Penn State Wrestling Plagued by Some of Its Wrestlers

[nerfstate]

Agree 100% with this.

If you read the article though - it's not bad at all. Just an unbiased and not all that doom-and-gloom look at 157, which is totally fair - I've bet there have been numerous articles that are all positive, sometimes you need something different.

The headline is the ONLY issue with it.

I dunno. Calling the weight class a “problem” crosses the line for me too. But it could be a misunderstanding of tournament scoring that provoked that. I’m not ready to write Zach off, but he still needs to do better, IMO, or the Collegian will continue to have a gaping hole in wrestling coverage.

 

[Shifty15]

Mr. @Johnbrooks told us Cael never gets pissed. After reading this article, he’s got to be close to being pissed.

Too late…we were told he already did the lemming thing after Wick was denied entry! 😉

 

[NoVa Lion]

Not if he qualifies through the Big Ten Tourney, right? Or am I wrong?

You are correct. Gardner does not need to wrestle any regular season matches to qualify for NCAAs. The BIG will qualify a certain number of spots for NCAAs., probably 7, so if Gardner finishes top 7 at BIGs he goes to NCAAs.

 

[86PSUPaul]

You are correct. Gardner does not need to wrestle any regular season matches to qualify for NCAAs. The BIG will qualify a certain number of spots for NCAAs., probably 7, so if Gardner finishes top 7 at BIGs he goes to NCAAs.

What and when were the minimum match rules? Was that a Covid thing or is that for qualifying spots with conferences?

 

[RoarLions1]

What and when were the minimum match rules? Was that a Covid thing or is that for qualifying spots with conferences?

5 for Coaches Ranking
8 for Win %
15 for RPI (2019 and before it was 17, at least back to when wild cards became at-large picks, I believe)

As they need 2 of the 3 (silver standard) to earn the conference an allocation spot, the minimum number of matches is 8. The "Covid thing" last year was to exclude the RPI and tweak the allocation criteria to include past year's performance.

 

[86PSUPaul]

It is a student writer,

5 for Coaches Ranking
8 for Win %
15 for RPI (2019 and before it was 17, at least back to when wild cards became at-large picks, I believe)

As they need 2 of the 3 (silver standard) to earn the conference an allocation spot, the minimum number of matches is 8. The "Covid thing" last year was to exclude the RPI and tweak the allocation criteria to include past year's performance.

So that is to earn the conference an allocation, but anyone can go and "steal" a spot by qualifying above the cut off. As I remember, at best Kerk only had a match or two last year, before BIGS, right?

And I know they are not stealing the spot, they earn everything they get!! hence the air quotes typed out.

 

[mcpat]

So that is to earn the conference an allocation, but anyone can go and "steal" a spot by qualifying above the cut off. As I remember, at best Kerk only had a match or two last year, before BIGS, right?

And I know they are not stealing the spot, they earn everything they get!! hence the air quotes typed out.

If memory serves… Joe Smith a couple years ago had no matches at 165, made NCAAs through his conference tournament and promptly got seeded 32nd, much to HR’s dismay (Marinelli was the top seed).

He had matches though. Just not at 165.

 

[Dogwelder]

… hence the air quotes typed out.

Ha ha! I wonder if there is a term for the non-diet version of Diet Pepsi or the non-imitation version of imitation leather.

 

[RoarLions1]

So that is to earn the conference an allocation, but anyone can go and "steal" a spot by qualifying above the cut off. As I remember, at best Kerk only had a match or two last year, before BIGS, right?

And I know they are not stealing the spot, they earn everything they get!! hence the air quotes typed out.

You are right on. Kerkvliet had 2 regular season bouts last season, both at the final dual vs Maryland.

While many say a wrestler ‘steals’ a spot when he makes it to the big dance while not earning the conference an allocation spot, the at-large process is there to award the best of the rest a shot at NCAA’s.

 

[El-Jefe]

Here is a much less inflammatory headline for essentially the same story -- from Onward State of all places:

"Despite its overwhelming team success, Penn State Nittany Lion Wrestling is still searching for answers at 157 pounds ahead of postseason play."

 

[slushhead]

Here is a much less inflammatory headline for essentially the same story -- from Onward State of all places:

"Despite its overwhelming team success, Penn State Nittany Lion Wrestling is still searching for answers at 157 pounds ahead of postseason play."

These outlets aren’t doing satire very well.

 

[tikk10]

I'm just relieved the Collegian editor nixed the image they were going to run atop the story, which was captioned: "A fully protected Cael Sanderson, above, cautiously searching for answers at 157."