Sadly, PSU fans have never seen a full-strength Berge. Hope that changes, if not this year than his final two seasons.
Just not feeling it at 125, 149, 157, 197, and 285....
- Thread starter BrucePa
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Where were you in years prior to 2010-11??? Enjoy the ride. Don't expect to win everything, every year. We have a team that is going to make things interesting. Let's pull for the guys that Cael puts on the mat, and trust that he's doing what's best for his team.
It is an interesting year. Except for the 5/5 year, there is always that sense of disappointment for the guys when one of them loses in the finals. Yet the team has still won it all. This year we very well won’t win the NC but might have another 4/4 or 5/5 type night on Saturday. Would be hard to be disappointed by that.
If we go 5/5 we are winning the National Championship.
I cant imagine the tension of a Cenzo/ AMar finale with the team title on the line.
Would it feel like this?
If
Wow ..so 4 weeks is enough to change 157 and 197 to all Americans? I'd love it if they just got to Minnesota...I don't see it.
It will Certainly make things interesting. Not totally out of the question. Mark, Cenzo, Lee and RBY have really looked good(sans the Iowa match for Mark) and I think all four are finalist contenders. Brooks likewise is getting better every week and could make a finals run. Taking down Zahid would be a monumental task but would love to see him have the chance.
I factored in the bonus points from AB pinning Zahid.
One thing that always stuck with me is DT said in his 4 NCAAs at PSU, Cael has brought up the team score 0 times. Just go out there, wrestle your match and the score will be whatever it is at the end of the day.
You're forgetting something. In that time period, there were a lot more D1programs than you have today. On top of that, the winners of what was called the College Division tournament were allowed to go to the D1 tournament. In fact, that's how the Clarion guys qualified. Today, you see most of the top talent spread between a smaller number of programs. Back then, I think there was a much larger competition base.
Have you done anything here the last two weeks except bitch about Shak ?
One trick ponies like you are boring.
Maybe he could start a thread discussing whether Desanto faked injury or not.
DeSanto did not fake an injury. The cradle was too freaking tight and scared him.
I didn't hear you disagree. Explain how his situation is similar to Wright and I will change my viewpoint.
Last Saturday nearly 16,000 fans were entertained by 20 highly skilled, well conditioned athletes. These are college kids giving their all and enjoying what they do and we get the benefit of watching them perform and cheering them on. It is time for some members of this board to have a reality check. I applaud Roar for his level headdresses and perspective on college athletics. PSU wrestling is not the Eagles, Flyers or Pirates.
There are different grades to these 5 weight classes.
125, 149, and 285 are in the "it is what it is" territory: One of these guys, Verkleeren, will keep it close with guys like #1 Sasso so long as those guys don't shoot. But since Verk doesn't have much of a college grade offense right now, he isn't winning much at nationals, if he qualifies (which I'm optimistic he will). One thing's for sure, I'll be pretty mad if Sasso wins it all, since he took literally ONE legitimate shot in that whole match. 125, what can you say? Meredith tries his best, but if he isn't scoring on Heinselman, he isn't scoring on anyone big. It is what it is.
285 is a little bit of that too, a wrestler who's a bit more limited at this point, but, on the other hand, Seth tweaked his knee so that might have hampered him a great deal. Also, let's be real: Gas Tank Gary Traub is a dadgum legend, people.
As for 197, Shak is gonna at least qualify and I see him as a fringe AA candidate. I'll accept that considering how much trouble we've had with injuries here.
And then 157 is a total unknown until we see more of Berge. He appeared to have absolutely no gas tank in that match Saturday. I won't worry about him for now.
Anyway, look, whatever, even with Cassar, I had Iowa down as a slight favorite to win it this year and it would take a great run by PSU to stop that from happening.
We still have some very exciting wrestling from our Nittany Lions even in a marginal "down year" from the last few. I'm certainly enjoying every opportunity to watch them.
On the other hand, I don't really understand why the OP is getting flamed. I don't see it as a particularly troll take to think we're gonna have trouble getting much production from those 5 weights at nationals.
125, 149, and 285 are in the "it is what it is" territory: One of these guys, Verkleeren, will keep it close with guys like #1 Sasso so long as those guys don't shoot. But since Verk doesn't have much of a college grade offense right now, he isn't winning much at nationals, if he qualifies (which I'm optimistic he will). One thing's for sure, I'll be pretty mad if Sasso wins it all, since he took literally ONE legitimate shot in that whole match. 125, what can you say? Meredith tries his best, but if he isn't scoring on Heinselman, he isn't scoring on anyone big. It is what it is.
