The field is set. The bracket is finalized. The stage is ready.
It’s time to start wrestling.
Well, almost.
It less than a week, the NCAA Division I National Championships will commence and mark the final time Owatonna High School graduate, Peyton Robb, will take the mat as a college wrestler — if not the final time he will take the mat ever.
But that narrative is for another time. There will be plenty of opportunity to reflect on Robb’s remarkable amateur wrestling career when it inevitably comes to a close next week .
Until then, there is still one final path ahead — one final route to take — in a career that has spanned two decades and features a list of accomplishments that may never be duplicated by an Owatonna wrestler. Ever.
For Robb and the 300-plus college wrestlers headed to the national tournament, all roads lead to downtown Kansas City and T-Mobile Arena.
Session 1 of the three-day event gets underway Thursday afternoon at 11 a.m. and concludes on Saturday night with the traditional Parade of All-Americans followed by the first of the 10 championship matches on national television.
In three previous appearances at the national tournament, Robb has secured two All-American nods — awarded to the top eight place-winners at each of the 10 weight classes — and enters this year’s competition as the No. 8 seed (of 33) in the 157 pound bracket.
NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIPS
SITE: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri
BROADCAST: ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN+
DATES: Thursday, March 21-Saturday, March 23
DEFENDING TEAM CHAMPION: Penn State
157-POUND BRACKET
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Austin O’Connor, North Carolina (graduated)
TOP SEED: Levi Haines, Penn State (18-0)
TOP 2023 RETURNER: Levi Haines, 2nd place
RETURNING 2023 ALL-AMERICANS: 6
TOP 16 SEEDS
No. 1: Levi Haines, Penn State (18-0)
No. 2: Jacori Teemer, Arizona State (21-3)
No. 3: Meyer Shapiro, Cornell (23-2)
No. 4: Ed Scott, NC State (21-5)
No. 5: Ryder Downey, Northern Iowa (21-4)
No. 6: Daniel Cardenas, Stanford (24-6)
No. 7: Peyten Kellar, Ohio (22-2)
No. 8 Peyton Robb, Nebraska (21-6)
No. 9 Will Lewan, Michigan (12-7)
No. 10 Jared Franek, Iowa (23-5)
No. 11 Brayden Lee, Indiana (11-2)
No. 12 Bryce Adnonian, Virginia Tech (17-5)
No. 13 Michael Blockhus, Minnesota(15-3)
No. 14 Cody Chittum, Iowa State (15-5)
No. 15 Cael Swenson, SDSU (20-8)
No. 16 Teague Travus, Oklahoma State (20-5)
TIER TALK
TIER 1, THE FAVORITE: Levi Haines, Penn State (18-0)
TIER 2, THE CONTENDERS: No. 2 Jacori Teemer, Arizona State (21-3); No. 3 Meyer Shapiro, Cornell (23-2); No. 4 Ed Scott, NC State (21-5); No. 5 Ryder Downey, Northern Iowa (21-4); No. 6 Daniel Cardenas, Stanford (24-6); No. 7 Peyten Kellar, Ohio (22-2); No. 8 Peyton Robb, Nebraska (21-6); No. 9 Will Lewan, Michigan (12-7); No. 10 Jared Franek, Iowa (23-5)
TIER 3, THE SLEEPERS: No. 12 Bryce Adnonian, Virginia Tech (17-5); No. 13 Michael Blockhus, Minnesota (15-3)
TIER 4, THE DARKHORSES: No. 11 Brayden Lee, Indiana (11-2); No. 14 Cody Chittum, Iowa State (15-5); No. 15 Cael Swenson, SDSU (20-8); No. 16 Teague Travus, Oklahoma State (20-5)
TIER 5, PODIUM POTENTIAL: No. 18 Vinny Zerban, Northern Colorado (24-2); DJ McGee, George Mason (24-5); No. 23 Joey Blaze, Purdue (17-10); No. 30 Colton Washleski, Rider (29-8)
PEYTON’S PATH
OPENING ROUND: Trevor Chumbley, Northwestern (17-12), Thursday, approx. 12:15 p.m.
MATCHUP NOTES: Robb is 3-0 against Chumbley in his career with his latest victory coming by a 5-0 decision on March 9 at the Big Ten Tournament; Last year, Robb won the first matchup, 2-0, before rolling to an 11-3 major decision in the conference tournament
WINNER FACES: No. 9 Will Lewan (12-7) of Michigan or No. 24 Chase Saldate (25-6) of Michigan State
NOTES: No. 1-ranked 157-pounder, Levi Haines, looms on Robb’s side of the bracket as the two would square off in the national quarterfinals if both start 2-0; Robb is 0-3 against Haines with the most recent setback coming by 10-3 decision in the Big Ten quarterfinals on March 9; Robb is a combined 4-2 against his two potential second round opponents.
STORYLINES, NEWS, NOTES & INFORMATION
HAINES, AND EVERYONE ELSE: Penn State’s Levi Haines is the undisputed favorite in the field and hasn’t lost a match since suffering a 6-2 setback to Austin O’Connor in last season’s 157-pound national championship. He is undefeated, and outside of a few random close calls, has largely dominated the competition this season. In his last nine matches alone, he’s won two by fall, one by technical fall and three by major decision. Michigan’s Will Lewan has as close as anyone to defeating Haines this year, losing by 2-1 decision in the regular season and 4-1 (SV) in the Big Ten title match.
INJURED AND UNDER-SEEDED: Minnesota’s Michael Blockhus and Iowa’s Jared Franek were seeded No. 2 and No. 4. respectively, at last week’s Big Ten Tournament but were forced to forfeit their final matches due to injury and are outside the top 10 for the NCAA Tournament. The pair is a combined 3-0 against Robb this season.
BEATING THE BEST: Robb is 17-12 (.586) against the top 16 seeds in the 157-pound bracket, which includes a combined 6-0 mark against No. 2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) and No. 4 Ed Scott (NC State).
UP…: Robb beat current top 16 seeds Cael Swenson (No. 15), Will Lewan (No. 9) and Jacori Teemer (No. 2) in his final three matches at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Dec. 1 in Las Vegas and rose as high as No. 2 in the national rankings, peaking at 14-0 on Jan. 6 after after beating Wyoming’s Cooper Voorhees, 15-1, in the first match of a nonconference triangular.
…DOWN…: After beating Voorhees, Robb went on to lose three straight matches against top 10-ranked Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa), Jared Franek (Iowa) and Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) and extended his career-long losing skid to four matches after being pinned for the first time since his redshirt freshman season on Jan. 21 when Purdue’s Joey Blaze stuck him in the third period .
… AND BACK UP AGAIN: In his previous nine matches leading into the NCAA Tournament, Robb is 7-2 and has earned marquee wins against Big Ten runner-up and No. 9-seed Will Lewan (Michigan) and No. 11 Brayden Lee (Indiana). Robb’s third-place medal at the Big Ten tournament last week is tied for his second-best finish of his career at the event.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT
THE HUSKY BULLETIN 
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