Rutgers at NCAA Wrestling Championships 2021: Forecasting Scarlet Knights’ tournament outlook
Updated Mar 17, 2021;
ST. LOUIS The strangest Rutgers wrestling season ever could end with plenty of history.
The Scarlet Knights head to the NCAA Championships with a serious national title threat, two All-America contenders (Rutgers has never had three top-8 finishers in the same year) and two underdogs who have the capability to get hot and bust brackets when action begins Thursday at the Enterprise Center.
Here is a closer look at what to expect from each of Rutgers’ five national qualifiers:
, 141 pounds. The Jackson native and Christian Brothers state champions wants a rematch with Penn State’s Nick Lee. If he takes care of business, he should get it. Rivera is seeded third and should cruise into Friday’s semis. As should Lee, the 2-seed. Then it will be up to Rivera to reverse his wild 8-6 sudden victory loss to Lee in the Big Ten semis. If he can, a showdown with Iowa
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Fireworks. That’s the only word to describe the college wrestling matches from this past weekend. The Penn State Nittany Lions returned to the mat and looked as close to championship form as this team has looked all season, Michigan pulled out a narrow, rivalry win against the Buckeyes and Navy topped Army 20-13 in another historic dual.
Add the fact that one top-ranked wrestler was taken down by a conference opponent, another top-ranked wrestler made his season debut and a third top-ranked wrestler is out temporarily because of a COVID-19 shutdown, and the intrigue only increases.