2026 Southern Scuffle tournament thread
- Thread starter Acacia
- Start date
I missed it, as I was at the Philadelphia Eagles game. I'm pretty busy this week, but if I get a chance to view it, I'll post my thoughts.
Hayden will make some lucky, lucky program an excellent coach if he chooses that path. He's smart, personable and has learned firsthand from the best.
Yeah, not prepared to speculate to that level. Asher will have 4 years after this year to figure it out, and there’s numerous x factors: injury, olympic redshirts, guys changing weight classes, opting for Bob’s Big Bags (lol, right?). I was simply saying his skill set is already deeply intriguing, and he has plenty of time to develop (as he has done consistently) & fill in any gaps.
and then would never get close to getting the number of matches at 141 he needs, which would make qualifying at B10s even dicier, though I would not bet against him
At Rutgers they are busy qualifying FOR Big Tens.
Well for sure I hate to think of PSU without Casey. He’s our secret sauce. After watching his sons (they are clearly strong and talented) I started to try to figure out how they fit into projected line ups. It was a bit hard to see when they might become starters, but, skill development being what it is in our room, . . . there are a few scenarios where they start and AA. There are also scenarios where they never become full time starters. As a Dad, I was thinking about how Casey might deal with uber elite recruits shutting his kids out. I mean you only have one go at being a Dad to each boy. I think it possible that he would do “anything” to get his boys a shot at being a starter (which they very clearly could do at every other program in the country. Oh well …. gotta say that my freeking bull isn’t very happy with me this winter.
If the boy(s) have to go elsewhere to chase their NCAA placement dreams, I don't see why it would be considered likely that the father would want to follow them. Many kids go to college; very few dads feel motivated or obligated to follow them.
And if Casey wanted to follow his kids to go elsewhere, would he want to head coach or assistant coach? My guess would be assistant coach.
I would think most kids would be willing to miss 1 or maybe 2 years of team competition.The true elite kids want to wrestle 4 years. I could see Sealey being a target of Taylor. As for the Cunningham boys,they will probably decide their own course of action.Maybe a program names an ex Penn State wrestler as a head coach which might entice the Cunningham boys to transfer with Casey staying in his role at PSU. Eventually more ex PSU wrestlers will get top positions as coaches. I think the Pitt program will go after a PSU bloodline coach.
That's an interesting speculative question. Essentially, if Casey's kids want to leave Penn State, how motivated would Casey be to still be their college coach?
In high school, many dads become head coaches for the express purpose of ensuring good coaching for their sons. On the college level, is there a lot of precedent for dads to very much want to coach their own sons? It seems possible that dads might consider their sons to be ready for some independence and might believe that there are good-enough college coaches out there.
I like half of this post, but there are no ‘half-like’ emoji’s, right?
What's at the root of this change in direction of this thread. Casey isn't going anywhere, if he had the desire, it would have already happened. Wasn't he asked before DT for OSU and said no? Maybe one of the boys eventually portals out, but I tend to doubt that as well.
Kids will maximize their ability at PSU. If you can’t beat the PSU starter, the best place to do so is in the PSU room……..not anywhere else. There simply isn’t the same level of high end talent, starters, backups and NLWC dudes……..anywhere on the planet.
On the planet.
On the planet.
So you are saying there is a distinguishable difference between Casey and his boys versus Larry and his son?
Henckel is in that mix as well, and he's been a step ahead of Asher at every level and doesn't appear to be regressing or stalling in his development in any way, either. And then James is coming in another year as well, and who knows what his weight will be by then. Asher absolutely looks like someone who is a potential AA (at least) by the end of is career, but it's going to be tough for him to crack the lineup here. We'll see. It certainly won't be from a lack of ability on his part, that's for sure.
Penn State's JV team (+ Barr) wins the Southern Scuffle. When did you ever think THAT would be a thing in this world? LOL.
In all seriousness, who is Larry?
