David Taylor to Oklahoma State & related news
- Thread starter GableBeer
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Heard at the watering hole Ok St has Forest locked in. With Fix staying on and the international guy staying there, it’s a done deal.
DT strikes a huge get early. Also heard Blaze was torn between PSU and OSU, until he got the Ok State offer which blew them both out of the water.
Forest and Blaze, both to Ok state would be shock waves
DT strikes a huge get early. Also heard Blaze was torn between PSU and OSU, until he got the Ok State offer which blew them both out of the water.
Forest and Blaze, both to Ok state would be shock waves
Dang it - was hoping it was too late for DT to make an impression on Marcus Blaze. Not shocked about Forrest though, wrote that off a while ago.
Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't PSU had more titles than Iowa from 125-141 in the past 11 years? 5 titles to 4 with three guys to two for Iowa? Does that enable PSU to lay claim to the lightweight capital of the world?
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Yes, but with their history of lightweight Olympians, they still keep the title (for now😉)
Add Bassett, now we are talking. Of course I'm just dreaming here. I would not take Cael recruiting lightly at any stage.
You guys are now officially our rival. You just jumped over Iowa instantly on hiring day. This time it's a friendly rivalry. No, not this season, but it probably starts in 26.
Curious,
Are you including two uncommited out of Bassett, Blaze, and Forrest in your seven count, or counting to top three as team members?
Only commits or also guys already in the room a year, like Barr?
U20 champs
Lilledahl (commit)
Duke (commit)
Ryder (commit)
Conner Mirasola (commit)
Barr (RS Fr)
Other Top 3
Sealey (commit)
Cole Mirasola (commit)
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Where do people come up with stuff like "Cael needs motivation"?
ha, was thinking the same thing. Then I laughed when I thought about Cael reading this forum
Additionally, the thought Cael reads this forum made me laugh. 😉
I’d say he “provides” more than needs (motivation). Athletes see the environment he’s created, the quality of his assistants, his demeanor, the growing mountain of team and individual titles, and want not only to be part of it, but to do their best to contribute.
I see Cael as that rare guy motivated more by a constant, internal fire to excel than by any specific and temporary hurdle (a lost phenom recruit, a flashy new rival, etc.) in his path.
I don't want Blaze to be elsewhere, but yeah, that would be a huge deal for DT to get Jax, Blaze, and maybe Bo.
Holy schnikees!!! Guess the cut was too hard and he’s not beating Hendrickson, then Merrill for HWY
I guess so. He just wrestled 203 at U20s. Seems hard to believe that he couldn’t make 197 with a good nutrition plan over 8 months. There has to be more to this story.
Carroll won the 2023 U20 trials at 125 kg. Staying at 197 for 4 years always seemed like a stretch.
Coincidence or not, this is Carroll's 4th school choice. He committed to Illinois, then Penn, then OKST, and now will be transferring. Unlike Kerk, following Snyder was not a factor in any of his decisions.
BTW, 97 kg = 213 lb, not 203 lb ... unless 203 was Carroll's actual weight.
Good catch, 92 kg at U20s, 97 kg at Olympic Trials.
Still, there's a world of difference between making a weight for 1 weekend vs. 6 months, even with a nutrition plan. Wish I could find the pic of Stieber's last suck-down for Worlds -- he made third world starving children look healthy and normal.
Michigan? They have a strong recent record of developing HWTs, and whiffed on the portal rentals this year. Plus he's from northern Indiana.
The hitch would be: they have 2 elite HWT recruits in 2025 (Correa and Sahakian). I'd probably go after Carroll anyway, but that doesn't mean they will.
Missouri is another top program that badly needs a HWT -- though they need one both short and long term.
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He’s been all over the map academically. Illinois, then Penn, then Ok State. What’s next? INSEAD, MIT, Trenton State, Grambling?
Missouri would be good for both him and the team. I can see Michigan pursuing but I can’t see it from Carroll view because of Correa and Sahakian. Not saying he can’t beat them but it seems like he wants a more sure thing when it comes to him being in the lineup
If Carroll isn't concerned about beating out the 2025 guys, then Michigan's superior track record and training partners would be a major plus for them, something Missouri can't approach.
This was a “funny” post by Lee Cothran on the Cowboy board:
“Over the last decade, all but about 3 of the top 30 recruits that OSU has landed have had an offer from Penn State and OSU did flip two guys from them.
Cael does the Bob Stoops "we didn't want them anyway" and pulls the offer when they commit somewhere else... but that doesn't mean they didn't heavily pursue many of the guys that OSU got from Travis Wittlake to AJ Ferrari to Victor Voinovich.”
Geez - we just had to settle for bums
“Over the last decade, all but about 3 of the top 30 recruits that OSU has landed have had an offer from Penn State and OSU did flip two guys from them.
Cael does the Bob Stoops "we didn't want them anyway" and pulls the offer when they commit somewhere else... but that doesn't mean they didn't heavily pursue many of the guys that OSU got from Travis Wittlake to AJ Ferrari to Victor Voinovich.”
Geez - we just had to settle for bums
I agree but I think he is probably very concerned about beating those guys out. They are similar level recruits to Merrill and he seems to be running from that challenge
Damn, if only we could have been as awesome as OSU over the last decade.
Fact checking that claim, it's maybe a little inflated, as in it'll float away if you let go of the string.
I'm approximating "top 30" a little because of available sources, but most will be obviously in.
2015:
- Nick Piccinnini -- yes
- Joe Smith -- I think we did contact him, but everybody knew the score
- Kaid Brock -- probably not
2016:
- Keegan Moore -- probably not, PSU not among his 5 finalists
2017:
- Daton Fix -- yes
- Kaden Gfeller -- "not the most stable of human beings"
2018:
- Travis Wittlake -- committed without an offer, surprised PSU because we weren't pursuing him. Rumor was that he never got an offer from PSU before flipping. Maybe he got a lower offer as a courtesy since he had committed.
2019:
- Brevin Balmaceda -- no
- generously including Kerk b/c he committed to OKST before flipping to Tan Tom. IDK if Cael had offered him during recruitment.
2020:
- AJ Ferrari -- visited PSU. IDK if Cael offered. After his visit, we heard a lot less about interest in either direction.
- Dustin Plott -- I don't think we pursued him
- Trevor Mastro -- no
- Jakason Burks -- I don't think we offered him. Might have dipped a toe in the water. PSU not among his finalists.
- Konnor Doucet -- no
2021:
- Travis Mastro -- no
- Voinovich -- did not have PSU among his finalists
- Teague Travis -- no
- Kyle Haas -- no
2022:
- Jordan Williams -- I don't think we offered him. PSU not among his 7 finalists.
- Fredo -- lol
2023:
- Christian Carroll -- IDK if we offered him
- Brayden Thompson -- probably not
- Cael Hughes -- probably not
- AJ Heeg -- yes, PSU was a finalist. Note, ranking varied, might have been more top 50 than top 30.
2024:
- Beric Jordan -- probably not. He committed early and moved from Ohio to Stilly High.
- Cody Merrill -- have not heard of PSU pursuing him, but it wouldn't surprise me.
2025:
- LaDarian Lockett -- IDK if offered, but PSU not among his 5 finalists
- Kody Routlege -- probably not (he just flipped from Nebraska today)
I believe Cael posted incognito on the other forum back in the early days. No more than a few times as I recall. Someone once posted a nice interaction they had with Cael, and this poster thanked him back. Last time he posted.
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