Suriano seems like a good kid but apparently is controlled by his old man. Not really sure what happened, think his old man was pissed at how Suriano's injury was dealt with or something like that. I've heard Suriano's dad was really pissed post NCAA cause he thought Nick could've won a title. Yet I heard prior to that that it was Nick's dad that told the PSU coaching staff to not wrestle Nick as he has his whole career in front of him. Safe to say that Nick's dad is pissed at PSU for some reason and this is the fallout.
Where are you seeing that? Everything I'm seeing is that nothing is done yet. Cael still refusing to sign the waiver that would prevent Suriano from losing a year of eligibility which is the only hold up. In Real News, Aaron Brooks out of MD is heading to the OTC after high school. Will be recruited in the 2019 class now.
Schwab lives down the street from me. Good dude. Crazy fucked will mow his lawn in a straight up downpour
PSU updated the wrestling roster on their website: http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/psu-m-wrestl-mtt.html Taking a look you might notice the notable omission of one Nick Suriano. Congrats on the national title Stevis_In_C-Bus
PSU statement on Suriano: "Nick Suriano recently requested a release so that he could transfer to Rutgers. We granted this release. Subject to Big Ten policy, any intra-conference transfer is required to sit for one year before they are again eligible to participate. Nick is open to transfer to Rutgers and will be subject to that school's policies (conference or otherwise) on transfer and eligibility status. We support and work within the Big Ten policy."
Probably still Rutgers. Alternatively he can go to JUCO, sit a year, then still have 3 to wrestle 3. In other news, first reports of McKenna deciding have started to pop up:
2 locks for NCAA titles then 1 heavy favorite, 1 of the most accomplished young us wrestlers ever, then Joseph. Your top guys being bonus point machines We're loaded but forgive me if I don't expect to win.
I don't know if Hall repeats. I'm pretty sure Joseph won't. Nickal as great as he can be at times, can also be a huge head case (i.e. anytime he wrestles MyMar). Nolf and Zain may be locks, but there's a lot more up in the air. You guys, with McKenna, and Nato down to 125 will have a really fucking solid squad. I'd say it would be elite.
Either way, it's gonna be a lot of fun. Either we beat one of the most impressive teams ever assembled or Penn State beats a loaded team in Snyder's final season.
Need a lot of things to go right to beat PSU even with McKenna and without Suriano. I'll do a better write-up with actual rankings closer to NCAAs when we have a better idea of what lineups look like, but here's some premature thoughts. 125: NaTo should be good for another top 3 finish to close out his career. Suriano, Fix, and Spencer probably won't be wrestling this season and those guys are the future (although Suriano is likely a 133 when he wrestles again). Returning Cruz is good but seems like the most beatable returning champ, and NaTo is better. Lizak is an animal on top but can he get there against top guys? Piccinnini and Mueller are good as well and Moisey and Milhoff are returning AAs off redshirt, but I think this is the year NaTo is on top of the podium again. Biggest issue will be weight management imo. 133: Pletcher drops down to what I believe will be a better weight for him. Gross, Brock, and Micic will battle for top dog status all year imo, but world silver medalist Mitch McKee could break through into contender status as well. Problem is that his head pinch doesn't play in Folk like it does Free. If Pletcher can sneak into that top 8 that would be very big. Needs to outscore PSU's 133 for sure, whoever that is. 141: Ke-Shawn Hayes is back, but I have heard that he isn't quite back to where he was going into last year and some are worried about him. Add in the fact that 141 is perhaps the deepest weight in 2018 and Ke-Shawn could be in for a tough year. Heil, Jack, Meredith, Eierman, Ashnault, Kolodzik--those kids all have a shot at the title, which is rare at a class with a returning 2x champ. Kanen Storr, Chad Red, Carter Happel could make noise off RS--and my sleeper pick is AC Headlee from UNC to beat some good guys. 149: All Retherford. He should only get pushed by Sorensen. If McKenna bumps up and is here for OSU, he will be counted on to hit AA status again. Thomsen and Chishko are returning AAs as is Oliver of CMU but those guys can't compete with Zain or Sorensen. 