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Penn State - Lehigh Dual Thread

One thing to consider, Michael Beard is another animal in duals. It makes sense when he gets a good bit of time off the scale and he knows he only is going 7 minutes in all likelihood and he can just empty the tank going all out. That mentality unfortunately is what has caused Michael to dimish Day 2 of tournaments.

If Josh can beat Beard in this dual, it makes me extremely confident he can win the whole thing in March since I think Josh will be a brilliant tournament wrestler.

Either way, it'll be a tremendous learning experience.
I stand by this statement, beating Michael Beard in a dual is another animal than getting him Day 2 of a tournament. Josh is going to be a terror deep in a tournament.
 
Didn't Beard wrestle @ 195 in High School?

Something tells me he's one of those guys who is fighting his natural maturation to make weight-I seem to recall he weighed for HWT one time when @ Penn State when the regular was unavailable as an insurance policy if the team score couldn't have survived the FFT. (Ultimately, he didn't go).

It seems there's a lot of guys who really could use a hypothetical 215/220/100 kg weight class.

It's almost hilarious how the announcers make such a big deal about a 125 going to 133 (6,4% difference) but don't see a problem with somebody who probably should be 215/220 cutting to 197.

For that matter there's a lot of guys wo are 225-235 and facing the Adam Coons of the world, where the smaller wrestler is giving up 20+%$.
 
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PSU: 36
Lehigh: 3


125- #23 Luke Lilledahl DEC #17 Sheldon Seymour 4-1
133- #1 Ryan Crookham DEC #8 Braeden Davis 4-2
141- #3 Beau Bartlett DEC Carter Bailey 5-0
149- #3 Shayne Van Ness MD Matt Repos 17-3
157- #4 Tyler Kasak DEC Logan Rozynski 5-2
165- #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink TECH Thayne Lawrence 18-1 (4:39)
174- #2 Levi Haines FALL Rylan Rogers (4:16)
184- #1 Carter Starocci MD Jack Wilt 15-1
197- #21 Josh Barr MD #6 Michael Beard 11-3
285- #2 Greg Kerkvliet TECH Calvin Lachman 15-0 (2:12)
 
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hate to say it but half the Lehigh wrestlers must have been training at iowa grab fingers hold on and locking up and holding on not much wrestling!
 
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Didn't Beard wrestle @ 195 in High School?

Something tells me he's one of those guys who is fighting his natural maturation to make weight-I seem to recall he weighed for HWT one time when @ Penn State when the regular was unavailable as an insurance policy if the team score couldn't have survived the FFT. (Ultimately, he didn't go).

It seems there's a lot of guys who really could use a hypothetical 215/220/100 kg weight class
.

It's almost hilarious how the announcers make such a big deal about a 125 going to 133 (6,4% difference) but don't see a problem with somebody who probably should be 215/220 cutting to 197.

For that matter there's a lot of guys wo are 225-235 and facing the Adam Coons of the world, where the smaller wrestler is giving up 20+%$.
Anyone tracking the 6th/7th year guys who actually over performed in their final year? Seems to me most of them underperform, regardless of weight class.
 
I've been telling a few people privately, but I'll put it out there now. Josh Barr will be wrestling either AJF or Stephen Buchanon in the NCAA Finals. The opponent depends upon the seeds.


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...But I know the real deal when I see it.
 
All of a sudden 197 is in play. Our lower weights are pretty good, but we are still upper-weight U.

Glad Iowa fans are disinterested in wrestling outside of their own team. That last match may have irritated them a little bit...

They are retreating into their echo chamber. They don't want input from results that go against their narrative.
 
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Well, I did say I had Barr over Beard, so I wasn't shocked. Without Crookham, it would have been a PSU whitewash - and even that was a split second from going PSU's way - at least from my vantage point live.
All true. But as someone else mentioned, Davis didn’t seem to have any interest in earning the final takedown in the third period. If you didn’t know the score, you wouldn’t have known he was behind. It’s really odd.
 
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Didn't Beard wrestle @ 195 in High School?

Something tells me he's one of those guys who is fighting his natural maturation to make weight-I seem to recall he weighed for HWT one time when @ Penn State when the regular was unavailable as an insurance policy if the team score couldn't have survived the FFT. (Ultimately, he didn't go).

