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jtothemfp

jtothemfp

Senior
Aug 24, 2010
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417
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jack66 said:
All this speculation is driving me nuts. Most of it is coming from a position of ignorance.

I just hope the kid gets on the mat and shows, one way or the other, how good he can be in Folk.
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Agreed, which is why Byers saying, this morning, that "I think fans will be very happy with what they see Thursday night against Bloomsburg."

and

"I think he's just going to get going and make sure he at least gets the most out of this season, which he knows he does have, and then we'll go from there."

is so compelling!

I mean, that from Byers *has to eclipse all the no-info, misinfo & disinfo out there, right?
 
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dicemen99

dicemen99

All-American
Nov 15, 2005
3,613
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Goggles Paisano said:
To hear Desmond got "both" a reversal and a rideout is not a glowing endorsement for Ono's mat wrestling, especially up a weight. Granted room familiarity and all of that.....
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Reversal and rideout - in the same period. It happens a lot.

In case you are not familiar with him - and it's you, so you're not - Desmond is very good on top.

This is not to say that Ono won't struggle with some of the top guys when he is on bottom - but that is also true of 97% of all wrestlers, including NC level guys. It is to say that nothing that happened in the wrestle off seems too surprising and certainly not worth a full page screed.
 
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jtothemfp

jtothemfp

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Aug 24, 2010
195
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dicemen99 said:
Reversal and rideout - in the same period. It happens a lot.

In case you are not familiar with him - and it's you, so you're not - Desmond is very good on top.

This is not to say that Ono won't struggle with some of the top guys when he is on bottom - but that is also true of 97% of all wrestlers, including NC level guys. It is to say that nothing that happened in the wrestle off seems too surprising and certainly not worth a full page screed.
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I like that his ball-knower mom even suggests Desmond should have chosen Top:

1794246737735.png
 
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vhsalum

All-American
Nov 14, 2002
2,191
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jtothemfp said:
I like that his ball-knower mom even suggests Desmond should have chosen Top:

View attachment 1524892
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Zach GIF
 
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ElDuce

ElDuce

All-Conference
Oct 29, 2022
1,702
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Ono at 141 reminds me of mark hall at 174, challenged vertically, snaller than most of his opponents, Zahid length was an isuue, always thought Hall would have been better at 165. I know, in Cael we trust.
 
WexfordWarrior

WexfordWarrior

All-Conference
Jun 3, 2025
539
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dicemen99 said:
Reversal and rideout - in the same period. It happens a lot.

In case you are not familiar with him - and it's you, so you're not - Desmond is very good on top.

This is not to say that Ono won't struggle with some of the top guys when he is on bottom - but that is also true of 97% of all wrestlers, including NC level guys. It is to say that nothing that happened in the wrestle off seems too surprising and certainly not worth a full page screed.
Click to expand...
 
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M

McScoreley

All-Conference
Oct 31, 2021
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vhsalum said:
Exactly. I just want to see it. Jax is probably going to torture him in the scrambles. He may be able to blow through Seidel on a few takedowns though.

Plus - Bassett needs some competition - and Blaze is his last domestic loss.
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So funny thing is we do have a point of reference. Jax and Seidel both wrestled Reineri Andreu Ortega, who is a very decorated free wrestler with no folk experience. Ono is a superior athlete and wrestler to Ortega.

Neutral did translate, Seidel was down 3-1 after 1. But he took top and got 2 turns and got pinned on the second before the period expired. Would have been 9-3 otherwise and that's pretty insurmountable. One thing also discussed before is Seidel is a funky folk scrambler, he beat Blaze rolling through his back last year but was not close to his own takedown. It's not easy to take Seidel down though in general.

Jax did not take top (probably because he viewed it as a learning experience in a match that didn't count) and won a scramble I think to win 4-0. I suspect in a NCAA match vs Ono, he's taking top and trying to run the ball and chain over and over.

Here's my take on Ono, he has to take bottom as often as possible in regular season. Take a loss or several from it if you need. Getting experience is way more important than seed. Enter tournaments and take bottom. There's no practice like a real match where you know every opponent would love the chance to beat you. People say "he'll get practice in the room", no matter what, teammates (even if they're trying) is not the same thing.
 
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Goggles Paisano

Goggles Paisano

All-Conference
Feb 6, 2018
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dicemen99 said:
Reversal and rideout - in the same period. It happens a lot.

