NWCA Nationa Duals: #5 VT Takes on #6 Michigan Sunday 2 PM!

Heres the Hokiesports Announcement

Like VT Michigan is a very different team depending on health of its wrestlers. This matchup presents an excellent upset opportunity for Gus, but a brutal matchup for Sal. I'll chop it up below:
EDIT: Just added Coaches rank

• 125 #3 Joey Dance vs. #24 Conor Youtsey

A chance for dance to get the proverbial monkey off his back from March a year ago. Dance is worlds better than youtsey and this match should show it. Youtseys in a huge slump this year, freefalling from his top 8 position to edge of 20 rank. Lots of speculation he's mentally struggling with 2 dominant partners in the room on redshirt. I like Dance in this one to the tune of 6-1 or 7-2.
Tech 3-0

• 133 Dennis Gustafson vs #21 Rossi Bruno

Really like the upset potential here. Bruno has had an overinflated ranking all year long and is finally starting to get down to where he should be. Bruno comes from Brandon Florida, same school that produced the norstrems. What I've noticed about bruno is that he just cant figured it out on bottom some days (Dijulius and conaway have give him fits in the past, though he finally may have figure out dijulius's wrist ride). He'll crush you on top, but he needs to get there first. Dennis should be rounding into conditioning form this weekend or next, right in time for tourney season. He continues to get more steady, and his match with Morris is super encouraging, especially coming from behind. Still concerned he may not have full trust in that knee, as hes bailed out what i might call "early" a few times when it gets torqued outside, but hopefully trust and flexibility follows. I'm gonna call Bruno here, but wouldnt be shocked to see Gus ride him like a mule for a period and take the upset 4-2.
Tech 3-3

• 141 #7 Solomon chishko vs. Zac Hall Or George Fisher

So Fisher is the old man while hall is the young gun, and theyve rotated throughout the year. Both have about a 0.500 record, and little seperates the two. I think Fisher is the better of the two wrestlers, especially in the top position, but Hall just had a very solid majr decision over sabatello of purdue in their last home match. Either Way Solomon is better here. If Fisher goes, i expect this contest to be closer than if hall goes. Tech by decision here.
Tech 6-3

• 149 Sal Mastriani vs. #4 Alec Pantaleo

About 3 or 4 matches into the season pantaleo really started to elevate his wrestling to another level and he's an awful style matchup for mastriani. Like mastriani, he relies on pace to break opponents, with lots of movement and snaps. The problem is Pantaleo probably wrestles with better technique than Sal (though sal is worlds better than a year ago). There will be moments of pure athleticism in this match where both guys just let it fly (Pantaleo Jefferies in UM vs. OU was stunning). Pantaleo's probably about 4 pts better and as long as sal stays out of bad positions, this one is only a decision for UM.
Tech 6-6

• 157 #7 Nick Brascetta vs. Jordan Amine or #15 Brian Murphy

Huge swing depending on who goes here. Murphy is a lot like brascetta in many ways, old grizzled vet trying to keep things held together with duct tape. An excellent top wrestler with good single leg attacks that he often elevates and trips. Murphy gave IMAR a scare a weekend prior to Nolf pinning IMAR and that should have been a sign of things to come. If Murphy isnt healthy, or gets rested by the michigan coaches, Brascetta rolls Amine. I'm gonna guess Murphy goes and nick wins a tight decision, that will help him potentially earn a seed in march.
Tech 9-6

• 165 #12 David McFadden vs. Garrett Sutton

This is the match where David McFadden lights his fire for march. Sutton is that starter who is solid in all 3 phases of the match, but doesnt jump off paper at yoou. Super recruit Logan Massa is redshirting behind Sutton and this has been one of the weak points of UM's lineup. If David wants to make some noise at ACCs and NCAAs, he needs to start building momentum here. Currently i see him as the 5th seed for ACCs, so hes got some work to do. Ultimately i think he gets it done by decision.
Tech 12-6

So heres an intermission from the preview to set the scene. Often during the year Michigan trails their opponent after this match. They then have a murderer's row at the final 4 classes, getting steadily better leading to their stud in Coon. At the same time tech has followed the same trend, icing their matches with our 4 studs. If you only watch part of the match, this is the portion to catch because all 4 are potential podium matchups in a month:

• 174 #11 Zach Epperly vs Aaron Calderon or #16 Davonte Mahommes

Mahommes is eeriely similar to zavatsky in terms of career trajectory thus far. He's a RSFr still figuring out the college level and shows massive potential. His number one strength is he's one of the most athletic wrestlers ive ever seen, which lines up with epp too. This is gonna be wild and we are going to see at least 1 crazy scramble here. Epp would do well to be very deliberate in his attacks, as mahomes loves the action and re-attack/counter offense part of the neutral position (a trait i think comes from his OPRF school days). Epperly is the better wrestler but he has to be mistake free. Ill take tech by decision
Tech 15-6

• 184 #6 Zack Zavatsky vs. #3 Dominic Abounader

Do not like this matchup at all, Abounader is riding like an NCAA champ right now, and is just a different wrestler than CKLV. Since Mid January (so the heart of B1G dual season) his results are TF FALL FALL DEC(9-2) MD TF MD. He hasnt given up more than 2 points in a match since Jan 7th. Zavatsky cannot be forced under abounader. I know ZZ should have won the vegas match, but its just a different situation now. Ill pick UM by decision, but i have a bad feeling about a MD here.
Tech 15-9

• 197 #9 Jared Haught vs. #6 Max Huntley

Huntley is basically your dad in the driveway playing pickup basketball. He's old (6th year grad student), he doesnt have many flashy moves, but he knows every trick in the book to exploit your youthful enthusiasm. Whenevr theres a scramble or the wrestlers roll around Huntley improves his position. He loves to hit 6 pt moves transitioning well from feet to back. Now thats not to say Haught cant beat him. In fact Jared actually matches up pretty well, flexible and loose for a 197, and strong enough to avoid being bullied. I see huntley by decision here though.
Tech 15-12

• 285 #2 Ty Walz vs. #3 Adam Coon

So if all has gone right, we've got Coon walz to decide the dual. This is a scenario michigan fans are very familiar with and they have come to expect bonus points from Coon (The arena gets scary loud, its built for wrestling and volleyball). Ty is the perfect matchup for Coon, and he's beat him twice in the last 2 years using that HiC lift to launch the Greco monster. Coon does a very poor job of sprawling his hips when attacked (possibly due to greco background, where he doesnt have to defend leg attacks). The one thing that ty must avoid is the over under position coon looks for (specifically right over left under). Since coon is so long he can almost lock that hold up from space. And once its in, he's going chest to chest for a monster Greco Throw. Against lesser opponents, you can set your watch to it, and the best guys simply run out of bounds and take the stalling point rather than get thrown. Ty's avoided it thus far and i know the coaching staff will mention it, so i'm not really concerned. Ultimately Walz is a better wrestler and holds a matchup advantage. Tech by decision here, which is good to preserve Ty's #2 seeding (I dont think snyder will get a seed due to the matrix rules. It will cause an uproar and some poor HWT will end up with him 1st round).
Tech 18-12

The dual will be broadcast live on BTN+ (The B1G's subscription side):
http://www.btn2go.com/game/virginia-tech-at-michigan-on-02212016