(BTW, I didn’t even realize that the post you responded to was sent. I thought I had lost it, and so I made a new post to replace it.
)Just poking fun at the Lees, Larry and Spencer.In all seriousness, who is Larry?
(BTW, I didn’t even realize that the post you responded to was sent. I thought I had lost it, and so I made a new post to replace it.
It was great they won, but realistically, the scuffle isn't anywhere near what is was 10 yrs ago. Neither is the midlands.
Yes......very sad.....those tournaments have been blown out of the water by the Soldier Salute
With all the discussion about finding enough slots for the current and future roster, I have been a proponent for adding an 11th weight class for years.
High School has 13 slots including 220. Rework the weights a little and create a 215 -220 weight. It helps the guy looking at freestyle 218. Plus it eliminates crazy tie criteria, it would be most matches won.
At one time the 9.9 rule was a reason not to add a weight. With all the new roster and NIL rules that argument is dated .
High School has 13 slots including 220. Rework the weights a little and create a 215 -220 weight. It helps the guy looking at freestyle 218. Plus it eliminates crazy tie criteria, it would be most matches won.
At one time the 9.9 rule was a reason not to add a weight. With all the new roster and NIL rules that argument is dated .
On Connor Pierce's road to the title he beat a former Ohio state champ and a Minnesota state champ. The best Connor did in HS was a 2nd place finish in PA. He's just another example of a guy who comes to PSU and jumps levels.
While true, it's missing context. Pierce's road to his state finals included a win over 2x PA state champ Collin Gaj. That year he went 37-1, the 1 being a 5-1 loss to Crookham in the state finals.
Let's ask Cole Mirosola what his thoughts of a 220 weight class would be.
I doubt good enough is said alot around the Cunningham realm.
If he can jump a level next year, He could make the lineup. The match with Rocco was competitive in November. He should keep getting better. But no doubt he is fun to watch.
His finish this year would be nearly identical to his 285 placement, given the NCAA HWT podium contenders are almost exclusively light heavies and former college 197s.Let's ask Cole Mirosola what his thoughts of a 220 weight class would be.
(Or @LemonPie would get his wish and Barr would bump up. In which case, Connor Mirasola would like it.)
The exception and therefore real winner would be Nathan Taylor.
The losers would be everybody watching HWT and 197 as those 2 weights dilute.
It also looks like Conner won the ice bucket from the hotel.
Great photo of these guys. They work their tails off for these moments.
Great photo of these guys. They work their tails off for these moments.
I think that is an urn for his opponents' ashes.
I just watched the movie Gettysburg. Sometimes people will run up a mile long hill in the middle of the summer heat not for the money.
Certainly this year is a down year for Heavyweight, allowing some lighter big guys to be in the mix. However, just go back to last year and HWT division was dominated by 250+ pound guys. The finals confirmed that big guys can put on good show
I think it's just make sense if you have 4 weights from 125 to 149, that having 3 weights from 185 to 285 for 18 to 24 year olds makes sense .
We as a board discuss this every few months. Sounds like a great idea, right up until looking at the actual talent.
Does it matter if the better HWTs are lighter or heavier in any given year? There aren't enough of them + 197s to field 3 weights, and haven't been for a long time. Adding a 3rd weight guarantees at least 2 will be crappy.
I mean, Konner Doucet is ranked 7th at HWT. That's not a weight with talent to spare.
HS is no better. 189/195, 215/220, and 285 have been the 3 weakest weights forever -- and then several of the best play football in college (such as PA AAA HWT finalist Maxwell Roy, now a DT at Ohio State).
In any case, it's merely a wish. There's no way NCAA is gonna add another starter for a non-revenue men's sport.
Based on the number of forfeits in HS duals, I don't think using the number of weight classes in HS to justify adding weights in college is a good argument. In an Olympic sport that struggles to justify its existence at many universities, I also don't think adding cost is a good idea.