You watch Taylor, Ruth, Zain, Nolf and Bo for 4 years each it would be impossible for the perception of what is amazing and truly elite to not morph into something new.
Wisconsin Match Thread
- Thread starter Thenightking
- Start date
They don’t have enough 7th year seniors to save them from an asskicking
And FULL COURT PRESS !!!!
He really looks really good. It's not just being a 141. Arguably the most improved guy on the roster right now.
Think Beau is definitely improved and more confident. But he hasn’t seen anyone who can really give him a challenge to this point. First real chance will be if Woods goes for Iowa.
Likewise, I think Murin will be a great benchmark for where Van Ness is.
To me, he looks so much quicker and fitter at 141.
However, Levi also looks like something has really clicked for him in the last couple of weeks. He looks skinnier than he did at Black Knight; I wonder if the staff has helped him dial in his nutrition. Cut a bit less, maintain strength.
Really like how SVN matches up with Murin.
Yeah but as Cole Matthews just showed us, winning period is difficult. Bartlett could lose to Woods and it wouldn't tell us much about him. He could still very well be a mid AA losing that.
More interested in how the match goes than I am the result.
Can see riding being a big difference and I'm sure that'll be a point of emphasis by the coaches. If Beau can get away, I wouldn't be shocked if it's a 1-1 match. Woods isn't a volume shooter.
Hopefully Bartlett doesn't revert back to the wait wait wait shoot in the 3rd offense he did at 149 because Woods is a top guy.
Shane Sparks just said on BTN Wrestling & Beyond that this might be Cael’s best team ever.
2 years of 5 champs. Though this one might be another. Take out Lee and add Kerk. I also wouldn't put it past Beau or Levi to make it to Saturday night.
I guess top to bottom, I would agree. Pretty likely 8 or 9 AAs. Facundo is an AA level wrestler, but there is some pretty good wrestlers that won't AA in that meat grinder.
With Levi in the lineup, this has to be Cael's most balanced team ever. The only hole is a result of injury. With Robbie healthy the whole team gets to the blood round and dare I say all ten AA? Probably a 50/50 bet, but what fun to watch the house that Cael built get stronger and stronger.
With a healthy Robbie, could this team break the scoring record? Can it without him?
I don't think the scoring record is at risk. The other best PSU team was the Suriano year where he had already beat both finalist.
I wonder if this team could beat the points that team would have had if Nicky got his 20+
Nick's mojo and Cael's zen just didn't blend well. It was either that, or Nicky six pack couldn't stomach being the 6th best wrestler on a 10 man team. Scary.
Nice chat about this on FRL this morning. Pyles, Shane and JD seemed to believe this year's team has a legit chance of being Carl's best up to this point. Have to watch again but I think Ben uncharacteristically remained mostly silent which tells me he thinks it's possible as well. Total team points at Nationals will be the judge for me but there's a legit although slightly improbable chance we get 9 AAs and 5 champs. Gun to head...right now I think 4 champs 8 AAs. If Robbie was healthy...and I mean 100 percent going in, I'd be saying 4 champs 9 AAs. I know I'm not showing much confidence with only 4 champs but I'm always on the pessimistic side of things when it comes to my own team.
BTW, in the future when we take a historical look at this team, it could very well be one that had 8 national champs on it if not more. most with multiple titles and could even have at the least a 5 timer, 4 timer, 3 timer and a few 2 timers. That's just incredible to think about.
Just imagine if Cael could coach.
On balance I have no issue with someone predicting only 2 or 3 champs. One of these years were might encounter a peaking performance anomaly or even something more tangible like a flu running through the squad in March.
As great as Cael is, the kids still have to go out and execute flawlessly, and win. Win against kids who are arguably as talented, and work just as hard. We have had numerous OT champs which is a dance on the head of a pin.
Cael's 'formula' has demonstrated other worldly results flipping the bird to traditional statistics, especially with respect to success from the Nationals semis on.
I can see this team getting as many as 6 into the semis, and that is not a stretch. Wow!
