MatScouts Dynasty Fantasy Wrestling Pre-Draft Preview (Todd Szewczyk)

If you think back hard enough, you may remember that your timeline was blowing up with random wrestler names and the hashtag #MatScoutsDynasty just over a year ago. That was the inaugural draft of the MatScouts Dynasty Fantasy League.

Since then, deals were made, duals were waged, and teams were sent to a grand National Tournament in March vying to be the Top Fantasy Wrestling Team in the Dynasty League. We now enter Season 2 of the #MatScoutsDynasty League, so let's catch you up to where all the teams stand.

As a refresher, here is the basic point scoring rules:

For wrestlers competing in dual meets, Standard Dual Team Scoring is used (win by Dec +3, loss by Dec -6, etc).

Bonus Points are given when your wrestler beats a ranked wrestler OR if your wrestler loses to a ranked wrestler

ex: if your wrestler beats Spencer Lee by Dec, your wrestler would get +3 for the Dec and another +6 for beating the #1 ranked wrestler.

If your wrestler loses by Dec to Spencer Lee, your wrestler is penalized only for -1 pt.

One starter per weight with two Flex classes.

Two in-season competitions of Head-to-Head Duals and Cumulative Total Points. Each competition brought with it the prize of earning additional team points for the National Tournament. 1st place = +9 team points for Nationals, 2nd place = +8, etc (if you win 1st in the Duals and Total Points, you earn +18 team points for Nationals, etc)

Meeseeks & Destroy

Team Manager: Todd Szewczyk (@nittanykid)

How It Started:

Co-host of the #FantasyCollegeWrestling podcast, Todd Szewczyk was selected to be the #9 pick in the inaugural MatScouts Dynasty League Draft.

For Todd's full draft recap, see the full draft board HERE

Hindsight Draft Review:

First Round Pick (#3 Overall): Going with an oldie but a goodie, Todd selected 174 Michael Kemerer (IOWA) with the 9th overall pick. In 2020, Kemerer entered the National Tournament as the 2-seed after going 13-0 in the regular season and having his only blemish be a loss in the Big Ten Championship Finals to Mark Hall. This season, he finished the regular season a perfect 4-0 which still landed him inside the Top-20 (#18) of Fantasy Wrestlers at 174.


Great Picks: As the first true freshman selected off the board, 165 Keegan O'Toole (MIZZ) would go on to be the #3 Fantasy Wrestler at 165 in WrestleStat leagues last season and the #9 overall wrestler across all weights.

285 Deonte Wilson (NCST) was the second to last pick of the draft who would go on to win the ACC beating out his assumed heavyweight starter picked 17 rounds earlier. Though he wasn't at the top of the Fantasy Point standings, he has shown to be right there in the AA conversation. Not bad for the #249 pick out of 250.

Under The Radar Pick: Call it homerism, call it "insider trading", call it what you want… but 197 True Freshman Tyler Mousaw (VMI) was once coached by Todd. That knowledge went far as Mousaw ended the 2021 regular season as the #4 Fantasy Wrestler at 197 (above Kordell Norfleet, Eric Schultz, and Nino Bonaccorsi), and only a couple points from overtaking AJ Ferrari and Rocky Elam for the #2 spot. Mousaw was taken in the 24th selection.

A Miss For This Season: There were a few picks that ended up not playing out the way Todd intended, like 133 Joey Silva (MICH) or 149 Brevin Balmeceda (OKST), but Todd picked 141 Julian Chlebove (ASU) early in the 4th Round. That's not to say that the Freshman does not have a future at the NCAA level, but this season was not a memorable one where he did not start for the Sun Devils until the Pac-12 Championships where he took 6th. He ended the 2021 season with a 6-7 record.

How The Season Played Out:

Jumping out to a 4-1 dual record to start the season, Meeseeks & Destroy would go on to lose the last three duals of the year and finish .500 in the Dual Standings. Fluxing between 4th and 6th in Total Points during the season, at the end of the day Meeseeks & Destroy finished just under the mid-table spot at #6. That would be good for an additional 9 team points.

See the full Dual and Total Points Standings HERE

Due to some wrestlers not taking the mat and other weights needing some depth, Todd went fishing in the Transfer portal a couple times this season:

- Drop 133 Joey Silva (Michigan), adds 133 Jordan Decatur (Ohio State)

- Drop 125 Jakason Burks (Oklahoma State), adds 125 Pat McKee (Minnesota)

- Drop 149 Brevin Balmeceda (Oklahoma State), adds 125 Brody Teske (UNI)

- Drop 125 Brock Hudkins (Indiana), add 184 Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado)

- Drop 141 Julian Chlebove (Arizona State), add 141 DJ Lloren (Fresno State)

2021 NCAA Tournament

Meeseeks & Destroys approached the 2021 NCAA Tournament with this End-of-Season Roster:

And this is the lineup Todd entered for Nationals:

Finishing with 102 points, Meeseeks & Destroy took 8th place in the #MatScoutsDynasty League Standings for the inaugural season.

Meeseeks & Destroy Entering the 2022 Season Draft

Lots of green on this depth chart, showing that Todd went the "build for the future" mentality. That said, It may be a season or two until the team as a whole is Championship ready. Immediate needs for depth are at 157 as Sheets has an injury history and Saldate finished the regular season 4-3, and 174. While Trey Munoz has shown he can be an everyday starter, it will be hard to replicate the team points that a "guaranteed" AA like Michael Kemerer brings to the table.

This team has a solid foundation with Aaron Brooks, Keegan O'Toole, Ridge Lovett, and Hunter Catka (all with at least 2 years left of eligibility) allow Meeseeks and Destroy to set those weights and orry more on fixing the leaky pipes in the rest of the lineup.

Meeseeks & Destroy has the #3 pick in the draft this season on October 18, 2021. Who should he target? Should he drop anyone before the draft? What weights need depth? Should he look to trade? who?

Let us know!