I know his resume is above reproach but Spencer hasn't wrestled freestyle is quite a while. I am sure he still has the chops but it is very different than wearing guys out with tilts.
2021 NCAAs
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
If this was football the coach would be fired for letting someone compete with a major injury like an acl. The school should investigate this.
Spencer cut through the Senior Nationals field last year like a hot knife through butter. Granted, I don’t believe Fix, Gilman, or Suriano were there.... Still—I was looking forward to cheering for him, and thought he would be our rep. Very tough battle ahead.
You kid, but I seriously dont think Spencer likes being associated with that circus, he doesnt need Tom or Terry, the kid would be a NC if he had chose freakin Maryland.
I'm sure glad Cassar got the unfocused Stevenson rather than this Stevenson. I would imagine it would still be a great bout but not sure what the outcome would be.
This is why I thought Kemmer would pull out the win tonight. Just thought is experience would be enough for the win. Sure glad I was wrong.
I can not be the only one who wonders if Lee likes the Iowa program outside of his fellow wrestlers. I did not see a lot of fun happening last night given that they had won a national championship. Is it possible that Lee might one day turn down the chance to coach at Iowa, as all their fans assume he will, and decide to be the successor to Carl? He has always fit the PSU-style and culture better than the Brand(s) of insanity in that program.
Im GUESSING but maybe (it was) Terry coaching him for interview
Definately not congratulatory type convo.
Or maybe he wanted thrown 🙃
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What an awesome night of wrestling that was. Penn State lost the war on paper but won all the battles that everyone will remember, three in SV against guys who are otherwise pretty clutch, two B1G results flipped from two weeks ago. Four new portraits go up on the wall of the wrestling room. Cael's legend somehow grew a size overnight.
Elsewhere, Griffith embarrassed Stanford's administration, which hopefully spurs some national press. Steveson dominated, looking like a different wrestler than the one Cassar beat twice. Sasso maybe got a little robbed. Lee delivered again, then pretended to have been motivated by everyone doubting him (c'mon...), then countered Steveson's round-off back hand-spring Hodge push with the revelation that he's been wrestling with torn ACLs (big deal, I've been wrestling* without ACLs for decades). DeSanto found a disturbing new way to distract and make news.
But I couldn't be happier for our four kids who showed up ready to execute a plan and just delivered.
Elsewhere, Griffith embarrassed Stanford's administration, which hopefully spurs some national press. Steveson dominated, looking like a different wrestler than the one Cassar beat twice. Sasso maybe got a little robbed. Lee delivered again, then pretended to have been motivated by everyone doubting him (c'mon...), then countered Steveson's round-off back hand-spring Hodge push with the revelation that he's been wrestling with torn ACLs (big deal, I've been wrestling* without ACLs for decades). DeSanto found a disturbing new way to distract and make news.
But I couldn't be happier for our four kids who showed up ready to execute a plan and just delivered.
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Pissed about not bonusing. Brands did the same thing to Desanto, after the consi semifinals and the 3rd place bout. Then Desanto lost it on the woman shortly thereafter. In both cases it's probably misplaced anger because their class act coach was chewing on them after wins.
You just won a National Championship with a recently destroyed knee and your coach immediately comes to congra....er....lecture you. No compassion at all.
I won on a tiebreaker. I had 139.5 for championship team points, other guy had 140. 🎉 That 0.5 was worth an extra $1,200. Boom!
A ton of enjoyable moments from a VERY fun evening. From a schadenfreude perspective, the most fun was seeing Nick take out Eierman. Since that post Big 10 interview when he showed absolutely no respect to Nick with the “should have been more” comment, I wanted Nick to get revenge. While Spencer, Kemerer and Marinelli all seem like really good, decent young men, Eierman seems like a real tool. Extremely happy that all of Nick’s hard work paid off and also ecstatic that Eierman lost.
Sounded angry after winning a championship match. Hate to see how he is when he loses.
Spencer is starting to sound more and more like the people he has decided to surround himself with. He was pinning Nato and beating Nicky as a true frosh. He isn't any better imo. I don't think he will be the U.S. rep in these next Olympic games. Fix looks very strong and wrestles that tactical style. Gilman has him circled. Vito has used the Ivy pull out to focus on freestyle. Nicky has proven to be pretty good at freestyle. It will be interesting to say the least. I thought Spencer seemed to be lining up the excuse for not winning in a couple of weeks with that interview. He might prove me wrong and tech them all, but I sure wouldn't bet that way right now.
Oh yeah? If Spencer had no arms and legs, he’d still win by biting. Dude’s like a knight in black and gold armor! He’s no wuss.
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That was freestyle. Found a clip of the match (sans Cael chair throwing) on Youtube. I don't follow that as closely as NCAAs. No wonder J'Den Cox is so hard to beat. His sweat is like a superpower preventing his opponent from gaining any kind of foothold or grip.
(Note - all Penn State wrestler were able to participate in media and photo opportunities)
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IMG 4107 — Postimages
In free, he doesn’t have to tilt, he can just keep rolling through for exposure points.
On one hand, I wouldn't miss 99% of those interviews, so they could simply not do them. On the other, we wouldn't have, "That's what we do!"
Question for the math wizards
PSU only lost by 15.5 points. A lot closer than I would have thought (due to 4 champs )
For scenario playing , if all things were the same ,
If RH won his last match , and what wouldhave Kerk and beard had to place in order to win.
Guess another way I am saying it , could we have won if Kerk and beard got 3rd - 5th, and if RH won 2 more matches
If things stayed the same , how many pins would we have had needed to get the 16 points to win
PSU only lost by 15.5 points. A lot closer than I would have thought (due to 4 champs )
For scenario playing , if all things were the same ,
If RH won his last match , and what wouldhave Kerk and beard had to place in order to win.
