Here is my long winded take regarding the portal and our situation at 125.
Cael monitors the portal daily, and I am sure if a top 20ish 125 pops up someday we will be interested in a conversation, but of course Cael can't solicit any candidates that are not already in the portal (tampering). What it is going to take is for the right kid to seek greener pastures on his own.
One would think that PSU having yet again a visible and 'likely' multi year gap 125, might attract some interest, but short of Drew we suffered through multiple seasons with not much interest from anyone that could deliver points at nationals - in several weight classes for that matter.
Personally l am not enamored with the thought of second semester transfers as they have too little time to absorb what Cael's system is all about, let alone as in Drew's unique case get a strong fall season's worth of matches and conditioning under his belt. Thus we are probably talking about next year if ever. There are very very few Max Dean like situations out there.
No disrespect intended to any of several options provided by anyone currently on the squad or in our pipeline, but there is a big difference between say a strong 10-5 dual record guy and delivering impactful points at nationals.
Let's face it, a national qualifier is a very very good wrestler by any measure of ability. A blood round guy yet something more. An AA guy is truly elite. And a top 4-finalist is the most elite of the elite, blending incredible talent with skill honed by the right program. At best we 'might' (probably not) have blood round talent in hand a couple of seasons from now. Davis (class of 23) is still an unknown at this level and likely needs two years in the program before we know what we have.
So the road between a hard core 'blue chip' like Lilledahl who is 3-4 years out in terms of delivering for the program and someone who is AA calliber or above is exceedingly narrow.
Sure we can dream about a Ramos or Surtin dropping in our laps but I really don't think either has any chance of portaling up. So that leads me to Noto. A #11 guy in wrestlestat just sitting next door in Lehigh, who is still a sophomore. Why wouldn't a kid like that dream of being in blue and white, winning team titles, and just maybe becoming a finalist under Cael's program? Again a long shot, but if you want to think of portal and 125, that could also be AA or above with multiple years of eligibility left; he's my guy.
Other possibilities are true freshmen on redshirt who aren't wrestling this year, and admittedly I don't have any idea who's out there and where they are currently situated.
Net-net the portal is a great thing if you have a need, but in reality it's like finding a needle in the haystack for the kind of elite kid we would seek.
I am not holding my breath, but will go to sleep at night whispering Sweet Noto's into my own ears.
