Crookham to Lehigh
- Thread starter El-Jefe
- Start date
That narrows down @AgSurfer recruit down to SVN, Figs, or Cruz. I’ll take D: all of the above.
I'm not surprised. He had narrowed it down to PSU and Lehigh. Santoro certainly played the local card and the potential to be the face of the program.
If it wasn't Penn State,, I'm glad it was Lehigh.
If it wasn't Penn State,, I'm glad it was Lehigh.
Anyone care to share the Class of '22 BB rankings of:
Bouzakis
Cruz
Rivera
Mendez
Thanks in advance.
Bouzakis
Cruz
Rivera
Mendez
Thanks in advance.
Great for him! Absolutely great wrestler. Can't fault him for picking a school where his parents can go watch him wrestle with a 15 minute drive (and one with a fantastic coach and academics)
What happened to Ag's post? I wrote something and the next time I looked it was gone. I felt it was a twilight zone episode.
I know little about high school wrestling anymore but I'm interested to see how Ryan does in college with all the buzz you eastern Pa guys have offered.
I commented a while ago that about every 5-8 years or so a kid comes from our area with a lot of talent. Bobby Weaver was truly special but to small to dominate in college. Cuvo changed rules of high school wrestling because of his domanice on his feet. He could have won 3 or 4 time NCAA champ if it wasn't for Ricky Bonomo. Then Billman and Trenge came on scene. They had great college careers but never won NCAAs. Jordan Oliver was the greatest All around talent that I ever saw from our area. He won 2 NCAAs and it could have been 3. The most unique and funky wrestler from our area was Mikey Riciato. His college career never blossomed probably because his choice in college and his bad decision making. Sasso was very dominant his last 2 years in high school and I had hoped PSU would get him. Last year's Freshman of the Year.
Ryan Crookham is the next local kid that is special. He is fundamentally and physically the best sophomore I have ever seen from our area. The kid was benching over 200 pounds this past year.
As you can see from my list , the transition from high school to college is not a guarantee to NCAA titles. I will be willing to bet Ryan has a very good college career.
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As much as I would like to agree and be as magnanimous about this as you I just can't. Crook and his family have invested so much time, effort and money into his training why in the world do you pick Lehigh over Penn State. The wrestling programs are light years apart
and he will not reach his potential at Lehigh.
I know some will point to academics however despite the blustering of some of their alumni, Lehigh isn't a much better academic school, if at all; we are not talking Harvard or Princeton here. Why make wrestling such a priority in your life just to toss it aside, makes no sense. Spencer Lee to Iowa I understood, didn't like it, but I understood. This I just don't get.
Santoro has made a point to recruit within about a two hour radius. I know for a fact he wanted a couple of locals the last few years but academics was an issue. Ryan has been been in Lehigh room and at most of there home matches. Maybe he was just really comfortable with the people involved with their program.
I had commented about 2 years ago that Lehigh was maybe going to be his choice, which a lot of posters doubted.
This decision doesn't reflect bad on Penn State it just brings Lehigh to the forefront, which maybe was part of his decision.
The kid wants to become a doctor and I don't think by age 25-30 wrestling will be his main objective nor career choice.
Bobby Weaver, still the best HS wrestler I ever watched in person. He could do whatever he wanted to on the mat at that level, and was faster than RBY. Most of his opponents were scared to death of him.
What does his bench have to do with anything? That's not much tbh. I would have assumed a good bit more.
Maybe he won’t reach his potential but if he doesn’t it will not be because he chose Lehigh over PSU. His daily workout partner is a former national champ who is still an active wrestler.
Penn State wasn’t even in his top 5 (Ohio State, Va Tech, Wisconsin, and Navy), so your point is moot anyway.
Penn State wasn’t even in his top 5 (Ohio State, Va Tech, Wisconsin, and Navy), so your point is moot anyway.
Good for Lehigh. If a top kid from PA doesn't go to PSU, Lehigh is my school of choice as a wrestling fan.
Wishing the kid well. However, the question is how long will it take for the Lehigh staff to get this kid comfortable wrestling in reverse.
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My man was long waiting to pounce - only his 2nd successful post. His only other post Pooh-pooed Cassar naming the score against Wood (which he did in the end).
Looks like we’ve got another Uncle Pletch on our hands
Actually, Racciato's college career never blossomed because he wasn't as good as we all thought.
Racciato never beat Zack Beitz in HS or college. No disrespect to Beitz, good wrestler, but someone who did not consistently start at PSU. Which indicates that Racciato would've struggled to start at PSU, and likely never reach the podium in college.
Also, should be noted that (with hindsight) his list of HS victims is pretty shallow. The only future college AA he beat was Pete Renda, at 135 (Renda wrestled 184 at NC State). The only other future national qualifiers he beat were Austin Matthews (8.0 career NCAA points) and Brock Zacherl (3.5 points).
Long story short: forget Pitt and the Midlands hookers. Cael was right to low-ball Racciato's offer based on his talent assessment.
I absolutely respect the decision, This kid is confident nothing will stop him in wrestling and made the decision based on location and more importantly Academics. Anyone who had grown up near the area will understand this decision. I am disappointed, but good luck to the young man!!
Interesting. We were told that Crookham was down to PSU vs. Lehigh.
Also (and I know this isn't directed at you): I'm unconvinced that he won't reach his potential at Lehigh. The argument that he won't is strictly the "iron sharpens iron" argument. Because their past decade's rosters is short of guys whose careers fell short. Bottom line is, he's their best recruit since at least Darian Cruz.
Anyway, I'm just happy to not see him in the same lineup as Echemendia and Sasso.
If you don't think strength is part of a lighter weight success in college you are not being fair. Obviously quickness, skill set and technique are part of the equation.
When High School Soph. Crookham beat PSU recruit Senior Rob Howard it was partly do to Ryan strength. Let it be noted, Howard was rumored to have a shoulder injury. I talked to a guy at match and he said Howard tried to muscle him and had no luck.
Coincidentally you mention he is the best recruit since Darian Cruz. That is the daily workout partner now and into the future. Darian is a pretty sharp piece of iron.
And not even close to Uncle Pletch. Huge PSU football fan and huge Lehigh wrestling fan. Blame my dad (undergrad at PSU, doctorate at Lehigh).
And not even close to Uncle Pletch. Huge PSU football fan and huge Lehigh wrestling fan. Blame my dad (undergrad at PSU, doctorate at Lehigh).
From his HS career, one could say Cruz reached his potential.
From the way Nico treated him like a chew toy, one could say Cruz's title was an overachievement. Lehigh's coaches deserve some credit for that turn-around.
The one thing that none of us know is what is the out pocket cost of going to each school, how much money is each school offering.
One of the goals of going to college is to do it as cheaply as possible. Maybe Lehigh offered more money. If they did, can't blame him for taking it.
Good luck to him. If PSU can't get the PA kids, good to see them stay in PA.
"Needs-based" scholarship offer -- they need him, he gets the offer.
I was probably bias about Ricciato ability because I knew him since he was a little boy. I can tell you he had a very unigue ability to score off the most awkward positions. In state finals he put kid on his back with a leg move very much like what Nolf did a few years later. Obviously he made bad choices and lost some of his desire when he went to school. But I do think a college environment can effect a kids college career.
The best decision Jordan Oliver made was moving away from Easton. If he would of chosen a more local school, his future could have been a lot different and not for the better.
For his age and weight, his bench press is considered elite (on a scale of Beginner-Novice-Intermediate-Advanced-Elite).
https://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/bench-press/lb#standardsMale
Story about a local kid that chose to leave the state.
https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/hi...8/sammy-sasso-never-stops-getting-better.html
