September 1: First Contact Day For Class of '18

[Ames2State]

You know what an international calling and data plan is for a mobile phone.

He is in France coaching Mark Hall.

That's what it takes to be the best head coach in college wrestling. Calling recruits while preparing a rostered athlete to win a world championship.

 

[El-Jefe]

I thought in our weekly meeting we assigned the emailing task to Spyker?

I think we accepted his offer to email the coaches.

Though, with the benefit of hindsight, he has a lot on his plate between fundraising, board motivation, and emailing the coaches.

 

[dunkej01]

Just passing on what I heard...makes sense, but would Cael be in France the whole week or get there in time for freestyle.

Az...can you bring your HR avatar over here? Or some other pic. It helps our team out a little. TIA

 

[Sullivan]

You know what an international calling and data plan is for a mobile phone.

He is in France coaching Mark Hall.

That's what it takes to be the best head coach in college wrestling. Calling recruits while preparing a rostered athlete to win a world championship.

Was Cael given a head start in calling recruits, since France is several hours ahead of the U.S.?

 

[El-Jefe]

Was Cael given a head start in calling recruits, since France is several hours ahead of the U.S.?

If so, then is this Cael's plan? Train Yonemitsu here, then send him back home to Japan -- 13 hrs ahead of EST -- to be the first allowable caller to recruits. And the recruits would receive those calls over lunch instead of at midnight. Win win!

Pure genius.

(If only. Also not necessary.)

 

[Brian LB-U]

You know what an international calling and data plan is for a mobile phone.

He is in France coaching Mark Hall.

That's what it takes to be the best head coach in college wrestling. Calling recruits while preparing a rostered athlete to win a world championship.

 

[James P. Whitters III]

Alex Thomsen is a very good prospect. I believe he could end up being a monster in college. Very good quickness and slick offense on his feet. He also does not look to be physically very strong at this point, so he isn't winning with power over high school kids. I'm not surprised if Cael has some interest as he wrestles like a PSU guy and has said he is a fan of the style. I have always figured he would be an illegal back fister at the end of the day, but a sniff from Cael could change that quickly. PSU being expensive and the limited scholly money available for a guy in his range will hurt that chance I'm sure. I know Mizzu has an interest in Alex as well.

 

[nitlion6]

Alex Thomsen is a very good prospect. I believe he could end up being a monster in college. Very good quickness and slick offense on his feet. He also does not look to be physically very strong at this point, so he isn't winning with power over high school kids. I'm not surprised if Cael has some interest as he wrestles like a PSU guy and has said he is a fan of the style. I have always figured he would be an illegal back fister at the end of the day, but a sniff from Cael could change that quickly. PSU being expensive and the limited scholly money available for a guy in his range will hurt that chance I'm sure. I know Mizzu has an interest in Alex as well.

There is something about the Thompson kid I really like. I think a year in the PSU room and the kid becomes a scoring machine.
Just a feeling.

 

[James P. Whitters III]

I think your "feeling" is 100% accurate. Thomsen has the tools to be great. I see huge upside with him and won't be surprised if his college career exceeds his high school ranking by a wide margin, but still probably too big of a risk for Cael to offer enough to make PSU affordable. Cael is in a position nationally where he doesn't have to pay much to get guys ranked where Thomsen is. He probably gets higher ranked walk ons most years. He absolutely reminds me of Andrew Long on the mat without the personal baggage.

 

[Azchief32]

Alex Thomsen is a very good prospect. I believe he could end up being a monster in college. Very good quickness and slick offense on his feet. He also does not look to be physically very strong at this point, so he isn't winning with power over high school kids. I'm not surprised if Cael has some interest as he wrestles like a PSU guy and has said he is a fan of the style. I have always figured he would be an illegal back fister at the end of the day, but a sniff from Cael could change that quickly. PSU being expensive and the limited scholly money available for a guy in his range will hurt that chance I'm sure. I know Mizzu has an interest in Alex as well.

Nebraska picked up some good littles. A lot of guys don't like Alex (as a wrestler)...but that might be because he does not want to come to Iowa. Very athletic, but unfocused. Isn't a big club kid so he has done this largely with the workout partners at his school from what I hear. If he picks it up mentally, he could be an overall top ten recruit. In football, they talk about guys showing "flash"...this is Alex.

 

[James P. Whitters III]

I believe we agree, but I wouldn't use "unfocused" when describing him at all. He has shown rapid improvement despite not having access to a big club training situation and seems to get stronger as the match goes. Alex has extremely fluid body motion and awful good natural quickness to go with that attack the legs mentality. I think he will have success at any college due to the improved training situation. He also always wrestles anyone anytime anyplace which is a great trait. I simply see a guy who is still a little raw, doesn't cut much, loves the sport and is self motivated using his natural athletic ability to attack at all times. I will be surprised if he isn't the best overall college wrestler to come out of Iowa in a 4-5 year window. You just don't see too many young men with that much quickness and body control. Somebody is going to steal a darn good one imo.

 

[dicemen99]

Agree with all of the above about Thomsen. Saw him against Raimo who is going to be one of the top recruits in the country and he was great last year.

Took a tough loss to a PA kid this year at Fargo where he got on the wrong side of an ambiguous scoring sequence and then didn't have enough time to come back against a kid with very good defense. Revenged that loss 8-0 in consys.

He's got offense and a motor. Needs to tighten some things up a bit, but I also like that you see him competing everywhere.

Like to see how he is on the mat - I've only seen him in freestyle. He is an intriguing kid.

 

[johnstownsteel]

There is something about the Thompson kid I really like. I think a year in the PSU room and the kid becomes a scoring machine.
Just a feeling.

I have this same feeling. Apparently Cael does as well. I love these "scrappy" kids that win despite not being big into club wresting. These are the kids that flourish when finally given elite coaching and partners.

No matter where he ends up I'm gonna keep tabs on him. I kinda like to "rate" my own recruiting and will be interested to see if he turns out to be as good as I think he's going to become.

 

[LemonPie]

Berge. Is it happening?

 

[johnstownsteel]

Berge. Is it happening?

Going off the overall vibe that Hawkeye fans are putting off, we don't have a chance..

 

[Azchief32]

Going off the overall vibe that Hawkeye fans are putting off, we don't have a chance..

Yea...we never had a chance for Lee either. Think it's down to Iowa, Purdue, PSU, Minne

 

[edquinn06]

Yea...we never had a chance for Lee either. Think it's down to Iowa, Purdue, PSU, Minne

I'm thinking PSU or Iowa. Minny or Purdue could steal him if they give a full ride. I wouldn't think either PSU or Iowa could offer that, but probably pretty close. Plus PSU and Iowa can offer better coaching, practice partners, wrestling clubs, winning environment, etc.

 

[CropDuster507]

Berge is down to PSU & Iowa, from what I've heard. I think PSU would definitely cost him more, but Iowa also doesn't have reciprocity with MN, so maybe it's a touch more comparable. I don't think money is a huge issue, but it was the difference with Broc going to Iowa over MN.

 

[johnstownsteel]

Yea...we never had a chance for Lee either. Think it's down to Iowa, Purdue, PSU, Minne

Naw. You can check your board... It's all there. I called Lee to Iowa months before he verballed. And repeated it quite often.

 

[Azchief32]

Naw. You can check your board... It's all there. I called Lee to Iowa months before he verballed.

According to Lee, HE didn't know until Trials.

 

[johnstownsteel]

According to Lee, HE didn't know until Trials.

That's right... He said he didn't. I had my reasons why I thought he'd chose Iowa and gave my opinion but I'll admit much of it was from a gut feeling. I've actually called Fix to PSU for a couple months now but admit a lot of people around here know a helluva more than I know about these things. It's more of a gut feeling as well.

 

[johnstownsteel]

According to Lee, HE didn't know until Trials.

Oh no... I think I know what you're getting at. Please don't think I'm trying to pass myself off as some type of insider because I'm not. On recruits I look at several factors including roster makeup (fitting in) small signs on Twitter pages among other things. With Lee I honestly felt he wanted to be THE one guy to bring Iowa back to winning championships again. I felt at Iowa he'd be THE guy while at PSU he might just be considered a great wrestler among other great wrestlers. Just a part of why his team won the championship as opposed to being THE reason. If that makes any sense.

 

[Azchief32]

That's right... He said he didn't. I had my reasons why I thought he'd chose Iowa and gave my opinion but I'll admit much of it was from a gut feeling. I've actually called Fix to PSU for a couple months now but admit a lot of people around here know a helluva more than I know about these things. It's more of a gut feeling as well.

I would not be shocked to see Fix at PSU but that would mean either Suriano or Fix would have to stay at 125...Fix is huge and I don't think he sees 125 except for one day way ins at seniors. It will be tough for Nick to stay at 125 in a few years because the dude is jacked. The original plan world domination plan for PSU (had they gotten Lee) was for Nick to wrestle his first one or two seasons down and than move up for Spencer who is a lifer at 125. Alternatively, Fix could pull a Jordan Oliver, and Streibler and move up to 141 and make himself big enough for 65kg eventually.

 

[Azchief32]

Oh no... I think I know what you're getting at. Please don't think I'm trying to pass myself off as some type of insider because I'm not. On recruits I look at several factors including roster makeup (fitting in) small signs on Twitter pages among other things. With Lee I honestly felt he wanted to be THE one guy to bring Iowa back to winning championships again. I felt at Iowa he'd be THE guy while at PSU he might just be considered a great wrestler among other great wrestlers. Just a part of why his team won the championship as opposed to being THE reason. If that makes any sense.

I didn't and I don't. We were all guessing...at times, I was on the fence. I mean, how could he lose with those two choices and PSU is so close to the house. However, I started getting hopes up when I heard he spent all of his time at Trials with Matt McD. Let's call it timing but having a Hawk win trials at 57kg against another two time World Team member Hawk while sitting with a two time champ/three time finalist in Carver, all at Lee's weight certainly did not hurt our cause.

 

[johnstownsteel]

I would not be shocked to see Fix at PSU but that would mean either Suriano or Fix would have to stay at 125...Fix is huge and I don't think he sees 125 except for one day way ins at seniors. It will be tough for Nick to stay at 125 in a few years because the dude is jacked. The original plan world domination plan for PSU (had they gotten Lee) was for Nick to wrestle his first one or two seasons down and than move up for Spencer who is a lifer at 125. Alternatively, Fix could pull a Jordan Oliver, and Streibler and move up to 141 and make himself big enough for 65kg eventually.

I actually see Suriano finishing his career at 33, Fix at 41 and Nick Lee at 49. But like I said, I'm nowhere near as smart as many of the others that post here and I certainly know it's just so tough to project these kids growth. I might be trying too hard here but I'm really not want anyone thinking what I'm saying is fact or I'm some kinda insider. I just enjoy making projections and years down the road see how off I was. Lol

Funny story about that. Lol. There's a local forum here in Pa called bleachercoaches. It's the same area where Nick Roberts and your new recruit Murin is from. Anyway I made a post where I felt Nick would eventually end up transferring to UPJ. I think it was during Nick freshman year at Ohio State. My god you would have thought I murdered someone. Lol. The locals went nuts and told me I was crazy. Got a real beat down because I said I felt he was better suited for D2 wrestling. When Nick eventually transferred to UPJ I couldn't help myself. I bumped the thread up and got nothing but crickets. Lol. I hate people that use the "I told you so" bs but I swear I couldn't help myself on that one. Lol

 

[johnstownsteel]

I didn't and I don't. We were all guessing...at times, I was on the fence. I mean, how could he lose with those two choices and PSU is so close to the house. However, I started getting hopes up when I heard he spent all of his time at Trials with Matt McD. Let's call it timing but having a Hawk win trials at 57kg against another two time World Team member Hawk while sitting with a two time champ/three time finalist in Carver, all at Lee's weight certainly did not hurt our cause.

That cemented it for me. I already felt strongly he was heading to Iowa but when I saw how he was spending time with McD there I wanted to puke. Lol

 

[Ames2State]

Berge wants to commit to Penn State.

With that being said, scholarship money and the coaching staff needing to be completely buying-in are the two final steps.

 

[Flying_Tiger]

Considering they are still going after Fix and this class is supposed to be light relative to last and next, Berge would be quite the pick up. Lets hope the coaches can make this happen.

 

[El-Jefe]

Berge wants to commit to Penn State.

With that being said, scholarship money and the coaching staff needing to be completely buying-in are the two final steps.

What does this mean exactly? Is he looking for a promise to start 4 years? Something else?

 

[backdrft76]

Berge wants to commit to Penn State.

With that being said, scholarship money and the coaching staff needing to be completely buying-in are the two final steps.

Love it...where would he fit into the "plan of world domination"??

