The Ohio State thread has kind of got shuffled down and wanted to get "back to business" with the upcoming match. Hopefully Ohio State is in town or in transit and this dual will take place. I have no idea if they have arrived, but I do know it is supposed to get a little sketchy on the roadways starting on the western side of the state later this afternoon. Lets consolidate some predictions here:
125: Heinselman did a good job wrestling Ayala and was able to stay on his offense limiting Ayala's. I think if Heinselman brings the same approach to this match it may end up actually hurting him. While he and Drew are good scramblers, I think Drew's length proves to be the difference in these situations. I don't think Heinselman will want to get underneath Drew, but may be forced. I'm reminded of the Lee vs Eierman final, however, I don't think tOSU will be as confident in Heinselman's offense as Cael and Co are in Nick's and with good reason. I really like Drew in this one, and this one will be important for BIGs seeding as others have mentioned in other posts. 3-0 PSU
133: Rumors have been swirling that RBY is not 100%. If that is true, I'm not sure we see him go here. I wasn't at all concerned of him missing the Iowa dual since that is the biggest dual of the year and we obviously needed him against someone like DeSanto. I don't see every match being as important as it was last week. With that being said, if RBY does go, I'll give him a major, if he doesn't, I think we see Meredith and Koontz with the decision. IMO we see the latter. 3-3 Tie
141: Nick is another one that has missed some time due to protocols and such. He wants to make sure he continues to build his already great pace so that at the end of the year, he can really push for bonus and be able to stay aggressive against top guys like SeaBass or Eierman. I' m going Lee with a major but could also see him pushing for the tech. If I remember correctly D'Emilio has great cardio himself so I think he keeps it to a major 7-3 PSU
149: BB gets another crack at a title contender. He'll have to do a better job on bottom against a guy like Sasso. The good thing, and I've mentioned it before, is BB has tremendous positioning. That will greatly help reduce the risk of the Sasso cradle. The other benefit we have of staying away from the cradle is Sasso usually locks it up scrambling off a shot. BB obviously hasn't been shooting much all year. I thought when BB beat Parco that was going to be the turning point of his season, but that hasn't transpired quite like I thought. He's still a great wrestler and will give Sasso a match, but Sasso is just better at this point. 7-6 PSU
157: The year long question of who goes at 57 continues. I was impressed with BearClaw's match against Young until he got ridden out. If Gardner doesn't make his season debut here, I think BearClaw gets the nod again. He didn't tire out against Young, and since Hubbard isn't as good on top as Young, BearClaw gets the eluding escape he's been after all year. I like BearClaw here. 10-6 PSU
165: This weight is an absolute meat grinder. Kharchla is riding high after his win over Marinelli. I think he's more dynamic on his feet than what he showed in that match, but Marinelli has a way of taking others offense away with his pace. Berge is a good scrambler and tough to take down, but the bull used smart takedowns to avoid those scrambles. I don't think Berge's stamina is quite where it needs to be yet, and that's understandable since he's only been in the line up for a handful of matches. Kharchla is in the top tier of title contenders and gets the win. 10-9 PSU
174: Smith looked good against Kem, but no as good against Massa. He's a good scrambler and wrestler overall but I don't think he poses a real threat to Starocci. Starocci had some trouble finishing on Kem but who doesn't. He was in on a number of good shots and that will continue, but he's able to finish against Smith. I think Starocci takes this one by 3-4 points. 13-9 PSU
184: I noted against Iowa that Brooks looked to tire out about mid match. Watching the match before him, wrestling in Carver, and the dual meet still in question can do that to someone. I think Brooks learned from that and that's scary. Romero has gone to SV against Amine and Assad. This match doesn't make it that far and Brooks wins comfortably. 16-9 PSU
197: Dean continues to worry me. I'm glad he's suiting up for us, but like Cael said in his post match he'd rather Dean not have to come from behind in his matches. Hoffman isn't in the same conversation as Brucki, Caffey, and Warner, so I would expect Dean to go get that first takedown, and use his riding ability to rack up some points. I'm saying Dean is using the momentum from last weekend and is able to major Hoffman. 20-9 PSU
285: Orndorff has only wrestled two guys in the top ten and lost to both of them badly. Parris pinned him and Cass majored him. Kerk is coming off that loss to Cass, but I don't think he wrestled very smart in that match and he wasn't able to get off bottom. Orndorff is no where near the top wrestler Cass is so we can rule that problem out. I also don't think Orndorff is able to stop Kerk's shots so there will be no need to go upper body (I didn't see a need against Cass either, especially twice but he learned). Kerk gets back on the win train and IMO has a little fire under him to get the major. 24-9 PSU
We Are!
