I am guessing Nick Lee had a lot to do with him coming!
Clinton Shepherd to PSU
- Thread starter El_Jefe
- Start date
Don't be bragidoshious. It's like health one day your healthy next day you have cancer. No disrespect
I'm for humbly arrogance, it gets to the fans soul. It digs deeper
Wonder if in small print it will say "We helped Oklahoma State make more money."
Is that 1 or 2 guys this year that Cael landed that werent on the radar.
For 2027, Shepherd is the first not really seen as a target some time ago. Sidun and Burnett were always targeted, Mangano and Soto were seen as strong leans for PSU. IDK if people thought of Whitbred as a target, but he attends State High so not a big surprise.
2026 is the complete opposite: we didn't originally recruit James, Brown, or Weaver but later flipped all 3. Herring is the only guy in that class who we pursued from the start.
Ok. For some reason I thought Shepherd was the second that didnt have us in his top 8. Either way, Cael seems to pull one or 2 of those every year.
IIRC we were very late to the game with Blaze.
I am so excited to watch Marcus' career unfold. His defense will keep him in any match, and his offensive output seems to have really taken off recently. Couple those things with his wrestling intelligence and his ability to put on a tough ride and it is not hard to see great things coming from him at Penn State, much less internationally. Add in PJ and those two are some phenomenal freshmen. We Penn State wrestling fans have already received two fabulous Christmas gifts this year!
Well Cael can offer each and every top 10 kid a full ride. NIL is what it is, adequate but not top dollar at PSU. Every one gets a a redshirt year in the best room in the country, and it still isn't close.
If you can start here you can have a shot at a national title, if you can't you can stay and get better, or portal or, get a bag, and compete against the same guy that won the starting position.
I see no downside for any kids with ability and drive.
If you can start here you can have a shot at a national title, if you can't you can stay and get better, or portal or, get a bag, and compete against the same guy that won the starting position.
I see no downside for any kids with ability and drive.
Get off the phone Clinton, we have Cael Sanderson on the other line!!!!!
Can't wait to see james at psu
Right; LOL.
More seriously, Tan Tom has taken plenty of top recruits from PA over the years (and continues to do so). Ryan has also won a few big recruiting battles against PSU, including Kyle Snyder, Miles Martin, and Jesse Mendez. It hasn't been completely one-sided.
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Seems like maybe wishful thinking regarding the pipeline that may send Cam Howard this way?
We certainly seem to be KD trained goes to college
all kids need to do is go to a practice and they are in!
And TaTo won that championship with full-throated righteous indignation while sticking it to the man!
So yeah, he’s doing pretty great right now.
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…and I hope it never ends.
Yeah Tom has won a few of those battles, but Cael never seems bothered by it. Tom does.
One correction: he won Myles Martin after we landed Bo Nickal at the same weight/year before.
He also beat us out for Joey McKenna, way back before he started whining about transfers. And Cael did go after Bo Jordan and a few others that Ryan landed.
There are few, if any, parallels between Crown Point and Mater Dei, but I get your point.
That was actually my point. He was always better. What I should have said, and meant to say, is that Shepherd is not Blaze, and will never be anywhere near. Probably not near Bassett, either, unless Bassett really plateaus.
Hoare probably projects as a heavyweight, but he won't be one this year, so I'm not putting the cart before the horse. There are actually some other 2028 kids at 215 who are decent - the little Mocco, Pallone, Salas and Davis - so we'll see how much they grow.
Last year, Shepherd won U16 at Fargo.
Bassett, right now, is 19 years old. He was 18 last year.
That is a substantial difference in physical maturity. Which will likely decrease as they get older.
Bassett is a legit upper AA/Finalist level at 149 this year. He majored Jaxon Joy and teched Caleb Tyus. That's impressive even if he is 19 or 20 already. I don't think he'd beat Shayne right now but absolutely it's a match.
I would expect him to beat the crap out of Shepherd right now.
I also think Bassett is near his ceiling already ... which is damn good.
I would expect him to beat the crap out of Shepherd right now.
I also think Bassett is near his ceiling already ... which is damn good.
Bassett pinned Shepherd in about 1:20 at the 2025 Junior Nationals finals.
But it's not all bad news for Shepherd: he made Bassett defensive by closing space and working a Russian tie. Bassett was not comfortable in that position.
But then when he lost the tie, he didn't anticipate Bassett shooting right away from space. That effectively ended the match.
I'd expect Shepherd to both improve his close-range offense and sharpen his focus in the PSU room.
I always walk out of Rec Hall late and the wife and I caught the light at Atherton yesterday after the dual . A guy and I'm assuming it was his girlfriend were waiting to cross on the light.
I stated talking to him as he was wearing a TMWC shirt. As we walked, I found out it was Sam. What a super nice kid. I wish him the best. I was a little embarrassed as I briefly met him at the golf outing practice.
I did not realize that as he is training with the NLWC he had to forego his Senior year at McCort. Learned something new.
I realize our current 165 isn't very good, as he already failed to tech an opponent this year, but he wasn't even good enough to place at Fargo as a 16 year old. Cael went out of his way to recruit this young man, so I'm thinking he is a long way from finished getting better.
Cael didn't recruit him coming out of HS despite Ben Askren darn near pleading with Cael to take.