165 Is Every Pennsylvanian's Dream At The Southern Scuffle
165 Is Every Pennsylvanian's Dream At The Southern Scuffle
Seven ranked wrestlers, a stud redshirt, and a dream matchup of Pennsylvania high school legends at the 2019 Southern Scuffle.
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Somehow people continue to doubt Vincenzo Joseph despite him being a two-time national champ. Fair warning, this article will feature at least a little more of that!
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Jan. 1-2 | 10 a.m. ET
Perhaps doubt isn't the right word, but there is certainly intrigue with some of the guys he could see on Tuesday and Wednesday. That's compounded by the fact that Cenzo has been balling people up so far this year.
This Tuesday and Wednesday, 165lbs is going to be tons of fun in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In particular, it could feature a match that everyone in Pennsylvania has been dying to see for years: Chance Marsteller vs Joseph. Here are all the cop contenders in this loaded weight class.
Southern Scuffle Previews: Lightweight | Middleweight | Upperweight
#3 Chance Marsteller, Lock Haven
It's well documented but bears repeating: Marsteller was a wunderkind as a young teenager. He was considered the #1 recruit in his grade until Kyle Snyder went and won a Junior world title. To be clear, Joseph was also a super high level blue chip recruit, even as a freshman, but Marsteller had a mythology around him.
I may be wrong, but I can't find any history matchups in either folk or freestyle of these two between college and high school. Both of them are short and barrel chested wrestlers who aren't afraid to go upperbody and set up their leg attacks from above the waist. Something tells me this one goes down in the finals with a big inside trip or throw early on.
#9 Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech
Both Joseph and Marsteller grew up going to Fargo and trying to make age level world teams. However, it was Mekhi Lewis, in just his third freestyle tournament ever, winning a Junior world title. Marsteller took him out twice at last year's Scuffle. If Lewis opens up a little more than he did at CKLV, he's sound enough positionally to knock off both Marsteller and Joseph. Even wrestling a bit conservative, he still was able to make the finals in Vegas.
#10 Chandler Rogers, Oklahoma State
The two-time All-American won this thing back in 2017, the same year the Cowboys finished with eight placers at NCAAS. He got big over the summer, wrestling 82kg at U23 Greco Trials, which probably means it's a good thing he's in his senior year. I would love to him see the freewheeling Rogers against the stoic Lewis. The matches with Joseph and Marsteller have each featured a combined 16 points, though Rogers lost both.
#14 Ebed Jarrell, Drexel
Jarrell has a common opponent over Lewis in that he beat Isaiah White at Journeymen, the same White that beat the Hokie in the CKLV finals. He also had a close match with Joseph at last year's Scuffle, so we're going to give him some due as a tough potential quarterfinals opponent on Tuesday night.
#14 (at 157) Tyler Marinelli, Gardner-Webb
Marinelli's no stranger to bouncing around in weight. He started at 149 before bumping up to 157 his freshman year. The next year he redshirted and moved up from 157 to 165 to 174 by the end of the season. He was at 165 for the whole 2016-17 season, was at 157 all last year, and started at 157 this year before moving up for the George Mason dual and is staying there for the Scuffle.
#20 Jesse Dellavecchia, Rider
On November 22, 2015, Dellavecchia wrestled 141 for the Broncs at the New York State Championships, which is a little odd considering Rider is in New Jersey. A year later at the Princeton Open, he wrestled 174. Looks like he's finally found a weight at which he is comfortable.
Shane Griffith, Stanford
The best redshirt in the bracket by a country mile. I'm still of the opinion that Stanford should pull Griffith's shirt, but I'm selfish. The three-time Jersey state champ out of Bergen Catholic, he's 13-1 with convincing wins over Seldon Wright and Andrew Fogarty. It might take an upset or an unexpected injury default, but Griffith has a not terrible shot at cracking the top four.