157: This is one of the most interesting weights this upcoming season IMO. It was by far the weakest in '17--even with a top notch champ like Nolf--but looks to be somewhat improved heading into the season. In addition to Kemerer and Levallee, I believe Micah Jordan and Alec Pantaleo will be bumping up, and Griffin Parriot, Hayden Hidlay, Evan Wick, and Ryan Deakin (if he goes 157) could make big noise off redshirts. Tsirtsis is back with ASU now but he seems kind of washed up. Richie Lewis has been talking a big game all off-season and will be an AA favorite. JoJo Smith, Tyler Berger, Paul Fox and BJ Clagon are returning AAs. I think Micah can take top 3 or 5 here in a much improved weight class, but Nolf should still cruise due to lack of top-end talent. 165: IMar/Cenzo/Massa will be the storyline here. Those guys will wrestle each other multiple times in big matches. I'm going with 1. IMar 2. Massa 3. Cenzo personally but they are all the real deal. The weight doesn't lose much. Isaac Jordan graduates and Daniel Lewis should be bumping to 174 and that's about it for defections (Anthony Valencia could bump up too). Alex Marinelli and David McFadden coming off redshirt and both are dudes. Tough weight to AA, I don't think Campbell makes it because those 5 seem close to locks. Keep an eye on Isaiah White who won a D2 title as a true frosh before transferring into Nebraska. High AA talent. This weight will be a better weight this year than last and it was a stronger weight last year. 174: BoJo/Mark Hall will be the story again. Hall will be much improved from a true frosh champion effort, but Bo is finally healthy and in great shape. Daniel Lewis should be bumping up and he is one of the toughest dudes in the NCAA on top and can ride just about anyone for 3 minutes. I believe Zahid bumps up to 184 and Anthony bumps to 174. Even with Anthony, this could be one of the weakest weight classes in 2018, which leaves me optimistic about both PSU's and OSU's chances. I fully expect a finals rematch, with Anthony Valencia or Daniel Lewis playing possible spoiler roles. Don't think Amine is there yet but he obviously a dude as well. 184: Going to be one of the most fun weights IMO. I see a Bo/Zahid battle, but Myles Martin is obviously a guy that can make noise. Pete Renda and Dominic Abounader are finalist contenders coming off redshirts. Maybe Andrew Marsden becomes a thing wrestling all the way down at 184 (he wrestled at 211.6 and made junior world FS team finals against Kollin Moore) 197: Probably the thinnest weight entering 2017/18, which bodes well for OSU's Kollin Moore who is the early favorite. Willie Miklus comes off of injury and bumps up to 197, he could push Kollin. Jared Haught, Preston Weigel, and Kevin Beazley are returning AAs, while Matt McCutcheon looks to finally break through in his SR season after going 0-4 in AA matches in 2015 and 2017. Real wildcard here could be Pat Downey III if he lands at a D1 program and stays eligible without getting kicked off his team. I believe he bumps up and can win an NCAA title if that is the case. 285: Snyder is of course the heavy favorite, and his competition this year will be in the form of the returning former NCAA finalist and cadet world champion Adam Coon. Tanner Hall, Nick Nevills, Jacob Kasper and Amir Dhesi are former AAs that will be back as well. Sam Stoll returns from injury and looks to finally make noise in March. I fully expect Snyder to prevail in finals over Coon and stake his claim as greatest NCAA Heavyweight of all time.
^^^Carelton Haselrig? Dude was maybe the most talented hvwt there was. Christ, he won junior world titles in both freestyle and greco....and he didn't even have a high school wrestling team. Then 3 Div 2 titles and of course 3 Division 1 titles. With that said, Snyder's world and olympic titles trump Haselrig but I'm not sure who I'd pick if they wrestled each other in their respective primes.
Garry Paul, chairman of the LVAC exec committee and major donor to the program, posted that McKenna has chosen Ohio State.
What a roller coaster offseason. We went from definitely going to repeat, to you guys winning, back to us, now back to you. I think this finalizes it though. Congrats on the title, bucks.
Obviously not as good as this year but should have a decent roster next year. Heinselmann-one of the Koontzs? Pletcher Hayes McKenna Jordan Campbell Romero Martin Moore Singletary Hoffman, Mattox, Carr if we get him red-shirt.
