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Cassar appreciation thread

Cali_Nittany

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Jan 5, 2016
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The PRC
January
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great job Anthony ... have to admit I wasn’t super confident in a rematch with Gable ... good thing you were ... I have spoke briefly with Anthony at a couple of practices during the years he was injured and working to get his spot on the team and the one thing that always struck me was Anthony’s supreme confidence in himself ... not arrogance or self bravado ... just belief in himself ... and he is ready to do it on the big stage tomorrow night ... so who am I to have any doubt in him now
 
If I heard Ironhead correctly yesterday, I think he said Cassar weighed 228. If so that's about 10 pounds less than what he was wrestling at end of regular season.
Makes win even more remarkable. He was giving up around 50 pounds.
 
Steveson is not 278lbs. More like 245-250 I’d wager[/QUO
I'm thinking Stevenson is in the 260 lb range. I should of said close to 40 pounds. I tried to research weights but could not find it. Maybe someone knows.
 
When was the last time PSU has had a HWT finalist? Kerry McCoy? The craziest thing about this is that Cassar was not a heralded recruit and he was not recruited to wrestle HWT. We actually recruited a blue chip HWT in Nick Nevills who was the #1 big guy out of high school and who was a returning two time AA coming into this year and the unheralded Cassar bumped up to HWT, beat the blue chip returning AA for the spot and then won the B1G and knocked off super recruit Gable Steveson twice to make the NCAA finals, something no PSU wrestler has done at the weight in two decades.

Even if Anthony doesn't win (I think he will) this is an incredible story. Not only does this further prove that Cael can coach guys up, but it shows how good Cael is at recognizing untapped talent when he sees it.
 
Shak's story could have been as impressive. I believe he was the "plan B" recruit to losing Chance Marstellar.

But to your point, Cael is good at recognizing untapped talent and developing them.

When was the last time PSU has had a HWT finalist? Kerry McCoy? The craziest thing about this is that Cassar was not a heralded recruit and he was not recruited to wrestle HWT. We actually recruited a blue chip HWT in Nick Nevills who was the #1 big guy out of high school and who was a returning two time AA coming into this year and the unheralded Cassar bumped up to HWT, beat the blue chip returning AA for the spot and then won the B1G and knocked off super recruit Gable Steveson twice to make the NCAA finals, something no PSU wrestler has done at the weight in two decades.

Even if Anthony doesn't win (I think he will) this is an incredible story. Not only does this further prove that Cael can coach guys up, but it shows how good Cael is at recognizing untapped talent when he sees it.
 
Anthony Cassar is going to be the story of perseverance, dedication and belief that wrestling parent, coach tells their kid/wrestler when things aren't going their way early on, when they fall short of goals and when they are in lows of their career.

If Anthony had transferred after last season, I wouldn't have blamed him one bit and I would have rooted for him wherever he went; he worked his ass off and fell short of the 197 spot last year and Bo moved up to his weight and the heavyweight spot was occupied by a returning 2X AA. What does he do instead? He decided to work that much harder to remain a Penn State wrestler and now ... he is wrestling on Saturday night for the Heavyweight championship. This doesn't just apply for wrestling but in all of life .... you want something? It'll be that much satisfying when you get it because you worked for it.
 
Tony was very humble in victory. Not sure what was said between him and Steveson when they shook hands, but it looked like respect was given by both parties. Would seem Gable has gained a bit of humility after being knocked down a peg or two the past couple of weeks.
 
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One of the biggest reasons the dual streak is still alive. Couldn't believe he took out Moore last year. From back-up/injured to beating #1 two years in a row and NCAA finals. May have even conquered the headgear issue.Glad he stayed and hope he's back next year
 
When was the last time PSU has had a HWT finalist? Kerry McCoy? The craziest thing about this is that Cassar was not a heralded recruit and he was not recruited to wrestle HWT. We actually recruited a blue chip HWT in Nick Nevills who was the #1 big guy out of high school and who was a returning two time AA coming into this year and the unheralded Cassar bumped up to HWT, beat the blue chip returning AA for the spot and then won the B1G and knocked off super recruit Gable Steveson twice to make the NCAA finals, something no PSU wrestler has done at the weight in two decades.

Even if Anthony doesn't win (I think he will) this is an incredible story. Not only does this further prove that Cael can coach guys up, but it shows how good Cael is at recognizing untapped talent when he sees it.
I know this is a crazy thought, but wouldn't it be somethig if he could quit all that crazy eating and shed 30# to go back down to 197 taking Bo's place next year. Then Nevills and Cassar are both in the line-up.
 
