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Oregon State Dual

To my eye Crosby looked like he has grown-arse man strength beyond the typical 157. Seems like that's what enabled him to counter Levi's moves early on more than anything. Perhaps it just took Levi a bit to make the necessary adjustments and wear down an uncommonly strong opponent. I was impressed that Levi showed no panic or desperation at any point and just confidently did his thing.

Crosby also looks like one of those guys who may rise to the level of his competition. Every loss he's had this year has been by 1 or 2 points.
This. That was my biggest takeaway from that bout.
 
Levi was down 5-4 going into the 3rd against Brignola also, both times he got what he needed without a hint of panic. Not unlike when he was in a huge hole against Andonian. Agree he has to wake up but not bad to wrestle matches like this right now. I would guess it is a weight issue (both times off Holidays) Significantly less leg wrap on him right now (and he's moving great) so not worried about that.

Levi isn't afraid to win ugly and his focus always is scoring the next point
 
Levi was down 5-4 going into the 3rd against Brignola also, both times he got what he needed without a hint of panic. Not unlike when he was in a huge hole against Andonian. Agree he has to wake up but not bad to wrestle matches like this right now. I would guess it is a weight issue (both times off Holidays) Significantly less leg wrap on him right now (and he's moving great) so not worried about that.

Levi isn't afraid to win ugly and his focus always is scoring the next point
Peyton Robb lost to the UNI guy over the weekend. That might have some effect on seedings later in the year depending on how everyone else does at that weight.
 
I won't put him ahead of KOT or Carr until I see him beat them, but, yeah, I expect he will be the third wheel in the conversation by nationals.
Those are my thoughts as well. I wonder if Keegan will big brother him a bit and Carr has to be favored at this point but by nationals no one is going to want to wrestle him. He is so fun to watch and the best part is we still have another 3 years of him after this season
 
Those are my thoughts as well. I wonder if Keegan will big brother him a bit and Carr has to be favored at this point but by nationals no one is going to want to wrestle him. He is so fun to watch and the best part is we still have another 3 years of him after this season
KOT big brother MiMess?? Like Imar big brothered Nolf and Meatball? Could be.
 
Those are my thoughts as well. I wonder if Keegan will big brother him a bit and Carr has to be favored at this point but by nationals no one is going to want to wrestle him. He is so fun to watch and the best part is we still have another 3 years of him after this season
I have not seen his vulnerability yet. Maybe his aggression will open him up to a mistake with Carr or KOT. But… so far we have not seen him drop the ball. His free style win with Levi felt like an outlier. I don’t think so anymore. Also who just walks on to the best lineup in PSU history and starts at 165 ? This dude is going to blow minds.
 
Would be a real shame if KOT and Carr split the dual and Big XII and have the rubber match on Friday night.
Would be a real shame if O'Toole won both, Carr were the 4 seed, and Psycho made the finals.

I took a look at seeding criteria over the weekend and suspect both would be seeded ahead of Mesenbrink in your scenario, especially if Carr won B12s. They both will have an advantage in quality wins and RPI, and probably the coaches' poll.
 
More about them being from the same club and Keegan being older and better especially when they were younger. That can hold a bit of psychological sway.
Ben does a great job staying neutral and tight lipped about the two. I'll be interested when FRL does their picks for Nationals and which one he takes. I know I know...sounds crazy I'm saying this but really feel come March. everyone picking Keegan won't be such a foregone conclusion.
 
Ben does a great job staying neutral and tight lipped about the two. I'll be interested when FRL does their picks for Nationals and which one he takes. I know I know...sounds crazy I'm saying this but really feel come March. everyone picking Keegan won't be such a foregone conclusion.
It's possible, but I'm nowhere near there right now. If he techs Amine or Caliendo like a cat playing with his food like he did to Olguin, I'll start to think that way.
 
Ben does a great job staying neutral and tight lipped about the two. I'll be interested when FRL does their picks for Nationals and which one he takes. I know I know...sounds crazy I'm saying this but really feel come March. everyone picking Keegan won't be such a foregone conclusion.
I have thought KOT was a foregone conclusion to be a a 4 timer until Carr kicked his ass in their first match last year. I still think he has a shot but. He’s not Kid Dynamite by any means. He is an extremely good wrestler. MM might be better.
 
I have thought KOT was a foregone conclusion to be a a 4 timer until Carr kicked his ass in their first match last year. I still think he has a shot but. He’s not Kid Dynamite by any means. He is an extremely good wrestler. MM might be better.
Funny you mentioned Kid Dynamite. Part of the reason I'm so high on Mitch is it seems he just keeps jumping levels and I think the work he puts in with Dake is a big reason why
 
Amine does a good job of not ceding ground and looking active. It’ll be interesting to see how he deals with MM’s pace.

I haven’t seen anyone put a hard ride on MM yet.
 
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Amine will try to slow the match down, it will be interesting to see if MM can open him up.
I’m not worried about Amine even though I probably should be. He’s tough and wrestles almost everyone close. I’m excited about MM vs Hamiti. 2 guys who just let it fly. Not sure even Hamiti can keep up with Mesenbrinks pace though
 
Mr. Amine sees blue and white in his nightmares. Not so much different from Mr. Jordan.

Several families have seen realistic chances at a national championship destroyed by Cael products year after year, son after son.

I'm from Mifflin County and the HIdlay brothers are absolute legends around here. They would be even bigger legends if they didn't have PSU guys in their brackets at nationals.
 
But will he?
I would go so far as to say that he should be favored in every match, but he might lose one or two. Going through all of this for the first time is tough. The first time through a B1G dual schedule is tough. The first time wrestling at CHA is tough. The first time through the B1G tournament is tough. I can't say expect him to win every time, but I can't really say I know which one will trip him up, either.
 
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Hey everyone, some really sad news coming out of Corvallis on the heals of this dual.

"On January 7, 2024 Travis Wittlake Jr was working underneath his Dodge pickup working to take a lift off of the truck when the jack the truck was resting on gave way crushing Travis leg and body underneath the truck. His leg had a compound fracture and multiple other breaks as well as many compression fractures in his lumbar vertebrae. He was air lifted from Southwest Oregon to Salem Hospital where the trauma team helped to repair the leg and brace his back. Miraculously his injuries were not life threatening but he will have a very long road to recovery"

 
Hey everyone, some really sad news coming out of Corvallis on the heals of this dual.

"On January 7, 2024 Travis Wittlake Jr was working underneath his Dodge pickup working to take a lift off of the truck when the jack the truck was resting on gave way crushing Travis leg and body underneath the truck. His leg had a compound fracture and multiple other breaks as well as many compression fractures in his lumbar vertebrae. He was air lifted from Southwest Oregon to Salem Hospital where the trauma team helped to repair the leg and brace his back. Miraculously his injuries were not life threatening but he will have a very long road to recovery"

Oh no! Heal up, Travis. Thankful his injuries were not life threatening....
 
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Holy crap, this just sounds awful. In a different position this kind of accident could have killed him. Those injuries don't seem to be on the short list for returning to this sport. Well, I still have a soft spot for that kid since he decomitted, and hope he can recover enough to have a normal physical life, wrestling would be a nice bonus, but it really doesn't sound good. Our thoughts and prayers are with him.
 
Tough call. His two toughest match ups are Amine and Caliendo and both are on the road. I say he loses 1 of these. Also, if he faced Hamiti at Big 10’s I would favor Hamiti.

Edit: then I would expect him to do what Penn St guys do at Nationals and get even better. ☹️☹️

What about Hamiti makes you favor him over Mesenbrink?
 
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