I have been surprised that Flo etc has not made more of the Van Ness destruction of 149 at the NCAAs this year. He beat Parko 7-2!!! A) Did anyone actually see a third place finish accompanied by a series of statement victories coming? B) Who has made that kind of run in the past after a 23-7 type of year? C) Will this progression continue. Is the defeat of Paniro/Henson/Parko the new norm?
Van Ness romp
- Thread starter PSUwrestling
- Start date
Didn’t see it coming, but was incredible to watch. Especially the come from behind wins. Reminded me of freshman Nico in the 2013 tournament; Nico was 24-7 and the 10 seed and made a run to the finals.
A. I did not expect 3rd place, but van Ness has all the tools to compete at a very high level. To see him come back from big deficits multiple times just reinforces how good he is.
B. Quentin Wright won the title as a 9 seed in 2011, and finished with a 21-6 record.
C. Yes.
Reminder / reminiscing that SVN took a 3rd period lead on Yianni with a TD with just over a minute to go.
Up in the middle of the night pondering important wrestling questions. Humm? I may be alone on this, but, I see SVN as the 2nd coming of Frank the Tank.
I felt like we watched Van Ness level up in real time during the third period of the Miller match. I see no reason why the progression won't continue. Sasso is the last remaining hurdle in his way this year (possibly Shapiro - we'll see if he lives up to the hype), but he is a legit contender.
The 7 losses last year were Murin (x3), Paniro, Gomez, Sasso, and Yianni (in the NCAA quarters). All are elite wrestlers, all were razor thin margins, and he even had Yianni down in the third for a moment. Murin & Yianni are gone, he already beat Paniro in their second match, and I am confident he can take Gomez. That just leaves Sasso.
The 7 losses last year were Murin (x3), Paniro, Gomez, Sasso, and Yianni (in the NCAA quarters). All are elite wrestlers, all were razor thin margins, and he even had Yianni down in the third for a moment. Murin & Yianni are gone, he already beat Paniro in their second match, and I am confident he can take Gomez. That just leaves Sasso.
Semis. Also, Gomez is done.
I thought SVN would AA this year; it was obvious to me that he was getting closer and closer to a guy like Murin throughout their three matches (dual, frontside B1Gs, 3rd place match at B1Gs) and that he was putting it together.
It would not surprise me in the least if he beat a guy like Sasso straight up this year. Sasso has a HARD cut to make 149 and neither coach is particularly inclined to start at any other weight than 125. It looked to me like the coaches really helped him turn a corner on penetration and finishing his shots between the regular season and NCAAs. His pace plus increased ability to get to a leg and actually convert made him a wrecking ball. Working with a guy like Messenbrink would be great for helping him learn to counter Sasso's scrambling and short offense.
As stated during the tourney, I suspect SVNs knee was more problematic then people realize. He didn't defend as well when someone was on it.
His run was great but SVN was a 12 seed and as pointed out Q was a champ as the 9 seed and Nico a runnerup as the 10 seed and Ron Perry was a runnerup as the 16 seed so although it is rare it has happened many times in the past. Those 3 are just off the top of my head. That said I love SVN and his enthusiam and his gas tank. Love watching him wrestle.
I think a big thing is Van Ness I believe missed his entire true freshman year more or less. Wrestled 2 room guys at Clarion (while wearing a bulky brace) then MFFed out and just rested. Felt he was learning every match but he was attacking and dominating non Top 20 guys but struggled to beat a Top 10 guy so definitely feels like the Miller match awakened him. It truthfully was his matches against Parco and Henson that sold me he's here to stay.
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