Match thread for ASU
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
I mean, that stunk and all, but I was happy for the ASU kids—the celebration afterward looked like a lot of fun.
Not worried about our team. I even think Conel could still turn it around. He found a way to avoid bonus. Norfleet was raw last year, but is promising. Congrats to the Sun Devils. Still wish Bubba wasn’t there though.
Not worried about our team. I even think Conel could still turn it around. He found a way to avoid bonus. Norfleet was raw last year, but is promising. Congrats to the Sun Devils. Still wish Bubba wasn’t there though.
Agreed. Hall, Joseph, Cassar, et al are outstanding wrestlers, and a joy to watch. That said, they don’t put up bonus points like Zain, Jason, and Bo (or Taylor and Ruth). Like you said, those guys were all-timers. Nolf and Bo are first and second on the PSU all-time pin list. Zain’s right there, too. Hard to replace that kind of point generation. Maybe Brooks, Beard and Starocci can do it. In the meantime, duals are going to be tighter.
I know ASU likes Norfleet's potential, but let's not get carried away. This was by far the best win of his career.
Before tonight, his best career win was Ohio State's Ethan Smith, who was up a weight. Other than that, he has beaten one national qualifier: Bakersfield's Dom Ducharme, who went 0-2 at NCAAs.
Norfleet is a good wrestler, but has shown no evidence that he should beat a legit AA contender.
Before tonight, his best career win was Ohio State's Ethan Smith, who was up a weight. Other than that, he has beaten one national qualifier: Bakersfield's Dom Ducharme, who went 0-2 at NCAAs.
Norfleet is a good wrestler, but has shown no evidence that he should beat a legit AA contender.
I still think Norfleet looked decent today, but Conel was clearly under water.
I really like the idea of getting Beard quality matches before deciding to pull his shirt. Hope he takes a holiday road trip to Chattanooga.
I really like the idea of getting Beard quality matches before deciding to pull his shirt. Hope he takes a holiday road trip to Chattanooga.
Did you catch Chertow going there again? sheesh.
Read roar’s pbp thread if your request was legit. He very nearly got the fall on his first double. Another ref might have called it. Gave up a TD after a bad shot on the edge, but otherwise controlled a very good wrestler. Hall had a good ride after his TD.
This seems like more than a "bad result or 2". The 3rd ranked wrestler in the nation, in his final year, has been man handled twice by 2 wrestlers who will not make Nationals.
All the more concerning on one front......
We can all be discouraged by 197, but I would still like to see Beard get one more year to work on bottom. The kid is the best in the nation on his feet but BallSack working him from top like that gives him something to work on. That said I believe he will be uncaged by necessity by the new year.
Berge being out is the bigger elephant in the corner of the room. I have no comment other than to cross my fingers.
RBY will be fine the whole thing not to mention the home crowd booing at times took him out of his element. A good reference and growth opportunity for Carver Hawkeye. Baby steps, but he should be a shoe in for top 4 by March.
It's hard to say the team as a whole didn't look like they were properly prepared and I expect Cael to assume the blame next week, but a couple of subs injuries and a forfeit can give the impression of an uninspired showing.
We have seen it many times before Cael has a plan and this year is atypical being tied to freestyle and a light schedule. Most teams are the equivalent of 1-2 weeks ahead of us right now in terms of 'tough' competition. A well oiled machine in November is a significant departure from peaking in March. This was the biggest dual of the year for Az state and they prepared accordingly and it showed. Kudos to them!
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After what I said above about Norfleet ... he is a returning national qualifier at an historically tougher weight. He will qualify this year.
Nick Lee would like to have a word with you.
Just got back home from the match. Cassar looked like he had him pinned for the team victory; however,no call. ASU grad sr wrestled tough. Think the final was 7-4. Great atmosphere. 4 guys wrestled well. Need a lot of work to get to the top in March. Great crowd, very polite.
Not a play by play but later in the first a double to the back, Cassar had his head and a shoulder and a position he couldn't maintain for more than 20 seconds or so. He had him with one shoulder blade an inch of the mat, shifted to the other side and nearly pinned him before he rolled through. Later Cassar seemed 'slightly' gassed and couldn't pour it on and then gave up a solid double and 30 seconds of riding time to kind of take the wind out of the match. It was never in doubt but after the first a tech was off the table and he never got him in trouble again
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After some time to decompress, a Miller or 2, Conel came out with some passion and went hard to lift the team. In the opening furry he exposed his legs and Norfleet made him pay. Ran out of gas and fought for some team points. I feel for the guy, he certainly expects to be better but can’t go for 7 minutes. He’s wearing a leg brace and had shoulder surgery, obviously can’t train properly, and now has had a couple bad outings with huge expectations hanging over him. He’s a returning all American in the middle of his final year. Best of luck buddy, I’ll be rooting for you.
