Pilcher correctly picks seven champions, wins 2019 NCAA Championships journalists picks contest
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by JD Rader, USA Wrestling
K.J. Pilcher, a journalist for The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has won this year’s NCAA Championships journalist picks contest, a competition hosted annually by TheMat.com.
Pilcher scored 37 points, and defeated 29 other journalists, by correctly selecting seven champions and eight second-place finishers.
Ken Chertow of KenChertow.com finished in second. Chertow correctly picked eight champions, the most of any journalist. Chertow is a longtime television wrestling commentator.
Participants received three points for every champion, two points for every runner-up, and one point for a finalist in the wrong placement. The top five teams were used as a tiebreaker. Participants received points for each correct placement (5-4-3-2-1).
Chertow, Cameron Drury of Indianamat.com, Dan Fickel of Wrestling USA Magazine, Richard Immel of rimmelpics.com, and G. Wyatt Schultz of The Predicament were the only journalists to correctly choose the top five teams in order.
Ray Shoaf of WrestlingTexas and Jamie Moffatt of Wrestling Historian were the only participants to predict Jack Mueller of Virginia making the finals, with Moffatt being the lone journalist to correctly pick him as a runner-up.
No journalists chose Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech as champion, but David Mirikitani of TrackWrestling did choose him as a runner-up.
While four participants correctly predicted Drew Foster of UNI as a finalist, no one correctly chose him as champion. Mike Finn of WIN Magazine was the only journalist to predict Max Dean of Cornell as a finalist.
Myles Martin of Ohio State was the most frequent incorrectly chosen champion, receiving 28 out of 30 picks. Gable Steveson of Minnesota was the second most frequent incorrectly chosen champion, receiving 23 picks.
Click here to see the complete list of journalists’ predictions for the 2019 NCAA Championships.
2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Final Journalist Point Standings
37 – K.J. Pilcher (The Gazette)
36 – Ken Chertow (KenChertow.com)
33 – Matt Levins (The Hawkeye Newspaper)
32 – G. Wyatt Schultz (The Predicament)
31 – Justin Basch (Basch Solutions), Jim Kalin (Amateur Wrestling News), Bill Rudick (Digital 1st Media, PAWF Media Director)
30 – Mark Beshey (The Guillotine), Cameron Drury (Indianamat.com), Dan Fickel (Wrestling USA Magazine), Richard Immel (rimmelpics.com), JD Rader (USA Wrestling), Tom Franck (Intermat)
29 – Jeff Beshey (The Guillotine), Mark Lundy (LutteLens.com), David Mirikitani (TrackWrestling), Brad Wilson (LehighValleyLive)
28 – Jamie Moffatt (Wrestling Historian), Christian Pyles (FloWrestling), Stephen Stonebraker (Freelancer), Lars Underbaake (IAWrestle.com)
27 – Andrew Hipps (Intermat), Larry Slater (Larry Slater Photography/USA Wrestling)
26 – Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling), Mike Finn (WIN Magazine)
25 – Willie Saylor (FloWrestling), Jim Thompson (The Predicament)
24 – Taylor Miller (USA Wrestling), Michael Willis (USA Wrestling)
22 - Ray Shoaf (WrestlingTexas)
Pilcher scored 37 points, and defeated 29 other journalists, by correctly selecting seven champions and eight second-place finishers.
Ken Chertow of KenChertow.com finished in second. Chertow correctly picked eight champions, the most of any journalist. Chertow is a longtime television wrestling commentator.
Participants received three points for every champion, two points for every runner-up, and one point for a finalist in the wrong placement. The top five teams were used as a tiebreaker. Participants received points for each correct placement (5-4-3-2-1).
Chertow, Cameron Drury of Indianamat.com, Dan Fickel of Wrestling USA Magazine, Richard Immel of rimmelpics.com, and G. Wyatt Schultz of The Predicament were the only journalists to correctly choose the top five teams in order.
Ray Shoaf of WrestlingTexas and Jamie Moffatt of Wrestling Historian were the only participants to predict Jack Mueller of Virginia making the finals, with Moffatt being the lone journalist to correctly pick him as a runner-up.
No journalists chose Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech as champion, but David Mirikitani of TrackWrestling did choose him as a runner-up.
While four participants correctly predicted Drew Foster of UNI as a finalist, no one correctly chose him as champion. Mike Finn of WIN Magazine was the only journalist to predict Max Dean of Cornell as a finalist.
Myles Martin of Ohio State was the most frequent incorrectly chosen champion, receiving 28 out of 30 picks. Gable Steveson of Minnesota was the second most frequent incorrectly chosen champion, receiving 23 picks.
Click here to see the complete list of journalists’ predictions for the 2019 NCAA Championships.
2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Final Journalist Point Standings
37 – K.J. Pilcher (The Gazette)
36 – Ken Chertow (KenChertow.com)
33 – Matt Levins (The Hawkeye Newspaper)
32 – G. Wyatt Schultz (The Predicament)
31 – Justin Basch (Basch Solutions), Jim Kalin (Amateur Wrestling News), Bill Rudick (Digital 1st Media, PAWF Media Director)
30 – Mark Beshey (The Guillotine), Cameron Drury (Indianamat.com), Dan Fickel (Wrestling USA Magazine), Richard Immel (rimmelpics.com), JD Rader (USA Wrestling), Tom Franck (Intermat)
29 – Jeff Beshey (The Guillotine), Mark Lundy (LutteLens.com), David Mirikitani (TrackWrestling), Brad Wilson (LehighValleyLive)
28 – Jamie Moffatt (Wrestling Historian), Christian Pyles (FloWrestling), Stephen Stonebraker (Freelancer), Lars Underbaake (IAWrestle.com)
27 – Andrew Hipps (Intermat), Larry Slater (Larry Slater Photography/USA Wrestling)
26 – Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling), Mike Finn (WIN Magazine)
25 – Willie Saylor (FloWrestling), Jim Thompson (The Predicament)
24 – Taylor Miller (USA Wrestling), Michael Willis (USA Wrestling)
22 - Ray Shoaf (WrestlingTexas)
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