Maintaining the same win percentage in the semis and the finals? Only Cael's program has a chance at delivering more than 50% success, but expecting the same rediculously successful results forever is optimistic.
The competition adapts and imitates. TnT now talk about "fun" , granted noone in the whole state of Iowa, let alone anyone on that team ever smiles. Nearly every team plays dodgeball now. Ben is constantly taking about proper nutrition and the importance of sleep, and how programs are redoubling their efforts in these areas. Fewer teams force rediculous cuts. Covid taught most programs the benefits of wrestling less, and competing in fewer intense early season tourneys.
Nature abhors a monopoly, and the gap can't help but close. That said Cael is not stagnant and constant improvement of his own approach is always in action. This is the golden era of PSU wrestling.
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Yeah, if you look at career accomplishments of the wrestlers on this year's roster instead of single season points, this is the bar that the 2017 roster set:
15 NCAA titles
6 Runner up
5 Other AA
2 - 2020 Surefire AA of some sort, if not titles (Vinnie, Marc)
This includes Nicky Cruiseliner's 2 titles + a RU elsewhere and Cassar/Shak, who were on the roster but medical redshirts that year.
For this year's roster, they currently have 7 titles, 1 RU (Dean at Cornell), and 4 Other AA. I'm not including the potential for 2020 hardware for Brooks or RBY since they got a free year for 21 anyway. Can this lineup add more than 8 more? I think that's given. RBY should get 1 more, Brooks potentially 2 more, Starocci 3, Dean 1, and Kerk 2. That's the 9 to get over the hump right there before counting what SVN/Haines/Facundo can do. I know their title potential is a lot more variable at this point in their respective careers, but they will certainly get at least one between the three of them, and I'd say a fair expected value (along with the odd chance that Bartlett or Robbie might win a surprise title along the way) is 5-6.
That's over 20 NCAA titles on a single roster when all is said and done, or over two per weight class. That's nuts to even think about.
Oh no. That's a bad one too. That's what I get for posting while working. I'm giving myself a one day ban for that horrendous mistake.Carl's????
Scoring record will be tough to break by any team due to changes in scoring. It used to be NCAA was scored as a 64 man bracket so a win followed by a bye was an extra advancement point, which is on longer true. Plus on the #32 and #33 seed have an extra match to score bonus points. That puts may team these days around 10 points extra they would need to score to break the team scoring record.
A ban from working or a ban from posting?
Now he's gonna have multiple personalities here too.
Hopefully they BAN him PERMANENTLY!!!!! The guy is a complete A**HOLE!!!!
I most definitely do NOT predict the team scoring record.
But here’s a path:
- RBY, Starocci, Brooks, Dean and Kerk are all champions.
- Beau and SVN take 3rd
- Levi and Facundo take 5th
Beau and SVN go WWWLWW
Levi and Alex go WWLWWLW
We’re at 147 without bonus.
- RBY produces a TF and 2 MDs
- Beau produces 2 MDs
- SVN produces a TF and 2 MDs
- Levi produces 1 MD
- Alex produced 1 MD
- CStar produces 2 TFs and a MAJ
- Brooks produces 2 TFs and a MAJ
- Kerk produces 1 Fall, 1 TF and 1 MAJ
Now we’re at 170.5.
But here’s a path:
- RBY, Starocci, Brooks, Dean and Kerk are all champions.
- Beau and SVN take 3rd
- Levi and Facundo take 5th
Beau and SVN go WWWLWW
Levi and Alex go WWLWWLW
We’re at 147 without bonus.
- RBY produces a TF and 2 MDs
- Beau produces 2 MDs
- SVN produces a TF and 2 MDs
- Levi produces 1 MD
- Alex produced 1 MD
- CStar produces 2 TFs and a MAJ
- Brooks produces 2 TFs and a MAJ
- Kerk produces 1 Fall, 1 TF and 1 MAJ
Now we’re at 170.5.
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You bracketologists are amazing. I find all of this as confusing as Egyptian hieroglyphics! All I can remember is winning by only 14 and not 15 is leaving a half point on the table and might cost us the team title : )
