Just wrapped another impressive National Championship, can any of our resident experts breakdown what our 2023 might look like?
2023 Wrestling lineup
- Thread starter DMaske21
- Start date
125 - Howard
133 - RBY if he returns, otherwise TBD
141 - Bartlett
149 - Van Ness
157 - Haines
165 - Facundo
174 - Starocci
184 - Brooks
197 - Dean if he returns, otherwise Beard
285 - Kerk
RBY is the big question mark -- he said many months ago that this would be his last year, but has backed off that and is now firmly uncommitted. If he doesn't return, the most likely candidates are Evans, Steen, Shunk, and Meredith (if he returns, IIRC he's on track to graduate in May). I'd consider Evans the favorite -- he beat NCAA qualifier Koderhandt this year -- though I don't know if any of them can qualify for nationals thru a full regular season + B10s. So this could be a transfer candidate if RBY leaves.
At 157, I'd expect Cael to give Levi lots of matches at Opens thru the Scuffle with Bearclaw, Negron, and Joe or Matt Lee getting early season starts. And then I'd expect Levi to win the job in time for B10 duals.
I suspect Dean will return. There's some chance he might not -- this is his 6th year out of HS including a grayshirt and 2 Olympic shirts -- though he's never given any indication of leaving.
133 - RBY if he returns, otherwise TBD
141 - Bartlett
149 - Van Ness
157 - Haines
165 - Facundo
174 - Starocci
184 - Brooks
197 - Dean if he returns, otherwise Beard
285 - Kerk
RBY is the big question mark -- he said many months ago that this would be his last year, but has backed off that and is now firmly uncommitted. If he doesn't return, the most likely candidates are Evans, Steen, Shunk, and Meredith (if he returns, IIRC he's on track to graduate in May). I'd consider Evans the favorite -- he beat NCAA qualifier Koderhandt this year -- though I don't know if any of them can qualify for nationals thru a full regular season + B10s. So this could be a transfer candidate if RBY leaves.
At 157, I'd expect Cael to give Levi lots of matches at Opens thru the Scuffle with Bearclaw, Negron, and Joe or Matt Lee getting early season starts. And then I'd expect Levi to win the job in time for B10 duals.
I suspect Dean will return. There's some chance he might not -- this is his 6th year out of HS including a grayshirt and 2 Olympic shirts -- though he's never given any indication of leaving.
Purely a guess, but I think Dean moves on after winning a title. I’m fine with that. Looking forward to Beard returning with a vengeance. Hoping RBY comes back and excited about all the young guys stepping in. We truly are spoiled!
RBY staying is a toss up. If he truly has aspirations for freestyle, there is no better place to be other than he has to get through his buddy Gilman. That said, at this point in his life, does he want to be bothered with school? PSU does have to figure our NIL and not just for wrestling. Right now they just have to get healthy, When you hear Carter had a broken hand in january and Kerk was hurt so bad he wasn't sure he could go against Parris, I suspect it is the tip of the iceberg on exactly how banged up these guys are.
Lee stays and trains with the NLWC.
Lee stays and trains with the NLWC.
Transfer portal changes this discussion from years earlier. I would think that’s there are young men looking at PSU line up wondering if they’d fit
Is the Carr transfer total speculation or grounded in some level of information?
I think that is very wishful thinking based purely off of his relationship with PSU wrestlers, specifically Aaron Brooks. I don't know any details whatsoever, but that is what I can gather from the situation.
I honestly believe if NIL steps up or donors help out RBY will stay. He pretty much said that in his interview last night. Love to see it.
This. It was some parts wishful thinking, some parts HR trying to slime PSU for importing titles (as if Iowa didn't do that). It became a running joke that, repeated often enough, some fans started believing.
There was never any meat on that bone.
I also thought it was funny that he would transfer to PSU for his relationship with Aaron -- instead of transferring to Lock Haven for his relationship with his brother.
I can’t imagine Carr leaving Iowa St given the family’s long standing pedigree there.
You would never turn down interest from a wrestler the caliber of David Carr if he were showing it, but I think Penn State is in a great place with Levi Haines. Levi beat an NCAA qualifier from Navy convincingly earlier this year at the F&M open (Cerniglia...who was 27-7 entering the NCAA tourney). He was up 8-1 with over 2 min of riding time when Cerniglia injury defaulted. This year at the NLWC I think is going to have Haines ready to compete next year as a true freshman. The match with Cerniglia is evidence of that.
For reference, Cerniglia lost to Will Lewan from Michigan 5-3 during the year, pinned Josh Humphreys from Lehigh and lost to Quincy Monday from Princeton 9-4 in the EIWA finals.
For reference, Cerniglia lost to Will Lewan from Michigan 5-3 during the year, pinned Josh Humphreys from Lehigh and lost to Quincy Monday from Princeton 9-4 in the EIWA finals.
