PSU Wrestle Offs
- Thread starter Chitty66
- Start date
I got destroyed last year when I commented it was to bad that we didn't get Sasso. I heard how Verk was better.
I understand that the recruiting process is more than just one's talent. People pointed out Sasso's past. The argument is not valid with the knowledge of Teasdale problems his senior year which was known among the wrestling community.
As I said then, I'll take Sasso.
I understand that the recruiting process is more than just one's talent. People pointed out Sasso's past. The argument is not valid with the knowledge of Teasdale problems his senior year which was known among the wrestling community.
As I said then, I'll take Sasso.
Verk is here for exactly 0.0 scholarships.
Comparing Verk to Sasso is a false argument because Sasso would count against the 9.9, and we’re Pretty darn full at the inn.
Doubtful the chorus you heard was that Verk was better than Sasso. I know it wasn't from me.
But I also said last year that I completely understand how Sasso's recruitment played out. I have no problem with him ending up at tOSU with how it happened.
I sat in a hotel bar and listened to his mother rave about tOSU for almost an hour when Sammy was a soph. Listened to his old man about the respect he had for Robie at VA Tech on more than one occasion. He also stated he'd have to be foolish not to listen to PSU if they offered (they hadn't), but entering his JR year, tOSU and Va Tech were clearly ahead of PSU (and Iowa for that matter despite the chorus over on the HR - Sammy had camped there earlier and liked it when he was younger). If you search my post history back around then, I posted on more than one occasion that I thought he'd end up at tOSU - they were really blown away by them.
Then you get the incident during the summer, plus Sammy was having serious grade issues early in his JR year - WTF, was PSU supposed to ramp up the pressure then?
This was just a situation that was not going to happen. tOSU always had the lead and Cael wasn't going to turn around 3 years of recruiting in a couple of months. Nor should he really attempted to expend the energy at the expense of others.
Verk was a walk-on - they didn't choose him over Sasso. Plus, PSU, Cael & Co. aren't for everyone - I think Sammy ended up at a very good spot for him.
Your refrain on this is just old and tired and not informed.
Gardner is no slouch. I felt he’d be a starter at many D1 schools, so being one here isn’t altogether shocking. I’m sure nothing long term is decided at this point though, and Verkleeren will have more to say.
Sasso is close to frontrunner status as a freshman—hard to compare them really.
Sasso is close to frontrunner status as a freshman—hard to compare them really.
He beat Nico in the room. Cael wasn't having it.
Your points are all valid . To say that that I'm not informed would be wrong. I probably know more about the Sasso situation than most people. Actually my initial comment last year was more about the 149 spot when Berge was there. I said early Berge wasn't going to make the 149 cut. Part of the posters retort to me then got into Sasso's past which I took issue with because what I knew about Teasdale.
I understand that Ohio State commitment to Sasso during his Junior year was key to his recruitment. I have no idea what percentage of scholarship money he got offered,but unless he got a total free ride, I would have thought the in state and out of state cost would have made the money issue manageable.
I do recognize that not all kids would choose the Penn State environment. Ryan runs a great program. Maybe Sasso just like Ohio State better.
Greedy of me, to wish he was wearing Blue and White.
Has Gardner made some recent leaps? Anyone know? His record was, well, not exactly exceptional the last three years. 8-6, 6-4, and 6-7. That's not especially compelling by PSU standards.
https://www.wrestlestat.com/wrestler/44743/gardner-luke/profile
https://www.wrestlestat.com/wrestler/44743/gardner-luke/profile
Also: Cael didn't get to choose between Verk and Sasso. Verk committed to Jackson before Sasso committed to Tan Tom. Verk was released from his NLI after ISU changed coaches -- after states his SR year.
Wrestling is the best man wins. Penn state doesn’t put a lineup out based on name or accolades. If Gardner wins then he earned that right just as much as Cassar worked and earned that championship himself last year.
It personally doesn’t surprise me as i always thought Gardner would make strides especially with being so close to Cenzo and Hall. (I honestly say this seems more like a leap than a stride) Iron sharpens iron and when your best friends and housemates are national champs well it makes ceiling for growth that much higher.
It personally doesn’t surprise me as i always thought Gardner would make strides especially with being so close to Cenzo and Hall. (I honestly say this seems more like a leap than a stride) Iron sharpens iron and when your best friends and housemates are national champs well it makes ceiling for growth that much higher.
Horrible news! And unfortunately very credible news because Chitty is our rare Luke Gardner insider (I believe Luke is his source.) If Verk hasn't made a jump by now, it's probably not going to come. CalltheStall's revisionist history is a strange one though. As many have stated, Verk's recruitment was an afterthought. His stock cooled significantly by his senior year. Never thought he would ever start because I assumed Nick Lee would bump up by now.
Happy that Busiello can come in and give him a push, but he also has his share of question marks. Injury concerns being the biggest, IMO. Not sure who else is on the 149 recruiting radar.
Happy that Busiello can come in and give him a push, but he also has his share of question marks. Injury concerns being the biggest, IMO. Not sure who else is on the 149 recruiting radar.
