My Post BIG Thoughts

[KidNittany]

OK So we've won again, which is awesome. The big fish is in a few weeks but great job to the boys for going out and getting it done today, enjoy it tonight, well deserved!

125 - Nico takes out a tough Gilman and runs into that brick wall NaTo again. Tomasello is just tough man. Dance won ACC's, so seeding is going to possibly play a factor...Joey should be 2, Nico 3 and Gilman 4. Gilman has wrestled NaTo tough in the past so this might actually have been a good day as far as the matchups go...but this is it. I'm so thankful for Nico's wrestling, effort, sportsmanship, just an overall awesome guy and wish him the best of luck.

133- Conaway ran into Taylor who as I thought was going to show up today. Beat two solid dudes on the backside in JDJ and Montoya for the fourth place. Another guy who you just love rooting for. Thank you Jordan and best of luck at Nationals.

141- Think Jimmy shut some people up today. He belongs, and if last year is any indicator he can carry the momentum. Get excited. Ran into a tough tough Ashnault but beat Jordan, Gasca on the way to the finals. Great day for him. Will be interesting to see where (if) he gets seeded.

149- Zain did his thing. Sorenson didn't do anything the whole time, maybe one slight shot at some point. Zain just gets after it, love watching him go out there. Always moving forward. Congratulations on bringing home the BIG Title!

157- WHAT A MATCH. I-Mar dug deep and gutted out just an awesome, awesome performance by both kids. Ian Miller fft'd out today so he will definitely be below both Jason and IMar. Gantt won ACC's, does he get the 1? Seeding should be interesting but I hope the committee puts IMar 1.

165- Morelli battled, can't ask for much else out of him. Close match with BoJo, gets pinned by Wilson who is quality, lost an OT match to Rhoads. Would love for someone to help out with the scenario because honestly I'm not sure - BIG gets 6 autobids. Perrotti fft'd out to 6th. He did not wrestle Rhoads at any point. So, I think it's possible that Rhoads goes to BIGs and Perrotti gets an at-large. That would leave four at-large spots. Is it possible he gets a spot? I don't know but would hope so. Everyone else in the top 20 qualified. Maybe SHP can help out with the RPI piece in all of this. Obviously I'm not as versed in the spots as I should be here, but I think Morelli could be in line for a spot.

174- Nickal does the BoBo all over the field. Pins Martin, dominates Brunson, etc. etc. what is there to be said. Dude is doing his thing and very happy he has achieved one dream of getting to NCAA's. Hoping he gets another dream down with a NCAA crown. Congrats on the title!

184- McCutcheon didn't wrestle to seed and that's always disappointing, but he qualifies. Losing to Gravina doesn't feel great, but he beats quality Koepke twice. Has had knee issues, what can you really do here. He has the potential and has beaten some of the best at this weight, so I still believe he can do some damage.

197- Has been awesome watching McIntosh this year and the past five. Did great once again today, wrestled soundly throughout. What a great career, one last rodeo for the two-time BIG Champ. Congrats on another title and good luck bringing home the big one!

HWT- Nevills, what can you do. Has been hurt. Get healthy and get ready to go in 2017.

Again, great tournament, love watching these guys go at it. One more show to go.

 

[Real-Lion]

OK So we've won again, which is awesome. The big fish is in a few weeks but great job to the boys for going out and getting it done today, enjoy it tonight, well deserved!

125 - Nico takes out a tough Gilman and runs into that brick wall NaTo again. Tomasello is just tough man. Dance won ACC's, so seeding is going to possibly play a factor...Joey should be 2, Nico 3 and Gilman 4. Gilman has wrestled NaTo tough in the past so this might actually have been a good day as far as the matchups go...but this is it. I'm so thankful for Nico's wrestling, effort, sportsmanship, just an overall awesome guy and wish him the best of luck.

133- Conaway ran into Taylor who as I thought was going to show up today. Beat two solid dudes on the backside in JDJ and Montoya for the fourth place. Another guy who you just love rooting for. Thank you Jordan and best of luck at Nationals.

141- Think Jimmy shut some people up today. He belongs, and if last year is any indicator he can carry the momentum. Get excited. Ran into a tough tough Ashnault but beat Jordan, Gasca on the way to the finals. Great day for him. Will be interesting to see where (if) he gets seeded.

149- Zain did his thing. Sorenson didn't do anything the whole time, maybe one slight shot at some point. Zain just gets after it, love watching him go out there. Always moving forward. Congratulations on bringing home the BIG Title!

157- WHAT A MATCH. I-Mar dug deep and gutted out just an awesome, awesome performance by both kids. Ian Miller fft'd out today so he will definitely be below both Jason and IMar. Gantt won ACC's, does he get the 1? Seeding should be interesting but I hope the committee puts IMar 1.

165- Morelli battled, can't ask for much else out of him. Close match with BoJo, gets pinned by Wilson who is quality, lost an OT match to Rhoads. Would love for someone to help out with the scenario because honestly I'm not sure - BIG gets 6 autobids. Perrotti fft'd out to 6th. He did not wrestle Rhoads at any point. So, I think it's possible that Rhoads goes to BIGs and Perrotti gets an at-large. That would leave four at-large spots. Is it possible he gets a spot? I don't know but would hope so. Everyone else in the top 20 qualified. Maybe SHP can help out with the RPI piece in all of this. Obviously I'm not as versed in the spots as I should be here, but I think Morelli could be in line for a spot.