In case you are not familiar with him - and it's you, so you're not - Desmond is very good on top.

This is not to say that Ono won't struggle with some of the top guys when he is on bottom - but that is also true of 97% of all wrestlers, including NC level guys. It is to say that nothing that happened in the wrestle off seems too surprising and certainly not worth a full page screed.
Click to expand...
 
E

Efejle

All-Conference
Apr 30, 2023
1,374
2,715
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So, hang on....in his first wrestling match, up a weight at 141, against Nate Desmond, the preseason #15 or so ranked guy...Ono won 6-4 but gave up a reversal, followed by a ride out? The "ride out" clearly not being more than 30-45 seconds. Then Ono won the match in the third.

Yep. Absolutely time to freak out 😂
 
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C

Corby2

Heisman
Jul 14, 2025
5,654
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113
Efejle said:
So, hang on....in his first wrestling match, up a weight at 141, against Nate Desmond, the preseason #15 or so ranked guy...Ono won 6-4 but gave up a reversal, followed by a ride out? The "ride out" clearly not being more than 30-45 seconds. Then Ono won the match in the third.

Yep. Absolutely time to freak out 😂
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Are we sure the match was at 141? Both guys did cert 133 so did Blaze
 
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Ernie Ladd

Ernie Ladd

Junior
Apr 6, 2015
165
316
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I took a couple of things from the Byers interview:

(a) Not sure that we will see Blaze on Thursday. Almost sounds like a ramp-up period.
(b) No mention of Braeden Davis.
 
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dicemen99

dicemen99

All-American
Nov 15, 2005
3,613
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Ernie Ladd said:
I took a couple of things from the Byers interview:

(a) Not sure that we will see Blaze on Thursday. Almost sounds like a ramp-up period.
(b) No mention of Braeden Davis.
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I don't think there has been an announcement, but my expectation is that Davis is not currently in play for a starting role on the team (I think that should be the correct wording).
 
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M

McScoreley

All-Conference
Oct 31, 2021
582
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I think redshirt is a term that's just hard not to say. Similar to saying two when it's three. It's semantics.

But yes, you can "redshirt" but it doesn't mean anything other than that you're not the starter and lost a year. It used to mean you're not using a year of eligibility but you had 5 for 4 anyays. Now you're using a year but you still have 4 when the dust settles.

There are some beneifts, I think you can wrestle attached at tournaments, which allows the school to pay for your costs directly and also I think there's insurance stipulations and all that stuff. Also, the free dates for freshman is no longer a thing, you can just keep wrestling since the year counts regardless and you can do it for everyone now, not just freshman.
 
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vhsalum

All-American
Nov 14, 2002
2,191
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McScoreley said:
I think redshirt is a term that's just hard not to say. Similar to saying two when it's three. It's semantics.

But yes, you can "redshirt" but it doesn't mean anything other than that you're not the starter and lost a year. It used to mean you're not using a year of eligibility but you had 5 for 4 anyays. Now you're using a year but you still have 4 when the dust settles.

There are some beneifts, I think you can wrestle attached at tournaments, which allows the school to pay for your costs directly and also I think there's insurance stipulations and all that stuff. Also, the free dates for freshman is no longer a thing, you can just keep wrestling since the year counts regardless and you can do it for everyone now, not just freshman.
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No, no, no.

All students enrolled prior to 2026-2027, could choose the "old" system or the new. You could use a redshirt, medshirt but you only get 4 years to compete.
 
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M

McScoreley

All-Conference
Oct 31, 2021
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vhsalum said:
No, no, no.

All students enrolled prior to 2026-2027, could choose the "old" system or the new. You could use a redshirt, medshirt but you only get 4 years to compete.
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I know about the "opt in" rules but why would you opt into the old rules unless you have a medshirt? Are Olympic Redshirts still a thing? I thought they got rid of those.

I'll use two examples:

Luke Lilledahl, he never redshirted. Why would he opt into the old rules? He basically has 3 years to compete now. If he wants to "redshirt", he can just sit a year as a nonstarter no?

Tyler Kasak is another example, he already redshirted last year. What difference does it make if he opts into the new or old rules.

If he opts into the new rules, he has 2 years left to compete (since last year counts since he's been in college for 3 years)
If he opts into the old rules, he has 2 years left to compete.
 
