Today I am working “remote”, from @hlstone ’s house!
Edit: I should have put the working part in parentheses!
Edit: I should have put the working part in parentheses!
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Wrestling 2023 NCAA Tournament Live Thread
- Thread starter Richie O
- Start date
Cheese steaks!
Plus a guy like SVN who has a high motor and gas tank can really benefit from a multi day tournament if he is able to keep his energy up throughout. Excited for today, greatest day of wrestling of the year
Yep. I expect to learn today who is cutting a lot of weight.
A lot of this can apply to Facundo. No doubt he had a bad March after a very good regular season (sounds like an Iowa wrestler). A big part of that is his opponents figured out that Facundo has a good duck and likes to shoot a low single to your right leg. Against good competition, lacking diversity in your offense is going to be a problem, especially when you are not exceptional at the few attacks you have.
Also, at the end of the season, you are not going to be as strong as you were in the beginning, it makes it even easier for his attacks to be stopped. He lacked the horsepower to pull the leg in at the end of the season.
For next year, Facundo needs to improve the diversity in his neutral offense and get stronger.
I agree with that. He needs to develop a ride also to help his lack of neutral offense. He isn't going to be a dynamic neutral wrestler. He never has been.
Yep, we're right on track. Title is a lock so not sure where the disaster is.
Soldano is really fun to watch. And they are a young team. This group of Rutgers wrestlers seem to be better sportsmen than in years past.
An interesting stat... Of "our fans" that are overly negative towards how any of our guys competed/finished.
I'd be interested in what you've achieved at a super high level, much less doing so while balancing college.
I'm super happy for Van Ness and I'm very positive for Alex going forward.
I'd be interested in what you've achieved at a super high level, much less doing so while balancing college.
I'm super happy for Van Ness and I'm very positive for Alex going forward.
Agree completely. SVN has more than a puncher’s chance IMO to stick Yianni if he can get into enough scrambles. It would be shocking since Yianni is going for #4, but not shocking that SVN could find a way. Not predicting it of course, lol. But would very much welcome it 😎
Absolutely brilliant! Thanks! 😆
He was in Flo’s top 8 for one week this season. What do you think “most” means?
I'd be pretty f-ing shocked.
So who do you guys think has the toughest road today? I think Haines is going to have his hands full. That's a tough road. Comparable in my mind to what Dean was faced with.
Facundo is even more interesting. Slaying anyone for performance at 165 is patently absurd. Anyone and everyone with an ounce of knowledge about wrestling has been discussing the sheer number of former AA’s and NC’s that are going to go home empty handed. This is the most difficult weight class by far. An 8th place by Facundo would have been an actual surprise. Any other assessment was folly.
Facundo himself asserted himself in the manner we all hoped which had waned as the season progressed. Attack, attack, attack. The issue laid in Alex’s choice to uses the low single every single time when his opponent was an ankle whizzer wizard. No other TD was tried when by the third defensed low single, an in match adjustment was required to have any chance to win
He can be disappointed, and will learn and will move on. MCCoy was 19-17 as a freshman and did not place before winning 131 of the next 132 matches.
Haines is gonna have his way
Haines needs tethers for his ankles to the mats because feet are often flying to the lights when Andonian (or Gomez) is on the mat.
There’s so much that impresses about Levi. His maturity is one but his absolutely elite defense is undersold, I think. I don’t think he’ll fall victim to any Andonian funk. I actually feel really good about this matchup. We shall see.
We Are!!!
If Andonian didn't have a reputation he'd have a much better chance against Levi.
Levi has the advantage but we won't know how much until the dust settles.
Levi has the advantage but we won't know how much until the dust settles.
The key with Andonian is that he goes hyper-aggressive on the opening whistle. He's gonna try to chuck you in the first 10-15 sec. After that, he settles down (at least for him).
Haines weathers that initial storm, he'll likely be OK.
Haines weathers that initial storm, he'll likely be OK.
Andonian is so dangerous. Haines needs to wrestle smart and not get suckered into a throwing match. Haines went upper body with Robb off of a low attack, but Andonian is a completely different animal. Go the AOC route and get to his leg attacks early and often.
If he can avoid a big move from Andonian, he should win the neutral battle. When Andondian throws someone to their back in the first period, they often get desperate and take errant, sloppy shots that he's able to counter. It's a point-generator for him. One big move and he reaps the rewards the rest of the match.
From their feet, I think Haines is the superior wrestler.
From their feet, I think Haines is the superior wrestler.
