PSU potential starting Line up

[millerjs32]

Hi Guys,
I follow PSU wrestling but wanted the "Guru's" on the site to give me the potential starting line up for this year. I've read the last 25 posts or more and while some great conversation about many topics, I was not able to find "thoughts-predictions" on the starting line up this year.
Thanks for the responses.

Jeff

 

[davidtaylorgangordie]

Should be close to as follows:
125 Nick Suriano
133 Jered Cortez
141 Jimmy Gulibon
149 Zain Retherford
157 Jason Nolf
165 Vincenzo Joseph
174 Bo Nickal/Matt McCutcheon/Shakur Rasheed
184 Matt McCutcheon/Bo Nickal/Shakur Rasheed
197 Anthony Cassar/Kellan Stout til Cassar returns from injury
285 Nick Nevills

174 and 184 are the only weights that seem to be up in the air, but I would expect Nickal at 74 and McCutcheon at 84

 

[Roar More]

Don't count out Rasheed at 184.

 

[lobo lion]

Don't count out Rasheed at 184.

Didn't we hear that Cutch was beating Rasheed in the room regularly?

 

[NYWRESTLER94]

Didn't we hear that Cutch was beating Rasheed in the room regularly?

Room < actual match

 

[burnsie1983]

I think it'll be Nickal at 84...then Cutch or Rasheed at 74. Maybe Morelli gives 74 a look too?

 

[Lattner]

I think it'll be Nickal at 84...then Cutch or Rasheed at 74. Maybe Morelli gives 74 a look too?

I'm hearing Nickal at 97, Joseph at 74, Morelli at 65.

 

[NYWRESTLER94]

I'm hearing Nickal at 97, Joseph at 74, Morelli at 65.

Mega just got a 6th year and will be going HWT also

 

[NittanyLion84]

Mega just got a 6th year and will be going HWT also

Are you sure he can beat Nevills?

 

[El-Jefe]

Are you sure he can beat Nevills?

If a retiree can ...

 

[burnsie1983]

Are you sure he can beat Nevills?

According to Twitter, Mega was either majoring or teching Nickal, so he'd have a shot against Nevills!

 

[El-Jefe]

I missed this before and am too lazy to create a new thread: Sparky didn't just add Tsirtsis -- Ali Naser is also transferring in. He's a real a threat at 125 or 133 this year -- in freestyle he's beaten Tomasello, Scott, Blanc, Hazewinkle among others.

 

[KidNittany]

Crazy how many people hate/count out Cutch for some reason.

Dude is good. R12 as a freshman and beat some really good guys the past two years. All of a sudden Rasheed is going to jump up two weights and just take the spot?

Makes no sense to me.

 

[BruceK-PSU83]

Crazy how many people hate/count out Cutch for some reason.

Dude is good. R12 as a freshman and beat some really good guys the past two years. All of a sudden Rasheed is going to jump up two weights and just take the spot?

Makes no sense to me.

It's pretty simple. Cutch also has some losses to guys you'd figure he should beat (IIRC), at times is limited offensively, and so far has been unable to stay injury-free. Plus, he's a bit of a plodder/grinder, so he has a lot of close matches and thus little margin for error. Throw it all together and, in short, he's been somewhat inconsistent, for a variety of reasons. But no one hates the guy.

Conversely, Rasheed flashed more offense and was dynamic at times. His issue was his gas tank, probably partly due to how much weight he was cutting. Last season he really was a 174 trying to wrestle 165. So moving to 184 is probably more like jumping up one weight class and may not be that unreasonable at all. But I don't think anyone thinks he'll just take the 184 spot. He'll have to earn it, but it's not a totally crazy idea (unlike Rasheed bumping to 197, which IS a little crazy). IMO a lot will depend on what weight Nickal ends up at.

 

[FineMaterial]

Crazy how many people hate/count out Cutch for some reason.

Dude is good. R12 as a freshman and beat some really good guys the past two years. All of a sudden Rasheed is going to jump up two weights and just take the spot?

