Most guys with collegiate experience are coming off their redshirts this year, some are NCAA qualifiers with huge potential and others have a title with multi-podium achievements who haven’t wrestled in the NCAA for over a year. Lets take a look at some of the biggest names returning that you may have forgotten about.
133 Looking to make a big impact for Michigan is Chris Cannon. Graduating from Northwestern in 2023 he posted a staggering 71-23 record over four seasons with them. Suffering an injury from the first dual opener against Colombia, the 2X All-American and 3X National Qualifier hasn’t really seen the mat yet. He also represented the US in the 2021 U23 World Championship in Belgrade, Serbia taking 5th place.
141 Andrew Alirez suffered with multiple issues regarding his knee, teammates at Northern Colorado claimed that the popping sounded like, “a popsicle stick snapping,” leading then to a long road of recovery. Being his freshman year, he was given six weeks for hopes of seeing the mat within the season, but unfortunately extended to his sophomore year. The next year his injury was now in the mirror, so he thought. He returned only to tear it again. Alirez said, “I thought, well, I’d never be healthy again,” falling to a sense of despair as well. Awakened to a sense of realization, he wanted to try his best to prove it to himself by revamping his diet and working hard. By the end of his senior year he took a title in 2022, UNC’s first wrestler in years to win a national title erasing any doubts about the past. Once again he is in question for the 2024-2025 season being that his last match was a win against Real Woods in the NCAA Finals (2023) to cap a perfect 28-0 year. How will he return? To us, he’s still a title contender. With his ability to overcome, there’s no reason he’s not in a title match regardless of time lost.
149 Kannon Webster is probably one of the more exciting freshman coming off of a redshirt, going 16-1 and taking out No.5 D’Emilio, we all want to see what he can do with a season long stride. Recorded Four falls, five tech falls and four major decisions, if he can stay in that rhythm, he’s a top 5 contender easily.
133 Lucas Byrd like Alirez, hasn’t seen the mat in a while. March of 2023 in a tiebreaker to Jesse Mendez at the Round of 12 specifically, Poeta spoke on Byrd, “he has impressed me this summer.” 3X NCAA Qualifier, 2X All American placed third at the Big Ten Championships. Went 30-6 overall, 11-1 in duals and 8-0 in Big Ten Duals, once again we should be expecting a big return regardless of lost mat time.
174 Gabe Arnold ripping off his redshirt this year had his highest rank win against No. 6 Will Feldkamp (Iowa State) only falling to No.2 Dustin Plot (Oklahoma State). Going 8-1 overall has to be considered for a ravenous return.
184 Nelson Brands in his final year of eligibility, has had a rough ride with a Covid year, a medical redshirt in 2022 and a gambling suspension last year, carries 5 years of experience altogether. The NCAA granted him another year. His last match against No.7 Dustin Plott in the NCAA’s in 2023 once again will see the mat in 2024. 42-19 record overall he will make a deep run in this year’s tournament.
149 Shane Van Ness a huge freshman sensation last year took 3rd at his first NCAA Tournament, suffered through a leg injury surgery was scheduled after the holidays in 2023. Coming back just in time some would say he didn’t wrestle at the level before. With a full summer of recovery behind him, expect a huge return back with win percentage over 70 again.
Heavyweight Ben Kueter– With his sole focus on wrestling this year, we should see some bigger wins like he did last year, beating No.11 Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) and No. 29 Bennett Tabor (Minnesota). Will he do better against Greg Kerkvliet this year? Post press conference after his match proved he knew what went wrong. “Need to do better on offense” Adding a little more weight would probably help him as well.
197 AJ Ferrari Looking beyond the last unattached season and beyond all the drama with Iowa and Starrocci, he’s finally found a place to land. His last match being a loss at the Soldier Salute to Zach Glazier (Iowa), he hasn’t had a full season since his freshman year in 2021. Going an impressive 19-1 and winning a title, but he’s more like the Antonio Brown of wrestling. With three years of eligibility left hopefully he can steer clear of car accidents and courtrooms.
157 Alex Facundo, now off an olympic redshirt hasn’t seen a collegiate match since March of 2023 losing to both Julian Ramirez (Cornell) and Holden Heller (Pittsburgh). Going 19-6 on the year. He can wrestle at a higher level, he recently certified at 157 for the upcoming season.
Don’t sleep on any of these guys coming off their redshirts. Yes, some of them haven’t wrestled a collegiate match in over a year, but some have taken to the Olympics and with all of that out of the way, most of them have set their sights on their collegiate careers.