PA HS Wrestling thread
- Thread starter El-Jefe
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I think he would be at Pleasant Valley, as would Keegan Ramsey, who won 2A 145 for ND. Both wrestled in the Becahi and ND junior high programs, so I think both went to Catholic elementary/middle school.
Rath has always wrestled for Red Hawk, which is run by Nate Desmond’s uncles and grandfather, which means he’s been Becahi bound all along. That’s where Kasak, Harmon, McIntyre, Scanlan, McFillin, and the Campbells all came up through. It’s Becahi’s feeder club - I think Seth is technically volunteer assistant at Beca, but they merged with Becahi’s old club and put it under Seth’s watch. That used to be Notre Dame’s feeder when Veres first got there (Cerniglia, Chletsos) but he apparently burned that bridge. It was a big, gossipy deal when Kasak at the 11th hour flipped from ND to Beca, and ND hasn’t touched that pipeline since.
I think Veres had rubbed more than one person the wrong way(I.E. Crookham's Father)
The Notre Dame thing isn’t going to last a long time. People HATE him around the Valley, and that is seeping into all of his would be feeders. Look how much smaller his freshman classes are getting (really just Ramsay this year, who has been with Lost Boys since forever - compared to Becahi who has eight really good freshman who all can’t even make the lineup). That’s part of the reason you’re seeing ND with more and more New Jersey kids, he’s poisoned one well and needs a new pond to fish from. I don’t think that has a long shelf life. Particularly as his club is more a vehicle for the HS program that a youth development focus, he just doesn’t have the kids coming in, and less and less people trust him to send their wrestlers there. There will always be kids who want to go to an all star team, but less people are going to be comfortable steering their kids there.
I think everybody knows that Veres was a finalist for the Easton job when they hired Billman. Part of what really turned off the hiring committee was Veres came into the interview with a list of names of kids he “could get to wrestle for Easton” and acted like that should be his big qualification for the job (I know Crookham, Chletsos, and Evan Maag were on the list, only one of whom lives in Easton). Now, all of the parents who had their kids at Lost Boys were pissed when he didn’t get hired either left or threw a massive temper tantrum, but it would have been a sh*t show either way.
I also heard Crookham's father wasn't pleased about injury management of his son and also questioned some COVID protocol.
Maybe just excuses to transfer back to Saucon Valley .
Speaking of Easton ,is Karam getting the Rover ship righted.???
I’m cautiously optimistic (as the screen name implies). He got way more out of his roster this year than he had any business to. Outside of Cruise at heavyweight and Kelly at 106, not many super talented kids. But they wrestle hard, have improved a lot, and had a way better districts than I ever would have predicted. And the jump that a kid like Fairchild at 126 has made has really been something, the fact that he’s beaten Appello twice and has a very good shot at going to Hershey is a huge credit to the kid and staff. I can see proof of concept, even if they’re not where Easton is accustomed to being yet
The whole key will be if he can keep kids. There were six finalists this weekend from Easton across 2A and 3A. The feeder programs are still working for the high end kids, just need them wearing red and black. There are some signs. The Correll kid they have who is a freshman had two older brothers both wrestle at Blair, the fact they sent their youngest to Easton I take as a good sign. They could have a very good 106 next year - he was slated to Notre Dame from what I’d heard, but wrestled for Easton’s junior high this year and I think may be leaning towards staying. There’s another Easton kid who has had a ton of youth level success who didn’t wrestle for a JH program this year, but previously had been in Becahi’s system. I still think he might be going there, but spots are obviously hard to come by and he’d be a four year starter and impact kid, and I think the door is open a little.
In house, the junior high team started mostly 7th graders, and in that class had a champ and a couple high finishers.
The other thing I’ve noticed is, I know I mentioned Red Hawk as the Becahi feeder club (and it is). But I’ve seen Steve Powell doing a lot more clinic work there and being welcomed in as a guest in a way that suggested there is a healthier relationship between Red Hawk and Easton than has existed in a while. I chalk that up to Andy C getting more involved. Their always going to be a Beca first club, but if Easton is a viable option in that system, it’ll go a long way. Certainly the two kids I referenced above are Red Hawk, and getting them in the door would say a lot.
