A HUGE thank you to Slippery Pete as he rolls out the 2026-2027 season without missing a beat! Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Be well my friend.
'26 PSU - Bloomsburg Dual Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Bloom was good and came to wrestle. Hope they stay healthy and have a good year. Some teams show up and don’t want to be here…….generally they kept battling.
I thought we looked good. Persistent pressure and only Ono really looked tired at the end. We have had guys look sluggish at times to start the year……tonight we were workmanlike.
I am glad wrestling is back
I thought we looked good. Persistent pressure and only Ono really looked tired at the end. We have had guys look sluggish at times to start the year……tonight we were workmanlike.
I am glad wrestling is back
Kyle Schneider won 3 Nattys as a small HWT. Being strong and quick > Being heavier.
If Ono takes neutral to start the second it is a tech in under 3:30. They want to see what he can do on bottom, evaluate his tank. Strategy might change later in the year, but let him wrestle through the style and learn what his match has to look like in folk against the top tier.
I had an adrenaline dump, and I was just watching.
He is going to be naturalized as an American citizen and knock Lord Spencer off the Olympic team.
Everybody ate Rocco alive last year when he decided to try and score more and gave up some takedowns via scrambling. I was glad to see him open up. Same with Masa only as strong as your weakest link and somebody is gonna find it eventually, hit it head on.
I’m thankful I became a wrestling fan about 10 years ago. After the football season had me feeling meh, wrestling starts and it’s just a fun watch. Great start to the season, was most interested to see how Connor would do in his first match. Obviously I’m not an expert but I thought he looked good and think his quickness over the heavier opponents should help him do well.
Statbroadcast also had it 39-3, although I am a little concerned Bloomsburg outscored us 28-8 in escapes.
I was impressed with how fundamentally sound Bloomsburg was. That, combined with their effort, made this a fun dual to watch. Yes Penn State rolled, but Bloomsburg was game. Respect. It also is yet another sign of the strength of Pennsylvania prep wrestling.
Talk was always going to be about Ono but few things:
1. If they awarded the takedown in the second, the match is over. The third is where all the "maybe he won't be able to translate to folk" talks happened. He was gassed and his scrambling was completely lost as a result. But you know what? I'm very glad it happened, it's one of the best ways to learn.
2. The kid has been waiting for this moment forever, you completely gassed himself out trying to go for a first period techfall. Yes he's been in high stakes matches before but this is by far the most eyes that has ever been on him and he knows it. Everyone has been waiting for his folk debut. The fact we're here nitpicking it (for better or worse) shows there was pressure to it. Heck, he wanted to have some fun and show he can tilt.
3. He took bottom and got an escape! Not against someone that should be able to hold him down but he looked a lot like other PSU wrestlers, don't rush it, just be patient and methodical.
4. I'm assuming a lot of his matches vs top opponents will be similar to how he handled his Desmond wrestleoff. He'll pick his spots of when to shoot but otherwise he knows he can stand in front of you and defend without getting taken down. He can conserve his tank that way.
5. Seems a lot of people are writing him off a folkstyle debut where he got a 11 point major so if he does end up being really good, be sure to give some credit to PSU coaches for coaching!
1. If they awarded the takedown in the second, the match is over. The third is where all the "maybe he won't be able to translate to folk" talks happened. He was gassed and his scrambling was completely lost as a result. But you know what? I'm very glad it happened, it's one of the best ways to learn.
2. The kid has been waiting for this moment forever, you completely gassed himself out trying to go for a first period techfall. Yes he's been in high stakes matches before but this is by far the most eyes that has ever been on him and he knows it. Everyone has been waiting for his folk debut. The fact we're here nitpicking it (for better or worse) shows there was pressure to it. Heck, he wanted to have some fun and show he can tilt.
3. He took bottom and got an escape! Not against someone that should be able to hold him down but he looked a lot like other PSU wrestlers, don't rush it, just be patient and methodical.
4. I'm assuming a lot of his matches vs top opponents will be similar to how he handled his Desmond wrestleoff. He'll pick his spots of when to shoot but otherwise he knows he can stand in front of you and defend without getting taken down. He can conserve his tank that way.
5. Seems a lot of people are writing him off a folkstyle debut where he got a 11 point major so if he does end up being really good, be sure to give some credit to PSU coaches for coaching!
missed the match live but just watched it on btn+. first of all, with all of the accolades PSU has with their wrestling team, they can't find former wrestlers (any) that can call the action? There wasn't any fist to the back but there was a lot of general BS. We should lead in this area as well.