285 is a little bit of that too, a wrestler who's a bit more limited at this point, but, on the other hand, Seth tweaked his knee so that might have hampered him a great deal. Also, let's be real: Gas Tank Gary Traub is a dadgum legend, people.
As for 197, Shak is gonna at least qualify and I see him as a fringe AA candidate. I'll accept that considering how much trouble we've had with injuries here.
And then 157 is a total unknown until we see more of Berge. He appeared to have absolutely no gas tank in that match Saturday. I won't worry about him for now.
Anyway, look, whatever, even with Cassar, I had Iowa down as a slight favorite to win it this year and it would take a great run by PSU to stop that from happening.
We still have some very exciting wrestling from our Nittany Lions even in a marginal "down year" from the last few. I'm certainly enjoying every opportunity to watch them.
On the other hand, I don't really understand why the OP is getting flamed. I don't see it as a particularly troll take to think we're gonna have trouble getting much production from those 5 weights at nationals.
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[QUOTE="Conewago,
On the other hand, I don't really understand why the OP is getting flamed. I don't see it as a particularly troll take to think we're gonna have trouble getting much production from those 5 weights at nationals.[/QUOTE]
Which post(s) do you consider to be flaming the OP? I didn't read every single post but I didn't see him called a troll of ANYTHING that I would consider flaming. Disagreeing with someone's opinion and or offering up a differing opinion is not flaming. It's call discussion.
On the other hand, I don't really understand why the OP is getting flamed. I don't see it as a particularly troll take to think we're gonna have trouble getting much production from those 5 weights at nationals.[/QUOTE]
Which post(s) do you consider to be flaming the OP? I didn't read every single post but I didn't see him called a troll of ANYTHING that I would consider flaming. Disagreeing with someone's opinion and or offering up a differing opinion is not flaming. It's call discussion.
Fat guy in green - goes from fist pumping Jersey Shore guy to not pleased dude with arms crossed. All in about 8 seconds
Name 2 guys who beat him at B10s.
And you don't get to say both Lugo and Lee, unless you legitimately think one of them drops to consolations.
Reminder that Sasso's only B10 loss was 6-4 to Lee at CKLV. He beat Lugo and teched Storr.
Here’s my thoughts. We can feel really good about Hall, Cenzo, RBY, Nick and AB at nationals. How the chips will fall at the end for each of them no one can be certain, but they all appeared primed for deep runs. Our other 5 weights have been less consistent but they are in manageable weights. Verk has been a little inconsistent but so has all of 49 and he’s shown he’ll be in a match with the best, just needs to pull the tigger. The only thing holding Berge back from being in the mix is conditioning, I feel the staff can get him there in a month. Shak is still getting warmed up, I can’t help but think a seasoned vet in his situation has being healthy and ready for nationals more in mind than duel meets, it’s his last go and he won’t be such an easy out in March. As for Seth, even the losses are important right now, every match is a learning experience, and there aren’t many who he can’t hang with. Point being we have 4 other weights who I would not write off from having deep runs at nationals, with the biggest boost of confidence being the coaching staff is going to take every step possible to get these guys where they need to be. We also need to support Brandon, he fights every match and it is an obtainable goal to qualify for nationals.
We certainly have become spoiled (myself included). I remember being in school in 1984 and being so pumped that we had 2 individual champions and finished third behind Iowa and Oklahoma St. It felt like winning.
Barring a terrible meltdown or god forbid injuries, we're pretty set to finish no worse than 2nd. It feels weird because with Cael, it's usually been everything or nothing but this just shows how spoiled PSU fans are, this is the down year!?
I think you are underselling the weights a bit.
125- Probably won't make the tourney
149- He has started to put things together. He has taken loss after loss, but keep in mind that he is in the middle of a B10 schedule. He is exactly the kind of guy who can make a run on the backside against some of the untested guys from other conferences.
157- Kids still an AA threat. He comes off of injury and looked rusty. He would continue to get better with each match he gets.
197- Shak just needs to do Shak things. So far his losses are to #1, #5, #8, and #9. Another guy who can look better in the next few weeks. He could also make a run on the back side.
285- Traub is really only his bad loss. The gas tank deserves some credit as he has gotten better and better. Its not unrealistic to see Nevills as an AA threat still IMO.
PSU still has potential finalists at every other weight from what I see. Far worse teams have won the NCAA before.
