Byrd to Illinois
- Thread starter Str8DBLz
- Start date
I’m really glad that Byrd’s name went on the verbal contract instead of his brains!
Willie just explained the verbal on FRL.
It turns out that Penn State discovered from the college-admissions investigation that Byrd is a chess nerd whose family fabricated his entire wrestling record. [Byrd has] never actually wrestled a day in his life!
It turns out that Penn State discovered from the college-admissions investigation that Byrd is a chess nerd whose family fabricated his entire wrestling record. [Byrd has] never actually wrestled a day in his life!
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Come on........Everybody knows that Howard and Byrd are bitter enemies. Howard flatly stated that if he comes.....I'm gone. Cael thought it over and gave Byrd the Bird.
PS: I made up every word of this...…..I just wanted to use Byrd and Bird in the same sentence...….might never get another chance
But as others have said on here ... if he's trying to add mass during his red shirt year to become a full size 125-pounder next year, he's not going to cut to make 125 at a couple of not-very-important late season tournaments. I think the fact that he wrestled up at the end of the year tells us exactly nothing about the likelihood that he'll be a 133-pounder going forward.
And Willie even said his Teske sources hadn’t been 100% reliable recently either.
The only thing I take from this is Gross is going 125 next year
Or RBY cuts to 125 and Gross at 133 ?
i didn't mean to imply that teske was not going to wrestle at 125 next year, i was just trying to answer the question of where the rumor started which, as far as i could tell, started when he wrestled 133 in february.
that said, i will disagree with you that it tells us nothing. it tells us that he was over 125 in february and we know that p(125 next season|133 last season) < p(125 next season|125 last season).
that seems a tad out of context. Cholley's comment was, "I think the fact that he wrestled up at the end of the year tells us exactly nothing about the likelihood that he'll be a 133-pounder going forward."
This is my take as well.
On Tuesday, Willie said Teske isn't a 125 anymore. But man, the kid I saw at the Scuffle (ignore the results, just talking the physical attributes) looked smaller than everyone else even at 125. Like he had room to grow and stay there. Was quite a shock when I heard that he couldn't get there any more. Wasn't like it was that long ago (though I get that guys grow and it's hard to forecast growth).
Has anybody checked on Lemonpie? We may have to talk him off of the ledge.
I like Byrd, but certainly don't think he's a sure thing. Plenty of other 125 prospects I just like too, but none will get here in time. This stinks. We all knew Suriano wasn't going to hold 125 for very long anyway, so the fact that PSU still hasn't figured out this weight is very disappointing.
I know a current guy on the roster that has already beaten a former qualifier and if he can graduate fat camp with Cenzo this summer and stay out of jail <sarcasm font> will be a great 125 lber next season.
And already lost to a career backup from Lock Haven
You might be referring to Luke Werner, who is a starter
His loss to Brian Loperfido may be even more of a concern
Fairly confident Cenzo can get down to 125– but can he beat Nico in the room?
I was thinking Werner started the year at 133 until DJ fehlmen dropped. But I was wrong as he was 125 at the clarion open.
Fun fact: Jordan Conaway is the only wrestler in 10 years of Sanderson's coaching to cut down a weight after consistently starting at a higher one - he wrestled 133 in 2013, 125 in 2015, and 133 again in 2016
But Jordan was not a big dude
Clearly we're not John Smith here....
If PSU were to get Gross, RBY would redshirt. I'd bet actual money on that.
Didn't Nick Lee get pinned by Missouri's backup 141 his greyshirting year? Cassar got majored by Jacob Berkowitz from Northwestern his true freshman year. Hell, he lost to Garrett Hoffman 16 months before he was a Heavyweight champion. Joseph said in his Inside Trip interview, he didn't think he was ready for college wrestling as he was getting throw for 6 twice against Subjeck.
End of the day, Luke Werner might not seem like a big deal from a National perspective but he is probably better than 95% of opponents Brody was wrestling in HS. There's always a period of adjustment for these guys coming into college.
