What's the outlook for Cael's boys in 2020?
- Thread starter ChiTownLion
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I think Cassar has applied for a 6th year of eligibility.
Good grief.
It's too soon to say what Cassar will do. We've yet to hear if the NCAA approved his request for an additional year. He may decide to move on, or he may elect to return (if the NCAA grants his request). If he leaves, PSU has Seth Nevills to plug in, and he was a heck of a HS wrestler, and spent the past year gray shirting.
Hall and Valencia have met 3 times at NCAAs. Valencia has the series lead, 2-1. In non NCAA meetings during college, they are 1-1. I wouldn't draw any conclusions about which wrestler will win the next match.
Joseph lost to Marinelli at B1Gs. Yet Joseph made the NCAA finals, whereas Marinelli did not. Joseph will be a senior next year. In his first three seasons, he's reached the NCAA finals each year, and placed 1st, 1st, and 2nd. And he's someone about whom we should be concerned? That makes absolutely no sense.
PSU loses two great wrestlers in Nolf and Nickal. It's impossible to replace their firepower. That said, PSU's roster has a lot to look forward to.
Bruce is going to put on the singlet and show Cael and the boys how to wrestle. So, no worries.
Oh yeah, and one might expect Lee and RBY to improve in their 2nd and 3rd years. I would love for the above poster to run down why Iowa should be so excited based on their results at nationals.
FWIW, here's a piece from a pro-Iowa source that outlines optimism (or hopes):
The elements exist for Iowa to ascend to the top of college wrestling.
Iowa has talent, accomplishments and plenty of experience. They key will be improvement from now to the start of next season.
The Hawkeyes return six All-Americans from this season’s fourth-place team finish at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships this weekend at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. They should also regain the services of two-time All-American Michael Kemerer, who missed the entire season with a knee injury.
“Whether or not you have this coming back or that coming back, we have to get better,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. “Yeah, we have some good firepower coming back but we have to get better.”
Iowa has eight starters back from this year’s squad that sent nine to the national tournament. All of them have national tournament experience and at least advanced to the round of 12. Add Kemerer, who hasn’t placed lower than fourth in his first two seasons.
“It just gets deeper and deeper,” said Austin DeSanto, who placed fifth at 133 pounds in his first year after transferring from Drexel. “It’s awesome. Everybody likes to improve in this room.”
Two-time 125-pound NCAA champion Spencer Lee is the pillar in the lineup, if he doesn’t opt for an Olympic redshirt year. DeSanto provided a boost at 133, amassing the second-most team points in his first season with the Hawkeyes.
Iowa also has two-time All-American Alex Marinelli, who entered the national tournament as an unbeaten top seed and finished seventh. Sophomore Kaleb Young, who produced a fifth-place finish in his first year as the full-timer 157-pounder. Freshman Jacob Warner was seventh at 197, while Pat Lugo (149) was eighth in his third NCAA appearance.
Freshman Max Murin (141) and three-time NCAA qualifier Cash Wilcke (184) finished a win shy of placing and add to the foundation for next year’s team that could include highly-touted redshirt heavyweight Tony Cassioppi. Brands said there is young talent that joined the room in the fall.
Iowa currently has the most points returning from this year’s national tournament. The Hawkeyes have 75 points back. Four-time defending champion Penn State, which has won eight of the last nine national championships, returns 58, depending on wrestlers regaining a year of eligibility. Oklahoma State returns just 36 1/2 points and Ohio State has 36 1/2 back.
“We’re only going to get better,” Marinelli said. “That’s what is scary to these others guys. We have a lot of returning guys and we’re going to be really good.”
https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/iowa-returns-talent-and-experience-next-season-20190324
Well Laddy Freaking Dah- you got to beat the Champ to be the Champ.
Hey NoVa, hope you enjoyed the Pittsburgh experience. And the winning.
Does PSU get Iowa in a dual meet next year? I'm not clear about how the B1G determines their dual matchups.
We have three awesome additions next year in Brooks, Beard and Teske plus the 197 trf from Kent State. The Olympic redshirts will play a huge role for the top teams.
We will be in the thick of the title run
We will be in the thick of the title run
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....and we return more points than any other team (with Cassar)
....and we had a big under-performance at 184 which will likely improve.
....and we can reasonably add points at 125/133/141/149
Isn't that what everyone said when we were losing Taylor and Ruth?
I guess there's no Nolf and Nickal types coming in like we had when Taylor and Ruth left?
bwifan
Well-Known Member
Aaron Brooks (184) and Michael Beard (197) are complete studs who are grey shirts this year. Brooks is a world champ and Beard was fantastic on the open tournament circuit this season .... the beat goes on (contrary to BrucePa’s beliefs)
Did a quick google search- does this mean if you meet criteria (looks like Hall and Brooks do) you can pause your eligibility for a year?
some did, for sure
They really do have some excellent talent coming in. Is it Taylor/Ruth/Nolf/Nickal level? Ask me in 4 or 5 years. Each year, there are amazing high school wrestlers that enroll in college. Some up their craft, and are just as elite in college as they were in college. Others are very, very good, but don't quite get to the elite level.
