Conel:
1). By all accounts a great teammate, a compelling story, and a might just give Beard the year he needs to be over the top elite.
2). A year and a half removed from competition is a long time
3). Cael "we're helping him manage his weight" might just convey he came in out of shape and is likely still feeling the effects of a pretty big cut
4). He did catch lighting in a bottle 2 years ago, but otherwise did not have a long track record of AA quality wrestling. Was it a fluke?
5). Will most likely develop and take strides in our room practicing with Cael, Bo, Cassar and Beard
What it means to me:
We need to give Conel a pretty long rope to get back in to tournament shape, but I think we need AA level proficiency for both the Iowa dual and Nationals. The Conel we saw in the dual and this tourney is not worth keeping Beard on redshirt, but it is way too early to tell what he can deliver 2 months from now.
I think Cael gives him until the first week of January to get there and Kyle is probably 50/50 or better at succeeding. I like the kid and hope he does.
In the mean time, Beard needs to learn how to defend Ballsack's double boots and build a stronger gas tank. That match was just plain ugly. Beard is aces on his feet, but his underneath game that one match was uninspiring for sure. I would like for him to have another year to work on it rather than another month.
My crystal ball,.... if we have injury anywhere amongst our top 5 I think Beard's shirt gets pulled in January, otherwise Conel will improve enough to deliver at least a low AA, which should be good enough.