2024 U20 Worlds - September 2-8
- Thread starter zzs006
- Start date
I just went and watched all of Dukes matches again. The more I watch of him the more I see Dake but with more offense. The power is very similar. They move a bit alike on the mat and love wrestling from the same positions. Dake is one of the best in the world from seatbelt and he loves coming up into a bodylock and absolutely bombing people. This is also PJ’s best position. He just killed kids from that position this weekend. At a similar age though, Dukes offense is definitely ahead. He has a really diverse set of attacks and can attack legs as well as going upper body. He’s dominant from ties especially his 2 on 1/russian tie but was really good attacking from space this weekend as well. Even though he took a loss I come away from this tournament even higher on the kid than I was before. He’s as good of a high school aged wrestler as I’ve ever seen
@zzs006 said the same… Barr got REALLY good at getting to legs with his chest/head being in the up position. It’s night and day and day different from just this past year.
Hopefully facundo hasn’t gotten better there (sorry, that’s my Hawk coming out)
RE: keuter/masoumi - i think Ben can get the upset.
Masoumi is definitely a bit smaller than a year ago. He’s also been less bullish in his underhooks. Looks like he’s trying to get better at wrestling so he can finally beat zare.
Keuter meanwhile looks like what we all believe these 4/5 star football players would look like wrestling. He’s damn powerful in his own right. And he’s got one hell of a temper.
Masoumi is definitely a bit smaller than a year ago. He’s also been less bullish in his underhooks. Looks like he’s trying to get better at wrestling so he can finally beat zare.
Keuter meanwhile looks like what we all believe these 4/5 star football players would look like wrestling. He’s damn powerful in his own right. And he’s got one hell of a temper.
We need to shine a little more light on what Lilledahl just did. He now has a U17 silver and gold and a U20 silver and gold with 1 more year of U20 eligibility. This has to put him near the top of the most credentialed US age group level wrestlers of all time. This wasn’t an easy weight either. Pavlov just took second at Russian nationals. Ankush has won Asians and was 2nd at U17’s last year. Valizadeh placed 8th at senior worlds in 2023 and has wins over some top senior level athletes like Rzazade. I said this in a post yesterday but one of Lukes biggest strengths is his wrestling IQ. He wrestles so smart. Great at clearing ties and positions he doesn’t like and makes guys wrestle from his positions of strength. He only engages when it clearly benefits him. No attacking just to look busy and because of this he doesn’t give away points. The kid is an absolute winner. I feel lucky to have been able to watch this 4 year run he is on and I can’t wait to see him representing PSU. I think he has a real chance to be PSU’s next 4Xer
I hope you are right. I don’t like Masoumi. Not sure why but he rubs me the wrong way. Kueter is bigger than Feldman and Carroll but not by a ton and those 2 just got annihilated. Pushed all over the mat. Kueter is a better athlete than them though. If he can create angles, clear ties, and not get caught underneath Masoumi he could pull it off but no one besides the top senior level guys have been able to do that. I mean he has beaten Parris and Zillmer as well as hammering all the younger US guys. I wish Kueter would’ve met up with him before. I feel like he’d have a better shot in a second match after he got a feel for Masoumi. It’s so hard to replicate how the Iranians run their underhook series and even more difficult to get the feel of it with a 6’6” 275 lb behemoth
Was Ben really a 4 or 5 star football player? Remember watching film of him a couple years ago but didn't strike me as that big of a football recruit. Guess that's why I'm not a college recruiter. Lol
He was a composite 4 star on 247 (and 90 grade) and he was also a 5.9/6.1 (making him Top 150 any position) on Rivals. This is coming from Iowa where those kids regularly get overlooked nationally since it's not the best competition and I don't think he ever did camps or anything since he was wrestling. If you look at his stats, they're ridiculous (think like 50 TFL or something?) I'm guessing he didn't land any more big offers since it was obvious he wouldn't be interested in going anywhere but Iowa, especially since he was planning to wrestle as well.
He's exactly the mold of kids Iowa takes regularly and makes them a high draft pick by his 4th/5th year, which I think is a big reason why he isn't giving up football right now.
welp, I'm convinced we've completely reloaded with this next batch of guys.
His wrestling IQ is awesome. There is so little wasted energy in his wrestling. If we could Frankenstein monster him and Bo that would be the methodically unstoppable wrestler every wrestler would fear!
