5 seed at 125 on the move.
- Thread starter donboy6499
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He may have been a 5 seed but his resume looks more like a R12 to a top 20ish guy to me.
Might be being generous - he went 0-2 at NCAAs didn't he? Lost to 29-Seed Cardinale (WVU) in opening round and DeAugustino (NW), who was upset himself in the 1st Round by 21-Seed Volk (WYO)..... and he was beat very easily by DeAugustino 7-2 in first wrestle-back match despite DeAugustino being an extremely weak 12-seed as his next wrestle-back match against McKee would prove. No way was Smith anywhere remotely close to a true 5-Seed.... Not sure he's even an upgrade to Steen.
We need this kid! Steen needs two years to put on good weight and Howard is done.
No wait. I'm back!
No wait. I'm back!
Steen needs ONE year not two, and we are all hoping and praying that Robbie can be healthy. Hopes and prayers unfortunately do not apply to injury prone wrestlers with bad shoulders.We need this kid! Steen needs two years to put on good weight and Howard is done.
No wait. I'm back!
I'm new at this. I still need a little work!
I'd be OK with Smith at 125 and Cannon at 133. Hoping for the best with Robbie, but nothing wrong with insurance. That said Smith might have a clearer path elsewhere. Cannon would have a legit shot at being the 133 starter. Heck, toss in Truax and the wrestling world will hate us even more, LOL.
Killian Cardinale was the strongest 29 seed ever in the tournament. He’s a 2 time AA and AAd from the 29 seed with a significant knee injury. D’Augustino is a terrible draw in the first round consi, too. Smith may have been overseeded as a 5 seed, but he’s a legit top 20 and would be a huge upgrade over Steen, who is more like 50 in the weight. Obviously, I have no idea if there’s any interest in either side, but to say he’s not an upgrade over Steen is ridiculous.
Cardinale was a bad draw for a lot of wrestlers. He was leading Ramos 7-6 with 6 seconds left and Ramos kept doing the funk he's good at and got the reversal. Obviously if Cardinale wasn't injured his seed would've been much higher. AA wrestler.
Love my PA guys, but Steen probably won’t be an AA, ever. Also don’t think Caleb Smith is much better. 5 seed was generous with his light schedule. Hoping Howard can make 125 and maybe get Cannon for 133. A guy who is actually in the Portal. Stealing Noto from LHU doesn’t seem right. Can’t just poach anyone. I honestly think Truax will be our 184 with Brooks going up to 197. Be shocked if Starocci doesn’t go this year and next to be the only guy to get 5. And then move on to MMA. How can that ego of his not want to be the only 5 timer ever (besides Haselrig with 6, but 3 of those were D2). He has Olympic Gold aspirations, but can he actually make 74kg and beat Dake. Don’t see it.
Okay - let's not get ahead of ourselves, Smith would be a significant upgrade over Steen. With Howard? Who really knows. Yes, he was an overrated 5 seed but he beat several NQs (Poulin, Ferri, Jordan, Trombley, Wagner) and even AAs this year (12-2 major over Cronin and a 8-3 win over Ventresca) In the 125 field next year he could AA with a favorable draw but obviously not some lock. Would I offer a huge scholarship to him if I were Cael? Absolutely not, that should be saved for Truax. But we should absolutely should kick the tires here.
Yes I’m the biggest Steen fan on the board. Love the kid and the family. I think he’ll be great eventually.
But Smith is an upgrade. Four months ago he beat up Liam Cronin for crying out loud. Several very good wins this past year. I can understand people thinking he’s not worth bringing on. But not being an upgrade over Steen? Come on.
Think Davis needs to shirt so in my opinion if Cael brings in a lightweight it will be because of that not Robbie’s history. I think Cael is going to roll with Robbie in the lineup and bring in a transfer to play a stop gap role at the weight Robbie doesn’t go. Future insurance for Robbie’s injury will come from a class of 24 recruit.
Robbie is going 125. He doesn't have the size to go 133. He's laughed back on comments made on Twitter at the idea he'd go 133.
Don’t f@?@&ng make me pile on…We need this kid! Steen needs two years to put on good weight and Howard is done.
No wait. I'm back!
Yeah.. I didn’t know one way or the other. Took into account he may have gotten bigger during his time off. That being the case, if Cael brings in a transfer then it’ll be a 133.
DeAugustino lost to the 21-Seed in his opening round match, that's the only reason he was wrestling JS in both wrestlers' first consi-bracket match. Given that DeAugustino was pretty easily and immediately eliminated in his next consi-bracket match (i.e., went 1-2 at NCAAs with only win over JS) by a wrestler who was eliminated in their next match and who also didn't remotely sniff R12 - it's pretty clear that DeAugustino was over-seeded himself and if JS was anything remotely close to a 5-seed, he would have easily beat DeAugustino.
