With the Holiday break officially here, this lull in competition gives us a chance to break down two more weight classes for the 2016 Defense Soap and Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle.  We are nine days away from the first whistle, so let's take a quick look at the middle of the field. 

The 157 bracket has a lot of Scuffle experience, with seven individuals who have placed at least once in the event in their careers.  Penn State's Jason Nolf advanced to last year's finals as an unattached true freshman and is back with a No. 3 national ranking this season.  He is 11-0 on the season and one of the favorites to win the title.

Michigan's Brian Murphy and Lehigh's Mitch Minotti are the two returning All-Americans in the group.  Murphy is currently No. 5 in the country, while Minotti ranks 10^th.  Central Michigan's Lucas Smith, who placed seventh in 2014, sits at No. 8 in the rankings. 

Other ranked competitors at 157 include West Virginia's Dylan Cottrell at No. 12 and Army's Russell Parsons at No. 14.  Parsons is looking to improve on his 6^th place showing last season.

The Citadel's Aaron Walker is coming off a fifth place finish in 2015, while Stanford's Maxwell Hvolbek is back after placing eighth.  Cornell's Dylan Palacio placed sixth in 2014, and Oklahoma State's Chance Marsteller was fourth at 165 that same year. 

The host Chattanooga Mocs have a dark horse at this weight in freshman Kamaal Shakur.  Shakur competed well as an unattached redshirt in 2015.  He battled eventual NCAA Finalist Brian Realbuto of Cornell before barely losing a 5-4 decision.  Shakur is 13-2 overall and already has a win at the Wolfpack Open. 
 

157
Rank	Name	Year	School
3	Jason Nolf	Fr.	Penn State
5	Brian Murphy	Jr.	Michigan
	2015 All-American
8	Lucas Smith	Sr.	Central Michigan
	2014 Scuffle 7th
10	Mitch Minotti	Jr.	Lehigh
	2015 All-American
12	Dylan Cottrell	Jr.	West Virginia
14	Russell Parsons	Jr.	Army
	2015 Scuffle 6th
	Maxwell Hvolbek	Jr.	Stanford
	2015 Scuffle 8th
	Chance Marsteller	Fr.	Oklahoma State
	2015 Scuffle 4th (165)
	Dylan Palacio	Jr.	Cornell
	2014 Scuffle 6th
	Aaron Walker	Sr.	The Citadel
	2015 Scuffle 5th

The battle at 165 is going to be a tough one with three All-Americans in the hunt.  Everyone, however, will be chasing two-time NCAA Champion Alex Dieringer from Oklahoma State.  He won the Scuffle at 165 last season and took the trophy at 157 in 2014.

Dieringer is one of seven current No. 1s at the Scuffle, and has a chance to enter elite company with three Scuffle titles.  Only seven have done that in the history of the tournament, including Cornell's Kyle Dake (2009-13) and Mack Lewnes (2007-09), Missouri's Ben Askren (2003, 05-06), Minnesota's Roger Kish (2004-06) and Cole Konrad (2003-06) and Penn State's Ed Ruth (2010, 2012-13) and David Taylor (2010, 2012, 2014).

His biggest challengers are a pair of All-American's in North Carolina sophomore Ethan Ramos and Stanford junior Jim Wilson.  Ramos is up to No. 4 this week, while Wilson is also in the top 10 at No. 9.

Duke's Jake Faust beat Wilson to win the Hokie Open earlier in the year and is currently No. 16.  Cornell's Duke Pickett and Penn State's Geno Morelli are the other two ranked at 165 in the field.  They are No. 14 and No. 18, respectively.    
 

165
Rank	Name	Year	School
1	Alex Dieringer	Sr.	Oklahoma State
	2015 Scuffle Champion
	2015 NCAA Champion
	2014 Scuffle Champion (157)
	2014 NCAA Champion (157)
4	Ethan Ramos	So.	North Carolina
	2015 All-American
9	Jim Wilson	Jr.	Stanford
	2015 All-American
14	Duke Pickett	Sr.	Cornell
16	Jake Faust	So.	Duke
18	Geno Morelli	Jr.	Penn State

Tickets are on sale now for the 2016 Defense Soap & Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle on TheSouthernScuffle.com.  Hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Scuffle takes place at McKenzie Arena on Jan. 1-2.  Full details, hotel information and a schedule of events are all available on TheSouthernScuffle.com.