My breakdown of 184 top 8 seeds and rationale. Asterisk next to opponent’s name indicates bonus point outcome.
1. Gabe Dean
Record – 30-0
Key Wins – Everyone
Key Losses – No one
Tournaments – EIWA Champ, Southern Scuffle Champ, Cliff Keen Champ, NYS Collegiate Champ
2. Bo Nickal
Record – 21-1
Key Wins – Dudley 2x, Boyd*, Brooks*, Martin
Key Losses – Martin
Tournaments – Keystone Classic Champ, B1G 3rd Place
3. Sammy Brooks
Record – 24-2
Key Wins – Martin x2 (1*), Jackson x2, Boyd*
Key Losses – Nickal*, Jackson
Tournaments – B1G Champ, Midlands 3rd Place
4. Zach Zavatsky
Record – 24-2
Key Wins – Martin
Key Losses – Macciavello, Dean*
Tournaments – Cliff Kean Runner-Up, ACC Champ
5. Nolan Boyd
Record – 21-4
Key Wins – None
Key Losses – Nickal*, Brooks*, Dean 2x (1*)
Tournaments – Big 12 Champ, Southern Scuffle Runner-Up
6. Myles Martin
Record – 26-7
Key Wins – Nickal, Dudley x2
Key Losses – Nickal, Brooks x2 (1*), Dechow, Zavatsky
Tournaments – B1G Runner-Up, Cliff Kean 3rd Place, Journeyman Classic Champ, Midlands 8th Place
7. TJ Dudley
Record – 25-4
Key Wins – Dechow, Jackson
Key Losses – Nickal x2, Martin x2
Tournaments – B1G 4th Place, Midlands Champ, Daktronics Champ, Harold Nichols Champ
8. Nate Jackson
Record – 30-3
Key Wins – Brooks
Key Losses – Brooks x2, Dudley
Tournaments – B1G 6th Place, Midlands 4th, Navy Classic Champ
Dechow comes in at 9 due to 2 "bad" losses. Martin can be higher (I can justify him as high as 4th) but he has 7 losses on the season which hurt him in my opinion. Dudley over Jackson due to a H2H win plus a higher finish at the B1Gs. 4, 5, and 6 are interchangable. I gave nods to better overall records. Boyd behind ZZ Top by virtue of a good win over Martin. Boyd over Martin by virtue of a better record with all high level losses.