DeSanto

[matter7172]

I see he is now ranked #4 at 133 by Intermat. I know it's a pretty suspect weight class (imo, the weakest this season by a lot), but the question that pops in my head is whether the TF loss to Lee in the 2016 state finals caused people to grossly underrate him. Given that it was the only loss in his last two seasons of high school and how he has performed as a true freshman, maybe his win over Lee is not so shocking in retrospect.

He's a kid I would have loved to see in Penn State's blue and white, particularly this season.

 

[nitlion6]

I see he is now ranked #4 at 133 by Intermat. I know it's a pretty suspect weight class (imo, the weakest this season by a lot), but the question that pops in my head is whether the TF loss to Lee in the 2016 state finals caused people to grossly underrate him. Given that it was the only loss in his last two seasons and how he has performed as a true freshman, maybe his win over Lee is not so shocking in retrospect.

He's a kid I would have loved to see in Penn State's blue and white, particularly this season.

Yeah. A true freshman ranked #4 @ 133, improving and wearing a blue and white singlet would be cool.

 

[johnstownsteel]

He’s one of my favorites. I know he doesn’t wrestle for our team but I can’t help but follow him as if he is one of our own.

 

[nerfstate]

Can we fit a cruiseliner up the Schuylkill and over to the Susquehanna West Branch? I'd carry him the rest of the way....

 

[El-Jefe]

I see he is now ranked #4 at 133 by Intermat. I know it's a pretty suspect weight class (imo, the weakest this season by a lot), but the question that pops in my head is whether the TF loss to Lee in the 2016 state finals caused people to grossly underrate him. Given that it was the only loss in his last two seasons of high school and how he has performed as a true freshman, maybe his win over Lee is not so shocking in retrospect.

He's a kid I would have loved to see in Penn State's blue and white, particularly this season.

Dice is the guy who can probably best answer this, but IMO it's more of that loss lighting a military grade flamethrower sized fire inside DeSanto.

I thought he was good as a JR but as a SR improved far more than could be reasonably expected even as a stretch goal.

Best recent comparison I can make is Jason Nolf losing at states to Ryan Diehl. Got a rematch that summer and completely wrecked Diehl, had transformed himself in just a couple months.

One big difference though: Jason lost during his SO year. DeSanto committed the summer after his JR year, so he probably didn't get to showcase his improvement. (Nor did he care -- if he truly wanted PSU or the like, he could've waited to show how much better he was.)

 

[El-Jefe]

Can we fit a cruiseliner up the Schuylkill and over to the Susquehanna West Branch? I'd carry him the rest of the way....

Umm ... the cruiseliner doesn't go that way.

 

[ev_flores0331]

Desanto has the heart of a damn lion, got wrecked then made it his mission to avenge the loss. The kind of guy I want next to me in a fighting hole or a dark alley.

 

[nerfstate]

Umm ... the cruiseliner doesn't go that way.

TWSS?

 

[dicemen99]

Dice is the guy who can probably best answer this, but IMO it's more of that loss lighting a military grade flamethrower sized fire inside DeSanto.

I thought he was good as a JR but as a SR improved far more than could be reasonably expected even as a stretch goal.

Best recent comparison I can make is Jason Nolf losing at states to Ryan Diehl. Got a rematch that summer and completely wrecked Diehl, had transformed himself in just a couple months.

One big difference though: Jason lost during his SO year. DeSanto committed the summer after his JR year, so he probably didn't get to showcase his improvement. (Nor did he care -- if he truly wanted PSU or the like, he could've waited to show how much better he was.)

I'm not sure that he was all that underrated coming out of HS. His results were very good, but not the elite of the elite up to the Lee match - and including the match if we put as much stock into Spencer's injury as our friends to the west do (I didn't and posted here that Austin's victory should be untainted - I can personally tell you that a lot of wrestlers compete in Hershey injured - that's the way the cookie crumbles).

I have heard that he hit the ground running this summer at Drexel and has probably put in more work than most and greatly lessened the freshman learning curve. It's this kind of thing that you can't really quantify when looking at recruits, and that ultimately makes the difference between kids when they hit the next level.

 

[BDB57]

I suspect there will be a clash of TDs if DeSanto and Teasdale match up in the coming years. Both as much as anyone I can recall outside of Nolf. Short term memory issues.....should have put Nick Lee in that class.

 

[Ja1339]

Grew up 5 miles from Desanto's high school and I also would have loved seeing him in Happy Valley. But we have some pretty talented wrestlers coming in to man the 33 spot starting next year.

I'm just super happy he's at a school where I can root like crazy for him. Would have been a bummer if he had gone to one of our B10 competitors.

 

[Needanap]

I'm not sure that he was all that underrated coming out of HS. His results were very good, but not the elite of the elite up to the Lee match - and including the match if we put as much stock into Spencer's injury as our friends to the west do (I didn't and posted here that Austin's victory should be untainted - I can personally tell you that a lot of wrestlers compete in Hershey injured - that's the way the cookie crumbles).

I have heard that he hit the ground running this summer at Drexel and has probably put in more work than most and greatly lessened the freshman learning curve. It's this kind of thing that you can't really quantify when looking at recruits, and that ultimately makes the difference between kids when they hit the next level.

While DeSanto's "Vision Quest" match with Lee was worthy of a made for TV movie he doubled down the next week at the Dapper Dan by brutalizing Justin Mejia (sp?), a four time California champ. In my view he is the easiest kid in wrestling to root for.

 

[James Toney]

First time I really remember watching Desanto was at a PJW qualifier in his finals for jr high I believe. My boys wrestle in same county as he did, but are much younger than him. My buddy was like you have got to watch this kid. He just toyed with him with the TD and release over and over. You could see he was gonna be a real stud.

I think it was just a little over a week ago our local paper had a big article on him. It was called Sports Newsmaker of the year in the Reading Eagle. It was a great read!! Pretty much tells you how dedicated and passionate he is. He definitely used that loss to Lee his junior year to motivate him and took him to another level. Sure wish he was at PSU, but he is by far my non PSU guy I root for, along with Pete Renda.

 

[Sportfan2017]

I am not sure how anyone can not enjoy watching Desanto wrestle. One of the great things about being a Flo member is I can see almost every one of his matches. I definitely have looked for all of his matches since I really first saw him at states. I also watch both Nick and Spencer Lee matches because...Duh. Plus all the PSU guys. Throw in Cody Law ( my hometown ), Meredith and now Gross. Don't get mad but I also watch Myles Martin matches....and every Kyle Snyder International match.