It seems there's a lot of guys who really could use a hypothetical 215/220/100 kg weight class.

It's almost hilarious how the announcers make such a big deal about a 125 going to 133 (6,4% difference) but don't see a problem with somebody who probably should be 215/220 cutting to 197.

For that matter there's a lot of guys wo are 225-235 and facing the Adam Coons of the world, where the smaller wrestler is giving up 20+%$.
Beard wrestled 182 as late as Dec of his HS JR year.

If 197 is a problem, then why didn't he transfer to a school that needed a HWT? Sure, maybe he's not the tallest, and neither are Snyder and Feldman.

Sorry, but this comes across as finding a stalking horse for the pet project of adding 215/220 -- which has been beaten to death and was never going to happen before roster reductions + revenue sharing.
 
Maybe it was just me, but this dual didn't have quite the vibe that I'm used to duals having when our guys are involved. Maybe it was because of that feeling, or lack there of, I thought our guys looked kind of flat. I could be wrong on both of the above mentioned. Is it possible for our guys to look flat, and still wrestle well? In my eyes, yes. If you disagree, then I definitely understand, because I don't really understand where I stand on all that. Now that I've confused everyone and myself here is my breakdown with all the rankings according to FLO. I know rankings mean nothing, but we continually talk about them.

125 LL: Would have loved to see him get to a few more takedowns. Most of us believe LL can make a run to Saturday night. Most of us are expecting at least an AA finish. Too high of expectations for a true frosh, possibly. However, with LL's accomplishments, I definitely don't think its out of reach to predict a top 8 at minimum. With Seymour ranked at 17, I definitely wanted a statement to be made that LL belongs in the top 10. LL was never in danger of giving up a takedown. He had a few low single attacks but never really got close. The lone takedown of the match came off a Seymour shot and a beautfiul LL counter. It was nice seeing LL able to get off bottom with relative ease. Bottom is a position notoriously difficult for true freshman. I expect LL to continue to improve and be right where we all think he can be come March.

133 Davis: It was nice to have Davis back against the consensus number 1 Crookham. Davis was in deep on I believe 2 singles. Everyone knows about Crookham's defesne, and if you didn't before, you do now. He has a tremendous rubber knee, and is usually able to use his defense as offense, but both shots ended in stalemates. I didn't see Davis hobble one time, which was nice to see. I do not know the extent of his injury, but if the coaches and training staff think he's good enough to toe the line against Crookham, I'd say the knee/leg is able to hold up against anyone. The lone takedown came off of a nice drag by Crookham, add in an escape and there you have his 4. Davis was able to get an escape and a stalling point. As many have mentioned, I would have liked to see Davis get in or at least attempt another shot. The more you can feel that rubber knee defense the better. As I type this, I think Davis can beat him. To do so, he'll have to get at least one takedown. Hopefully he'll be able to learn from the two shots he was in on and convert next time. Good showing after being out with an injury.

141 BB: Surprised I didn't read more on here about BB opening up against backup Carter Bailey. It is what it is at this point. His conditioning, pace, athleticism, and defense will continue to get him a lot of wins just like they have throughout his accomplished career. I think the top 3 at the weight are in a tier of their own. Not to discredit guys like Hardy and Lemley because I think those guys can knock one of the top 3 off, but I just don't think those guys have cemented themselves into that top tier.

149 SVN: It's unbelievable we are only watching SVN in his second full year. Gets the major 17-3 over backup Matt Repos. Matches against, Hensen, Lovett, and Parco are going to be really fun to watch. To be honest, his non stop attacks look almost sloppy, but his body control is second to none. His attack rate and conditioning is going to be a problem for everyone that toes the line against him. He's extremely creative and can turn his opponents offense into his own in a hurry. I think in every match so far, he's taken his opponent feet to back. Some of those flurries haven't been rewarded with back points, but the threat level is there.

