True but my response is scoring bonus with our true freshmen not getting a lot of bonus but you are right Merrill is part of that statistic also. He is a redshirt freshman.
2026 NCAA Wrestling Championship Official Thread
- Thread starter CowboyMedic
- Start date
The seeding helped a little, but it wasn’t going to matter where Mesenbrink, Barr, Haines, Duke, SVN etc were seeded. The difference is that those dudes look to dominate matches and have the skill to do it. The next evolution for guys like Vega and Robideau is imposing their will on anyone they face and I very much so expect that to happen
A big part of imposing our will on our opponents will be improving attacks when we are on our feet. Cody is the most obvious one who needs a lot of work in this area but the only thing that slows Sergio down is scoring off his own shot. Even a star like Mendez was afraid to shoot on Sergio because he gets 80% of his takedowns off his opponent's shots and never gave up a takedown all year. He will destroy opponents if he jumps a level scoring off his own shots and we will be able to breathe easier during his matches. Landon is good in this area, but he could be great with some improvement. He could be a bit Mesenbrink like. Dee should be shooting all the time but in the end likely depended on his double leg to much and needs more variety. Zack does not shoot much. Casey is so quick and should be better on his feet. Casey did not shoot much against Van Ness ( great shot in the first period that he just missed) but not much after. Look at Valencia he just kept shooting and wore Van Ness out. We are looking real good just the way we are but with some improvement in attacking from our feet we could be more dominant.
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Whether you agree it or not, PSU bonuses the guys you are suppose to bonus. We still have ways to go on it. Vega is a national champ, he did not bonus his first round matchup. He had 1 bonus. Casey didnt bonus his first match. Landon didnt bonus anyone. Same for Dee.
We definitely need to improve on it. And DT knows it. He preaches it in all the videos I of him this year.
We definitely need to improve on it. And DT knows it. He preaches it in all the videos I of him this year.
Do we need to score more bonus points to beat PSU? Yes, that's obvious. But our lineup had 6 freshmen in it - you can't compare them to this year's PSU's lineup - arguably the best team in NCAA history. What Taylor has done with this program in 2 years is quite frankly beyond belief. We will be even better next year when those 6 freshman grow up some more, another elite recruiting class gets here and probably a top portal or two coming in to plug holes. We are catching them fast...
The real difference is bonus points at this point. After Thursday morning, both programs were 10-0 but PSU was up close to 15 on us due to bonus. They go for the kill EVERY match. DT is working on that mentality. But if you want to win it all as a team, it is going to take bonus points to do it.
More bonus will come with maturity. True frosh will score more bonus next year.
So is it true that Dee was penalized two teams points? 133 would have tied us with OHST for the highest 2nd place score which is quite an accomplishment.
I will not be in the running to replace wrestleknownothing as a statistician but here I list the top 5 teams and how they wrestled to seed or above.
#1 Oklahoma State wrestled to seed or above in 8 weights.
#2 Iowa wrestled to seed or above in 7 weights.
#3 Penn State wrestled to seed or above in 5 weights
3. Ohio State wrestled to seed or above in 5 weights
5. Nebraska wrestled to seed or above in 3 weights.
I really like seeing Penn State tied for 3rd.
#1 Oklahoma State wrestled to seed or above in 8 weights.
#2 Iowa wrestled to seed or above in 7 weights.
#3 Penn State wrestled to seed or above in 5 weights
3. Ohio State wrestled to seed or above in 5 weights
5. Nebraska wrestled to seed or above in 3 weights.
I really like seeing Penn State tied for 3rd.
Pro tip: go watch the trailer to The Climb Part 5. Chills… we get to see the clips of the highs but seeing the lows, changes the brain chemistry. So fortunate to have DT, Dan the cameraman and these wrestlers. They feel like family and it’s a helluva lotta fun to watch and be a part of.
....the bonus points from the higher rated wrestler "devouring" the lesser opponent has been a great contribution to the massive PSU point totals overall....I am not smart enough to retrace and figure out those numbers, but bonus points possible from a #1 starting out at #32 vs. #7 and #8 route or something similar to a finals is large...how large could be estimated by charting the three freshmen's point totals as number 1 seeds vs. where they started this year........different sized fish in different bodies of water..............best to all '
I find their clips mostly on X as well as the Stilly Boys IG (which wouldn’t let me link it). They only put the full length things on YouTube.