Obviously Zain, Nolf and Bo were coming in and beating just about anybody as true freshman but I don't expect Brody to be a 3 time champ and all timers in NCAA history (not just Penn State history). Michael Beard and Aaron Brooks look similar to those 3 greyshirting this year and I absolutely can see them being on that path. Brody will be an invaluable member of this team going forward.
End of the day, Luke Werner might not seem like a big deal from a National perspective but he is probably better than 95% of opponents Brody was wrestling in HS. There's always a period of adjustment for these guys coming into college.
Obviously Zain, Nolf and Bo were coming in and beating just about anybody as true freshman but I don't expect Brody to be a 3 time champ and all timers in NCAA history (not just Penn State history). Michael Beard and Aaron Brooks look similar to those 3 greyshirting this year and I absolutely can see them being on that path. Brody will be an invaluable member of this team going forward.
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Absolutely agree. The amount of growth a freshman sees in the room his first year is insane. And from my experience a huge portion of that growth comes during the second half of the year. The first part of the year you are getting acclimated and probably getting the piss beat out of you especially in the Penn State room. Once you settle in most of the time you start to get better at a rapid rate. I think Brody will do pretty well next year and that you can’t read a lot into his loss to the kid from Lock Haven. I see him as a NCAA qualifier next year, bloodround or low AA as a sophomore, and AA his final 2 years. Solid kid but not an all timer like we have been spoiled with. I think we have a couple all timers coming with Brooks and Beard however.
Nick Lee got pinned by then backup Kaden Gfeller after a wild and wooly exchange while Nick was ahead having scored a few quick takedowns. Gfeller acted like he dominated and yelled “we comin’“ and people dined out on that result for over a year like Jammenz dined out on Nickal’s loss to Andy McCulley. Alas, Mr. Gfeller has not “widened the gap” per se since then.
"Kaden Gfeller does not appear to be the most stable human being."
One of Ironhead's all time calls.
That was at the Scuffle Nick's true frosh year before his redshirt was pulled. Gfeller was also a true frosh that year too so Nick obviously has improved faster than Gfeller who went 0-2 at NCAAs this year at 149.
Wrestlers improve in different ways at different speeds. I hammered many true freshman later in my career who went on to be high AA wrestlers. The key for Brody like all but a handful of true freshmen is to keep improving every day. The kid I watched at the late tournament in Ames this year is capable of becoming an AA at 125 in the next couple of years. It would be nice to have all 10 weights filled with a super star, but PSU nor anyone else is going to have that. Has anybody noticed Drew Foster's results from his true freshman year? It would have been fairly obvious he wasn't going to ever be very good.
Bingo. Look at Mike Mac from NC State.
I kinda thought Gfeller looked good until he got injured at the end of the year. Wrestling Ashnault tough at Rutgers. Didn't really take bad losses until it was obvious he wasn't himself.
Same for Cassar, and James English ...
And who had Ronnie Perry as an NCAA finalist after his freshman year?
does anyone know if he is on campus this weekend as planned or did he cancel once committed to Ill?
Watching that made me realize Cael had better get a transfer coming rather quickly as this Taylor looks like a major recruiting blunder.
Nick finished the exact same at B1Gs and NCAAs this year but I could tell he noticeably improved. One big thing is he never "got caught" and pinned (Gfeller and Diehl last year) He had one headscratching loss to Moran that Cael admitted he trained them hard that week and responded by majoring him at B1Gs. Joey got the better of him twice but it's neck and neck every time and obviously McKenna is a fantastic wrestler.
It's a shame, I don't think he was fully prepared for the Demas match. Credit for Demas though. He kept going back to the same trip and it worked every time, I fully think Nick would win a rematch with that move scouted. Bummer about him losing that match because I wanted to see a rematch with Eierman this year because Jaydin majored him last year and I feel Nick could beat him now or in the very least take him to the brink.
This is all with a redshirt still available if Nick wants it. I truly think Nick could dominate with a redshirt to add muscle, which is basically impossible from what I hear when you are focused on wrestling a season instead of sitting out.
I couldn't imagine him committing then proceeding to visit another school within a few days.(Though it obviously has been done before) Ship sailed, good luck to him.
Especially because it sounds like he signed a commitment with Illinois, not just a verbal.
