off-season fun - finals matches that never were, 2020-24

[Conewago]

COVID altered wrestling history massively.

By my account, these are some matches that may have happened if there had been no COVID and no extra year of eligibility for some. This is after glancing at the past several brackets.

Have fun and predict these potential final matches

1) 2020 141: Luke Pletcher vs. Nick Lee. Were seeded 1 and 2.
2) 2020 174: Mark Hall vs. Michael Kemerer. Were seeded 1 and 2.
3) 2021 125: Spencer Lee vs. Nick Suriano. Lee would probably have been going for his 4th here. This would have been an immensely ballyhooed final. Lee was 1-0 against Suriano in college, with Lee winning 5-1 in the 2018 125 final. Suriano would probably still be at Rutgers, btw.
4) 2023 197: Michael Beard vs. Tanner Sloan. No extra year for Brooks or Dean (Beard probably stays at PSU) or Bonaccorsi (the champ at 197 this year) means this is your likely 197 final.
5) 2024 165: Keegan O'Toole vs. Mitchell Mesenbrink. No extra year for David Carr. Talk about a hyped match - many assumed this would be it even with Carr in the bracket, but obviously KOT gassed and Carr beat him.
6) 2024 157: Levi Haines vs. Meyer Shapiro. It was generally assumed this would be the final, and much speculation attended it, but Shapiro lost to Cardenas (whom he then beat soundly for 3rd). Losing some COVID eligibility would have changed seeding and probably helped Shapiro's draw on the bottom end.

P.S. It appears O'Connor (who would be my favorite at 149 in 2020) was probably the only guy who could beat Levi in '23. Levi and Robb probably would have been seeded 1 and 2 and Levi beat Robb twice, albeit by close scores.

P.P.S. Cenzo and Marinelli were famously seeded 1 and 2, ready for an epic final match, but I honestly think Marinelli, with his NCAA history (never made the finals in 4 tries), was ripe for an upset by any of White, Wick, or Wittlake.

 

[Psalm 1 guy]

COVID altered wrestling history massively.

By my account, these are some matches that may have happened if there had been no COVID and no extra year of eligibility for some. This is after glancing at the past several brackets.

Have fun and predict these potential final matches

1) 2020 141: Luke Pletcher vs. Nick Lee. Were seeded 1 and 2.
2) 2020 174: Mark Hall vs. Michael Kemerer. Were seeded 1 and 2.
3) 2021 125: Spencer Lee vs. Nick Suriano. Lee would probably have been going for his 4th here. This would have been an immensely ballyhooed final. Lee was 1-0 against Suriano in college, with Lee winning 5-1 in the 2018 125 final. Suriano would probably still be at Rutgers, btw.
4) 2023 197: Michael Beard vs. Tanner Sloan. No extra year for Brooks or Dean (Beard probably stays at PSU) or Bonaccorsi (the champ at 197 this year) means this is your likely 197 final.
5) 2024 165: Keegan O'Toole vs. Mitchell Mesenbrink. No extra year for David Carr. Talk about a hyped match - many assumed this would be it even with Carr in the bracket, but obviously KOT gassed and Carr beat him.
6) 2024 157: Levi Haines vs. Meyer Shapiro. It was generally assumed this would be the final, and much speculation attended it, but Shapiro lost to Cardenas (whom he then beat soundly for 3rd). Losing some COVID eligibility would have changed seeding and probably helped Shapiro's draw on the bottom end.

P.S. It appears O'Connor (who would be my favorite at 149 in 2020) was probably the only guy who could beat Levi in '23. Levi and Robb probably would have been seeded 1 and 2 and Levi beat Robb twice, albeit by close scores.

P.P.S. Cenzo and Marinelli were famously seeded 1 and 2, ready for an epic final match, but I honestly think Marinelli, with his NCAA history (never made the finals in 4 tries), was ripe for an upset by any of White, Wick, or Wittlake.

Boo COVID! Great idea for a thread, though. I was really looking forward to the potential Lee vs Pletcher match and Hall vs Kemerer. And as odd as this sounds, since Vincenzo never got a chance for his third title it stings less than if he would have beat Lewis and not had the chance to compete for his fourth title. The NCAA did the seniors dirty by not giving them a free COVID year. Cael lobbied hard for it, but to no avail.

 

[backdrft76]

I'm going:

Pletcher vs Lee - tossup. Pletcher was looking so good, but Lee was Lee. Too close to call.
Hall vs Kem - Hall. Hall lost the dual, but came back at Bigs.
Lee vs Suri - Lee. I wanted to see this so bad, wanted to see Suriano beat Lee. But Lee.
Beard vs Sloan - Beard. Beard MD'd him the previous year.
Keegan vs Missile - Lean Keegan, unless the Keegan that wrestled Carr showed up. Then Missile.
Levi vs Meyer - Levi. Nuff said.

 

[El-Jefe]

If Fix had run out of eligibility, then Little Rock would've had a finalist.

Crookham and Arujau would've still met in the semis, as the 1 vs 5. Orine vs Bailey would've been the other semi, as 2 vs 6. Bailey beat Orine in consis 6-2, so fair to assume he would've won that semi.

 

[Ian]

Speaking of CoVid and Carter’s extra year. Wasn’t he in RS in 2020, anyway? If so, what did he lose? So disappointing for Cenzo and Hall. Wish they would have returned for that extra year.

 

[Conewago]

If Fix had run out of eligibility, then Little Rock would've had a finalist.

Crookham and Arujau would've still met in the semis, as the 1 vs 5. Orine vs Bailey would've been the other semi, as 2 vs 6. Bailey beat Orine in consis 6-2, so fair to assume he would've won that semi.

Very cool!

However, assuming the Ivy League wrestles in 21, Arujau's last year would have been 23. He redshirted 18, wrestled 19, Oly redshirt 20, leaving 21-23. Would have been no RBY that year. He probably beats Fix, who likely still loses 4 NCAA finals. 😂

In 24, therefore, Crookham and Bailey could have been one semi. Seeding is probably Crookham, Orine, Shawver, Ragusin, Bailey, Frost, Serrano pepper, and Nagao.

Btw125 would have been a mess in 23 in this scenario. Ramos is probably the 1 seed.

 

[Conewago]

Speaking of CoVid and Carter’s extra year. Wasn’t he in RS in 2020, anyway? If so, what did he lose? So disappointing for Cenzo and Hall. Wish they would have returned for that extra year.

Correct. Carter is one of the few who lost nothing.