NCAA Tournament - Upper Weight Preview

There will be 23 Michigan Grapplers competing, including 10 Michigan natives, in the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships this weekend in Kansas City. We break down the draws for 157lbs through 285lbs here. (Lower weight preview was posted on Tuesday) We do our best to predict some match-ups and paths to the podium here, but wild upsets happen at the NCAA tournament, which is one of the best parts of March Matness.

The NCAA Championships will take place in six sessions over three days, beginning at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday, March 21st, with pigtail matches and the first round. The second session will resume later that day at 6 p.m. CT and feature continued preliminary matches as well as the first round of wrestlebacks.

On Friday, wrestling will begin at 11 a.m. CT with the quarterfinal round and continued wrestlebacks. The fourth session is slated for 7 p.m. CT and will feature semifinals and consolation matches. On Saturday, the fifth session is scheduled for 10 a.m. CT and will wrap up the consolation bracket, featuring seventh-, fifth- and third-place matches at all weights. The finals are slated for 6 p.m. CT on Saturday.

View Brackets Here: 2024 NCAA Wrestling Brackets

Will Lewan, 157lbs - Michigan
High School: Montini Catholic HS (Illinois)
‍Seed: #9
‍First Round Match:
‍Path to the Podium: 2x All American Will Lewan will kick off his tournament with what has become a rivalry match against Chase Saldate (Michigan State). Although the two have not wrestled this year yet, they have split matches in years past. The winner of this match will likely have Peyton Robb, who is an All American and has split matches with Lewan this year. A win there puts Lewan in the quarterfinals against #1 Haines (Penn State). Otherwise, Lewan is looking at a path to the podium that includes beating someone like #11 Brayton Lee (Minnesota).

Chase Saldate, 157lbs - Michigan State
High School:
‍Seed: #24
‍First Round Match: #9 Will Lewan
‍Path to the Podium: Because the two wrestle first round, Saldate has the same exact path as Lewan to reach the podium. If he can upset Lewan in round one, he will have to beat Peyton Robb (Nebraska) in round two and #1 Haines (Penn State) in the quarterfinal round. An earlier loss will force Saldate to wrestle back and go through someone like #11 Brayton Lee (Minnesota). A first round loss for Lewan or Saldate means they will have a tough road back that could require them to go through #10 Franek (Iowa) and #4 Ed Scott (NC State).

‍Johnny Lovett, 157lbs - Central Michigan
High School: Miami Southridge HS (Florida)
‍Seed: #26
‍First Round Match: #7 Peyten Kellar (Ohio)
‍Path to the Podium: A rematch from the dual where Kellar was victorious in a 6-0 decision. Kellar has been spectatular this year, with a 22-2 record and a win over #4 Scott (NC State). If Lovett can pull the upset there, he would need to also upset #10 Franek (Iowa) and #2 Teemer (Arizona State). Should have fall in one of those matches, he's looking at a long road where he would need to pull upsets over guys like #8 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) or #9 Will Lewan (Michigan) and #11 Brayton Lee (Minnesota).

Cameron Amine, 165lbs - Michigan
High School: Detroit Catholic Central HS
‍Seed: #10
‍First Round Match: #23 Derek Fields (NC State)
‍Path to the Podium: The 3x All American always seems to shine at the NCAA tournament, and he should be a tough out again this year. He starts off the tournament with a solid #23-seed in Fields (NC State). Assuming he wins there, Amine would have a rematch with All American Olejnik (Oklahoma State), a match in which Olejnik pulled off the upset earlier this season. A win there would likely put Amine in the quarterfinals against a red hot B1G champ Mesenbrink (Penn State). Any loss before the quarterfinals would put Amine up against someone like #21 Fish (Michigan State) or #5 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) in the blood round.

Caleb Fish, 165lbs - Michigan State
High School: Eaton Rapids HS
‍Seed: #21
‍First Round Match: #12 Garrett Thompson (Ohio)
‍Path to the Podium: Thompson is tough, but that is a winnable match for a 21-seed over a 12-seed in the first round. Should Fish win that match, he would likely see #5 Hamiti (Wisconsin) in the second round. Hamiti is 2-0 over Fish this year, with the most recent match being a 5-3 decision in the dual. Fish would set up a showdown with #4 David Carr (Iowa State) with an upset there, otherwise he would fall to meet someone like #10 Cameron Amine (Michigan) or #7 Olejnik (Oklahoma State) in the blood round.