157 Kasak: Semi surprised at this one against Logan Rozynski. First off, kudos to Rozynski. I think this kid is going to make some noise if not this year, soon. After looking at his bio on Lehigh's website, it shows his prep career record at 101-9. He was able to push Kasak and compete. With all that being said, maybe I underestimated Rozynski at first, and maybe Kasak did as well. I figured on Kasak coming out in his hometown and lighting up the scoreboard. His second shot he got in deep and it seemed like he was trying to convert for most of the first period. He did suffer a bloody nose and after the second blood time, it looked like his nose was bleeding pretty good. I know from experience that can prove to be quite difficult when one nostril is plugged and you get that rush of blood down your throat every now and then. Kasak ends up winning 5-2 and I don't recall him ever being in danger of giving up points. To be honest, I don't think Rozynski was ever deep on his legs. Without a doubt Kasak builds on this. I think he'll be disappointed in this match and will want to score more points moving forward.

165-184,HWT MM,Levi,CStar,Kerk: There's really nothing that needs to be said for these 4 weights. Starting with MM tf 18-1, a pin for Levi in 4:12 with what appeared to be a painful bow and arrow, CStar a 15-1 major, and Kerk a tf in 2:01.

197 Barr: In my opinion match of the night. I think this was Barr's first true collegiate test? I think he passed with flying colors against former Lion, Beard ranked at #6. Showed strength finishing on a shot when he was extended but was able to get his head to a side, work up and finish. I believe it was that shot that got him the major. Had some nice shot defense and looked like he'll be just fine if extra wrestling is needed with his conditioning. I think this proves he is an AA threat. How high he ends up on the podium is to be determined.


All in all, championships aren't won in December. However, stepping stones are being put in place to reach that goal. There wasn't anything definitively I can point to for any wrestler and say they need to improve. It was a dominant win and I'm sure the wrestlers, and coaches are happy with the outcome. Up next Wyoming next Sunday in Rec Hall.


We Are!
 
PSU: 36
Lehigh: 3


125- #23 Luke Lilledahl DEC #17 Sheldon Seymour 4-1
133- #1 Ryan Crookham DEC #8 Braeden Davis 4-2
141- #3 Beau Bartlett DEC Carter Bailey 5-0
149- #3 Shayne Van Ness MD Matt Repos 17-3
157- #4 Tyler Kasak DEC Logan Rozynski 5-2
165- #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink TECH Thayne Lawrence 18-1 (4:39)
174- #2 Levi Haines FALL Rylan Rogers (4:16)
184- #1 Carter Starocci MD Jack Wilt 15-1
197- #21 Josh Barr MD #6 Michael Beard 11-3
285- #2 Greg Kerkvliet TECH Calvin Lachman 15-0 (2:12)
If you count levi being up 7 to zero, penn st won the points 99-15
 
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Beard wrestled 182 as late as Dec of his HS JR year.

If 197 is a problem, then why didn't he transfer to a school that needed a HWT? Sure, maybe he's not the tallest, and neither are Snyder and Feldman.

Sorry, but this comes across as finding a stalking horse for the pet project of adding 215/220 -- which has been beaten to death and was never going to happen before roster reductions + revenue sharing.
197 is the not fair weight, a 195 h/s wrestlers gets to gain a whole 2lbs in his filling out years. Either make it 205 or add another weight.
 
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If you count levi being up 7 to zero, penn st won the points 99-15
Crookham got a TD, Beard got a reversal & Rozynski got a stalling point against Kasak. That's 6 points. I think the other 9 points Lehigh scored were all from escapes. That's pretty impressive.
 
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PSU is very, very good. Some of the guys did not completely dominate but should get better.
 
125 LL: Would have loved to see him get to a few more takedowns. Most of us believe LL can make a run to Saturday night. Most of us are expecting at least an AA finish. Too high of expectations for a true frosh, possibly. However, with LL's accomplishments, I definitely don't think its out of reach to predict a top 8 at minimum. With Seymour ranked at 17, I definitely wanted a statement to be made that LL belongs in the top 10.

Seymore is a fifth-year junior who has allowed no TDs in 8 of his previous 9 matches this year ... 20 of 27 matches over the past two years.

As you know, many college wrestlers are skilled at slowing down matches. LL will need to adjust, but he won't face many wrestlers harder to score on.
 
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Lehigh is trying to find the Secret Sauce. They kept panning back between matches and you could see them playing Dodgeball on the Jumbotron!
 
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