(I’m recognizing this is a longer answer than you were probably looking for)
Went to watch D4 championship last weekend. The biggest takeaway I had was that Conor Harer is legit. Talented in all positions and pushed for the major in the finals of a State 1vs2 matchup. He is a legit top 5 guy in his class imho. Full court press!!! The other guy that really impressed me was Scott Johnson, he was a runner up last year but he is drastically improved. He is also solid in all positions and really looks to put up points against solid competition.
Dylan Granahan isnt a top recruit but he impressed me. Kid broke his hand/thumb on Wednesday last week and took fourth in the deepest district bracket in the state. His thumb was isolated in a brace so he had no grip on one hand. Top 3 ranked kids and 6 or 7 ranked kids in the bracket.
Austin Johnson didnt look great. Obviously he is tiny at 285 but his biggest issue was his tank. Didn't look comfortable at all and wasn't confident shooting under the big guys.
Overall, most of the wrestling in the placement matches sucked. Very little offense, parallel ringing and pushing out of bounds. It was pretty painful. Connor Heckman managed to spend 45 minutes on the mat for two matches. In the semi's he removed his nose plug and wiped blood on himself to get a breather. My JH son looked over at me and was like is this how they wrestle in highschool? We had a talk on the way home about getting good enough on your feet that gaming matches like that doesn't work. Best part of the night was walking next to Scotty Hughes on the way to the car. He was giving advice to a young wrestler as they walked. Old school, and you could definitely understand why John and Russ ended up being who they are.
Oh and Zain was in the house to be inducted into the D4 HOF.
Dylan Granahan isnt a top recruit but he impressed me. Kid broke his hand/thumb on Wednesday last week and took fourth in the deepest district bracket in the state. His thumb was isolated in a brace so he had no grip on one hand. Top 3 ranked kids and 6 or 7 ranked kids in the bracket.
Austin Johnson didnt look great. Obviously he is tiny at 285 but his biggest issue was his tank. Didn't look comfortable at all and wasn't confident shooting under the big guys.
Overall, most of the wrestling in the placement matches sucked. Very little offense, parallel ringing and pushing out of bounds. It was pretty painful. Connor Heckman managed to spend 45 minutes on the mat for two matches. In the semi's he removed his nose plug and wiped blood on himself to get a breather. My JH son looked over at me and was like is this how they wrestle in highschool? We had a talk on the way home about getting good enough on your feet that gaming matches like that doesn't work. Best part of the night was walking next to Scotty Hughes on the way to the car. He was giving advice to a young wrestler as they walked. Old school, and you could definitely understand why John and Russ ended up being who they are.
Oh and Zain was in the house to be inducted into the D4 HOF.
Scotty is a great man and helped so many wrestlers in his day
Regionals weekend is underway.
NE AA is thru the quarters. Out of 52 semifinalists, D4 = 45, D2 = 7 (including state champ Jaden Pepe). Some things never change.
NE AA is thru the quarters. Out of 52 semifinalists, D4 = 45, D2 = 7 (including state champ Jaden Pepe). Some things never change.
It has always been that way. Lake Lehman brings a full squad and leaves with one or two
SW AA. Ridge has 8 of 12 in the semis. Other 4 still in consis. Team is blowing the field away for team title.
Here’s where Brock interrupts to remind us that they recruit.
Which is worse? Brock with the recruiting or Bushwood (CJF) arguing over every rule.
Both pale in comparison to some of JTS and JS fueds 😎
@hlstone While D2 is having the usual struggle at AA Regionals, Abington Heights is sending 5 to Hershey and clinched 3rd place at NE AAA behind Nazareth and Beca.
This made me LOL! Not recruit rather have wrestlers from other schools and yes they do. Their 106 regional champ (Somerset) and Moore twins did the magical appearance right before Hs. Like so many at these types of schools.
Trying to find the team score central mountain was winning after last night.
Ridge cleans house at AA SW regionals. Although they only had one champ. They had 3 runner ups, 2 3rd place and 2 4th place. 10 out of 12 placed in the top 8.