I thought we would get more falls. Regardless, overall great match for the first one. Not much to be said. Except, I don't want to see our Hwt caught underneath when you are outweighed...
Cant wait until Sunday
I thought we would get more falls. Regardless, overall great match for the first one. Not much to be said. Except, I don't want to see our Hwt caught underneath when you are outweighed...
Cant wait until Sunday
You must have been the dude sitting in my section that no one could stand because he couldn’t stop mouthing off the entire match.
Bloomsburg mauled Duke, and they're one of the 3 teams we wrestle in Binghamton next month. I was very impressed with Bloomsburg too.
I’ll give credit to Bloomsburg for actually coming to wrestle tonight. I think they only had 3 or 4 stall calls the whole dual. That’s significantly less than most of PSU’s opponents, even the highly ranked ones. I also didn’t see any guys constantly running out of bounds to avoid action. So kudos to them.
Just think, Scooter could have wrestled 141 tonight. Hope he gets straight, I like him.
Per PSU's stats, they had:
HWT: 1 warning
197: 1 warning
184: 1 warning
174: Two warnings, one penalty point for PSU
157: 1 warning
141: 1 warning
125: 1 warning
I would need to go back through the scoresheet to confirm those. It was PSU's first night using Stat Broadcast, so there could be some errors (the 141 one, for example, is credited with no time left on the clock in the first period).
Regardless, your original point stands. Impressed with how they came to wrestle.
Observations:
Luke looked good. He’s a skinny dude.
Ono struggled with mat wrestling and gassed hard. It’s a long season and he’ll improve, but there are glaring weaknesses there. And he’s little.
Not sure if Hayden took a shot and definitely wasn’t getting hand control from bottom. It’s so strange to see so many wrestlers in college struggle with hand control, especially at first. Feel like it was such a point of emphasis from my coaches. Maybe these guys were so good before college they didn’t need to learn it.
Van Ness is such a happy dude.
Kasak wrestled tough, and I didn’t feel like he gassed, and I know others have said Turi is good, but he’s also a true freshman. Maybe a bit of rust from Kasak.
Duke looked good.
Messenbrink was Messenbrink, but he’s not a full-size 174. Probably won’t matter.
Welsh looked great.
Barr too.
I’d like to know Connor’s weight. I’m guessing at least 230. I didn’t think he looked like a small heavyweight. Not big, but not small either. Showed some quickness for a heavyweight, but he did gas a bit. (Edit: just saw Greg’s post saying 228.8)
Luke looked good. He’s a skinny dude.
Ono struggled with mat wrestling and gassed hard. It’s a long season and he’ll improve, but there are glaring weaknesses there. And he’s little.
Not sure if Hayden took a shot and definitely wasn’t getting hand control from bottom. It’s so strange to see so many wrestlers in college struggle with hand control, especially at first. Feel like it was such a point of emphasis from my coaches. Maybe these guys were so good before college they didn’t need to learn it.
Van Ness is such a happy dude.
Kasak wrestled tough, and I didn’t feel like he gassed, and I know others have said Turi is good, but he’s also a true freshman. Maybe a bit of rust from Kasak.
Duke looked good.
Messenbrink was Messenbrink, but he’s not a full-size 174. Probably won’t matter.
Welsh looked great.
Barr too.
I’d like to know Connor’s weight. I’m guessing at least 230. I didn’t think he looked like a small heavyweight. Not big, but not small either. Showed some quickness for a heavyweight, but he did gas a bit. (Edit: just saw Greg’s post saying 228.8)
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This was strange as a 2026 natty banner was already hanging in rec hall right next to all the others. Many of us were confused.
I would bet It is probably the *** wipe screaming, "do it again" He's been a PIA for the last five years and actually thinks he is funny. Give it a rest cupcake.
I did not, but deferred to Penn State’s official stats, which I see have now updated to list it 39-3 as well. I’ve updated my story as well. Thanks.
What I've heard him say is that if Haines can get the TRO and be cleared to wrestle that he should do so and be the "in case of emergency, break glass" guy to use as a backup at 174 and at 184 in case of injury. That makes perfect sense, but only if Levi and the coaches want that to be so. I can certainly see a scenario where Levi says that he's ready to move on to freestyle and that he's finished his PSU wrestling career. I personally doubt that he'll continue to pursue it.
I'm pretty sure Ono's pd 2 and pd3 performance is not related to conditioning. I think it is much more plausible that adrenaline was way too high before/at begining of match OR he the cut to 125 for Japan's national team is impacting his tank. would love to know his weight at weigh-in.
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