By all accounts, an epic showdown is expected to take place in tonight's dual between Wyoming and South Dakota State, as the #1-ranked 133-pounder in the country, Seth Gross, bumps up to his old weight class to face top-ranked Bryce Meredith at 141lb in Brookings, SD.

Both Gross, an SDSU junior, and Meredith, a UW senior, have similar styles (that is, their wrestling styles; Meredith would have a clear advantage in hairstyle). They’re both great in scrambles, both are absolute menaces from the top position, and both can rack up some serious points.

Watch South Dakota State at Wyoming LIVE on FloWrestling

Size Shouldn't Matter

For those of you who think that Gross will be at a distinct strength disadvantage, think again. First off, neither athlete’s style of wrestling is one that is very imposing physically. 

Both Gross and Meredith have a tendency to scramble. When you leave your feet, strength becomes less of a factor. Secondly, Gross has exceptional wrestling strength (which is different than weightlifting strength, but that’s a whole other article).

One Set Of Backs Is All It Will Take

If the match comes down to a turn (which it has in the past), I would have to give a slight advantage to Gross. First off, Gross transitions to a turn really well off of his belly wizzer, and Meredith has a great head-inside single, which plays right into Gross’ belly wizzer. 

While Gross didn’t score off of that belly wizzer in their last matchup, he did give Meredith such fits with it that he chose to abandon his head-inside single — opting to switch to a head-outside leg attack so Gross couldn’t tip him to his hip.

The other reason that I give Gross the nod when it comes to back points is because he's turned Meredith before. In their 2016 Big 12 final, Gross spladled Meredith for four in the third period. 

7 Minutes Is A Long Time

Bryce Meredith is a bit more battle-tested this year. He has wins over Kevin Jack (WATCH HERE) and two-time NCAA champion Dean Heil (WATCH HERE). Putting yourself through wars like that tends to open up an area of your lungs that is hard to get to when you’re tech-pinning everyone. Props to SDSU coach Chris Bono for realizing that Gross is bored at 133lb and that he needs to find creative ways to push the Hodge contender. (At least, Gross is a contender according to this Instagram edit — and Instagram edits never lie).

Gross has only gone seven minutes twice so far this year. What better time to stretch the lungs than a home dual in January?

The longer the match goes scoreless (or stays close) the more I see it going in Meredith’s favor. Meredith keeps an extremely high pace, and Gross’ lung capacity is a question mark. That could spell disaster for the Jackrabbit, who trains at an elevation of 1,621 feet in Brookings compared to the 7,165 feet of elevation Meredith experiences in Laramie, WY.

So who wins tonight? WHO CARES, as long as we get to see more scrambles like this one.