Here are the names, in random order, that folks can look forward to:
1. Brody Teske: he was a 4X State Champion in Iowa. He redshirted this year, and was injured for part of it. He will have the opportunity to unseat Devin Schnupp at 125
2. Joe Lee: he's the younger brother of Nick Lee -- a PSU wrestler that finished 5th the past two seasons at Nationals. He's been in State College, wrestling with the Nittany Lion Wresting Club, the past year. He's bigger than his brother. He may get a shot at 157 to replace Jason
3. Jarod Verkleeren: he was an elite PA high school wrestler. He competed with Brady Berge for the starting spot at 149 this past season. Berge ended up winning the spot, but Verkleeren got several starts, and looks to be the likely starter next season at 149 (with Berge moving up to 157)
4. Carter Starocci: he's the top PA wrestler in this year's senior class. He placed 2nd at States as a sophomore, and then took 1st as a junior and a senior, going undefeated his last two years. He's also had a lot of success in freestyle in national tournaments. He wrestled at 182 lbs. this HS season. There was some thought that he would wrestle 174 @ PSU, though it remains to be seen if he'll be able to make that weight in college
5. Aaron Brooks: in a stable of young studs, he may be the most elite of them. He won at least 2 State championships in Maryland. This past year, he's been training at the Olympic Training Center, and competing in international tournaments. He's also bulked up somewhat since high school, but also hasn't ever cut much weight. The expectation was that he'd wrestler 184 in college, and that is still the likely weight
6. Michael Beard: he was a National Prep Champion. He grayshirted the past year, and has been wrestling with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. He's expected to wrestle 197 in college. His HS coach is a former PSU wrestler, and has told a few folks I know that Beard has been tearing it up in practice with the NLWC.
7. Seth Nevills: His older brother, Nick, was a 2X All-American at Heavyweight for PSU. If I recall correctly, Seth was a 4X State Champion in California, which is very unusual, as all schools in CA, from the littlest to the largest, all wrestle in one division at States. He also grayshirted the past year, and wrestled with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. He's expected to be at heavyweight.
8. Donovon Ball: He's a senior in HS, and finished 2nd at PA States as a senior. He's seen more as a backup/insurance policy for Beard, but people that make PA finals are not wrestlers that should be underestimated
There's always the possibilities of transfers. If there is a need, and a kid that's interested, the PSU coaches have shown in the past that they will consider it. Kyle Conel, who finished 3rd at 197 lbs. @ the 2018 NCAAs, for Kent State, had retired from wrestling due to a shoulder injury. However, he's tweeted out in recent weeks that if everything work outs academically, he'll be joining PSU as a graduate student, with 1 year of eligibility, and the expectation that he'll be in the mix at 197. Whether or not there will be additional transfers remains to be seen.
True because Penn State seems to be the only university in the country that can’t replace good players in any sport.You should know optimism like yours is frowned upon around here.
Yep, which is why I don't believe in the talk about holding back for 2020-21. The gray shirts being studs, and having already spent a year training, will be chomping at the bits to get into the fray.
Cael has proven to not only be the best motivator and talent developer, but also the best talent identifier. Cael is the hottest name in college wrestling and his ability to bring in talent is in now way limited by allowable scholarships as it is at most universities. Kids just want to be in Cael's program, wrestle in the PSU wrestling rooms against the best, and have a great chance to be on a championship team.
I have no reason to believe that the returning wrestlers that have shown to be point producers (Hall, Joseph, RBY, Lee, and possibly Cassar), kids he redshirted this year such as Teske, together with the gray shirts and possibly a true freshman won't be at least as good of a team as Iowa.
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You just described the Iowa board every day between the end of the the NCAA finals and the beginning of the next season for the last decade.
EVERY Iowa wrestler is constantly improving, but every other wrestler in the country, at every other school is staying the same. The teams PSU needs to worry about going forward are Ohio and Oklahoma State. Outside of the lower weights, the Brands haven’t proven the ability to vastly improve a wrestler from year to year. Cael has.
It's true that you might expect that.
RBY finished 8th as a true freshman. He's blazingly fast with his shots and his counters. There are areas he can still improve in, and with another year of maturity and lifting he's likely to get stronger. The counter argument is that 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place at 133 all return.
Lee finished 5th as a sophomore (same place he finished as a freshman). He's excellent on his feet, as well as in scrambles. He exhibited improvement on the mat this season over last. The counter argument is that 1st, 3rd, and 4th at 141 return, and the 1st place finisher is super elite.
Note: I edited my response concerning RBY, as I initial post did not credit the 4th place finisher at 133 having 1 more year of eligibility.
Yes. If you qualify for an Olympic Redshirt, and you choose to pursue that and not compete that year in college, then your eligibility clock is placed on hold for that year.
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From watching RBY this season it looked to me that a good off season in the weight room will significantly add to his performance against the better wrestlers. He seemed to look weaker and smaller than any of the top 20 wrestlers at 133. But his quickness and experience will continue to be great assets as he matures. Looking forward to seeing how he develops going into next season! Hope he can add a good bit of muscle and still make 133.
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Does PSU have the highest ranked rolling recruiting average over the last 4-5 years? Guessing yes, but curious to see how the rankings would shake out.
At this time of year, Iowa can always get to 125-150 pts at next year’s nationals. They usually fall significantly less than that in the end. To beat PSU you have got to get to 125 nowadays. PSU will be there again next year.
Heck, LionJim just doublechecked their math, the 250 pts they’ll put up on Thursday should put the Hawkeyes in a good position to make up for the nine times they “just missed” in the last nine years!
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