A History of Overachieving

[McScoreley]

I just wanted to take a look back through the Cael era at NCAAs to see all the times when the team title would be tight and someone stepped up and exceeded expectations to provide much needed points.

2011 - Quentin Wright wins as a 9 seed (including the epic pin of Gramball) to effective give PSU 20+ points nobody was accounting for before the tournament.

2012 - Dylan Alton, Quentin Wright, Nico Megaludis combine for 51.5 points (3rd, 2nd, 2nd) as a 7, 6, 10 seed to supplement Frank, Ed, DT to score 140+ in a tournament where 3 other teams scored 100+

2013 - Nico makes the final as a 4 seed. We were underdogs in every match in the finals (except for Ruth) We needed an upset to come from someone and Q locked it up by beating Kilgore.

2014 - James English AAs and beats Kendric Maple with a hamstring injury (and god knows how many others) to give PSU the cushion they needed to offset a Tony Nelson win at night.

2017 - Missing Suriano and just lost B1Gs .. Funtastic 5 scored 120+ themselves, only two of them were seeded to win, most thought Mark and Cenzo had no business in the finals let alone winning.

2018 - True freshman Nick Lee in a very deep 141 class (one that the 2x champ missed the podium) placed 5th in one of the most dramatic title races ever. Keep in mind, Nick probably wrestled on the backside with the understanding a loss before making the podium very well could cost the team title. Quite a bit of pressure on the true freshman who just had a bad 1st round loss. Cenzo wins his 2nd as a 3 seed, Nolf comfortably wins all his matches with a VERY bad injury.

Please feel free to add more but my main takeaway is .. Good Lord, Quentin Wright is clutch. If PSU formed a basketball team, I'd want him taking the last shot

Who was it going to be this year?

 

[District four]

Was hoping that post would never end we have really been blessed as a fan base for Sure the last ten years. Sometimes I forget the backdrop to the story. Q was clutch and Nico always seen to wrestle above what people thought he should.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

2014 - James English AAs and beats Kendric Maple with a hamstring injury (and god knows how many others) to give PSU the cushion they needed to offset a Tony Nelson win at night.

Two things about this:

1. Tony Nelson actually got beat that night...Nick Gwiazdowski, anyone?

2. It always makes me think...if Zack Beitz doesn't get screwed out of his win over Nick Dardanes at the dual in Minneapolis, does English even get that opportunity? More to the point, if Beitz does get the nod after that, does he come up with the point needed to win a share of the NCAA team title (or point and a half needed to win it outright)? Obviously, we'll never know...but the what-ifs are always interesting to think about.

 

[NoVa Lion]

Two things about this:

1. Tony Nelson actually got beat that night...Nick Gwiazdowski, anyone?

2. It always makes me think...if Zack Beitz doesn't get screwed out of his win over Nick Dardanes at the dual in Minneapolis, does English even get that opportunity? More to the point, if Beitz does get the nod after that, does he come up with the point needed to win a share of the NCAA team title (or point and a half needed to win it outright)? Obviously, we'll never know...but the what-ifs are always interesting to think about.

I believe he meant that even if Nelson won we would still have won the team title.

 

[McScoreley]

I believe he meant that even if Nelson won we would still have won the team title.

Correct - thanks for clarifying. I was counting on Tony Nelson beating Gwiz in the finals (I didn't know at the time what Gwiz would become) and JE getting 7th effectively would offset that as long as Ed/DT won as expected, I was pretty confident Ringer would beat Ness. It wasn't needed ultimately but after Session V, it felt like JE more or less sealed it for us.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

Correct - thanks for clarifying. I was counting on Tony Nelson beating Gwiz in the finals (I didn't know at the time what Gwiz would become) and JE getting 7th effectively would offset that as long as Ed/DT won as expected, I was pretty confident Ringer would beat Ness. It wasn't needed ultimately but after Session V, it felt like JE more or less sealed it for us.

Will tell you that, even though Minnesota was ahead (by 2.5, I believe) entering Saturday night, I don't think ANYBODY expected them to win at that point, with the possible exception of the Minneapolis shirt-printing company.

 

[Ja1339]

Will tell you that, even though Minnesota was ahead (by 2.5, I believe) entering Saturday night, I don't think ANYBODY expected them to win at that point, with the possible exception of the Minneapolis shirt-printing company.

...and Jammies