125: Heinselman did a good job wrestling Ayala and was able to stay on his offense limiting Ayala's. I think if Heinselman brings the same approach to this match it may end up actually hurting him. While he and Drew are good scramblers, I think Drew's length proves to be the difference in these situations. I don't think Heinselman will want to get underneath Drew, but may be forced. I'm reminded of the Lee vs Eierman final, however, I don't think tOSU will be as confident in Heinselman's offense as Cael and Co are in Nick's and with good reason. I really like Drew in this one, and this one will be important for BIGs seeding as others have mentioned in other posts. 3-0 PSU
133: Rumors have been swirling that RBY is not 100%. If that is true, I'm not sure we see him go here. I wasn't at all concerned of him missing the Iowa dual since that is the biggest dual of the year and we obviously needed him against someone like DeSanto. I don't see every match being as important as it was last week. With that being said, if RBY does go, I'll give him a major, if he doesn't, I think we see Meredith and Koontz with the decision. IMO we see the latter. 3-3 Tie
141: Nick is another one that has missed some time due to protocols and such. He wants to make sure he continues to build his already great pace so that at the end of the year, he can really push for bonus and be able to stay aggressive against top guys like SeaBass or Eierman. I' m going Lee with a major but could also see him pushing for the tech. If I remember correctly D'Emilio has great cardio himself so I think he keeps it to a major 7-3 PSU
149: BB gets another crack at a title contender. He'll have to do a better job on bottom against a guy like Sasso. The good thing, and I've mentioned it before, is BB has tremendous positioning. That will greatly help reduce the risk of the Sasso cradle. The other benefit we have of staying away from the cradle is Sasso usually locks it up scrambling off a shot. BB obviously hasn't been shooting much all year. I thought when BB beat Parco that was going to be the turning point of his season, but that hasn't transpired quite like I thought. He's still a great wrestler and will give Sasso a match, but Sasso is just better at this point. 7-6 PSU
157: The year long question of who goes at 57 continues. I was impressed with BearClaw's match against Young until he got ridden out. If Gardner doesn't make his season debut here, I think BearClaw gets the nod again. He didn't tire out against Young, and since Hubbard isn't as good on top as Young, BearClaw gets the eluding escape he's been after all year. I like BearClaw here. 10-6 PSU
165: This weight is an absolute meat grinder. Kharchla is riding high after his win over Marinelli. I think he's more dynamic on his feet than what he showed in that match, but Marinelli has a way of taking others offense away with his pace. Berge is a good scrambler and tough to take down, but the bull used smart takedowns to avoid those scrambles. I don't think Berge's stamina is quite where it needs to be yet, and that's understandable since he's only been in the line up for a handful of matches. Kharchla is in the top tier of title contenders and gets the win. 10-9 PSU
174: Smith looked good against Kem, but no as good against Massa. He's a good scrambler and wrestler overall but I don't think he poses a real threat to Starocci. Starocci had some trouble finishing on Kem but who doesn't. He was in on a number of good shots and that will continue, but he's able to finish against Smith. I think Starocci takes this one by 3-4 points. 13-9 PSU
184: I noted against Iowa that Brooks looked to tire out about mid match. Watching the match before him, wrestling in Carver, and the dual meet still in question can do that to someone. I think Brooks learned from that and that's scary. Romero has gone to SV against Amine and Assad. This match doesn't make it that far and Brooks wins comfortably. 16-9 PSU
197: Dean continues to worry me. I'm glad he's suiting up for us, but like Cael said in his post match he'd rather Dean not have to come from behind in his matches. Hoffman isn't in the same conversation as Brucki, Caffey, and Warner, so I would expect Dean to go get that first takedown, and use his riding ability to rack up some points. I'm saying Dean is using the momentum from last weekend and is able to major Hoffman. 20-9 PSU
285: Orndorff has only wrestled two guys in the top ten and lost to both of them badly. Parris pinned him and Cass majored him. Kerk is coming off that loss to Cass, but I don't think he wrestled very smart in that match and he wasn't able to get off bottom. Orndorff is no where near the top wrestler Cass is so we can rule that problem out. I also don't think Orndorff is able to stop Kerk's shots so there will be no need to go upper body (I didn't see a need against Cass either, especially twice but he learned). Kerk gets back on the win train and IMO has a little fire under him to get the major. 24-9 PSU
We Are!