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When was the last time PSU has had a HWT finalist? Kerry McCoy? The craziest thing about this is that Cassar was not a heralded recruit and he was not recruited to wrestle HWT. We actually recruited a blue chip HWT in Nick Nevills who was the #1 big guy out of high school and who was a returning two time AA coming into this year and the unheralded Cassar bumped up to HWT, beat the blue chip returning AA for the spot and then won the B1G and knocked off super recruit Gable Steveson twice to make the NCAA finals, something no PSU wrestler has done at the weight in two decades.

Even if Anthony doesn't win (I think he will) this is an incredible story. Not only does this further prove that Cael can coach guys up, but it shows how good Cael is at recognizing untapped talent when he sees it.
133, 141 and Hwt are the only weights Cael hasnt coached a NC.....yet

133 and 141 have yet to see a Cael coached finalist.
 
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I know this is a crazy thought, but wouldn't it be somethig if he could quit all that crazy eating and shed 30# to go back down to 197 taking Bo's place next year. Then Nevills and Cassar are both in the line-up.
I thought Nick Nevills was in his last year...
 
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I thought Nick Nevills was in his last year...

It is, though with how they do 6th years in wrestling, I have to imagine Nevills would be a great candidate to get one if he wants one but I have heard nothing of him being interested.

I imagine he'd go elsewhere if that's his plan but he'll have all of PSU nation backing him regardless of where he goes.
 
133, 141 and Hwt are the only weights Cael hasnt coached a NC.....yet

133 and 141 have yet to see a Cael coached finalist.

With RBY and Nick Lee I feel good about them getting to the finals in the next couple years and helping Cael reach that coaching milestone.
 
It is, though with how they do 6th years in wrestling, I have to imagine Nevills would be a great candidate to get one if he wants one but I have heard nothing of him being interested.

I imagine he'd go elsewhere if that's his plan but he'll have all of PSU nation backing him regardless of where he goes.

I dont see how Nevills would qualify. Injured as a redshirt. Injured again the next year but came back to wrestle in the conference tourney so that year shouldn't count as a lost year. Then AA'd twice and beaten out this year.
 
I dont see how Nevills would qualify. Injured as a redshirt. Injured again the next year but came back to wrestle in the conference tourney so that year shouldn't count as a lost year. Then AA'd twice and beaten out this year.
Was he beaten out? Or did he get mono?
 
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With RBY and Nick Lee I feel good about them getting to the finals in the next couple years and helping Cael reach that coaching milestone.

These two should talk to Cassar about his diet/lifting plan (but not quite that excessive ...) we have our 165 and 174s for next year ;)
 
I dont see how Nevills would qualify. Injured as a redshirt. Injured again the next year but came back to wrestle in the conference tourney so that year shouldn't count as a lost year. Then AA'd twice and beaten out this year.

His year this year is eerily similar to Rasheed's 2017 year which I think is the basis for his 6th year appeal. (which I know we don't know he'll get yet) Mark won the spot eventually but I think the argument is Rasheed lost a chance to even compete for it (obviously he wouldn't beat Mark) cause he was hurt. Nick just got a bad shoulder injury and probably was never fully recovered in his 2 open tournaments. Good point though, I totally forgot he gave it a go at conferences his RS FR year so that definitely shouldn't count as a lost year.

Either way it seems like a moot point cause it looks like Nick isn't attempting to pursue it in any way. Hope he gets to hope the team trophy in the center for the photo.
 
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It seems the key to victory for Cassar might just be getting one single TD on White.

White has been very, very stingy. His matches have been 10-2, 5-2, 3-1, and 3-1 thus far. I haven't watched them, but it seems he may not yet have given up an offensive point.

On the other hand, he hasn't scored too much either.
 
If I heard Ironhead correctly yesterday, I think he said Cassar weighed 228. If so that's about 10 pounds less than what he was wrestling at end of regular season.
Makes win even more remarkable. He was giving up around 50 pounds.
Meh - that argument didn’t resonate with me when Ryan was making it about Snyder. Most of these heavy guys are immobile fatties
 
I feel that no Anthony Cassar appreciation thread would be complete without noting that the official Hawk fan of BWI, @WildTurk, greeted the reports of AC’s move to 285 this year with a prediction that the mighty Sam Stoll would slay him by pin fall.
Have you been holding that in your back pocket for months? Clearly a lot has changed. Predictions are what they are. How does anyone know until you get there?
 
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