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V

vhsalum

All-American
Nov 14, 2002
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McScoreley said:
I know about the "opt in" rules but why would you opt into the old rules unless you have a medshirt? Are Olympic Redshirts still a thing? I thought they got rid of those.

I'll use two examples:

Luke Lilledahl, he never redshirted. Why would he opt into the old rules? He basically has 3 years to compete now. If he wants to "redshirt", he can just sit a year as a nonstarter no?

Tyler Kasak is another example, he already redshirted last year. What difference does it make if he opts into the new or old rules.

If he opts into the new rules, he has 2 years left to compete (since last year counts since he's been in college for 3 years)
If he opts into the old rules, he has 2 years left to compete.
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I agree with you, and definitely doesn't make sense. But it does exist.

Now try to get Cael to tell us which he picked.
 
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BriantheLion

All-Conference
Nov 27, 2023
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Ernie Ladd said:
I took a couple of things from the Byers interview:

(a) Not sure that we will see Blaze on Thursday. Almost sounds like a ramp-up period.
(b) No mention of Braeden Davis.
Click to expand...
So then we may see Ono/Desmond or Desmond/Ono
vhsalum said:
No, no, no.

All students enrolled prior to 2026-2027, could choose the "old" system or the new. You could use a redshirt, medshirt but you only get 4 years to compete.
Click to expand...
Davis has gone 3/3 so far… whether he uses this year or not, he has next year, then is done.
 
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M

McScoreley

All-Conference
Oct 31, 2021
582
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vhsalum said:
I agree with you, and definitely doesn't make sense. But it does exist.

Now try to get Cael to tell us which he picked.
Click to expand...
The only way I see it making sense is if opting into the old rules mean you can continue to apply for medshirts indefinitely (for example if you get hurt 2028-2029, you can get it back) but I was told there was a deadline for that also.

But an example that would make sense, Connor Mirasola qualified for a medshirt last year since he got hurt against Wyoming and didn't wrestle again. He can opt into the old rules and get the year back.
 
M

McScoreley

All-Conference
Oct 31, 2021
582
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Everyone will take top on Ono this year, there really isn't a path to score on him otherwise.

The way I see it, it's 2 paths
1. Rollthrough his takedowns with a leg pass (definitely possible)
2. Take top and turn him

If Ono wants to just stand in front of you and control center, it's almost impossible to take him down and if he controls center, he's not going to get a ton of stall calls. The only person who has taken Ono down is Marcus and Ono 100% just conceded it up 7-0 after Marcus got an ankle with like 2 seconds left (almost seemed like a friendly thing like "you worked hard, you can have it") Uguev couldn't, Vito couldn't, Spencer couldn't when Ono was sucked down a bit.

I would not be shocked to see Ono be kind of a "boring" folk wrestler and just play chess matches to win.
 
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C

Corby2

Heisman
Jul 14, 2025
5,654
12,556
113
McScoreley said:
Everyone will take top on Ono this year, there really isn't a path to score on him otherwise.

The way I see it, it's 2 paths
1. Rollthrough his takedowns with a leg pass (definitely possible)
2. Take top and turn him

If Ono wants to just stand in front of you and control center, it's almost impossible to take him down and if he controls center, he's not going to get a ton of stall calls. The only person who has taken Ono down is Marcus and Ono 100% just conceded it up 7-0 after Marcus got an ankle with like 2 seconds left (almost seemed like a friendly thing like "you worked hard, you can have it") Uguev couldn't, Vito couldn't, Spencer couldn't when Ono was sucked down a bit.

I would not be shocked to see Ono be kind of a "boring" folk wrestler and just play chess matches to win.
Click to expand...
Jax and Seidel obviously on top are gonna be problems for everyone. Besides those guys Knox and Willochell are funky and long
 
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Joejitsu

Joejitsu

Senior
Jun 10, 2025
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McScoreley said:
Everyone will take top on Ono this year, there really isn't a path to score on him otherwise.

The way I see it, it's 2 paths
1. Rollthrough his takedowns with a leg pass (definitely possible)
2. Take top and turn him

If Ono wants to just stand in front of you and control center, it's almost impossible to take him down and if he controls center, he's not going to get a ton of stall calls. The only person who has taken Ono down is Marcus and Ono 100% just conceded it up 7-0 after Marcus got an ankle with like 2 seconds left (almost seemed like a friendly thing like "you worked hard, you can have it") Uguev couldn't, Vito couldn't, Spencer couldn't when Ono was sucked down a bit.

