Ah yes, there’s nothing quite like waking up on the first day of the new year with a hot cup of coffee and high quality wrestling on one or multiple of my many devices that FloSports is capable of streaming on. The Southern Scuffle, along with the Midlands, are two of the best tournaments of the year and will set the stage for the second half of the season.

Watch the 2020 Southern Scuffle LIVE on Flo

January 1-2 |10 AM Eastern

Before getting into 174, 184, 197, and 285, check out Nomad’s lightweight preview and David Bray’s middleweight preview.

174: 4 ranked

#10 Joe Grello, Rutgers

#16 Marcus Coleman, Iowa State

#18 Dean Sherry, Rider

#24 Spencer Carey, Navy

Commentary: The elephant in the room (weight) here is Joe Smith. The Oklahoma State senior came into the season ranked #6, but is currently unranked because he hasn’t wrestled a match yet this season. However, it is expected that he will be in competing in Chattanooga on New Year’s Day at 174 lbs. If Smith is there and healthy, he’s my pick. The two-time All-American was one of the best guys in the country last year at 174. At last year’s Southern Scuffle, he beat David McFadden and was tied with Mark Hall in a 1-1 match with 12 seconds left before Hall was able to score on a reattack. 

The highest ranked wrestler at the weight will be Joe Grello of Rutgers. Joe Smith beat Grello last year before dropping down to 165.

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Although unlikely because Iowa State isn’t brining a full team, If Marcus Coleman wrestles, he would be the second highest ranked wrestler in the bracket. Coleman took sixth at the Scuffle last year, but Joe Smith is the only wrestler returning at the weight who placed higher. 

Dean Sherry and his afro are for sure going to be a factor at 174. The Rider senior is a two-time national qualifier and tough on top. In fact, he even has a pin over #7 Devin Skatzka in one of the most exciting matches of the year. Sherry picked up a tech fall in his opening match at Scuffle last year before getting injured in his second, losing, and forfeiting out of the tournament. 

Chris Foca (Cornell greyshirt/Fingerlakes) and Jared McGill (Pitt unattached) are two redshirts I’m excited to watch. Foca is a 2019 New Jersey state champion, Doc Buchanan champion, and Fargo Greco champion. McGill is a Pennsylvania state champion and a Powerade champion.

Rader’s Picks: 1) Grello, Rutgers 2) Sherry, Rider 3) Carey, Navy 4) Foca, Fingerlakes

184: 8 ranked

#2 Trent Hidlay, NC State

#6 Louie Deprez, Binghamton

#8 Nino Bonaccorsi, Pitt

#10 Sammy Colbray, Iowa State

#15 Corey Hazel, Lock Haven

#20 Matthew Waddell, Chattanooga

#24 George Walton, Rider

#25 Anthony Montalvo, Oklahoma State

Commentary: Can Louie Deprez get his revenge over Trent Hidlay? The last time they wrestled it went to the tiebreakers.

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At CKLV, both wrestlers made it to the semis. Hidlay ended up second whereas Deprez semi-slid to sixth, losing to Hunter Bolen and Taylor Venz on the backside. Both wrestlers were majored by Zahid Valencia on the front side. It went to the tiebreakers in the first match, so clearly these two are close, but I think after the big weekend Hidlay had where he beat Darmstadt and Deprez and then a solid CKLV, Hidlay is gaining confidence and momentum. I think he’s able to take Deprez down this time and win it in regulation.

Nino Bonaccorsi is a guy with wins over Emery Parker, Dakota Geer, Nick Reenan, and Chip Ness in his career, so he is clearly talented. If it weren’t for an 11-8 loss to national qualifier Andrew Morgan, Bonaccorsi would be undefeated so far this year. Deprez has two wins over Bonaccorsi from 2018 (5-0 and TB1 3-2), but Bonaccorsi was just a redshirt then. It’s not crazy to pick Bonaccorsi over Deprez in the semifinals.

Similar to Marcus Coleman at 174, I don’t think we’ll see Colbray in Chattanooga. However, if he does, he’ll most likely place high. The Iowa State senior is just 6-4 on the year, but took fifth at the Scuffle last year and made it to the round of 12 at NCAAs. In his last match, he beat Matthew Waddell in OT 3-1.

Waddell is a transfer from Oklahoma who is having a decent year for Chattanooga. The Georgia native is 8-4 with wins over Dylan Wisman and Zach Braunagel. 