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I dunno about you all, but I tend to love the guys on our team that aren’t p4p recruits, but buy into the program anyway, and grind, and get a chance to play a role.
For every English and Cassar, there’s a Schnupp & Carpenter, or a Vollrath, Pipher or Gardner. These guys may not win multiple titles for us, but they do remind us that in spite of all the lofty achievements, this is still just a wrestling team made up hard-working student athletes. When the Englishes and Cassars ascend to unexpected heights, it’s all the sweeter! I’m certainly not going to stand in front of Gardner and tell him he can’t achieve his goals.
For every English and Cassar, there’s a Schnupp & Carpenter, or a Vollrath, Pipher or Gardner. These guys may not win multiple titles for us, but they do remind us that in spite of all the lofty achievements, this is still just a wrestling team made up hard-working student athletes. When the Englishes and Cassars ascend to unexpected heights, it’s all the sweeter! I’m certainly not going to stand in front of Gardner and tell him he can’t achieve his goals.
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I think the answer is "no". Accordingly to the public article at the time, Verk got zero financial aid from PSU initially, with the caveat that the finances could change depending on how he does. While Verk hasn't done a whole lot to date, he was a part time starter in 2018-19, so I wouldn't be surprised if he is now receiving a small aid package.
Of course this is all pure conjecture, and the few people who may know the facts aren't likely to tell us.
Verk is no slouch. Maybe he didn't have any wins over ranked wrestlers his Fr year, but he gave some of the top guys all they could handle ... Berge 2-3, Artalona 2-4, Gfeller 2-3, Jordan 8-10.
If Gardner is beating him then I'll assume Gardner will be hitting the rankings by mid-season ... just as I had assumed Verk would be ranked by mid-season.
If Gardner is beating him then I'll assume Gardner will be hitting the rankings by mid-season ... just as I had assumed Verk would be ranked by mid-season.
I like the thinking, though my assumption is that there will be many subsequent wrestle-offs, today's starter may not be the midseason starter, and that guy might not be the postseason starter.
And therefore we could see split weekends (one guy goes Friday, the other Sunday) as we have in the past with Rasheed/Cassar and Lawson/Gingrich among others.
And/or the real near-term starter could be determined by Army tourney results -- as happened at the Scuffle with other wrestlers
Plus we could see all of the 3 at various Opens to ensure all of them get enough matches for postseason seeding purposes.
Very surprising, but I'll celebrate Gardner's strides forward vs lamenting Verk not making a jump. My wife and in laws are from Pottsville/Orwigsburg area so we'll be pulling for Luke to do well.
Just to clarify Luke Gardner is not my source and yes I do rarely post and when I do it is usually about Luke. I am from Schuylkill County and a season ticket holder for both football and wrestling at PSU. And I am a fan of the kid as I watched him in High School as well as all of the local kids. When he announced his decision to attend Penn State everyone including myself questioned his choice, thinking he would never be a starter there. And to see him achieve his goals is very exciting for a lot of people back here in the Skook, and instead of questioning if the kid is good enough or why we did not recruit Sasso should we not be celebrating his achievement.
This past summer I took my grandson to a wrestling camp at Pottsville, hosted by Gary Keener and Corey Keener. I had a chance to talk to Corey and I asked him what to he thought of the team and any surprises with the wrestling team this upcoming year and he emphatically told me Luke. He said that Luke was working all summer with Zain and Nolf and that he was close last year but he thinks this would be his year. So i believe that if he is the starter which I was told by a friend who was at the wrestle offs that he is then we should all be proud and cheer for this kid to succeed.
This past summer I took my grandson to a wrestling camp at Pottsville, hosted by Gary Keener and Corey Keener. I had a chance to talk to Corey and I asked him what to he thought of the team and any surprises with the wrestling team this upcoming year and he emphatically told me Luke. He said that Luke was working all summer with Zain and Nolf and that he was close last year but he thinks this would be his year. So i believe that if he is the starter which I was told by a friend who was at the wrestle offs that he is then we should all be proud and cheer for this kid to succeed.
Absolutely support and cheer for Luke, and every one of the Penn State wrestlers. But patience is needed, even a couple of month's worth, before all the "starters" may be decided. It's the process.
Luke Gardner coming a long way from a freshman year whose biggest highlight was a Twitter fight with IMar. I like Verk a lot, but good for Luke. If he's beating Verk and Pipher he's probably going to find himself ranked before long. 149 isn't terribly deep this year either.
Nice!!! I took a recent car tour through a lot of parts of PA I had never been to. I live in Texas now and don’t get back much. Drove the Northern Tier from the NJ border across to Wellsboro, then worked my way South and East back to Delco. Stopped by Centralia and then drove through your hood on 42 and 61.
Pretty country and tough looking towns.
This is my favorite time of the year. Rumors of transfers, reports of who is beating whom in the room and the football team doing terrific. The only thing missing is Spyker.
