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Is Richie Lewis in the national title discussion at 165?

PSUbluTX

PSUbluTX

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Feb 7, 2018
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NJ.com has dubbed Lewis a "national title dark horse" who has been "thrust into the nat'l title discussion" after beating Marinelli and wrestling IMar tough this weekend. Do you agree?

Scott Goodale does. He says Lewis has now "broken into the top tier." In Scarlet Knight speak, I think that clearly means Lewis is the #1 P4P guy in the nation at 165 (and probably some other weights). ;)

http://www.nj.com/rutgers/index.ssf...le_dark_horse_after_big_ten_breakthrough.html
 
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I don't have any issue with that characterization ("national title dark horse"). I wouldn't bet on him winning, but he is definitely capable of throwing a big monkey wrench into the bracket. When focused, he is a tough out.
 
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He could upset one of the big 4 that I consider to be Imar, Cenzo, Massa & Marinelli.

However, even to be called a dark horse contender, he'd need to beat two of those four and that ain't happening.

So the answer is no, he should not be in the national title discussion.
 
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NittanyChris said:
He could upset one of the big 4 that I consider to be Imar, Cenzo, Massa & Marinelli.
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I also wondered about Massa. Can't find where Lewis and Massa ever went H2H. For common opponents, Wrestlestat has Lewis at 9-4 and Massa at 14-9, but they predict Massa over Lewis 9-5.
 
In fairness, I've seen much stranger than that happen at the big dance. One never ceases to be wowed a couple of times every tournament.
 
Okay, so he beat Marinelli on his 3rd try.

I'm not sure though that Alex belongs in the same category as IMar, Cenzo and Mazza. Yeah he beat Massa when Logan was coming back from injury and he caught Joseph in a big move, but I see IMar CJ and Massa as a top 3.

Alex and Lewis I would put with in the next tier I would label 'tough outs'. Dark horse? .. eh .. if less than 5% chance qualifies, then okay.
 
aalion said:
Marstellar is at least as much a contender as Lewis IMHO
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Agree.

Seems NJ.com was looking for some way to put a positive spin on this past weekend and RL's 3rd place finish is the best they could come up with.
 
Sure. And Lewis is also a swell guy. If you believe that here are a few more things that must be true cause I read it somewhere.

When or if the Bull beats Massa, Cenz, and Imar and finishes undefeated he better get the hodge!!

Kemdawg was going to beat Nolf all year, and definitely at Bigs.

Lewis said he was going to beat Nolf for 157 title this year. Soon figured out that was never happening and moved up to 165.

Sorenson should have beat Zain 2-1 due to Zain stalling and Brandon deserved 2 points for stalling.

Massa is the biggest D-bag because he celebrated a win.

Hall is a d-bag the way he celebrates.

Lewis is a d-bag the way he celebrated a win.(okay this one is true)

PD3 is going to smash noodle arms and be an NCAA champ.

PSU,tOSU, and soon to be Michigan are cheating with slush funds.

Everybody is beating Nico in the room.

Lavon Mayes was really only in his 20's.

Kyle Snyder is coming to destroy PSU.

Cael is definitely a hard name to spell.

Ramos, Evans, and Gilman showed class when they wrestled. Hey okay they were just being themselves and there is nothing wrong with that.

Cael is a thug who brainwashes his wrestlers about having fun, yet almost killed the ref when he threw a chair violently at his head.

Chance would have been better if he stayed at Okie state and wrestled at 157. The cut had zero to do with his results.

Tom Ryan loses with class and makes no excuses.

Cassar should bump up and take out Nevills.

Brody Grothus is the answer.

JO did not cheat.

FRL crew know all and CP is very respectable when speaking down/to his fellow colleagues.

Logiebear is fun to follow on twitter when the bucks are wrestling.

Bo Jordan was dealt a bad hand.

Scientific study shows deadlifting ensures getting off the bottom.

FLO puts out documentaries at the worse time just to sabotage certain wrestlers.

I was bored and its late. All joking around and I was just having some fun.
 
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jack66 said:
Agree.

Seems NJ.com was looking for some way to put a positive spin on this past weekend and RL's 3rd place finish is the best they could come up with.
Click to expand...

yep, this is the article you need out there when your perennial top 10 in the nation team finishes 11 in the big10.

Which is behind powers PU and northwestern.

#artofthespin
 
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First off, Scott Goodale should just shut his trap. Continually trying to manufacture a feeling in NJ that Rutgers is breaking through the ceiling and nearing the level of PSU, TOSU etc.. a freaking joke!! It might sound good for recruiting or exciting the alum except anyone a little savvy about college wrestling knows its BS

RL has to be in the conversation at 165... hes capable of winning a match against anyone. However, I dont believe he can beat 2 or 3 of these guys Cenzo, Imar, McF, AM or Massa in the same tournament

OT Should Pritzloff take over for Davis in WIsc, expect Rutgers to decline unless they replace Goodale with a new, credentialed HC
 
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JohnnyHandsome said:
First off, Scott Goodale should just shut his trap. Continually trying to manufacture a feeling in NJ that Rutgers is breaking through the ceiling and nearing the level of PSU, TOSU etc.. a freaking joke!! It might sound good for recruiting or exciting the alum except anyone a little savvy about college wrestling knows its BS
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Well, to be fair to him and Rutgers, it wasn't TOO terribly long ago on the mat and other forums where people were calling for Goodale's job. In the bi-annual list of "Who Gets the Ax" threads that turn up on forums, his name was ALWAYS at or near the top.