PA Power posted unofficial brackets for states. These will likely hold barring withdrawals, with one possible exception -- AA 189 could flip the 3 and 4 seeds (they tied in seeding points).
live.pa-wrestling.com
2 quick observations:
Cael Nasdeo got the 3 seed at AAA 113 -- and the worst draw of any regional champ this year. He opens with nemesis Carson Wagner (Northampton). WIn that and his quarters is vs. Nico Tocci, who beat the returning state champ at districts. Win that and he gets returning state finalist Zach Jacaruso in the semis.
189 AAA semi: Mac Stout vs Sonny Sasso. This should be the finals, but Stout got zero prestige points since he missed states last year due to injury.
PA-Wrestling.com : Tournament Brackets
live.pa-wrestling.com
2 quick observations:
Cael Nasdeo got the 3 seed at AAA 113 -- and the worst draw of any regional champ this year. He opens with nemesis Carson Wagner (Northampton). WIn that and his quarters is vs. Nico Tocci, who beat the returning state champ at districts. Win that and he gets returning state finalist Zach Jacaruso in the semis.
189 AAA semi: Mac Stout vs Sonny Sasso. This should be the finals, but Stout got zero prestige points since he missed states last year due to injury.
Does Sasso have a brother that wrestles in college at 149.?????😉😉😉😉PA Power posted unofficial brackets for states. These will likely hold barring withdrawals, with one possible exception -- AA 189 could flip the 3 and 4 seeds (they tied in seeding points).
PA-Wrestling.com : Tournament Brackets
2 quick observations:
Cael Nasdeo got the 3 seed at AAA 113 -- and the worst draw of any regional champ this year. He opens with nemesis Carson Wagner (Northampton). WIn that and his quarters is vs. Nico Tocci, who beat the returning state champ at districts. Win that and he gets returning state finalist Zach Jacaruso in the semis.
189 AAA semi: Mac Stout vs Sonny Sasso. This should be the finals, but Stout got zero prestige points since he missed states last year due to injury.
Haven’t dug into the numbers yet, but even if Stout got his placement points from 2020, Sasso was only a 7th place finisher last year, so he doesn’t have a ton of returning points either. Would they have ended up on the same side anyway?PA Power posted unofficial brackets for states. These will likely hold barring withdrawals, with one possible exception -- AA 189 could flip the 3 and 4 seeds (they tied in seeding points).
PA-Wrestling.com : Tournament Brackets
2 quick observations:
Cael Nasdeo got the 3 seed at AAA 113 -- and the worst draw of any regional champ this year. He opens with nemesis Carson Wagner (Northampton). WIn that and his quarters is vs. Nico Tocci, who beat the returning state champ at districts. Win that and he gets returning state finalist Zach Jacaruso in the semis.
189 AAA semi: Mac Stout vs Sonny Sasso. This should be the finals, but Stout got zero prestige points since he missed states last year due to injury.
Here are the numbers:
The seeds were 1 Collins (Central Bucks East), 2 Sasso, 3 Stout.
Stout would've gotten the 1 seed had he finished 6th last year.
Bethlehem Catholic sending 10 wrestlers and Nazareth 11 to States. Wow.
This is disgusting. I heard faith Academy (6) and Mcort (4) had over half the champions.
Then faith at 14 state placers. How? They had more than all of our area 10. Someone said they all entered under their home school district and qualified from three different areas
Craziest stat of the weekend is Becca and NDGP barely had any wrestlers there again and then next year will have the top incoming freshman.
@El-Jefe if you have the time, hope you'll post some comments weight by weight for AAA and AA.
If not, perhaps a few wrestlers or match ups to watch for?
With your expertise, much is expected of you.
If not, perhaps a few wrestlers or match ups to watch for?
With your expertise, much is expected of you.
For some reason I can't find seedings or brackets.
PA wrestling.com will not load brackets. If someone has them I would certainly appreciate if you post.
Thanks
PA wrestling.com will not load brackets. If someone has them I would certainly appreciate if you post.
Thanks
