Today is certainly not playing out the way IU hoped. After Matt Powless was upset in the opening round, all but one wrestler in the championship bracket's second round lost, including upsets of senior Kurt Kinser at 149 pounds and graduate student Ricky Alcala, both to opponents they had previously defeated this season.

Freshman Justin Brooks, Mitchell Richey and Ryan LeBlanc each lost as expected to higher ranked opponents.

The lone victor in the second round was senior Paul Young at 157 pounds who dominted Colton Salazar of Purdue 13-5 after losing to him two weeks ago. Freshman phenom David Taylor awaits Young in the semifinals. Young has lost to Taylor twice this season: by a tech fall in the finals of the Southern Scuffle, and by major decision in a conference dual.

The tournament is in a break for a few hours right now, but here are the next matchups for each of the Hoosiers along with my thoughts and predictions on the matchups:

125 pounds: Justin Brooks vs. Eric Olanokski, Michigan State

Brooks won fairly easily against Olanoski earlier in the year and has been peaking recently. The bracket actually shapes up fairly favorly for Brooks the next few rounds, provided he does not fall prey to the upset bug.

133 pounds: Matt Ortega vs. Zac Stevens, Michigan

Ortega lost a close one to Stevens earlier this year. This one is too close to call and could go either way. Ortega is due for a break in a close match.

141 pounds: Mitchell Richey has a bye.

149 pounds: Kurt Kinser vs. Sam Patascil, Purdue

Kinser should be out for blood after his upset loss. He already beat Patascil 9-2 this year, and that was coming off an injury. I smell a classic Kinser headlock coming.

157 pounds: Paul Young vs. David Taylor, Penn State

See above. Taylor is just unstoppable this year as a freshman.

165 pounds: Ryan LeBlanc vs. James Vollrath, Penn State

This one should be hard to call as neither wrestler competed when IU and PSU met in a dual this season. Vollrath has wrestled at lower weights in the past, so LeBlanc should have the size advantage. That might be enough to get the win.

174 pounds: Nick Avery vs. Curran Jacobs, Michigan State

Despite losing, Avery wrestled likely his best match of the season against Jacobs in the IU-MSU dual. Can he pull it off this time? If not, his career is over.

184 pounds: Eric Cameron vs. A.J. Kissel, Purdue

Kissel won by decision two weeks ago, but the match was never close. This could be Cameron's final match, so perhaps the motivation factor will come into play here.

197 pounds: Matt Powless vs. Anthony Biondo, Michigan

After his shocking upset in the first round, Powless got a bye to a matchup with Biondo, who he has twice beaten this season. Expect Powless to throw everything he has at Biondo and begin to redeem himself with some bonus points.

Heavyweight: Ricky Alcala has a bye.

I will continue to post updates throughout the weekend. Live blogs can also be found at both Intermat and TheOpenMat.

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