I would not be shocked to see Ono be kind of a "boring" folk wrestler and just play chess matches to win.
Click to expand...
Ono...looks incredibly strong and maybe be difficult to dominate from the top position. Plus.. hard to believe that with SVN and others riding him every day.. that he hasnt improved. Also.... I agree... I see him being a boring but dominant folk style wrestler. Ono with a take down can win most matches
 
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Psalm 1 guy

Psalm 1 guy

All-American
Nov 3, 2019
1,489
5,833
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McScoreley said:
Everyone will take top on Ono this year, there really isn't a path to score on him otherwise.

The way I see it, it's 2 paths
1. Rollthrough his takedowns with a leg pass (definitely possible)
2. Take top and turn him

If Ono wants to just stand in front of you and control center, it's almost impossible to take him down and if he controls center, he's not going to get a ton of stall calls. The only person who has taken Ono down is Marcus and Ono 100% just conceded it up 7-0 after Marcus got an ankle with like 2 seconds left (almost seemed like a friendly thing like "you worked hard, you can have it") Uguev couldn't, Vito couldn't, Spencer couldn't when Ono was sucked down a bit.

I would not be shocked to see Ono be kind of a "boring" folk wrestler and just play chess matches to win.
Click to expand...
Ono's height will be helpful to defend against leg passes.
 
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J.E.B

J.E.B

All-Conference
Jul 8, 2001
2,401
3,496
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Ono is a PSU treasure who will entertain. A instant fan favorite and great for the sport. Must be nice to only worry about being turned while on bottom. The guy’s a fire hydrant. Good luck trying to ride and turn a mass of muscle.

He has been training with the best for over a year. I suspect he will do quite well. Besides he’ll probably have a couple TDs in the first period. Riding time will be of no value if you are behind by 3-4 pts.
 
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FlyingLion

FlyingLion

Senior
Oct 31, 2021
100
526
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Definitely like the idea of Ono at 133 over 141.

As long as the cut in under control, he will have much more horsepower in relation to the field which will come in handy from down position. Also will have fewer "tall" guys to deal with.

It will be nice to see him finally compete for PSU after two years of discussing.
 
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S

SJP80

Junior
Oct 12, 2021
118
298
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McScoreley said:
Everyone will take top on Ono this year, there really isn't a path to score on him otherwise.

The way I see it, it's 2 paths
1. Rollthrough his takedowns with a leg pass (definitely possible)
2. Take top and turn him

If Ono wants to just stand in front of you and control center, it's almost impossible to take him down and if he controls center, he's not going to get a ton of stall calls. The only person who has taken Ono down is Marcus and Ono 100% just conceded it up 7-0 after Marcus got an ankle with like 2 seconds left (almost seemed like a friendly thing like "you worked hard, you can have it") Uguev couldn't, Vito couldn't, Spencer couldn't when Ono was sucked down a bit.

I would not be shocked to see Ono be kind of a "boring" folk wrestler and just play chess matches to win.
Click to expand...
Conversely, instead of being a boring folkstyle wrestler, couldn’t he take the more typical PSU approach and use the first period to rack up 3-4 takedowns and releases, go into the second up 12-3, and potentially be just a couple takedowns away from a tech fall? Especially if one of his biggest strengths is getting to guys’ legs.

That seems a lot more fun to me than hand fighting and holding center, which actually plays into the only real way some of these guys can beat him: turning it into a one-takedown match.
 
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TwoJoints

TwoJoints

Senior
Feb 2, 2025
265
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Joejitsu said:
Ono...looks incredibly strong and maybe be difficult to dominate from the top position. Plus.. hard to believe that with SVN and others riding him every day.. that he hasnt improved. Also.... I agree... I see him being a boring but dominant folk style wrestler. Ono with a take down can win most matches
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Can’t wait to see him double arm bar someone and then take his time to methodically walk around the head!
 
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Honcho

Honcho

Senior
Jan 20, 2016
247
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I'm excited to see Ono finally get his opportunity. In my mind I keep going back to Ono vs Davino in RAF. Neither were really close to scoring a TD. Ono won with 3 push outs and a shot clock point. While I'm simply stating the obvious, his matches against the elite very well could come down to him being able to escape. It makes me nervous, but nervous in the best kind of fan way.
 
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