And Luke wrestled aggressively smart, pushing the pace the whole match while controlling center. I am sure Luke would have liked to score via his offense (he just missed snagging his opponent's leg the one time), but he got the job done!
I don't want to sound petty, but I'm glad Baitukaev lost. It wasn't just his chronic stalling, lung timeouts and make-believe injuries in his match with Duke, but also how Baitukaev threw his fist up at the conclusion of the match like he had just dominated and not stalled his way to a victory. Also, the behavior of his coach in the background was irritating to me. Rant over : )
Agreed. The officials in general this tournament let it slide too much. It seems freestyle and folkstyle officials both are bad about not enforcing the existing rules : ) I have a solution, though. If we can just institute some new rules I'm sure everything will be just fine.
I'll say it. PJ Duke when all said and done, might just become the best wrestler we have had in the Cael era. I am jazzed.
PS - he would look god awful in orange.
PS - he would look god awful in orange.
Whoa, Nellie! Let PJ at least get on campus before saddling him with outlandish expectations. PJ > AB, Taylor, Ruth, Nolf, Zain, Bo, Carter, etc. SMH.
I think we should let all recruits know that we, fans, have expectations that they will be the best ever if they come to PSU.
And also will never be anything better than second if they go anywhere else. 😉
Duke will win 6 titles at PSU.
Medal round starts at Noon Eastern.
Gold matches:
74kg - Lararion Lockett VS A. Rezaeiaghouz (IRI)
86kg - Josh Barr VS I. Kadiev (AIN)
125kg - Ben Kueter VS A. Masoumi (IRI)
Bronze matches:
61kg - Marcus Blaze VS T. Ozbek (TUR)
92kg - Connor Mirasola VS A. Jafarli (AZE)
Last edited:
They seem to be much stronger at the lighter weights, like 74kg & under. Thankfully, they don't do nearly as well at the heavier weights.
Last edited:
Anyone else think Bo sounds like a future Nittany Lion in his interview. He hit many of Cael’s talking points: scoring lots of points, dominating, having fun, following God’s plan, loving the sport of wrestling.
Jap just won a match at 86kgThey seem to be much stronger at the lighter weights, like 74kg & under. Thankfully, they don't do as well at the heavier weights.
Being surrounded by LL, PJ Duke, Ryder and Mirasola isn’t hurting.
Plus, getting to see our coaches in action, and maybe rolling with them, might be useful for a prospective student athlete.
It's a little surprising that 50% of the U20 team is already at or committed to PSU. That has to help in recruiting the two uncommitted wrestlers on the team. I hope we get both Bo & Blaze!
Josh Barr with another Tech to secure his spot in the finals!
We have some tough rows to hoe here. Lockett might be our best chance for gold. I will be shocked if either Barr or Keuter pull the upset. People know the hill Keuter has to climb, but Barr's is probably just a steep.
Blaze and Connor don't have walks in the parks either, but not as bad as our finalists.
We're about 45-min from go time. Here are the mat assignments:
Mat A - Bronze Medal Matches
#1 Blaze
#4 Mirasola
Mat B - Gold Medal Matches
#4 Lockett
#6 Barr
#10 Kueter
Mat A - Bronze Medal Matches
#1 Blaze
#4 Mirasola
Mat B - Gold Medal Matches
#4 Lockett
#6 Barr
#10 Kueter
If Blaze & Mirasola can win their matches, then then entire team medals, so I really hope those two win. I think it'd be a tremendous team accomplishment to come away with 10 medals.
Last edited:
Mike Grey's wife thinks that will never happen.
Yeah I could have gone the easy route and said Lilledahl, but my observation has less to do with his Bronze this weekend than what I have seen with my eyes the past 2 years. I am more excited for him than all of the other greats we have in the pipeline. Will he do it, probably not, but he has a unique it factor on the mat that sends the brain into a dream state.
As for setting unrealistic expectations, that's silly, it's just my observation, and the coaches and kids could give a flying $#@& what's said on this board.
Now if you do want to steer sometime back to reality how about that dipshit that does the Locked On podcast. There in full voice, picture and many times with Ironhead a sitting next to him he is predicting our incoming recruits or freshmen as future 4xers. He was doing that even before we had our very first with Carter and Aaron.
Similar threads
