The 133-pound weight class is more volatile than ever, and a charging freshman class is making the weight very interesting this March.
At the top of the division, Illinois’ Lucas Byrd goes for a second straight title, trying to follow Roman Bravo-Young and Vito Arujau as recent two-time winners.
But in the process, he must defend his crown against some of the best young stars in the country.
Ohio State’s Ben Davino, Penn State’s Marcus Blaze and Oklahoma State’s Jax Forrest are all looking to start quests to win their first of what could be four titles in their careers when they arrive in Cleveland.
Byrd wants to be the man to stop it, finishing his legacy with one more title.
His path starts at the Big Ten tournament, where he could meet Davino, Blaze and two-time NCAA finalist Drake Ayala.
Ben Davino ready for first postseason push
If iron sharpens iron, No. 3 Davino is as sharp as he’s ever been entering the postseason. He’s nearly run through everyone in the loaded weight, finishing the regular season 21-1 with a lone loss to Penn State’s Marcus Blaze.
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“The overall depth of this weight class is what separates it from others, and especially with how young most of the guys in it are,” Davino said. “It kind of sets up a super fun next couple of years.”
If both wrestlers stay at their schools, Davino and Blaze will get plenty of head-to-head meetings over the years, potentially starting with Big Tens this weekend in State College.
For that reason, Davino’s tiebreaker loss to Blaze by no means defines his season. The way the freshman responds will decide how far he can go in the postseason.
“The second I got back to the room, or even before that, just thinking back, I’ve learned so much from it,” Davino said. “Those battles are going to help me improve.”
To get to Blaze again, however, Davino will likely need to go through Bryd. And he’ll get to take on this quest in the hostile environment of the Bryce Jordan Center, home of the Nittany Lions. The Buckeye likely needs to get by Byrd before possibly meeting Blaze again for the conference title.
Davino likes this kind of atmosphere, though. He wants the intensity.
“I kind of like crowds,” Davino said. “I feel like in this sport, if you’re going to be great, you have to get used to them. When I was there, I was super dialed in on the match, and it didn’t really rattle me at all.”
Davino has two more tournaments to define his freshman season, and in both instances, Blaze and Byrd stand in his way.
Buckeye pre-seeds for this weekend’s Big Ten Championships!
— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks)
Outside the Big Ten, Jax Forrest also presents another challenge. Ranked No. 5 in the weight by InterMat, Forrest enters his first NCAA championships unsatisfied with anything other than perfection.
“I just want to be number one,” Forrest said in a recent media availability with Oklahoma State. “So, if I’m not ranked number one, then I’m not happy whether I’m ranked what, like sixth or fifth. Because ultimately, if I go to nationals and take fifth or sixth, that’s going to be not a failure, but that’s not going to be me achieving my goals.
Lucas Byrd seeks to add to his legacy
Forrest, Davino and Blaze are all looking for their chance against last year’s champ: Bryd.
Now in his seventh year of college wrestling, Byrd still has more to prove. He is the elder statesman in a weight class where he is constantly hearing about the potential for Davino, Blaze and Forrest to be four-time national champions.
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He’s here to spoil the plans of the top freshmen in the country.
“There’s a lot of people online saying these guys are going to be four-timers,” Byrd said. “And being able to be like ‘No, no, I’m going to get my second title,’ and these guys can be three-timers.”
Even though he has been on Illinois’ roster for seven years, Byrd is not distant from his first NCAA tournament experience in 2021.
He was the scary freshman nobody wanted to wrestle and finished fifth, his first of three All-American finishes.
“I was really nervous because it was my first national tournament,” Byrd said. “But I could remember that I was hungry to wrestle the older guys. I wanted to get my hands on the older guys because I wanted to prove a point.”
It is impossible to not have a target on your back as the defending national champion, and Byrd expects to feel that when he arrives in Cleveland. Adding to his experience will be the numerous friends and family who come to see him go for back-to-back titles in his home state.
Final coaches rankings heading into the post season. 's still number 1 💪
— Illinois Wrestling (@IlliniWrestling)
The youth of this year’s 133-pound tournament will add to the pressure. Because nobody at the top end of the field has wrestled Byrd yet, everyone will give the defending national champion their best shot.
“They want to wrestle the guy that’s number one in the country,” Byrd said. “They want to prove to everybody, ‘Oh, Byrd wrestled an easy schedule and he was gifted the opportunity to stay at number one.' ”
Last year’s 133-pound campaign was defined by the rivalry between Byrd and Iowa’s Drake Ayala. The two first met in the dual season, with Ayala earning a 4-2 decision, but Byrd pinned Ayala to win the Big Ten title. The national championship match between the two went past seven minutes with Byrd winning the title in tiebreakers.
This season, Byrd enters Big Tens a perfect 17-0 but has not faced the same level of competition as the graduate student faced a season ago. The only ranked wrestler Byrd faced in the regular season was Ayala, whom he beat back at National Duals in November. Byrd’s weak schedule is the reason he is the No. 2 pre-seed behind Blaze at Big Tens despite his perfect record.
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Byrd does get motivation from being snubbed, but he is solely focused on his wrestling once he gets to State College.
“Unfortunately, I can’t control what teams put wrestlers out against me,” Byrd said. “At the end of the day, it is what it is. You have to wrestle three great matches this weekend, and then in two weeks you have to wrestle five great matches.”
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