Those are very optimistic OSU projections. Pletcher coming in 5th would be an outstanding result for him, Hayes at 6 seems like a minor miracle, McKenna at 3 is best case, Campbell at 8th is possible but unlikely, then we have 3 projected champs. Meanwhile the only optimistic PSU projections are at 133 and 141. The others are all realistic or pessimistic (not to mention Nickal is early favorite at 184, Nevills should be considered 4th probably, and Joseph at 4th is a huh moment). I still believe PSU is the favorite.
HWT is going to be absolutely loaded in a few years: One of the most prized recruits in this rising senior class will be sticking to wrestling in college. Mason Parris is picking the mat over the gridiron after high school, and he shared with FloWrestling the list of schools where he will be making official visits. Mason Parris School List Michigan Virginia Tech Nebraska Northwestern NC State
Plus, if Hall is winning the title, I see more bonus from him this year. I'd put money on Hall out scoring Moore if they both won titles. Seems silly to haggle about points, but that is what we are looking at this year.
I agree completely on both accounts. I also believe that BoJo is the only guy who's going to beat Mark Hall this year. They'll wrestle at least three times (maybe four), I see Bo taking at least one. The March matches are the big ones though obviously. Amine, Epperley, Preisch....those guys will AA but they aren't beating Mark Hall.
Complete list of competitors for senior FS world championships are out. I see seven of our eight wrestlers having a realistic shot at winning a medal. 57kg is kind of an open weight with all the best guys from Rio moving up to 61 in a non-olympic year. Anyone can win really. Favorites: Zaur Uguev RUS Suleyman Atli TUR Next Tier: Beka Lomtadze GEO Makhir Amiraslanov AZE Yuki Takahashi JPN Erdenebat Bekhbayar MGL Darkhorses: Andrei Dukov ROU Thomas Gilman USA Sanayev KAZ Jong PRK Tomar IND 61kg is pretty brutal up top with a clear top 5 or 6 guys that are world class. Favorites: Khinchegashvili GEO Aliyev AZE Next Tier: Stieber USA Ehsanpour IRI Rashidov RUS Darkhorse: Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez CUB 65kg is another weak weight up top with a bunch of the best guys either not wrestling, injured, or moving up. Anyone-can-win kind of weight. Favorites: Franklin Gomez PUR Valdes Tobier CUB Iakobashvili GEO Nasiri IRI Next Tier: Gogaev RUS Kaya TUR Mustafayev AZE Gadhiev POL Batirov BHR Retherford USA 70kg is a strong up top but thins out pretty quickly. Favorites: Chamizo ITA James Green USA Hosseinkhani IRI Kadimagomedov RUS Next Tier: Navruzov UZB Yakup Gor TUR Ganzorig MGL Omarov AZE Tantarov KAZ 74kg seems like a strong weight, maybe the second toughest after 61. Favorites: Burroughs USA Demirtas TUR Next Tier: Tsabolov RUS Evloev KGZ Hasanov AZE Abdurakhmanov UZB Yarahmadi IRI Darkhorses: Takatani JPN Kvelashvili GEO Shabanov BLR 86kg we have 5 guys competing for 4 medals pretty much. Favorites: Yazdani Charati IRI Selim Yasar TUR Cox USA Next Tier: Valiev RUS Gostiev AZE Darkhorses: Torreblanca CUB Vereb HUN Baranowski POL Khutsishvili GEO 97kg is a two man weight, the one we've all been waiting for. Favorites: Sadulaev RUS Snyder USA Next Tier: Odikadze GEO Salas Perez CUB Ibragimov UZB Darkhorses: Yildrim TUR Alborov AZE Mohammadi IRI Oliinyk UKR 125 is another two man weight probably, but more like a one man weight. Favorite: Akgul TUR Next Tier: Petriashvili GEO Magomedov AZE Darkhorses: Ghasemi/Mohebi IRI (still not sure which is wrestling, Mohebi won at nationals) Zasieiev UKR Berianidze ARM Real Dark: Khizriev RUS Gwiazdowski USA Ligeti HUN
Random draw for Sadulaev. Snyder will be the #1 seed, but Sadulaev has no criteria at 96(as far as I know, Russian nationals is his only competition there) so they could be drawn in round 1.
