How does next year look compared to this year?
There are some continuing question marks, but is more experience and should be better depth.
Two guys penciled in above with health concerns include Trent Weatherman at 157 and Kyven Gadson at 197. Trent suffered a concussion in the first match last season, and was out all year. Kyven wrestled just once and re-injured a shoulder that was first injured in high school. (His other shoulder kept him from wrestling in college until that match.) So he was also out all season. Trent was a sophomore last year, and Kyven was a redshirt freshman. With any luck, if both of these guys are healthy and strong when they come back, it will help a lot.
Trent started as a true freshman the year before. He struggled with college level, as freshmen tend to do, and wanted to compete at a higher level last year, more like he did in high school, but didn't get the chance.
As I recall, Kyven wasn't quite as highly touted in the rankings out high school as Meeks and McCauley, two true freshmen penciled in above at 133 and 149. But he has similar potential, and competed at the highest level in freestyle out of high school.
But we are talking some pretty serious injuries, so there is kind of question mark at both spots IMO, until we see them back, racking up some wins on the mat.
Another wildcard is whether new assistant Troy Nickerson can translate his experience and help improve performance in the lower weights.
Nickerson was a 5-time NY state champion, a national champion in college (2nd as a true freshman), and a 4-time high All-American at 125 (despite injury), and competed at the recent Olympic trials. He is coaching now instead of going to medical school, and is currently one of the very best in competition so that should help some in the room.
Finch at 125 and Goettl at 141 both had decent seasons last year as redshirt freshmen and are experienced veterans now.
With Meeks at 133 and McCauley at 149, again is hard to tell with true freshmen. But Meeks was a 4-time undefeated state champion at Des Moines Roosevelt, and I think McCauley was the nation's first or second-ranked recruit at any weight class, before he took a year off to train at the OTC. McCauley also has a solid year now on the freestyle circuit, and is a current junior national champion.
As to the other weights:
Tanner Weatherman at 165 will be a redshirt freshman (I think Trent's cousin), who people expect big things from. Mikey England at 174 started some last year as a redshirt freshman and had a couple of big wins as I recall. Of course there are a couple of strong coaches in the room around that weight. Beard at 184 as a redshirt sophomore, Gibson as a redshirt junior at HWT, started pretty much all year I think, and should both be realistically looking to AA this year. I think HWT is pretty stacked though, with a lot of returning guys, and it won't help that Big Z won't be in the room next year. Gibson improved last year though, as the year progressed, so the prospects are good if he continues to.
Obviously everyone should expect better performance, and there is reason why that is a reasonable expectation. It is not just that last year the team performance was so low (as it was), but that guys should get better, and we have some solid guys coming in.