174- Nickal does the BoBo all over the field. Pins Martin, dominates Brunson, etc. etc. what is there to be said. Dude is doing his thing and very happy he has achieved one dream of getting to NCAA's. Hoping he gets another dream down with a NCAA crown. Congrats on the title!

184- McCutcheon didn't wrestle to seed and that's always disappointing, but he qualifies. Losing to Gravina doesn't feel great, but he beats quality Koepke twice. Has had knee issues, what can you really do here. He has the potential and has beaten some of the best at this weight, so I still believe he can do some damage.

197- Has been awesome watching McIntosh this year and the past five. Did great once again today, wrestled soundly throughout. What a great career, one last rodeo for the two-time BIG Champ. Congrats on another title and good luck bringing home the big one!

HWT- Nevills, what can you do. Has been hurt. Get healthy and get ready to go in 2017.

Again, great tournament, love watching these guys go at it. One more show to go.

I Perry don't have Imar slow down the match and get him a lot of breaks Jason beats him again. Cael MUST let the ref know at Nationals this guys little tricks.

 

[21Guns]

We'll be fine at 65 next year, but there is concern about Hwy...Nevills is healthy now, and still doesn't look like a factor out there.

 

[Cali_Nittany]

We'll be fine at 65 next year, but there is concern about Hwy...Nevills is healthy now, and still doesn't look like a factor out there.

Nevills will be fine. He didn't have enough time to get into good wrestling shape. If he can stay healthy, I predict AA next year.

 

[21Guns]

Nevills will be fine. He didn't have enough time to get into good wrestling shape. If he can stay healthy, I predict AA next year.

So you're saying that he lost those matches this weekend because of not being in shape? Not sure about that, hope you're right.

 

[Cali_Nittany]

So you're saying that he lost those matches this weekend because of not being in shape? Not sure about that, hope you're right.

By "wrestling shape", I mean more than just his gas tank. With more practice time, coaching and match experience, he will be right up there.

 

[CSauertiegPSU]

We'll be fine at 65 next year, but there is concern about Hwy...Nevills is healthy now, and still doesn't look like a factor out there.

Healthy now is a bit misleading. He's been going live for a month after not being able to lift or roll for 6 months. This Nick Nevills was a shell of the Nick Nevills I expect you'll see going forward

 

[21Guns]

Agree with that, finishing was a big problem, no way that Wisky kid beats him if healthy.

 

[nyc10007]

Healthy now is a bit misleading. He's been going live for a month after not being able to lift or roll for 6 months. This Nick Nevills was a shell of the Nick Nevills I expect you'll see going forward

+1. This NN didn't look anywhere near as good as the true frosh we saw last year. Clearly, he's got a lot of upside.

 

[21Guns]

Just pointing out that I heard these same things over and over about the Altons. In this case I think it is actually true that NN was about 50 percent...but just sayin.

 

[TheButcher2]

Virtually any collegiate heavyweight is stronger than those faced in high school. NN needs to gain entire body strength. Pretty hard to hit the weights heavy when recovering from a pec injury.

 

[BruceK-PSU83]

Good thoughts overall. A few additional comments:

125 - Hope Mega and Dance are on the same side of the NCAA bracket, opposite Nato and Gilman. All four guys are close, but Dance may be the best match-up for Mega. Meanwhile, let Nato and Gilman butt heads on the other side.

141 - Sorry, but still not sold on Gulibon. Yeah, he gutted out a couple tough wins against Jordan and Gasca, which was great to see. However, he netted one TD in three matches at the B1G tourney. So he now has one TD since late January. That is not a recipe for sustained success. I think he'll do well to make R12. Would love to be proven wrong.

165 - No idea about Morelli's chances to make the tourney. Of course, I hope he makes it. But, honestly, if you have to beat Patrick Rhoads to get at-large consideration and can't do it, I'm not sure that you really deserve to get in.

185 - Cutch wrestled like a dancing bear heavyweight in his last few matches. And in this stacked weight class, losing to the likes of Gravina isn't going to cut it if you want to AA. Not sure how much the knee is bothering Cutch, but I'm concerned.

285 - Nevills did not look ready to wrestle at this level, but he gets a pass due to the injury recovery and lots of corresponding rust. But the thing that is a little worrisome is that he didn't show any of the quickness or athleticism that he flashed as a true freshman. He looked about 20 lb heavier than last year, but that weight is a negative if it impacts his other attributes.

 

[Azchief32]

So you're saying that he lost those matches this weekend because of not being in shape? Not sure about that, hope you're right.

He didn't have the ability to lift, gain strength etc. Being out for so long probably negates any gains accrued in the off season.

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

Healthy now is a bit misleading. He's been going live for a month after not being able to lift or roll for 6 months. This Nick Nevills was a shell of the Nick Nevills I expect you'll see going forward

Agree - the big one for me is that his injury likely kept him out of the weight room. I expect we will see a much stronger, more lean but probably the same weight (possibly heavier as muscle weighs more than fat), more explosive NN's next year. Kid was in a tough situation, a torn pec is not something you can just come back from immediately after it heals as your upper body muscles atrophy significantly due to not being allowed to lift and even lack of use in daily life as your're recovering. Just did not have enough time to make a complete recovery before the post-season.