Levi also beat Ohio State's Paddy Gallagher 8-3 at the Edinboro Open. Gallagher was the #1 overall recruit in 2021.
This is a pretty strong line-up with or without RBY. I don't think we go shopping if RBY moved on, unless there is some senior this year who wants to give it another try at PSU on their own dime. If Dean leaves, Beard steps in. Given his comments last night, I don't see Max leaving unless he is tired of classwork. If either believe coaching is in their future, they would be crazy to leave.
his comments during the PSWC post-tournament social sure sounded like a confirmation of wanting to come back and being a contributor to the team claiming another title.
I do not see Negron being a factor at 157 - too much of a cut. 8 also suspect Bearclaw drops back to 149. Could be interesting competition between him and Van Ness for the starter role. wrestling up a weight like Bartlett did will be helpful at their more ideal weights.
I heard from a source in PSU sports administration that RBY is coming back.
Full disclosure - this source always is wearing PSU-colored glasses and things that I've heard haven't always been 100% despite their confidence.
Full disclosure - this source always is wearing PSU-colored glasses and things that I've heard haven't always been 100% despite their confidence.
I'm hoping that Van Ness is not "wrestling up a weight" by next season. I guess we'll see, but he has genetics in his favor.
Staying or leaving wouldn't impact any future coaching for either of them. They're both national champs. And "leaving" would mean going NLWC and coaching at M2.
From last night, sure sounds like Dean is returning for his last year.
RBY has played this masterfully. I suspect he returns, but that's just a hunch. If he doesn't, he said a few weeks ago that when he's done with folkstyle, he intends to go NLWC "if they'll have me." As if that's any question whatsoever.
curios to see lineup but with portal transfers so hard to know now. I sure hope Dean returns. As he is an outstanding student-(he had been at Cornell which is top notch academically) curious if he is working on a graduate degree. Must be tough for coaches offering the limited wrestling scholarships if they do not know if a RBY is coming back. Giving and distributing scholarships-which can be partial for wrestling unlike football, basketball-has got to be extremely difficult as there are only 9,9 for 10 starters plus new wrestlers. redshirts!
Just because we don't know doesn't mean that the staff doesn't know and allow the students to announce things in their own time.
With the Ivy League rules, Dean is most likely in is 4th year of enrollment and therefore probably still an undergrad.
We know he grayshirted at FLWC his first year. He took an Olympic shirt in 2020 -- by Ivy rules, his clock would still tick if he were enrolled. And it's a good assumption that he didn't enroll last year when Cornell canceled all athletics.
Dean wasn't even sure he would return this year as he was getting a bit burned out. We'll see as this saga continues.
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Clearly he & AB are great friends. Both last year & this he came up after the Brooks' title matches & gave him big hugs. That said NO idea if he would want to transfer from ISU to PSU.
hope dean returns-winning a NCAA championship can help reduce burnout! Possibly he is so pumped he wants to do it again-I bet he is a happy man
and he should be as I would think almost all good college wrestlers dream of winning a national championship and only 10 do it per year!
and he should be as I would think almost all good college wrestlers dream of winning a national championship and only 10 do it per year!
David very certainly celebrated on the floor with our guys on multiple occasions last weekend. He might want to portal for some over for some of Cael’s secret sauce after not repeating, but, transferring would put his Dad in a difficult position as he is welded to the Cyclone Training Center.
PS: Dresser was a local H.S. coach in our area. Like most (but not all) successful wrestling coaches ….. he’s very demanding (ie: Not fun).
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What will lineups for Iowa and Michigan look like now that they have lost so many senior citizens?
I wouldn't read anything into that in terms of Carr wanting to transfer. Carr did the same thing at last year's NCAAs. Aaron's father, on the previous board, posted that Aaron and David were great friends (along with a few other wrestlers) from their time in youth matches, then rising through the ranks to the elite levels. They've continued that friendship, and celebrate each other's success.
I agree - Beard is no slouch
If Dean comes back how many years will Beard have AFTER that? Does he get a Covid year? I’m guessing 2 or 3. Is it likely/possible for Beard to hit the portal?
My completely uneducated guess is that Dean does not come back and part of the reason Beard did not hit the portal already is because he knew that Dean was gonna be a one year PSU guy. Beard is a top 5 guy at 197 right now and far too great a wrestler to sit on the bench for most of his college career.
Idk. Beard loves PSU. Cael has a plan.
Max has only wrestled 3 seasons. He lost his Covid season and Cornell cancelled a season. I think he almost certainly has another year, maybe even 2. I can't find it. But I think I read somewhere that he does plan to come back. If so and Beard sticks it out here, he'll be what 24 after Max leaves? He'll be another very mature wrestler and certainly competing for the top of the podium.
With Covid, Olympic red shirts & regular red shirts I believe Beard has 3 years left. Understand he started last year & is a solid wrestler. He’s an AA candidate so I might imagine that a transfer out of PSU is possible if he’s going to sit yet another year behind Max.