Initial wrestle-offs always determine the eventual starter, which is why we didn't qualify 174 in 2016 after Brill pinned Nickal
Luke represents what a PSU wrestler is all about. Up until now, I did know him as the guy who got in a twitter fight with IMar. He was standing up for Mark because IMar basically implied he wasn't ready for college wrestling after he lost to Meyer at CHA.
He's also the guy who Cutch and Cenzo put as our 141 starter initially in the funny FLO white board war (from 2017) and they referred to him as "Justin Bieber" He's clearly very well loved in the room and the reason should be obvious.
He has been working just as hard as our champions the last three years without any of the fanfare or glory. Clearly he has come a very long way and if he earned the 149 spot, I couldn't be happier
He's also the guy who Cutch and Cenzo put as our 141 starter initially in the funny FLO white board war (from 2017) and they referred to him as "Justin Bieber" He's clearly very well loved in the room and the reason should be obvious.
He has been working just as hard as our champions the last three years without any of the fanfare or glory. Clearly he has come a very long way and if he earned the 149 spot, I couldn't be happier
Also as a frame of reference, Verk was better at beating unranked wrestlers than Luke but they both wrestled (but couldn't beat) higher tier wrestlers (R12 and AAs) very tough.
Luke wrestled Finesilver and Artalona at Keystone Classic pretty tough himself (4-0 loss to Finesilver and 3-1 loss to Artalona)
If Luke made that leap, this result actually shouldn't be too shocking.
Luke wrestled Finesilver and Artalona at Keystone Classic pretty tough himself (4-0 loss to Finesilver and 3-1 loss to Artalona)
If Luke made that leap, this result actually shouldn't be too shocking.
I love it, many of my favorite PSU moments came from PSU wrestlers who shocked the Wrestling world
Kuhn thowing Tomasello into the scorers table setting the tone in a huge dual
James English beating Maple in a huge match for his goals and PSU point totals
When Volrath (god rest his soul) beat Alex Dieringer to make the scuffle finals
And most recently when Cassar turned into a world beater taking out Gable twice!!!
That's just to name a few I remember....I hope this report is true, nothing would make me happier than to see another PSU wrestler grow to his fullest potential in the room.
PS-This makes me even more upset that there will be no scuffle this year. I love that tourney especially for these who is gonna emerge the starter scenarios.
Kuhn thowing Tomasello into the scorers table setting the tone in a huge dual
James English beating Maple in a huge match for his goals and PSU point totals
When Volrath (god rest his soul
) beat Alex Dieringer to make the scuffle finalsAnd most recently when Cassar turned into a world beater taking out Gable twice!!!
That's just to name a few I remember....I hope this report is true, nothing would make me happier than to see another PSU wrestler grow to his fullest potential in the room.
PS-This makes me even more upset that there will be no scuffle this year. I love that tourney especially for these who is gonna emerge the starter scenarios.
I love it, many of my favorite PSU moments came from PSU wrestlers who shocked the Wrestling world
Kuhn thowing Tomasello into the scorers table setting the tone in a huge dual
James English beating Maple in a huge match for his goals and PSU point totals
When Volrath (god rest his soul
And most recently when Cassar turned into a world beater taking out Gable twice!!!
That's just to name a few I remember....I hope this report is true, nothing would make me happier than to see another PSU wrestler grow to his fullest potential in the room.
PS-This makes me even more upset that there will be no scuffle this year. I love that tourney especially for these who is gonna emerge the starter scenarios.
Maybe some of them will go to the Scuffle unattached. The last time PSU missed the Scuffle, there was a wrestler from North Forsyth that did pretty well.
Maybe some of them will go to the Scuffle unattached. The last time PSU missed the Scuffle, there was a wrestler from North Forsyth that did pretty well.
Preston Weigel?
I love it, many of my favorite PSU moments came from PSU wrestlers who shocked the Wrestling world
Kuhn thowing Tomasello into the scorers table setting the tone in a huge dual
James English beating Maple in a huge match for his goals and PSU point totals
When Volrath (god rest his soul
And most recently when Cassar turned into a world beater taking out Gable twice!!!
That's just to name a few I remember....I hope this report is true, nothing would make me happier than to see another PSU wrestler grow to his fullest potential in the room.
PS-This makes me even more upset that there will be no scuffle this year. I love that tourney especially for these who is gonna emerge the starter scenarios.
Another Vollrath moment. 2011 BIG tournament at NW wrestling up a weight at 165 finishes 7th with a fall in the 7th place match (to score an additional 3 team points) as we beat Iowa for the team title by ONE point.
That moment was amazing. Carson joked recently on Bo's instagram "If only I hit the headlock in bounds"
Would NATO have gotten packed if they were in bounds? I think Carson would have gotten 4 NF at least. I don't think Rec Hall would have survived NATO getting pinned by Kuhn.
Nolf has gotten caught in a headlock before at the Keystone Classic by a EMU kid and ended up pinning the kid later.
Cassar over Moore 'for some' might have been bigger than Cassar over Gable. It Definitely kept oUr current dual streak alive. Definitely bigger than Big 10s in my book, but not much is bigger than getting to the finals at Nationals.
Kid hit the headlock but Nolf never even got taken down on the move, ended up as his 2
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