125- Probably won't make the tourney
149- He has started to put things together. He has taken loss after loss, but keep in mind that he is in the middle of a B10 schedule. He is exactly the kind of guy who can make a run on the backside against some of the untested guys from other conferences.
157- Kids still an AA threat. He comes off of injury and looked rusty. He would continue to get better with each match he gets.
197- Shak just needs to do Shak things. So far his losses are to #1, #5, #8, and #9. Another guy who can look better in the next few weeks. He could also make a run on the back side.
285- Traub is really only his bad loss. The gas tank deserves some credit as he has gotten better and better. Its not unrealistic to see Nevills as an AA threat still IMO.
PSU still has potential finalists at every other weight from what I see. Far worse teams have won the NCAA before.
Let me see at 157 the guy just came back from a long time away and is rusty. Ranked #4 before his injury so yeah AA is IMO likely based on past history. Shak is already an AA and also fighting the injury demons he has 4 weeks to gain confidence in his knee. The fact that you are willing to give up so easily speaks more about you than them.
I don't want to speak for other PSU fans but I've seen some fans do some mental gymnastics almost basically conceding the title already as a way to discredit Iowa with the "Of course they won! They're such heavy favorites"
Absolutely you guys are and it's due to depth at all 10 weights (while we have holes) combined with some hammers but end of the day, we are not fielding some kind of punt roster. I'll be at peace with whatever the result is ultimately (like I said, few fanbases are more spoiled than PSU wrestilng if any) but I won't lie and try to convince myself it wouldn't suck losing to you guys with a roster that as you said, potentially has 5 finalists. Whoever takes home 1st in a month will have earned it, period.
I think that's a thing. On themat there were plenty of guys calling the Hawks winners already, but I felt like it was an opportunistic attempt to rip on Brands as failures if they did not win.
Iowa has a lot of uncertainties too.
133- Desanto could be a champ he could be 5th. Gross, RBY, Rivera, and Tucker are all tough outs for him.
141- Murin looked great against McKee. Reshoots look fantastic, but can Max score on his own? Murin is a guy who could finish 3 or not AA. Very much a Charlie Falck kind of guy.
149- I actually feel more confident in Lugo than I have in the past, but the dude doesn't put points on the board when he can. All those close matches is not a recipe for guaranteed success.
157- I had high hopes for Young this year, but he just took the #24 guy in to OT. Far from a guaranteed AA at this point.
184- This weight who the hell even knows.
197- Warner has great defense and little offense. Can he high AA? Yep. Will he? Who knows. The guy has so little offense he leaves it in the hands of his opponents too much for me to have no anxiety about him.
285- Cass I feel pretty confident in a 3-5 range.
The good thing for the Hawks is that they title is really dependent on their performance other than having to rely on PSU to lose. If both PSU and Iowa wrestles to their best, Iowa runs away with it, but Iowa has plenty weights that are not guarantees.
You hit the nail on the head, ultimately Iowa controls their own fate. Other than 125, PSU's "holes" aren't due to fielding a bunch of walk ons. Yes injuries played their part but that's part of the sport. Verk, Brady, Seth were all super heralded kids. Shak is a 6th year senior who's AAed before.
Warner seems like a real mystery. Take the Minnesota match. Warner locks up a cradle but instead of going for it, he lets it go to secure the takedown. He didn't even try to turn the guy.
I can't even figure out what Brands is doing at 184. Started with Wilke, went to Brands, then Assad and now back to Wilke. Did Assad get nicked in the match against Brooks? If he is going to be your guy down the stretch it seems like he should be wrestling the likes of Embree and Webster. I can't imagine the conversations going on about this weight.
I am always surprised how inept a lot of D1 guys are at finishing a cradle position. Near side is not easy as you have to drive them over the hip, but its one thing Iowa does not do great at and PSU is exceptionally good at. Although Kem just did use it against Skatzka.
With 184 I don't think Brands cuts Assad's shirt without Assad really wanting to go. He is probably beating Brands and Wilke in the room. He is excited to be a part of this team and chomping at the bit to go. As a coach, do you tell a guy who is the best option, puts in the work, and has proven he can compete with the top guys to have a seat? Clearly there is something that they see in the day to day that has led to their confidence in him. At the same time, if he is not 100%, it can only hurt a freshman to go out and get beat. They are probably just being extra conscious with him.
Thank God PSU wrestling, or PSU athletics, have nothing in common with the Pirates. That thought makes me queasy in the stomach.
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