s NCAAs:

• Edinboro’s A.J. Schopp recently captured his second Eastern Wrestling League championship … and is expected to medal after missing All-American honors by one victory in St. Louis;

• Oklahoma State’s Jon Morrison, who is up one weight after qualifying at 125 pounds in 2012, is coming off a Big 12 championship and also won the Southern Scuffle in early January;

Nathan McCormick

Jon Morrison

• Missouri’s Nathan McCormick, who has not performed well in two previous NCAAs but will bring a MAC championship to Des Moines.

• Minnesota’s Chris Dardanes, one-half of the twin look on the Gopher roster, finished fourth in last year’s NCAA tournament, but has shown some inconsistency this season and finished fifth at the Big Ten tournament.

Bracket Busters

The following wrestlers could be low seeds or unseeded in this year Nationals, who could provide some upsets:

• It is hard to call Central Michigan’s two-time All-American Scott Sentes a surprise performer but the Chippewa is coming off a third-place finish at the MAC. But then again, Sentes was seeded No. 10 when he finished seventh at 125 in 2009 and 11th in 2011 when he finished fourth at 133. He’s seeded No. 10 again this year.

• No. 11 seed Virginia’s George DiCamillo is just one year removed from winning two Ohio state championships for St. Ignatius High School in Highland Heights, Ohio. The Cavalier freshman recently won the ACC championship and also performed well at the Southern Scuffle, where he placed fifth.