Cassar vs Gable as recruits

[McScoreley]

I've finally had time to settle down from the post heavy match high ... and it just hit me, these two couldn't have been more different in terms of recruiting profiles.

Gable has been heralded as a generational talent, the next great heavyweight, can't miss prospect since early high school. He headlined not only Minnesota's class but Prep Wrestling recruiting in general. Since a lot of people here follow football recruiting, I'll give it a comparison, he was like a JaDeveon Clowney. Physical monster, very skilled as well, an immediate game changer. Which program WASN'T after him?

Cassar was basically a "Also in Penn State's 2014 recruiting class, 1x NJ Champ, 1x NJ qualifier Anthony Cassar" on basically every recruiting website. No ranking, not heralded, just kind of an afterthought almost. For Cassar? I'd say he's like a JJ Watt as a recruit. Frame is there, a lot of untapped talent, work ethic can lead him to vastly outperform his ranking.

I am aware one is a RS SR and another is a true freshman but let's not act like Gable is an undersized freshman. Am I saying if they meet again in a few weeks Cassar will win? Nope, today could have gone either way. Am I saying maybe it's time to say Cael does more than just recruit? Yes, yes I am. But beyond that, I want to give give an ode to Anthony: beyond Cael's coaching, it was his patience, hardwork, determination and grit that led him to where he is. He said it perfectly, he wanted to stay at Penn State and earn a spot here because if you can earn a spot at Penn State, you KNOW you've made it.

 

[KidDagger]

I've finally had time to settle down from the post heavy match high ... and it just hit me, these two couldn't have been more different in terms of recruiting profiles.

Gable has been heralded as a generational talent, the next great heavyweight, can't miss prospect since early high school. He headlined not only Minnesota's class but Prep Wrestling recruiting in general. Since a lot of people here follow football recruiting, I'll give it a comparison, he was like a JaDeveon Clowney. Physical monster, very skilled as well, an immediate game changer. Which program WASN'T after him?

Cassar was basically a "Also in Penn State's 2014 recruiting class, 1x NJ Champ, 1x NJ qualifier Anthony Cassar" on basically every recruiting website. No ranking, not heralded, just kind of an afterthought almost. For Cassar? I'd say he's like a JJ Watt as a recruit. Frame is there, a lot of untapped talent, work ethic can lead him to vastly outperform his ranking.

I am aware one is a RS SR and another is a true freshman but let's not act like Gable is an undersized freshman. Am I saying if they meet again in a few weeks Cassar will win? Nope, today could have gone either way. Am I saying maybe it's time to say Cael does more than just recruit? Yes, yes I am. But beyond that, I want to give give an ode to Anthony: beyond Cael's coaching, it was his patience, hardwork, determination and grit that led him to where he is. He said it perfectly, he wanted to stay at Penn State and earn a spot here because if you can earn a spot at Penn State, you KNOW you've made it.

Kinda sucks for Nevills though.. good chance to AA this year

 

[McScoreley]

Yeah, I'm with you but it's how it goes unfortunately. Anthony was the odd man out last year. Stylistically, Nick really has no shot against Anthony. If he is healthy and was wrestling in the postseason, I'd be shocked if Nick didn't AA. He's been an AA (in much deeper heavy classes) both times he's been at NCAAs. I think he places 4th or 5th last year if he didn't get hurt at the end of the Stoll match. He was 2-0 against him previous and 2-1 against Kasper (would have been his next opponent) Him getting hurt last year was one of the main reasons the team race came all the way down to Bo/MyMar.

If Nick wants it (I haven't heard anything), he could have a solid case for a 6th year and if that's the case, he'll have all of PSU nation behind him as he chases his 3rd AA.

 

[lions#1]

Anthony at 197lb beat OSU #1 Moore last year in the dual!
Anthony at HWT beat Minn #1 Stevenson today to become Big10 Champion!
He's a truly inspiring, amazing competitor for our Nittany Lions!

 

[matter7172]

Cassar is such a great story - both on his own and for Penn State wrestling. He qualified once for NJ states but went something like 43-0 his senior year in HS. I don't think Rutgers even offered him a penny to stay in state and he signed on in Happy Valley.

I was on record saying his upside was tremendous early on. I felt like Penn State had stolen his talent. That Cael recognized something everyone else missed.

And it looked really good as he got a spot on the junior world freestyle team, beating out, among others, Kollin Moore.

Then the injury, the surgery, the second surgery and the future looked blurry for him. But he stuck with it and came back.

Then last season, when he and Shakur were a coin flip for the 197 position. It seemed like the dual meet win against Moore might be the highlight of his Penn State career - especially when Bo decided to move up to 197.

But, no! Anthony re-invented himself as a 285 pounder. His "growth" to 285 is well-documented. But how many thought he could reach the heights at the weight class? I had a lot of conversations with Annieat285 about it and I was pretty confident that AC could beat anybody at the weight class - including Steveson. The win today was just incredible. I hope that we will see him at the top of the podium this year - and next! No reason to doubt that it can happen!

