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PIAA 2023 postseason

I had to work at the glass block plant in Port Allegany at my first job out of college auditing the plant. When the people told me to go into town, which was Coudersport, and I drove right through it, I knew I was in the middle of nowhere. I'm rooting for this kid.
He won his consi semi and is into tomorrow's 3rd place match vs. Ulrich. He probably won't win that, but 36-2/4th is an excellent year -- especially for where he was last year.

And with the 2 finalists + Ulrich all SRs, he'll be the odds-on favorite next year unless one of the 215 finalists moves up (or Lawrence hits a growth spurt).
 
I do agree the AAA semis are specular from a wrestling fan's perspective, but figuring out a solution that does not require an extra day is going to be difficult.
Would certainly agree that it’s not easy. I just think stuffing them on Saturday morning is a brutal way to show off the product and doesn’t put the wrestlers on the stage they deserve
 
What if semis were AA afternoon and AAA evening, mirroring the finals?

They'd probably have to run 2 rounds + all pigtails on Thursday (and a metric crapton of consis), so maybe not realistic.
Run Thursday as is, then wrestle both classes together. QF Friday AM, Semi-finals Friday night and Saturday medal rounds starting at 11AM. Then two mats and run AA and AAA finals concurrently.
Now the hard part. To accommodate fans you need a bigger venue. And if it is me, rotate Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, State College BJC, and Philadelphia Wells Fargo Arena.
Hershey and Lombardi will not tolerate such thinking, so.
 
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Run Thursday as is, then wrestle both classes together. QF Friday AM, Semi-finals Friday night and Saturday medal rounds starting at 11AM. Then two mats and run AA and AAA finals concurrently.
Now the hard part. To accommodate fans you need a bigger venue. And if it is me, rotate Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, State College BJC, and Philadelphia Wells Fargo Arena.
Hershey and Lombardi will not tolerate such thinking, so.
I wouldn't run the title matches concurrently. Each finals match should stand on its own. (And that's something I don't like about the current format of 1/3/5/7 all at once -- although at least that's not two finals together.)

Need more fans before thinking about bigger venues.
 
This tournament is the absolute best grind there is in HS sports.

I think this puts things into perspective…. (Not official but most likely )

Parkins vs Sement for 3rd , would be the best match in 49 states

Perry vs Rath in semis is the best match in 50 states

Hats off to all these kids.
 
This tournament is the absolute best grind there is in HS sports.

I think this puts things into perspective…. (Not official but most likely )

Parkins vs Sement for 3rd , would be the best match in 49 states

Perry vs Rath in semis is the best match in 50 states

Hats off to all these kids.
No doubting the overall and high-end quality. PA AAA is widely considered the best state tournament in the country. PA AA is typically around 4th or so behind NJ and CA (both single class) and maybe some years the big school classes in OH, MI, and/or IL.

PA does these kids a huge favor with the schedule -- states being the weekend between conference tourneys and nationals. Lots of attention from college coaches. For all the grief we give PIAA (largely merited) this is something important they get right.
 
No doubting the overall and high-end quality. PA AAA is widely considered the best state tournament in the country. PA AA is typically around 4th or so behind NJ and CA (both single class) and maybe some years the big school classes in OH, MI, and/or IL.

PA does these kids a huge favor with the schedule -- states being the weekend between conference tourneys and nationals. Lots of attention from college coaches. For all the grief we give PIAA (largely merited) this is something important they get right.
Think I may put PA AA a bit further down the board behind NJ and big school Iowa but like you said it sort of depends on the year. If McCort were in that obviously changes the equation.
 
I wouldn't run the title matches concurrently. Each finals match should stand on its own. (And that's something I don't like about the current format of 1/3/5/7 all at once -- although at least that's not two finals together.)

Need more fans before thinking about bigger venues.
I haven't been to the states in at least 8 years. But putting AA and AAA together at same times, 8,500 seats would not have accommodated the combined crowds as little as 8 or 10 years ago. Maybe that isn't a true statement anymore.
 
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No doubting the overall and high-end quality. PA AAA is widely considered the best state tournament in the country. PA AA is typically around 4th or so behind NJ and CA (both single class) and maybe some years the big school classes in OH, MI, and/or IL.

PA does these kids a huge favor with the schedule -- states being the weekend between conference tourneys and nationals. Lots of attention from college coaches. For all the grief we give PIAA (largely merited) this is something important they get right.
It took them a very long time to get that right.
 
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Deputy is a good wrestler. He may well be a state champ someday, maybe even get multiple. This was the expected finals. Deputy has some shot, but Seidel will be favored and beat him 6-2 at King of the Mountain.

BTW, PA Wrestling's website has an excellent common opponent tool. Here it is for Seidel vs. Deputy:
It would not surprise me at all if Deputy wins this. He took down Seidel in the first match and beat Smith at the same tournament.
 
Was williams wearing PSU gear? We already have Nasedo, Wentzel, Gibson, Davis and mostly likely Lilledahl coming in.
 
Just watched Nelson of Ridley lose to Weaver of Altoona in 107 consolations. Weaver made not one forward step in period 3. He went backwards and off the mat at every whistle - the most blatant stalling I can remember seeing, and the ref was allowing it. Stalling was finally called with 5 seconds to go in the bout, when it didn't matter. Final score 5-4.

Watching Williams vs Wagner --- 3rd period, Williams backs off the mat, ref calls stalling the first time he does it. What's the deal with this?
Unbelievable. Williams up by 3 with 15 seconds to go from standing start. Wagner wins by 2. Williams fell asleep on the mat in the state semi-finals. He was taken down to his back without a fight.
 
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I wouldn't run the title matches concurrently. Each finals match should stand on its own. (And that's something I don't like about the current format of 1/3/5/7 all at once -- although at least that's not two finals together.)

Need more fans before thinking about bigger venues.
Thursday is the problem. Or the logistics of switching between AAA and AA is the problem. Start a little early Thursday and wrestle AA consi rd 1. It’s 4 matches per weight which is the same number of machetes as AAA semi finals and consi rd 4. There should be no break for transition between AA and AAA on Thursday, just intertwine the matches.
 
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Crazy to me that people don’t discuss Hogan the way they discuss Lawrence. Probably the better prospect of the two IMO.
Probably because Lawrence has had better results both in PA and at national events like Fargo. Hogan is definitely a good prospect though.
 
I wouldn't run the title matches concurrently. Each finals match should stand on its own. (And that's something I don't like about the current format of 1/3/5/7 all at once -- although at least that's not two finals together.)

Need more fans before thinking about bigger venues.
It puzzles me. In 1974, the first season of two classes, AAA was held at Rec Hall and AA at the State Farm Show Arena. As I recall, both were packed.

If you watch the matches from the Giant Center, it seems pretty empty. Better this morning, but still not full.
 
Rath is a monster, man. I know he’s the same class as Perry (though different body types could see Rath end up bigger) but that’s a kid you’d really like to land.
If we want to talk about guys who don't get the attention (at least here) that they should ...

Here are the champs/finalists Rath has beaten just this year:
- PA: 4 wins over state champs -- Perry (2x), Manville, and 2x champ Church (up a weight at 145)
- NJ: 2x champ Vazquez, runner-up Alejandro
- OH: champ Ayoub (2x), runner-up Ginter
- National Preps: 2x champ Rivera, 1x champ/2x runner-up Barnhart
- other: 2x TN champ/Fargo AA/VT commit Mason (2x), WV champ Martin, 2x New England champ Bouyssou

That's an insane hit list for one year. And he's a sophomore.

His one loss this year was 6-5 to Illinois SR Kannon Webster (Fargo JR champ).
 
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