Makes no sense to me.

Agree with the sentiment. I think the lack of enthusiasm is 2 fold:
1.We are spoiled. While he'd be a solid starter for most teams, he's never been as nationally dominant as we've come to expect from our starters. Again, spoiled.
2.At the end of last year he was hurt but we never heard how hurt and he took some disappointing losses. Not fair (at all!) but true.

 

[El-Jefe]

For the same reason everybody's favorite football player is the backup QB: ooh, shiny and new!

Put another way: fans value potential, coaches value production.

 

[KidNittany]

For the same reason everybody's favorite football player is the backup QB: ooh, shiny and new!

Put another way: fans value potential, coaches value production.

If Cutch finishes the year healthy he is an All-American, and I'm willing to predict as high as top 4. FACT!

 

[NYWRESTLER94]

I missed this before and am too lazy to create a new thread: Sparky didn't just add Tsirtsis -- Ali Naser is also transferring in. He's a real a threat at 125 or 133 this year -- in freestyle he's beaten Tomasello, Scott, Blanc, Hazewinkle among others.

Doubtful we see naser at 125 in collegiate competition. He looked pretty big in that roster photo.

 

[BruceK-PSU83]

If Cutch finishes the year healthy he is an All-American, and I'm willing to predict as high as top 4. FACT!

What exactly is the FACT (your emphasis) here? That you have a certain opinion/prediction about Cutch?

 

[El-Jefe]

Doubtful we see naser at 125 in collegiate competition. He looked pretty big in that roster photo.

I'd agree, except Zeke appears to be in the make 'em cut camp. Also the ASU release said Naser at 125 or 133.

 

[NYWRESTLER94]

I'd agree, except Zeke appears to be in the make 'em cut camp. Also the ASU release said Naser at 125 or 133.

I did see that I'm just a skeptical one. What makes you believe zeke is one of those types of coaches? Truthfully I don't know that's why I ask.

 

[El-Jefe]

I did see that I'm just a skeptical one. What makes you believe zeke is one of those types of coaches? Truthfully I don't know that's why I ask.

Quite a few of his guys are wrestling lighter in college than they did in HS. I get that HS guys often don't cut, but a college strength program should cause at least offsetting growth.

It's one thing for a guy to be down a couple lb -- maybe he wasn't all the way up to his weight. But (for example) Maruca dropping from 160 to 149 stands out. And Shields dropping 170 to 157.

 

[davidtaylorgangordie]

Maruca was 152 and Shields was 160 so its not as crazy as you think

 

[El-Jefe]

You're right about Maruca at 152. I thought Shields wrestled most of the season at 170 and dropped to 160 for states, but maybe he just wrestled up most of the year.

In any case, the point still being that (except for Zahid, who hit a serious burst), all of Zeke's guys drop weight, even if just at the margins. They don't go up, despite being in a college strength program. Maybe Zeke isn't a hard cutter type, but he's clearly not a growth type.

 

[RoarLions1]

Too early to say, imo...many of the decisions to wrestle at a certain weight may be from the wrestlers themselves, after looking around to see where they best fit. When growing a program, not all that unusual.

 

[dicemen99]

Too early to say, imo...many of the decisions to wrestle at a certain weight may be from the wrestlers themselves, after looking around to see where they best fit. When growing a program, not all that unusual.

Wow, I'm anxious to see what our program looks like when it matures.

 

[NoVa Lion]

Wow, I'm anxious to see what our program looks like when it matures.

Yeah, we might actually be good when that happens. At least I hope so.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Yeah, we might actually be good when that happens. At least I hope so.

Flash in the pan

 

[jack66]

Lot's of potential, but we have to admit there are also a lot of questions.

125 - zero collegiate matches
133 - zero varsity matches
141 - can Jimmy make the adjustment to 141?
165 - zero varsity matches
174/183 - Bo, Rasheed, Cutch ... how does it play out?
191 - zero varsity matches.
285 - 5 varsity matches

 

[dicemen99]

Lot's of potential, but we have to admit there are also a lot of questions.

