Re: I saw speculation about that ...
Originally posted by Tom McAndrew:
but I don't recall ever seeing that confirmed.
switching gears a bit, were you disappointed in the performance of the D1 (or the SE Regional) wrestlers at States? Or, did they do about as you had expected?
Tom
I'll give you a long response, since I know you (and usually everyone else here) loves to read about wrestling - can't get enough of it right now.
D1 performed almost exactly as expected, 19 medals for 4th place on the list. I predicted 21 medals in my preview, but since I'm a D1 homer I gave them a medal pretty much wherever it was a 50/50 so I knew I was going to be high. No real surprises, unless you call having 2 D1 wrestlers square off in the 7/8 match in a weight (160) where I predicted 0 medals for the region - so that was a positive.
D1 is not as good as the SW, but is right there with the SC & NE. Our medal count will be a bit behind those 2, but if you look at the kids coming up through D1 they are right there. I think we probably have more potential medalists going the prep route than the other regions right now. I'm definitely pro-prep for kids who make the choice so don't think this is an anti-prep rant. I still consider those kids to be D1 kids. Barlow, Lattanze (x2), Beard, Lusane, Kober, Desmond Johnson all probably medal if they are competing in PIAA. Maybe Brady Riley and a couple of others. Lot's of other good kids in their as well - preps are really coming on here lately. Nate is doing a great job at Malvern and Haverford has got some really good kids. Germantown has a couple of younger kids in their system as well who will be good.
Preview is here for anyone who wants to read it after the fact:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byf6GEGrf9tJQUl1RW5WWnhBdWM/view?usp=sharing
By weight analysis:
106 - I called 3 - Parker, Burke & Campbell and we got 3. D1 is very strong at this weight, Kaliner is also very good and could have medalled with the right draw. In addition there are a couple of other D1 kids that are better than kids that were up there. I thought Parker would win it - although in my preview I thought Klump might give him problems with his size. Even though this is the "little kids" weight, size and experience still usually rules the day and a lot of the "talent" in other parts of the state was either young or small and not ready this year. Next year they will be. Only surprise here was Kaldes (D3) going 0-2, but after blowing the 5-0 lead to Macri in the first round, I guess it wasn't so much.
113 - I called 1 and we got 1 even though I thought we had two of the top 8 kids in Rush and Steffenino. Rush got a real tough draw. Steffenino wrestled great. I called DeSanto to win this and I'm still not convinced he isn't the best wrestler in the bracket after watching. The stall call and two quick neutral pin calls were ridiculous and obviously heartbreaking to the kid, but it's hard to complain because he really was stuck in regulation (again, in a non-control situation) in the Brown match for at least two seconds and the ref didn't call it. So I guess it evens out. That kid needs to work on his funk, lol.
120 I called 2 and we got 1. I was confident with Gulotta, but worried about Hayes' match with Kulp (obviously, justified). But figured Marino would be good with for one the way the brackets fell. Didn't figure on Reigel taking a dive in the first round to take an easier consy path and beat Marino in the medal match. Don't like to rip on kids, and especially because it's generally the parents fault, but this is a couple times this year where that family is just in poor taste (the other at ETR). If you are going to take a dive in the first match, have the balls to just come out and forfeit instead of the charade a former state champ put on. Ridiculous, especially when the kid was running in the hall 15 minutes after his opening round default. Hartman really took it to him to the shed in the 7/8 match for a little karma - love that Hartman kid, hope Belle Vernon attends ETR next year.
126 I called 3 and we got 3. Zack wrestled great. Cummings took care of business even with a tough draw. Miller is a tough customer. Good weight for D1.
132 I called 1 and we got 0. Not terribly surprised here as Cronin got a terrible draw and didn't think Stillings was going to be able to get out of the first round with Haegele (another ex D1 kid), but dissapointed that Cronin lost 1st round and the way he did it.
138 I called 1 for D'Orsaneo and he wrestled great and got 1. Weak weight for D1 past Dimitri
145 I called 1 for D1, most likely from Barth as Petrucelli got a rough draw in Ross and then and even rougher medal match with Verkleeren. Barth got caught in the Klecker headlock run - didn't see that kid getting out of the pigtail and that squashed Barth's shot as he had Hidlay in the medal match. We got 0, there were some real studs at this weight and our best ended up with two of the top kids in their medal matches so a bit of bad luck.
152 I called 1, most likely for Schwartz, and we got 1 with Dellicompagni beating Schwartz in the blood round in a match that Schwartz probably wins 9 out of 10 times. Such is Hershey. Really good weight state wide and Schwartz did a great job securing a medal for D1 with his win over Ethan Smith and then the consy bracket set up all D1 on the bottom for the medal. We were really fighting for only really 1 or 2 available spots on the stand at this weight.
160 I called 0 and we got 2, with two really nice wins by Krauss, over a former medalist, and Elliott, over a returning qualifier. Very nice job to grab medals here.
170 I called 1 with Gentile and he grabbed one, although as I thought, it was not an easy road even for the #1 ranked wrestler in the state. 5 kids with legitimate shots at the title here and Gentile did a great job with a major decision win over tough Drew Peck in the medal round.
182 I called 2 - Wilson and Harvey and they each grabbed one. Not a great weight state wide and our guys were right there with anyone after the top couple.
195 I called 1 and we got 0. Ferrizzi got a tough draw and I wasn't surprised there, but figured Kenis would get to a 50/50 medal match against a kid he had beaten before. Instead he got thumped in his first consy after giving 2-time state champ Jan Johnson all he could handle in round 1. I shouldn't be terribly surprised, because Kenis is a judo kid and if you know whats coming and don't let him work the underhook you completely neutralize him. He has taken some losses this year to kids that didn't get out of districts because of this. Johnson didn't know what was coming and struggled to win. Grape knew what was coming and Kenis couldn't get any offense. Now that his career is over and he is back to competing in Judo, I don't feel bad about divulging that, lol.
220 I called Wood and Outlaw and they both got them. Pretty easy weight, Wood methodically cruised to the title on 1 1/2 shoulders as expected. When fully recovered next year he will be better.
285 Not a great 285 class. Dunn, Monk and Spiller and then maybe Mears & Miller (D3, got a bad draw catching Dunn in Rd1 and then Mears for medal) and then throw everybody else in a hat. Our guys wrestled well and got the 2 I predicted for them.
All in all, D1 wrestled almost uncannily as expected. Doesn't usually happen in Hershey. We will be slightly better next year and I could see us grabbing 25 or so, which will be a nice year.
This post was edited on 3/10 5:32 PM by dicemen99