Look, I don't know what happened to him in the 2nd half of the season (maybe he got hurt), but it's preposterous to claim that the JS who wrestled in the NCAA Wrestling Championships is a "top 12-20 guy". Preposterous. It gets tiresome hearing how all these low-level b1g wrestlers like DeAugustino or McKee are fringe-AA wrestlers and should be ranked that way..... - they're not. The big put 9 wrestlers into the 125 Bracket and only 5 made it to R12, and only 3 made the podium. McKee wrestled like a fringe top-20 guy and he beat DeAugustino easily. DeAugustino looked like a 20-25 type guy at Nationals.
Again, maybe JS was hurt in the latter-half of the year, I don't know, but based on his performance at Nationals (which is the best barometer) he didn't wrestle like a "top 20 guy" - not even close as he was 0-2 at Nationals and easily beaten by DeAugustino (DeAugustino himself didn't look remotely like a "top 20 guy") in his first Consi-Bracket match.
I might say his season mirrored Facundo’s.
I doubt they’re looking at the portal at this point unless the wrestler is coming to them to look to transfer in (I.e. Dean) OR the guy is a potential champion who fits in the lineup (I.e. Truax). I don’t really see Smith as that. He’s a clear upgrade over Steen, but he’s not a clear upgrade over a healthy Robbie, so what happens if Robbie is able to stay healthy? Transfer a guy in and then sit him? It just doesn’t make much sense to me. Cael doesn’t need a couple extra points. They won the title by 50 points with a goose egg at 125. Do they really need to bring in a R12 ceiling type guy? So they can win by 55 instead of 50?
I recognize that the transfer portal now IS part of the equation and that every team WILL use it when/if they need to or especially if the kid reaches out to them and makes a ton of sense. That said, I'm still not a huge fan and would prefer that PSU wrestle kids that they recruited and who have been on the team. I don't know if we gave Dean or any other grad transfers money, but I'd also prefer that PSU spend their limited scholarship money on incoming freshman that they've recruited or on room guys that earned the money over a year or three. Let the other guys pay their way with NIL money, academic scholarships, etc..
Preposterous to say, Mckee, a two time AA (3rd, 5th), rd of 16 wrestler is a fringe AA is preposterous is laughable. Diaugustino placed 4th last year so when he met Mckee obviously one former AA had to lose and get eliminated early. Unfortunately touch match in the consi brackets which does happen. He did put a whooping on eventual runner up Ramos at big tens. Obviously his injuries hampered him, but seeding can't guess if a wreslter is injured. Diaugustino and Mckee were seeding properly IMO.
Really??? Facundo started the tournament as a 13-seed, not a 5 (lost to 20-Seed Heller) . He also lost to the 4-seed in his 1st Consi-Bracket match, a wrestler who did make the R12. So I would disagree with you, Alex looked like a 13-20 guy at Nationals which is how he was Seeded.
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Whoever is on the roster unless someone like Fix becomes available (would Fix want access to NLWC for freestyle?). In the absence of anyone else, Shunk, I guess? A guy like Cannon could come to Cael and seek to come in, too.
Bullshit - you want to base everything on "last year"..... seedings weren't based on last year's performances - they're based on 2023 performances - neither McKee or DeAugustino wrestled remotely like an AA in 2023 as evidenced by their initial seed or their performance at Nationals. In terms of 2023 performance (including the best barometer, NCAAs) - McKee looked like a low-level top-20 guy and DeAugustino UR. You mention performances at "B1Gs".... again, the B1G had 9 placements at 125 - only 5 made R12 (and only 3 AAs).
And that’s my guess as to what will happen. Someone out there is going to see a one possibly 2 year opening into the PSU lineup and reach out to Cael. As for 125, I don’t see Cael entertaining it. He rolls with Robbie and gets a 125 hs recruit in the next couple years.
So over half of a conference’s placements being in the top third of the tournament is a poor showing? Interesting math.
I really think he is going to go all in for Lilledahl. That’s the future plan. Lilledahl then Bassett.
I disagree with the sentiment, 'we don't need the portal because we won by 55 points'.
At this point, we have no idea what our lineup will look like next year. I'm not sure Cael does either. The top-3 NCAA finishers at each weight are eligible for an Olympic RS. Obviously, we are looking at a punt year if all six decide to take that route, but we can still be competitive without 1 or 2 of them by recruiting the portal.
As for Smith, he might not guarantee enough points to make a difference. I'll leave that up to Cael.
At this point, we have no idea what our lineup will look like next year. I'm not sure Cael does either. The top-3 NCAA finishers at each weight are eligible for an Olympic RS. Obviously, we are looking at a punt year if all six decide to take that route, but we can still be competitive without 1 or 2 of them by recruiting the portal.
As for Smith, he might not guarantee enough points to make a difference. I'll leave that up to Cael.
A half that didn't include McKee or DeAugustino - neither remotely sniffed the R12. You want to claim all b1g placements are fringe All-Americans..... they're not.
33% of the big ten 125s AA’d (3/9)
20.4% of the rest of 125 AA’d (5/24)
So you’re saying the big ten way over performed the field at 125. Got it
We’ll done Big Ten
Good points. But I meant more regular season vs post season as a whole. Facundo’s Big Ten tourney set up the lower NCAA seed he received. I’m not going to call a 5-seed that easily beat two AAs over-seeded.
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