Guess another way I am saying it , could we have won if Kerk and beard got 3rd - 5th, and if RH won 2 more matches
If things stayed the same , how many pins would we have had needed to get the 16 points to win
I think Spencer's Interview was an interesting glimpse behind the curtain of the differences between the Gable/Brands Iowa Program and Cael's Penn State. The first thing Spencer does is discuss how the wrestlers suffer together. I'm middle aged so I get it. I had a number of coaches across different sports that made practices a drudgery. They beat the hell out of us, verbally dressed us down, preached a lot of the same things you often hear Iowa Wrestlers recount. I understand that the idea was to build character, mental fortitude etc., but at the time there was zero fun being had. Look at their reactions after winning. I don't see elation or joy. All I see is relief that things are over.
Contrast that to PSU. More often than not our wrestlers thank God, their coaches, and teammates before they comment on themselves or their struggle. Time and again you hear our coaches tell them to have fun and wrestle free. The results speak for themselves. Some recruits like Spencer or ADS respond to the old school style of training practiced at Iowa. However over the last decade more and more high level recruits are buying into the ideals of The PSU Program. They got into wrestling as kids because it was fun. Why should that change just because you reach a certain level of competition?
Iowa are the champs for 2021. Well earned. I respect their accomplishment and congratulate them on it. Dig deeper however and it becomes clear who won the perception battle on Saturday Night. Our guys going 4-0 against 3 higher ranked opponents has to be VERY attractive to the generation of elite young wrestlers watching at home.
There are only so many Spencer Lee Types who are once in a generation talents. He wins 3 national titles at Iowa, PSU, OSU, Rider, Cal Poly or wherever. There are plenty more Carter Starocci/Nick Lee Types out there. Elite athletes/wrestlers who when paired with elite coaching and support can become National Champions. JMO but if things were reversed and Penn State had Mike Kemmerer and Iowa Starocci, Mike Kemmerer would be the national champion.
The difference between the two programs and in fairness the rest of College Wrestling couldn't be more obvious. Its the total package our program offers. Elite Coaches, training partners, teammates, & academic/athletic support. It exists nowhere else like it currently does in State College. It's the reason the dynasty will renew itself in 2022. We Are!
Contrast that to PSU. More often than not our wrestlers thank God, their coaches, and teammates before they comment on themselves or their struggle. Time and again you hear our coaches tell them to have fun and wrestle free. The results speak for themselves. Some recruits like Spencer or ADS respond to the old school style of training practiced at Iowa. However over the last decade more and more high level recruits are buying into the ideals of The PSU Program. They got into wrestling as kids because it was fun. Why should that change just because you reach a certain level of competition?
Iowa are the champs for 2021. Well earned. I respect their accomplishment and congratulate them on it. Dig deeper however and it becomes clear who won the perception battle on Saturday Night. Our guys going 4-0 against 3 higher ranked opponents has to be VERY attractive to the generation of elite young wrestlers watching at home.
There are only so many Spencer Lee Types who are once in a generation talents. He wins 3 national titles at Iowa, PSU, OSU, Rider, Cal Poly or wherever. There are plenty more Carter Starocci/Nick Lee Types out there. Elite athletes/wrestlers who when paired with elite coaching and support can become National Champions. JMO but if things were reversed and Penn State had Mike Kemmerer and Iowa Starocci, Mike Kemmerer would be the national champion.
The difference between the two programs and in fairness the rest of College Wrestling couldn't be more obvious. Its the total package our program offers. Elite Coaches, training partners, teammates, & academic/athletic support. It exists nowhere else like it currently does in State College. It's the reason the dynasty will renew itself in 2022. We Are!
Not only that; the media LOVES these things. They would not allow there to be a delay. We love dirty laundry.
Yeah. We love emotions. If we let athletes collect their emotions and thoughts, they could more easily just say, “both teams played hard” instead of “if you call me Francis, I’ll kill you”, or whatever kids are saying nowadays.
So you are saying Spencer was the responsible party for Nelson going Hannibal Lecter on AB?Oh yeah? If Spencer had no arms and legs, he’d still win by biting. Dude’s like a knight in black and gold armor! He’s no wuss.
I can hear it. Hey dude, look you got no shot so just start scratching and biting. Its all good.
That's a great tradition. I think I might try that. I always said (probably got it from my Dad), if you aren't just about collapsing at the end of race you didn't run hard enough.
I have read this whole thread and for the life of me, am not understanding what the above comments refer to. Can you briefly elaborate?
For those playing the "if only" game regarding the shortened season, consider that we would not have had Robbie or Kerk available if this had been a normal year. Neither would have had enough matches under their belts to qualify once they were medically released to wrestle.
They both qualified by placing high enough at B1Gs. No minimum required, even in a normal season.
Seems contradictory to award a point for riding time then penalize for doing it to well. It takes skill to keep someone like Fix from escaping. If called, I would rather see it relegated to kids who park on top with double boots in and don't work to turn. That takes no skill and is simply a positional advantage at times nearly impossible for the kid on bottom to get free. RBY out on the side took hard work and skill the whole period.
Zero question that ref wasnt biased towards Fix.
One difference between this year and some past years is we didn't have a lot of bonus machines. Kerk actually led us in that department with 4.5 followed by Lee (3.5), RBY (2.5), Brooks (1.5), and Starocci (1). Iowa (paced by DeSanto) had 27 bonus points. We had 17. Guys like DT, Zain, Bo, and Jason sometimes had 7 or more bonus points each. We should see those numbers go up in the coming years.
Tom great stuff- why don't you pin the whole collection to a new sticky thread up top?
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