This has been discussed before. Expect PSU to be super cautious with Berge's concussion. We may not see him before the new year. If he's not back by mid-January, that might indicate a larger problem.
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Are you rooting for him especially because you saw him buying furniture?
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Are you rooting for him especially because you saw him buying furniture?
not following, guy is having a rough go and not at his best
I totally agree with your very good post. I was just wasting everyone’s bandwidth with a silly obscure reference to a previous post (also a good one) (in a previous thread) about, I think Cortez, who gave his all even though he was so hurt he had to buy new furniture to sleep on due to injury.
Well the looks right now the nits have 4 hammers and rby and bergy, 184 and 197 have some ahem challenges ,here is some out of the box thinking Brooks at 184 and bump shackur up to 197 when healthy and maybe bring beard in the mix at 197 also. Also remember shack best finish at the nationals was at 197.
Go talk to Cael about your plan and let us know how it goes.
Oh I don't have to do that,it pretty obvious that some changes have to be made.
Pac-12 Network had a perfect angle...his shoulder blade was about a half-inch off the mat, but it was the right no-call...barely.
Disappointing on a number of levels. Obviously it can all get fixed. But the standard is the standard. It’s ok to hold the entire team to it.
-not being able to get out on bottom is an entire forum meme. It’s fair to criticize Verk. Every Tan Tom kid has gotten worse.
-it’s been a while since a non-emergency (non 125) starter has looked terrible. Being excited about Conel having energy in the first 30 seconds is not the norm.
- it’s been a while since we haven’t gotten bonus when we needed it. Cassar is the best in the nation. He got taken down and was tired. He’s. Still handsome spyker. But that’s not the standard.
- it’s November. These kids are amazing and lord knows the coaches will put the best team forward. They’ll be prepared come March. But they underperformed big time tonight.
-not being able to get out on bottom is an entire forum meme. It’s fair to criticize Verk. Every Tan Tom kid has gotten worse.
-it’s been a while since a non-emergency (non 125) starter has looked terrible. Being excited about Conel having energy in the first 30 seconds is not the norm.
- it’s been a while since we haven’t gotten bonus when we needed it. Cassar is the best in the nation. He got taken down and was tired. He’s. Still handsome spyker. But that’s not the standard.
- it’s November. These kids are amazing and lord knows the coaches will put the best team forward. They’ll be prepared come March. But they underperformed big time tonight.
Overall, not an unfair critique. One point is way off. Cassar was 1 inch away from pinning Sasquatch, the #5 ranked heavyweight. Cassar is and will continue to be "The Standard".
We are used to so much generational talent (Taylor, Ruth, Wright, Zain, Bo, Nolf) that not only won, but won in a dominating fashion. Sprinkle in other teams generational talent equivalents like Nico, Molinaro, Vinny, Hall, Cassar and you have the dominating powerhouses we have had over the last ten years.
This team isn't going to reach those heights simply because it doesn't have that talent level. That doesn't mean it can't be fun and PSU can't win come March. It just means we aren't going to have 5 champions.
Will the next generation of Brooks, Beard, Howard, Bartlett, etc. be the next superstars? Who knows, but we probably won't know this year.
This team isn't going to reach those heights simply because it doesn't have that talent level. That doesn't mean it can't be fun and PSU can't win come March. It just means we aren't going to have 5 champions.
Will the next generation of Brooks, Beard, Howard, Bartlett, etc. be the next superstars? Who knows, but we probably won't know this year.
The ability to ride a guy consistently or being unable to choose the down position has really hurt a few of our guys. It makes giving up a takedown tough to overcome (whether going for bonus or just the W). A few elite guys could probably get away with that but I can’t think of many off the top of my head.
Agree we do not see Berge before January, same for Shak. Since both are traveling with the team and weighing in, it would seem being out for the season is not a concern. Probably weighing them in to ensure they don't blow up weight wise.
There's a reason why our 60 match win streak was one of the longest in wrestling history ... it's damn tough to win every time out at this level. Tip your hat to ASU for getting the job done and get back to work. Nothing to see here.
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