125 - zero collegiate matches
133 - zero varsity matches
141 - can Jimmy make the adjustment to 141?
165 - zero varsity matches
174/183 - Bo, Rasheed, Cutch ... how does it play out?
191 - zero varsity matches.
285 - 5 varsity matches

Would agree with all of the question marks except 165,174, 184. Joseph is not a question mark and we will be fine no matter how 174 and 184 play out.

125 is a question of how high. I'd give this only a half question mark.
133 remains a bit of a question for me - only signature win is against teammate
141 obviously
197 not expecting much here
285 yes, question about how much injuries hindered progress

 

[T J]

Lot's of potential, but we have to admit there are also a lot of questions.

125 - zero collegiate matches
133 - zero varsity matches
141 - can Jimmy make the adjustment to 141?
165 - zero varsity matches
174/183 - Bo, Rasheed, Cutch ... how does it play out?
191 - zero varsity matches.
285 - 5 varsity matches

Lay odds that none of the 3, Bo, Rasheed or Cutch will wrestle a match this year at a 183 weight class.

 

[NoVa Lion]

Lay odds that none of the 3, Bo, Rasheed and Cutch will wrestle a match this year at a 183 weight class.

And NO one on our team will wrestle a match at 191.

 

[El-Jefe]

Yeah, we might actually be good when that happens. At least I hope so.

If only Cael could coach, maybe we'd find out.

 

[El-Jefe]

I get questions about execution, but "making the adjustment to 141"? He's already been there for a full season.

 

[nitlion6]

I get questions about execution, but "making the adjustment to 141"? He's already been there for a full season.

Finding a more efficient manner in finishing shots is both improved technique (execution) as well as making adjustments to the size of his 141 competitors.

Just my guess, but Jimmy will be much more of what everybody has always expected. Occasionally however, we as a fan base will probably be befuddled due to an out of nowhere lack of urgency moment.

 

[jack66]

And NO one on our team will wrestle a match at 191.

Embarrassing

It's been a long summer, I got used to thinking in Kgs, now I'm confused.

I'll proofread more carefully in the future.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Finding a more efficient manner in finishing shots is both improved technique (execution) as well as making adjustments to the size of his 141 competitors.

Just my guess, but Jimmy will be much more of what everybody has always expected. Occasionally however, we as a fan base will probably be befuddled due to an out of nowhere lack of urgency moment.

I wish Jimmy (like some other wrestlers) would strategically eschew bottom more often. It seems to me like a misguided tough-guy thing. Play to your strengths.

 

[El-Jefe]

I wish Jimmy (like some other wrestlers) would strategically eschew bottom more often. It seems to me like a misguided tough-guy thing. Play to your strengths.

Like Stieber? (Setup too easy!)

 

[T J]

I wish Jimmy (like some other wrestlers) would strategically eschew bottom more often. It seems to me like a misguided tough-guy thing. Play to your strengths.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew" and

"Don't fight off more than you can eschew," sort of thing?

 

[matter7172]

Finding a more efficient manner in finishing shots is both improved technique (execution) as well as making adjustments to the size of his 141 competitors.

Just my guess, but Jimmy will be much more of what everybody has always expected. Occasionally however, we as a fan base will probably be befuddled due to an out of nowhere lack of urgency moment.

I think he has two big issues he has to overcome.

One, partially mental and partially execution, is that, to my eyes at least, he seems to hesitate during his takedown attempts. He doesn't really follow through immediately - and that split second of hesitation is fatal at the level he is wrestling.

Two, which is almost entirely mental, he seems to mope when things aren't going well and is kind of listless on bottom. I agree with others - sometimes he should not "take down". I forget which match it was at Nationals this year but it was a tight match and he chose down - then proceeded to get ridden and turned (at least that's my recollection). My reaction at the time of his choice was "why?"