Takedown Report

2019-20 Notre Dame College Team Preview* 2.0

ByBryce Villa
You may notice a very large asterisk at the end of the top line. That is in large part to the fact that I have had to completely redo their projected lineup and after we add up the points, they will no longer be the second-ranked team in NCAA Division II wrestling. I am not saying I got everything wrong, but I certainly made mistakes on some things that will immediately impact their team point total. I take full blame for this, there were resources outside of the coaching staff I could have explored, but instead, I decided to soldier ahead on my own. With no guidance I was made my best guesses, which it turns out were wrong. That being said, I have made some changes.

What is going on at Notre Dame College? The early favorite to win the title in 2019-20, it seemed like it would take a miracle to unseat them. It turns out that miracle was the slow death of the Wheeling Jesuit wrestling team and the subsequent transfer of two national titles to the University of Pitt-Johnstown lineup. That should not have been enough though to seemingly knock Notre Dame out of the top five though. Whatever has happened since the promotion of Sonny Marchette to head coach of the Falcons, this much is clear, Notre Dame College is in trouble. It began with the defection of seventh-ranked Cornell Beachem to Division III to play football. Not the end of the world, but certainly creating a hole that needed to be filled. Then came the news that seventh-ranked Jashon Hubbard would be transferring and now suddenly Marchette’s team needed a 165 and a 174-pound wrestler. Ok, that is tough, but it is not like they do not have the depth to fill two spots on the roster. Then came strike three, three-time All-American Kam Teacher parted ways with Notre Dame College and drove north to rival St Cloud State University. We will probably not see Teacher as a Huskie this season, but the loss of his points meant Notre Dame was down a potential finalists points. I know what you are saying, what else could go wrong for Marchette in his first year at the helm? I am glad you asked. Rumors abound that not only is 2018 All-American Taylor Misuna ineligible until second-semester, they will also be without 2019 National Champion Jose Rodgriguez for the same reason.  Rest of the storya t

August 27, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized