I will contribute a Buckeye/fan, Spyker like addition to this board via a bold prediction. Newly hired coach Anthony Ralph ( who just came to OSU from Notre Dame College) pull the necessary strings needed in making the highly anticipated arrival of Isaiah White come to fruition in time for next season. (A scenario admittably dwindling by the day in happening).
Then with the abundance of depth OSU suddenly has with capable wrestlers in the 157/165 range, Tom Ryan jumbles his lineups all season to not require White to wrestle 157 all season, but to gear him up to qualify and wrestle the Big 10's and nationals at 157 to give OSU its most potent lineup maybe ever.
Between White, Teshan Campbell, Elijah Cleary, Cody Burcher, and Jake Ryan, and possible even Kaleb Romero...OSU can still field a quality lineup at 157 if Ryan decides to alternate both Campbell and White at 165 to begin the year, which avoids making White make the cut to 157 the entire season.
Then come tourney time:
125: Nathan Tomasello R.S SR
133: Luke Pletcher SO
141: KeShawn Hayes RS SO ( could potentially get a 6th yr for missing last)
149: Micah Jordan RS JR
157: Isaiah White SO
165: Te'Shan Campbell JR
174: Bo Jordan RS SR
184: Myles Martin JR
197: Kollin Moore RS SO
HWY: Kyle Snyder SR
Even with this lineup, OSU is still chasing second which is absurd in its reality... Following next season, I foresee a pretty drastic reload year, both rewarding some fringe starters with a year of competing at the highest level, and giving guys like Myles Martin and Luke Pletcher the red shirts they both deserve. To the contrary, a guy like Micah Jordan will not be around to enjoy the reload or any national title run for his senior season.
Continuing with my Spyker like hypothetical of White landing at OSU, both he and Campbell have yet to take red shirts either, so we could see all of Pletcher, Myles, Campbell and a potential White redshirt all at once.
The scenario of Pletcher and Martin red shirting after the Big 3 graduate is very plausible, and for that reason alone I wish Jose Rodriguez would have stuck around as he would have plugged in nicely Pletcher's redshirt season.
When Martin red shirts, Ethan Smith can plug right in and the combination of Burcher, Ryan, Cleary and Romero will plug in nicely from 157-174. Then the following season when all hands are on deck OSU should be able to compete for a title once again ..