After a rough Journeyman, Corey Hazel is a respectable 8-2 on the season. The Lock Haven senior is a two-time national qualifier who sat out a good chunk of last year injured. If he is 100% he could do some damage both at Scuffle and in March.

Julien Broderson from Iowa State is a redshirt to keep your eye on at this weight. The three-time Iowa high school state champ took out Abe Assad at the Lindenwood Open before losing to Heath Gray in the finals.

Rader’s Picks: 1) Hidlay, NC State 2) Deprez, Binghamton 3) Bonaccorsi, Pitt 4) Hazel, Lock Haven

197: 8 ranked

#5 Nathan Traxler, Stanford

#6 Dakota Geer, Oklahoma State

#11 Nick Reenan, NC State

#15 Ethan Laird, Rider

#16 Jordan Pagano, Rutgers

#20 Noah Adams, West Virginia

#21 Jacob Seely, Northern Colorado

#25 Kellan Stout, Pitt

Commentary: 197 is deep and Nathan Traxler vs Dakota Geer poses an interesting potential finals match. In last year’s Scuffle semis, Geer had Traxler on the ropes late, but Traxler was able to use a 4-1 first period where he amassed over two minutes of riding time to win 9-7.

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Geer has a fun style and pretty high offensive output on his feet for an upperweight, but Traxler’s top wrestling is phenomenal. Geer’s going to have to get out quickly or win the takedown battle by at least one if he wants to win this time. 

Nick Reenan is a bit of a question mark at this point in time. He sat out the first month of the season with an injury. In his only match so far this year, Reenan beat Paul Carson of Appalachian State 4-3. Despite tearing his ACL in December last year, he was still able to qualify for the NCAA championships, but when he was 100%, this is a guy that won the World Team Trials Tournament and competed in Final X. Everyone not competing at 197 sure hopes he’s healthy.

Ethan Laird was close to being an All-American last year, making it to the round of 16. He’s a little bit lanky and has some solid reattacks. He’s 11-3 this season and should end up on the podium here. 

One of Laird’s three losses came to Cornell greyshirt/Fingerlakes freshman Jacob Cardenas. Cardenas is a two-time New Jersey state champion for Bergen Catholic and ended up as the #15 recruit in the class of 2019. 

Michael Beard is another big redshirt competing at this weight. The Penn State wrestler was a Prep National champion for Malvern and defeated Jelani Embree at Who’s #1 back in 2016. His only loss this year is to Greg Bulsak in the Clarion Open finals.

On the opposite end of the age spectrum, six-year senior Jordan Palgano is back after sitting out the second half of last season with an injury. When Palgano was healthy and at 174 he had wins over Ryan Preisch and Devin Skatzka. He’s 9-2 so far this year at 197.

Rader’s Picks: 1) Geer, Oklahoma State 2) Trexler, Stanford 3) Reenan, NC State 4) Beard, Penn State

285: 5 ranked

#10 Demetrius Thomas, Pitt

#14 Gannon Gremmel, Iowa State

#21 Dalton Robertson, Northern Colorado

#22 Chris Beck, VMI

#23 Brandon Ngati, West Virginia

Commentary: 285 isn’t exactly the most loaded weight of the tournament, but with five wrestlers in the top-25 and several other solid guys, this weight shouldn’t be slept on. 

Demetrius Thomas gets the nod as the favorite with his 11-7 head-to-head victory over Gannon Gremmel at last year’s NCAA Championships. As a redshirt in 2018, Thomas went 3-2 at the Scuffle. Thomas is a big, strong heavyweight who, fun fact, can also play the violin.

Gremmel is an athletic heavyweight who is coming off a fourth-place finish at CKLV where he lost to #7 Tate Orndorff twice. On the backside, he beat #16 Christian Lance of Nebraska and gave him one of the worst cuts from a wrestling match I’ve ever seen.

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Dalton Roberston, Chris Beck, and Brandon Ngati round out the ranked wrestlers in this weight. All are upperclassmen with a lot of experience and savvy. Robertson and Beck have never wrestled whereas Ngati is 0-1 against both.

Owen Trephan of NC State is the redshirt to keep your eye on at this weight. The Blair Academy graduate is a two-time National Prep champion and Ironman runner-up last year.

Brandon Metz of NDSU and Sean O’Malley of Drexel are two more attached wrestlers who will pick up some wins and should get on the podium.

Rader’s Picks: 1) Thomas, Pitt 2) Gremmel, Iowa State 3) Robertson, Northern Colorado 3) Metz, NDSU