D2 nationals are going on this weekend. All matches are complete except for finals which start at 8:00 and are streamed for free on the NCAA.com website
This has been an absolutely crazy tournament. Only 3 number 1 seeds made the finals and at least 3 defending champions didn’t even make the finals. 2 time defending champion Cole Laya, who PSU commit Braeden Davis beat this year, lost in the semifinals. He defaulted to 6th after his loss. Noah Hermosillo who won 149lbs last year moved up to 157 and was undefeated coming in. He lost second round but battled back for 3rd. Zeth Brower was undefeated at 141 and was the defending champion but he lost in the semis and the consi semis and settled for 5th. Shane Gantz was undefeated and the top seed at 165 but went 1-2 and didn’t place. He was the national runner-up last season. The finals will have some kids going for their second titles though. At heavyweight Shawn Streck is looking to win again. At 174 Abner Romero is a past national champion. The best matchup is probably at 197 with Dalton Abney vs Derek Blubaugh. Abney is a junior and defending national champion and 3 time AA. Blubaugh is last years runner-up. They have split matches this season so the rubber match is the national finals. In the team race Central Oklahoma is lapping the field with Lander in second and Western Colorado in 3rd. I was an AA placing 3rd in the country for Western back in the day. Pitt Johnstown hasn’t had a good tournament and sits in 16th headed into the finals.
This has been an absolutely crazy tournament. Only 3 number 1 seeds made the finals and at least 3 defending champions didn’t even make the finals. 2 time defending champion Cole Laya, who PSU commit Braeden Davis beat this year, lost in the semifinals. He defaulted to 6th after his loss. Noah Hermosillo who won 149lbs last year moved up to 157 and was undefeated coming in. He lost second round but battled back for 3rd. Zeth Brower was undefeated at 141 and was the defending champion but he lost in the semis and the consi semis and settled for 5th. Shane Gantz was undefeated and the top seed at 165 but went 1-2 and didn’t place. He was the national runner-up last season. The finals will have some kids going for their second titles though. At heavyweight Shawn Streck is looking to win again. At 174 Abner Romero is a past national champion. The best matchup is probably at 197 with Dalton Abney vs Derek Blubaugh. Abney is a junior and defending national champion and 3 time AA. Blubaugh is last years runner-up. They have split matches this season so the rubber match is the national finals. In the team race Central Oklahoma is lapping the field with Lander in second and Western Colorado in 3rd. I was an AA placing 3rd in the country for Western back in the day. Pitt Johnstown hasn’t had a good tournament and sits in 16th headed into the finals.