RE: Updated Brackets for anyone needing them, I answered my own question with the help from Vallhol on HR:
https://storage.googleapis.com/hawkeyesports-com/2023/03/0d10a383-brackets_afters2.pdf
https://storage.googleapis.com/hawkeyesports-com/2023/03/0d10a383-brackets_afters2.pdf
I think he needs to get stronger, also worried if he might need to go up a weight class ,which could mean ?
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I think psu will be in the market at 197, a 1 or 2 year guy and 125/133 more years the better. What penn st offers is a chance to be a champion and the best free style room in the country.
Phenomenal insight by a young high schooler. Anyone who talks about shaming a wrestler off the team is obviously not a Penn Stater nor knows anything about Cael and being grateful and having FUN out there!
The quarters at 165 are insane!
5 Finalists, 3 Champions. And we have people moaning about a freshman's performance. He'll be fine. This bracket was a meatgrinder!
Yeah, they'll certainly look around, but the other kid made it seem like it's just something where you go shopping and there are tons of guys sitting on the shelves. PSU has gotten guys in the portal in the past (i.e. Dean, Hildebrandt), but they generally are not big players there, and I don't expect that to change a lot. They may try to get someone like Noto if he goes in the portal, but I don't expect a huge splash. My guess is that Cael and co are more looking towards getting Lilledahl or someone like that on board than portalling in champions. They'll have the Mirasola brothers coming in in a year at 197, so I doubt they'll make a move there (unless Beard wants back in, LOL) and just let Cochran or someone else in-house handle it next year. This year's team is an anomaly with how stacked it is at every weight except 125. It's unreasonable to expect to have title contenders at every weight every year. Cochran has a win against the guy Dean beat in the first round this year. He'll be fine and should be able to qualify and get a couple points.
Feldcamp is big. Last year he wrestled at the NCAA's at 197. Dean beat him first round by a TF.
why would that bother me? This is a Penn state wrestling message board. Talking about the wrestlers and sharing our opinion on them is the whole damn point.
I see others already answered your question about Friday session 3, but note that Sat morning session begins at 11 am Eastern time.
Will today's morning session start with Consi 2 on all 8 mats, followed by Qtr's and then Consi 3?
Again, thanks for yesterday's pbp. I saw a couple matches but either ESPN stream was unstable or the 5G in Wells Fargo arena was being overloaded.
I got to see Penn State men's basketball kick some ass. Then watched the replays on the 2 hr drive home (wife drove).
I think Facundo reminds me a bit of Gullibon. I see him get to the legs often but he just has a slight hesitation and often fails to finish. Also, there are matches where he is down and he appears resigned.
But... It is fixable.
These guys are adults and are not immune from criticism. However, if you bully or taunt our guys from social media or here it could cost us recruits. Doesn't seem very wise from a fan perspective.
Dean to me has a couple issues. First, he's been scouted and the top guys are going to be ready for his shots now. Which tbh, were never that high of a level.
Where I believe he has regressed is his scrambling. I recall him winning many of those scrambles last season and this season he loses many of them.
RBY, I think, still avoids anything upper body at all. With opponents that try and go there, he becomes very cautious.
There are times though when it looks like he could score at will and he just doesn't. He is out there and can feel the opponent though, so one can only be happy with a W. Tough life for a Penn State fan.
Watching Haines finish a takedown is my new favorite thing. Often I'll think he's going to hang on for a stalemate but he's so strong and he pulls the hips in and drives the guy over. Fun
7 in the semifinals?
I got to see Penn State men's basketball kick some ass. Then watched the replays on the 2 hr drive home (wife drove).
I think Facundo reminds me a bit of Gullibon. I see him get to the legs often but he just has a slight hesitation and often fails to finish. Also, there are matches where he is down and he appears resigned.
But... It is fixable.
These guys are adults and are not immune from criticism. However, if you bully or taunt our guys from social media or here it could cost us recruits. Doesn't seem very wise from a fan perspective.
Dean to me has a couple issues. First, he's been scouted and the top guys are going to be ready for his shots now. Which tbh, were never that high of a level.
Where I believe he has regressed is his scrambling. I recall him winning many of those scrambles last season and this season he loses many of them.
RBY, I think, still avoids anything upper body at all. With opponents that try and go there, he becomes very cautious.
There are times though when it looks like he could score at will and he just doesn't. He is out there and can feel the opponent though, so one can only be happy with a W. Tough life for a Penn State fan.
Watching Haines finish a takedown is my new favorite thing. Often I'll think he's going to hang on for a stalemate but he's so strong and he pulls the hips in and drives the guy over. Fun
7 in the semifinals?