 

[BruceK-PSU83]

What does this mean exactly? Is he looking for a promise to start 4 years? Something else?

Yeah, I also thought that was an odd statement. Doesn't it make more sense for the coaching staff be completely bought in prior to going hard after a recruit?

 

[NoVa Lion]

Yeah, I also thought that was an odd statement. Doesn't it make more sense for the coaching staff be completely bought in prior to going hard after a recruit?

I must have missed where it was reported we were going HARD after Berge. Do you know something we don't? Ames post makes it sound like just the opposite.

 

[dicemen99]

Ames' statement to me reads that Berge wants to come here, he needs to have the finances work for him (as in being out of pocket at Iowa's offer, or at least being in the ballpark) and the coaches have not yet made a decision if they want to tie up that amount of scholarship on a kid who likely projects at the same weight as some other scholarship guys. Manville coming in in 2017, Joe Lee coming in 2018, Nolf on roster for 3 more years, etc.

PSU out-of-state is pretty expensive. More than Iowa.

I may be off, but that's how I took his statement.

Good to hear this, Ames has always been spot on with his info.

 

[Ian]

Yes, ElJefe you must update your plan to dominate the world. Berge is good but doesn't fit. Focus on Fix or just use in for 2018 class. And get Seth, Whitlake, and another stud to join Lee.

 

[El-Jefe]

I read this:

Berge wants to commit to Penn State.

With that being said, scholarship money and the coaching staff needing to be completely buying-in are the two final steps.

... as meaning that money and coaching buy-in are separate issues. Could be wrong -- often in sports, when they say it's not about money, it's about money -- am just reading it literally.

Also curious because I didn't think you could get any offer from Cael unless he bought in. So it does make me wonder what else Berge would want, that he doesn't think the coaches are ready to provide.

 

[edquinn06]

With only Gulibon being off books next year you have to figure money is a little tight. Suriano and Hall couldn't have been cheap that's probably why Manville and Nevillis was asked to wait a year to enroll. With those two and Nick Lee in the 2017 not to mention Joe Lee the following year, I can't see how Fix and Berge can both come on board. Cael is the true magic man so it wouldn't surprise me if he somehow finds a way to make it happen.

 

[NoVa Lion]

With only Gulibon being off books next year you have to figure money is a little tight. Suriano and Hall couldn't have been cheap that's probably why Manville and Nevillis was asked to wait a year to enroll. With those two and Nick Lee in the 2017 not to mention Joe Lee the following year, I can't see how Fix and Berge can both come on board. Cael is the true magic man so it wouldn't surprise me if he somehow finds a way to make it happen.

Where did you hear Nevills was being asked to wait a year to enroll? Manville is ROTC so he isn't getting any wrestling ship money at all.

 

[edquinn06]

Where did you hear Nevills was being asked to wait a year to enroll? Manville is ROTC so he isn't getting any wrestling ship money at all.

I thought in an interview with Cael he said that Manville and AJ Nevills where waiting til next year to enroll. So whatever $ they will be getting is gonna hit the books after this year. Am I wrong? Do RS athletes not count toward the 9.9

 

[El-Jefe]

Yes, ElJefe you must update your plan to dominate the world. Berge is good but doesn't fit. Focus on Fix or just use in for 2018 class. And get Seth, Whitlake, and another stud to join Lee.

Berge also doesn't fit because the was the lightweight world domination plan -- it never went above 149. That detail always gets forgotten ...

TBH I don't have the time or inclination to do a full-blown, weight by weight, year by year look thru 2019 at who fits where in our lineup. Lightweight or otherwise.

I will say that, after Nevills and WIttlake, the next "OMG we gotta get him" guy is Nick Raimo (2019, NJ). 2x Fargo double champ in 8th/9th grade? Fargo OW and beat Thomsen while in 8th grade? Sign me up.

 

[El-Jefe]

Where did you hear Nevills was being asked to wait a year to enroll? Manville is ROTC so he isn't getting any wrestling ship money at all.

Here: http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2016/08/penn_state_wrestling_cael_sand_1.html

"Incoming recruits A.J. Nevills of Clovis, California, and Mason Manville of Virginia by way of Blair Academy and then Wyoming Seminary will not be incoming. Both have opted to instead enroll in the fall of 2017 to start their four-year eligibility competition clock."