Correct. UWW absolutely fucked up seeding criteria this year, a bunch of top guys are unseeded because the only tournaments that count for criteria are 1. Rio Olympics 2. Continental Championships. However results do not transfer to new weight classes! So Olympic champs like Sadulaev and Yazdani Charati that are bumping up in weight will be unseeded and could theoretically meet Snyder and Cox in round 1. Burroughs will be unseeded as he didn't wrestle at pan ams, Chamizo switched weights, Aliyev switched weights, 57 is a mess, it's all ridiculous. Just pray Snyder and Sadulaev are on opposite sides of the bracket so we can get the finals match we deserve.
Also the first day of freestyle is in 11 days, wrestling is on the 25th and 26th. Mayweather-McGregor won't even be the best match of the night.
Definitely. We don't know much about his ability against elite world competition and styles(Molinaro is legit but he's a pretty 'American' wrestler, so it's hard to say), but this weight cleared out after the Olympics. Not a lot of big names or proven world level guys, and it's a weight the Russians are sending one of their 'weaker' reps(weak is relative when talking Russia in freestyle wrestling). Before the draw, I'd pick him to medal, maybe even make the finals. Sometimes being an unknown on the world stage can actually be a benefit. If I had to rank the most likely to medal before any draws for the US, I'd go: 1. Snyder 2. Burroughs(not the lock he once was, but still a tough out) 3. Zain(weaker weight class and his ability to wear guys out a big plus) 4. Cox(still a relative new kid on the block, if he wrestles like he did at the Olympics he's going to be on the stand) 5. Green(loaded weight but having a great year) 6. Stieber(absolutely stacked weight and he's had some losses this year, draw could be unkind with guys like Aliev among the not seeded crew) 7. Gilman(not a tough weight but 57 has been weak for the US for a while) 8. Gwiz(pretty tough weight that usually takes some getting used to) Probably our best team in a long damn while, 5-6 guys that could absolutely win it all, even if I'd only pick maybe Snyder to do it(Sadulaev is incredible but I'm done going against Snyder after what he did in the Olympics)
Yes, absolutely. 65kg is probably the one weight that is weakest at the top. The three big dogs from last year aren't here this year--Rio Gold Ramonov of RUS is hurt, Rio bronze Asgarov of AZE is suspended, and Rio Bronze Frank Chamizo of ITA is at 70kg. Other bronze Navruzov of UZB is up at 70kg as well. Depth is kinda alright but there's no studs that are surefire medalists like other weights. Valdes Tobier of Cuba and Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico (and Nittany Lion Wrestling Club) are who I consider the top two guys. Gomez probably would have medaled in Rio if his match against Navruzov wasn't fixed by crooked refs. Zurab Iakobashvili of Georgia is really tough too. Nasiri of Iran is disliked even by Iranians for his boring style of wrestling and should have close matches. Mustafa Kaya of Turkey has been up and down but he could make a run. I honestly believe that Zain is as capable as anyone of winning gold.
Trackwrestling and it's something like 10 bucks for the entire week (freestyle, women's, greco, etc). Greco starts a week from today on the 21st. I think I paid $30 for access to Cadets, Juniors, and Seniors which makes Flo seem like a really good deal.
Cool, got a nice weekend of sports coming up. Any idea on times, hopefully prelims are in the afternoon so I don't have to wake up at 5.
Unfortunately I believe they are super early. I think prelims start at 4 AM eastern and finals are at 1 PM Eastern. Not positive on that, I just remember that it's early enough that I'll be able to catch the Mayweather-McGregor card.
Have any brothers been as dumb as the Jordan brothers? You are in college and you have the bodies of greek gods. Jesus this pisses me off. Bo is married with two daughters and now this.
Jamaladdin Magomedov, 2015 World Silver, is OUT of worlds with an injury. AZE will not be sending a HWT now, this really hurts their team title chances. Gwiz's shot at a medal just got significantly better as well.