Given that, they have certainly improved.
 
Using Merriam-Webster as a resource, a dark horse is...

a : a usually little known contender (such as a racehorse) that makes an unexpectedly good showing
b : an entrant in a contest that is judged unlikely to succeed

Sounds about right to me...the portrayal is fair, imo.
 
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James Toney said:
Sure. And Lewis is also a swell guy. If you believe that here are a few more things that must be true cause I read it somewhere.

When or if the Bull beats Massa, Cenz, and Imar and finishes undefeated he better get the hodge!!

Kemdawg was going to beat Nolf all year, and definitely at Bigs.

Lewis said he was going to beat Nolf for 157 title this year. Soon figured out that was never happening and moved up to 165.

Sorenson should have beat Zain 2-1 due to Zain stalling and Brandon deserved 2 points for stalling.

Massa is the biggest D-bag because he celebrated a win.

Hall is a d-bag the way he celebrates.

Lewis is a d-bag the way he celebrated a win.(okay this one is true)

PD3 is going to smash noodle arms and be an NCAA champ.

PSU,tOSU, and soon to be Michigan are cheating with slush funds.

Everybody is beating Nico in the room.

Lavon Mayes was really only in his 20's.

Kyle Snyder is coming to destroy PSU.

Cael is definitely a hard name to spell.

Ramos, Evans, and Gilman showed class when they wrestled. Hey okay they were just being themselves and there is nothing wrong with that.

Cael is a thug who brainwashes his wrestlers about having fun, yet almost killed the ref when he threw a chair violently at his head.

Chance would have been better if he stayed at Okie state and wrestled at 157. The cut had zero to do with his results.

Tom Ryan loses with class and makes no excuses.

Cassar should bump up and take out Nevills.

Brody Grothus is the answer.

JO did not cheat.

FRL crew know all and CP is very respectable when speaking down/to his fellow colleagues.

Logiebear is fun to follow on twitter when the bucks are wrestling.

Bo Jordan was dealt a bad hand.

Scientific study shows deadlifting ensures getting off the bottom.

FLO puts out documentaries at the worse time just to sabotage certain wrestlers.

I was bored and its late. All joking around and I was just having some fun.
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I will never get on your bad side, Mr. Toney, because I bet you can hold a grudge. :)
 
dicemen99 said:
Really? Did you watch the matches?

I'm not sure how you could make that statement if you did. Lewis with a late TD to make the score closer than the match. Imar with a late TD off a desperation attempt by Joseph to make the score worse than the match.
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Thank you!
 
Yeah I watched it ..with one eye and the other eye on the other mat.
I havent seen it a 2nd time, but my recollection is that Lewis got the first td; later threw Imar to his back and came close to nailing him but Imar rolled thru for no points and then Imar threw him for 6 out of his 8 pts.
It looked to me like a wild and exciting match.

I dont recall VJ getting off a decent shot the whole match; Imar controlled the action thruout; there is such a thing as giving your opponent too much respect, especially one whose weakness, such as it is, is stamina.
 
VJ was in on a good single that would have made it 3-1 but IMAR fought to earn a stalemate. I do believe VJ could have been more aggressive from neutral
 
RandyL said:
I dont recall VJ getting off a decent shot the whole match; Imar controlled the action thruout; there is such a thing as giving your opponent too much respect, especially one whose weakness, such as it is, is stamina.
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Did you watch the third period? Cenzo had the ONLY good shot in the match..that being said..I felt Imar controlled pace first two periods..
 
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aah, yes I stand corrected... VJ did have one good shot, with about 30 seconds to go. I remember at the time saying to myself that Nick Lee lost a couple tds that same way vs Carr.

Re Lewis...I seldom get into all this extraneous stuff that so many of you seem to enjoy focusing on.
I have only seen Lewis a couple times, but from what I have seen he comes to play every time...well, comes to brawl might be better description.
I agree with NittanyChris above that he could pull an upset of any of the other big guys, but not likely to pull a couple.
 
Cenzo just seemed to be a little off last few weeks of the season- this could be for a number of reasons--or I could be wrong--either way I hope he figures it out in the next 10 days-
 
Dogwelder said:
I will never get on your bad side, Mr. Toney, because I bet you can hold a grudge. :)
Click to expand...

Hahaha. Man am I that transparent? Have you talked to my wife? :D

It’s crazy cause this has been the most stressful wrestling season ever for me and my sons for so many reasons. All I will say is parents, friends, and some coaches are the worst part of this sport. And damn right I going to hold a grudge against a few of them. :mad:
 
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James Toney said:
Hahaha. Man am I that transparent? Have you talked to my wife? :D

It’s crazy cause this has been the most stressful wrestling season ever for me and my sons for so many reasons. All I will say is parents, friends, and some coaches are the worst part of this sport. And damn right I going to hold a grudge against a few of them. :mad:
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with that.
 
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I don't have a problem with Lewis being categorized as a dark horse, however he is the darkest of dark horses. He's a good wrestler and on any given day he could certainly upset a higher ranked opponent. That said I have seen nothing from him to date to believe that he can win 4 matches in a row against top competition to win a title.

I could see him being seeded around 7 or 8 in this year's field. Hypothetically if he were the #7 seed in last year's draw he would have had to beat #10 Campbell, #2 Massa, #3 Joseph, and #1 Imar to win the tournament. That's simply not happening. The rub is that this year's field is even deeper.
 
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