‍Stoney Buell, 165lbs - Purdue
High School: Dundee HS
‍Seed: #24
‍First Round Match: #9 Peyton Hall (West Virginia)
‍Path to the Podium: A 2022 All American in the first round for Buell. A big upset there would put Buell in a solid position against Taylor (Nebraska), who Buell split matches with this year. The winner in the second round will see O'Toole in the quarterfinals. Should Buell lose one of those first three matches, he would have a long road back and need to go through guys like #7 Olejnik (Oklahoma State) and #6 Caliendo (Iowa).

Shane Griffith, 174lbs - Michigan
High School: Bergen Catholic HS (New Jersey)
‍Seed: #4
‍First Round Match: #29 Alex Faison (NC State)
‍Path to the Podium: The former NCAA champ from his time at Stanford looked like he was pretty banged up after his win in the B1G semis, and he would injury default in the finals. Assuming Griffith has recovered to full strength, he would pick up a first round win and advance to see McCoy (Virginia) or Conley (West Virginia) in the second round. We like Kennedy (Iowa) to make a run to the quarterfinals opposite of Griffith, a match that Griffith has won twice this season. Any Loss before the semis puts Griffith in a very winnable blood round match against someone like #10 Incontrera (Penn), assuming Griffith is healthy.

Alex Cramer, 174lbs - Central Michigan
High School: Grayslake HS (Illinois)
‍Seed: #19
‍First Round Match: #14 Gavin Sax (NDSU)
‍Path to the Podium: The MAC champ has a tough but winnable match against #14 Gavin Sax (NDSU). A win there would put Cramer in a second round match against #3 Ed Ruth (Illinois). Ruth is coming of a B1G championship by injury default over Griffith (Michigan), and is a tough out. An early loss would set up a path back that would include guys like #7 Wolak (Columbia) or #1 Lewis (Virginia Tech), assuming #9 Starocci (Penn State) wins that quarterfinal match.

Will Feldkamp, 184lbs - Iowa State
High School: Dexter HS
‍Seed: #17
‍First Round Match: #16 Nate Dugan (Princeton)
‍Path to the Podium: Feldkamp is coming off an outstanding 2023 season in which he reached the podium while still wrestling for Clarion. He has a winnable first match against #16 Dugan (Princeton), and then would run into NCAA finalist and 1-seed Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) in the 2nd round. A huge upset there would put Feldkamp in a great spot, otherwise he would have a path back through guys like #6 Truax (Penn State) or #5 Pinto (Nebraska).

Jaden Bullock, 184lbs - Michigan
High School: Oscar Smith HS (Virginia)
‍Seed: #12
‍First Round Match: #21 Brian Soldano (Rutgers)
‍Path to the Podium: Bullock has two wins over Soldano this year, both coming by major decision. Assuming Bullock picks up another win, he would see #5 Pinto (Nebraska) in the second round. Pinto is 3-0 against Bullock this year, but the latest victory was a sudden victory decision. If Bullock loses before the semis, he would still have a solid shot at placing, needing to beat someone like #7 Stewart (Virginia Tech) or #10 Fishback (NC State) in the blood round.

‍Layne Malczewski, 184lbs - Michigan State
High School: Dakota HS
‍Seed: #23
‍First Round Match: #10 Dylan Fishback (NC State)
‍Path to the Podium: A tough first round match against up-and-coming Fishback (NC State). Fishback has, however, lost a few matches this year that gives us optimism for a Malczewski upset. Should he win that match, he would see another young guy in #7 Stewart (Virginia Tech). #2 Salazar (Minnesota) is also in that quarter of the bracket, making this pretty loaded. An early loss could force Malczewski to go through #6 Truax (Penn State) or #5 Pinto (Nebraska) for a podium spot.

Lucas Davison, 285lbs - Michigan
High School: Chesteron HS (Indiana)
‍Seed: #10
‍First Round Match: #23 Luke Stoddard (Army)
‍Path to the Podium: All American Lucas Davison kicks things off in a match he should win against #23 Stoddard (Army). A second round match would be against fellow Michigan Grappler Taye Ghadiali (Campbell). The winner of that match likely runs into #2 Bastida (Iowa State), who is red hot this year. Either way, the winner of Davison vs Ghadiali is in a great spot to place, as they'd likely see #12 Doucet (Oklahoma State) or #13 Slavikouski (Rutgers) in the blood round.

‍Taye Ghadiali, 285lbs - Campbell
High School: Warren Fitzgerald HS
‍Seed: #7
‍First Round Match: #26 Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech)
‍Path to the Podium: Catka is tough for the seed, but we expect Ghadiali to advance to see Davison in the second round. Ghadiali's path would be the exact same as discussed with Davison above. A win over Davison puts him in a great spot for the podium, while the loser of that match would have to go through #5 Taylor (Lehigh) or #4 Schultz (Arizona State).

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