Did Zahid really say he was 10-1 vs Mark H over the years? Even more glad he got OWNED last night
PSU - ASU Dual Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
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It was a dumb ass move and I think we were lucky Zahid gave a retaliatory swipe back?
Is there anyway we can schedule another final exam for Hall on a particular Saturday in March?
Top competitors should be happy when the opponent steps up. Stepping up is a sign of respect. Ducking is disrespectful.
That being said, Bravo-Young has Abe -esque quickness.
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Not sure if Coach James Franklin was in attendance (possibly out recruiting?), but if/when he watches Cassar's match, I bet he'll have some thoughts:
- Hey, this kid would be a pretty good linebacker
- His size, strength, and explosiveness are impressive
- Love his tackling ability and form; he could teach our guys a few things
Unless that was exactly what RBY wanted him to do.
What Is the over/under on the number of days it takes before ZV looks at this match and 1) figures out maintaining this weight with that frame is no longer sustainable and/or 2) a “Bo-free” 184 might look like an easier path?
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In fairness, I bear no ill will towards Zahid. I think he's a great wrestler and he seems to be a great guy, not to mention that it's been pointed out repeatedly that Hall and Valencia are fairly close personally. In general, I don't believe that Zahid is interested in ducking anyone and I suspect that he's as motivated by this loss as Hall was at last years' NCAAs. And all of that said, last night I had the same thought that you did, would Martin, Rasheed or any of the others be any harder to beat than Mark Hall will be? I vote no in a resounding way. Either way, Valencia's a blast to watch and I wish him well in collegiate and international competition......when he's not wrestling a PSU guy.
I don't have a problem with Zahid saying he is(was) 10-1 against Mark. It is what it is. It is just the same as Bo saying he is (fill in the record) against MyMar. He earned those wins and is rightfully confident in his abilities. Doesn't make you cocky bc you state facts...
Just my .02, but that's what I was thinking, too. There was waaay less of a size difference between Mark and ZV in the dual than we saw just 9 months ago in the finals. Some of that is probably Mark's continued gains in muscle. But ZV looked decidedly thinner, esp. in the legs.
Rivalry aside, it seems 184 might just be a better weight for Valencia.
Agreed. But more importantly I think ZV is paying a price energy wise trying to maintain that weight one more year. His frame to me is demanding he move up to avoid the physical toll cutting that much weight requires over consecutive years.
I too thought hat ZV’s legs looked skinnier than usual too. He still looks a weight class and a half higher than Mark Hall. You could put Mark against a 230 lb’er and he’d win.
He’s is truly a world class wrestling savant, a natural - found the perfect sport to match his talent potential and personal drive. Hardest sport on the planet: wrestling, but maybe not for Mark Hall
Agree, but it's always better to talk after a match than before
I notice more postures by our wrestlers after wins (Hall's pose after beating Jordan in finals 2 years ago; Hall's guitar-strumming last night; Cassar's shrug last night). I don't particularly care for it. I love Zain's and Nolf's very sportsmanlike demeanor after wins. I wonder if wrestlers are developing their form of spiking the football/victory dance to celebrate like football players do. I love our wrestlers and they're great guys--but I wish they would ease up on some things--I was most bothered by Cassar's expression--don't even know what it meant.
We're in an age where marketing your self/team/cause is practically a core value. I'm not fond of this trend, but have some trouble finding fault with kids who have grown up in that reality. I do love that we wound up starting at 125, much to the angst of many of the experts who live this mantra. Our product at PSU is the best marketing we could ever hope to have--the rest of it is really just a distraction. Personally--I liked Mark's air guitar, but could have done without the RBY finger wag and Antny shrug. But I'm not going to call them scum for doing it when it's basically expected.
It was actually Mark who said he was 1 and 10 or something like that against Zahid. Zahid may have repeated this later, but Mark was the one to bring this up first.
People attempting to bring this up as some kind of ill will gesture by Zahid are just off the mark.
Italians (and Italian Americans) speak volumes with their hand and body gestures. A real son of Italy can help here, but I think it was like a fugettaboutit type gesture. Thought it was funny and very East Coast
I wasn't particularly troubled by Hall's air guitar. And, I definitely do NOT think our guys are scum--far, far from that. Still, I would like to see our guys have a higher standard than our society in general--I think our coaches want that too (speaking much broader than just after-the-match posing). I don't want to make too much of this, so will stop there--as the big news was the great performance our guys put on last night!!
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Yeah--I wasn't trying to imply you thought them scum. I love the quote feature on this board for continuity's sake, but we all wind up thinking we're being more critical of eachother than reality sometimes as a result. And I agree--I would love all of our team to "act like you've been there before" For our team, I wonder what effect becoming more and more hated with every success has. I feel like I would eventually relish being the villain myself in that context. I have a feeling I know what our head coach would think though--and love him for it.
Italian by Marriage here, and that was a classic "whatcha gonna do" -- either "I wasn't trying to do that but whatcha gonna do" or "I didn't think I was that good but whatcha gonna do."
I'll take the self-deprecating gesture most days over the typical flex + scream.
not too crazy about it either... but can accept if done facing away from opponent
That was one I was wondering if it would get mentioned. Mark is no longer a small 174 pounder, he is freaking thick.
I took it as an homage to Silvio:
Would love to hear the backstory on that. Is it a Jersey thing, and Italian Jersey thing, or simply an homage to Silvio? I'm half Italian, but with all due respect (Ricky Bobby style), I think the Jersey Italians are their own breed. Cassar isn't an Italian surname unless a vowel or two got lopped off. Hopefully somebody will ask him.
Same group of guys who said after last year's NCAAs Hall would never beat Valencia again. Same group of wrestling Einsteins who proclaimed after Taylor and Ruth. The site gets credit for being wrestling knowledgeable, I can not remember the last I read something on there that seemed wrestling knowledgeable. Hawkeye wrestling fans big time, but wrestling knowledgeable not so much
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Thanks... I had only read the other version and didn't know it's origin. Either way, it doesn't bother me. ZV seems like a nice kid ..I hope he beats everyone here on out not names Mark Hall.
Nice piece here by Ben Jones, who writes about football for StateCollege.com.
Until Friday night I had never been to a Penn State wrestling dual. I've watched plenty on TV, it's hard to cover Penn State athletics and just not pay attention to the most successful team in town, but I had never made my way into Rec Hall to see it in person.
So, since I had the time and the urge, I fired up StubHub and got myself a ticket.
So, since I had the time and the urge, I fired up StubHub and got myself a ticket.
Yeah my first thought was something like a self-deprecating “whattayagonnadoaboutit”
We need a Lemonpie Gif for it, that’s for sure
IIRC, Hall said (after his NCAA win) something like he'd wrestled ZV 100 times and it was the first time he'd beaten him.
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