 

[Beezy14]

Nah you’ll never convince Iowa fans that Cael is a better coach than the Brands’. It’s amazing even after they created wrestling in 1975, all these years later they still have not been able to figure out that the best kids come to Penn State BECAUSE Cael (and staff) ALREADY ARE the best Coaches right now and not the other way around.

These are the same people that pick against Penn State kids at every slight hint of a competitive bout, then turn around in the exact same breath after the match and yell, “WeLl Of CoUrSe He WoN, hE’s A tOp 10 Recruit!!” And they still, to this day, completly and utterly fail to see the logical fallacy in those two things.

 

[Brook Trout 1]

Cassar is a great wrestler. Gable is still a kid and acts that way sometimes on the
mat. Raptor needs to make adjustments of his own because GS needed a loss to wake him up. The rematch should be in the finals and it will be good.

 

[SRATH]

Stevenson did not appear to move like he can or did earlier in tourney. Maybe it is he is finally up against someone just as quick.

Great win for AC and PSU

 

[tikk10]

I remember seeing him at Beat the Streets five years ago and thinking, well there's our future top seed at 285. I'm sure Cael saw it the same way.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Nah you’ll never convince Iowa fans that Cael is a better coach than the Brands’. It’s amazing even after they created wrestling in 1975, all these years later they still have not been able to figure out that the best kids come to Penn State BECAUSE Cael (and staff) ALREADY ARE the best Coaches right now and not the other way around.

These are the same people that pick against Penn State kids at every slight hint of a competitive bout, then turn around in the exact same breath after the match and yell, “WeLl Of CoUrSe He WoN, hE’s A tOp 10 Recruit!!” And they still, to this day, completly and utterly fail to see the logical fallacy in those two things.

The 2nd paragraph says it all. Their picks never come from a logical place - it’s what they want to have happen.

 

[Callthestall]

I have seen Cassar wrestle twice in person. His true freshman year (2014?) wrestling unattached at East Stroudsburg Open. He was wrestling a kid from Penn and could not get off the mat. I think he got beat something like 6-0.
In the same tournament I saw early signs of what Nolf was going to be like. He was perpetual motion. Penn State had numerous future young starters at tournament, I did not think Anthony was one of them.
In 2017 Penn State win streak of 35 was in jeopardy against Lehigh. Penn State had to win last 4 matches to keep streak going. After Hall and Nickal both won 3-2. Cassar wrestled Jacobsen, a local kid from Stroudsburg and the crowd was aware the potential of the upset. Cassar ended up winning 8-3 by scoring insurance in 3rd period. Nevills wrapped it up with 2-1 decision. Final Score PSU 23 Lehigh 19
It was that match that showed whatwhat Cassar was capable on a big stage , with 10,000 in attendance.
Truly a great inspirational story for the late blooming young athlete.

 

[ptomaselli]

Anyone know exactly what Cassar & Steveson weighed in at this weekend? My assumption is Anthony is in the 225-230 range and Steveson the 245-250 range. Gibbons is FOS on that 250 BS.

 

[PSU Mike]

Anyone know exactly what Cassar & Steveson weighed in at this weekend? My assumption is Anthony is in the 225-230 range and Steveson the 245-250 range. Gibbons is FOS on that 250 BS.

It may have been Johnson that threw out the 250, and it wouldn’t be the first or last thing he made up. I’m guessing Cassar was 231 and Steveson 249.

 

[ptomaselli]

It may have been Johnson that threw out the 250, and it wouldn’t be the first or last thing he made up. I’m guessing Cassar was 231 and Steveson 249.

Thanks!

 

[Dogwelder]

Kinda sucks for Nevills though.. good chance to AA this year

That comment was unexpected to me. To me, being injured and unable to compete sucks. Doing very well by beating the number-1 wrestler and still not getting the starting job due to an eyeball test, though justified, sucks. In contrast, getting beat out in a way that is fair and square, head to head, and obvious to all is just part of the sport and does not notably suck, except in the nonunique and unremarkable sense that “it sucks for almost every human being that they are not as good as Nolf at wrestling.” That’s My take.

 

[matter7172]

Kinda sucks for Nevills though.. good chance to AA this year

Nevills has addressed it and doesn't agree with you. I'm going with Nick's take.

 

[bwfight]

Nick, much like so many of the other Penn State wrestlers is a high character guy who has completely bought into Cael's philosophy of becoming the best version of himself that he can. Nick seems to understand that he has done that, and although he is a competitor, he realizes that sometimes your best isn't good enough and he is at peace with that. In the meantime, his leadership and team first approach have contributed greatly to the overall results that Penn State has been able to achieve. In some respects, that may be even more important than the contributions he made on the mat the past few years. Nick is a champion in life, and that will always supersede everything else in my humble opinion.