Bear in mind, 5 of the 7 minutes can be wrestled on their feet and the other 2, the opponent would have to choose top.
EARLY 2026-27 lineup projections/discussions
- Thread starter backdrft76-1
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Flip Ono and Desmond and you have my prediction.
I think 133 'could' be a struggle for Desmond but who knows. He definitely grew out of 125 in half a season.
Blaze needs another year of muscle and experience, he is an A+++ talent but Devino and Seidel out powered him. He was consistently too cautious from neutral against the elite guys and his mat wrestling is just shy of what you need to beat the very best.
Duke will be a 3xer whether he redshirts or not but taking the Zain route to total domination makes sense for the lineup, and his legend. He could definitely make a run at multiple Hodges. I don't think I will ever get over how badly he got screwed.
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we will see!Cole is an Askren kid and they ALL improve gradually, not suddenly. Cole will be just fine. However I have no idea why anyone thinks Ono is going to wrestle at 141. His match with Vega would look like David vs Goliath
What do I want? I want Stanich actually.
Well… if Cunningham beats out Welsh for 184, and Barr goes to 285… would Welsh go 197?
why should he redshirt ne beat everyone but the refs!PJ Duke could really use a redshirt year though. The mental side of the sport is also important and that weight cut had to wear and tear on his mind. I think if he wants to, he will redshirt. If he doesn't? Listen, Mitchell is another one of our Mt Rushmore Gods of wrestling and if it was for the best for the team then hell yeah he would move up to 174 and just like the others he will major everyone and then beat poor Minto again in the final, who would have to be screaming to himself "just when I had the title THIS **** happens again
At the awards presentation Davis standing next to Ono looked twice the size, Ono isn’t going 141.
My thoughts having read this thread: JJ is not beating a Will Henckel who has been in the room. PJ said in an interview at NCAAs that making 57 is NOT out of the question. Desmond is too small for 141. Welsh beat Cunningham pretty bad at West Point, saw it with my own eyes. Yours, the Casual Poster.
If Duke doesn't shirt, we 'might' lose either Henkle or Kasak and I don't see Cael letting that happen.
Both PJ and Marcus could benefit from a redshirt (Marcus especially), and it's the only path towards total lineup harmony next year, granted that had not necessarily been Cael's top motivating theme historically.
I still think Duke will end up one of our very best all time, but three things to consider: With a redshirt he becomes a an even more scary unstoppable force for 3 years. No he is not going up and beating Mitch. Pulling a Levi and jumping all the up to 174 is an ill conceived plan for many reasons.
As for Portal? The only 3d chess move is to flip Ross and let him redshirt a year. That would hurt DT which is a nice bonus, and secure the future for heavyweight. And yes, after getting eviscerated by the collective last summer, I'll double down on my assessment of Cole. Sorry he just doesn't have the body for a national champion at heavy even with 10 more lbs. His ceiling is low AA which is pretty damned good, but there are far too many here blinded by their blue and white goggles.
Both PJ and Marcus could benefit from a redshirt (Marcus especially), and it's the only path towards total lineup harmony next year, granted that had not necessarily been Cael's top motivating theme historically.
I still think Duke will end up one of our very best all time, but three things to consider: With a redshirt he becomes a an even more scary unstoppable force for 3 years. No he is not going up and beating Mitch. Pulling a Levi and jumping all the up to 174 is an ill conceived plan for many reasons.
As for Portal? The only 3d chess move is to flip Ross and let him redshirt a year. That would hurt DT which is a nice bonus, and secure the future for heavyweight. And yes, after getting eviscerated by the collective last summer, I'll double down on my assessment of Cole. Sorry he just doesn't have the body for a national champion at heavy even with 10 more lbs. His ceiling is low AA which is pretty damned good, but there are far too many here blinded by their blue and white goggles.
Barr isn’t going up. He is right where he needs to be two win two more titles and take a more than solid run at the Olympics.
We just set a scoring record with a freshman HWT.
My question is will Conner be content to sit four 2 more years?
First world problems
We just set a scoring record with a freshman HWT.
My question is will Conner be content to sit four 2 more years?
First world problems
I think Cael will continue to keep an eye on Ross. Another thing that will be interesting every off season will be the Bassett clan testing the waters every off season. Not saying we will be apart of that
The Mocco match was the one Cole scored only on step outs, he scored mostly on takedowns in his 3 wins over Ross in the Open and Junior Trials. The scores against Ross were 7-5 in the Open and 4-1, 5-2 in sweeping the Trials best of 3.
Yeah. I am a believer in Ross. He is not yet a heavy, but will fill out nicely in 2 years. I am quite confident his ceiling is higher than Cole who really is a 197 pushed to heavy.
Other than that most of our problems are 2-3 years out when possibly Ono, Mitch, Shane move on, and then the following when Luke, and Josh say goodbye. That's a lot of firepower in a short amount of time and only a few have an answer in our current pipeline. DTs squad with be full to the brim at that time.
I see a lot of folks slotting Kasak at 157. Are we sure he hasn’t outgrown that weight?
Been wrestling freestyle around there. Not sure if actual weight class
They will fit in nicely with RS unless heavier Jordan Raney beats out whoever is 149. Real good fit actually.
The Raneys do for well
One might need to RS the other take 149 if not he'll RS and start next year
From Forrest to Locket they allove up a weight
.fits perfect
It’s exactly the same as when he’s standing still. Freak of nature
Couldn't get down to 125 without kidney issues. Not sure we see him at 125
Ono gets chunky and can see 155 with no issues. He said he was over 170 before. He had a kidney issue trying to make 57KG he gets big and has no issues cutting weight. Blaze looks like a 133 again Seidel made him look small. And Luke is a 125 looks like career at this point
well there is one freak here unable to answer a simple question!It’s exactly the same as when he’s standing still. Freak of nature
I honestly at first glance thought they handed the trophy to someone's kid when they gave it to him.
There is a huge difference between Cunningham (black knight invite) or even Southern Scuffle and end of season.
Welsh is a whisker away from being a national champ and I have my doubts also, but I have heard Cunningham is right there with him.
This team rewrote record books, next year's is probably better. It is going to be fun watching the dynamics play out.
I have golf to play right now though. I should be just about terrible, but I will still be playing
Talking with people with ties to Perrysburg Blaze wanted to go 141 this year but wrestlled 33 for the team and will be a 141 next year
Getting to 57kg put him in renal failure so doubt 125 is the season long goal.
Then he better “hit the weights hard”. For real
I thought i saw Kevin Hart at one point.I honestly at first glance thought they handed the trophy to someone's kid when they gave it to him.
They are built completely differently. Guys carry weight differently. Everyone talks about how huge Zahid and MacEnelly are but guys who are around them say they aren’t cutting a ton of weight. Ono is absolutely short but he’s thick. His legs are huge. You can’t have 2 guys stand side by side in clothes and make definitive statements about their weight. I do think 133 would be his best weight but I also think he mops the floor with pretty much everyone at 141 as well
Ross has also had major shoulder surgery. Not a great injury for wrestlers especially when wrestling the big guys. It could turn out to be nothing but I’d be a bit apprehensive
If I was forced to wager I’d take James in a wrestle off. He’s in an ultra elite tier. Taking nothing away from Henckel who is elite but possibly a notch just below
James is among the likes of Bassett and Duke
Fit goes away as soon as Jax can’t pull 133 anymore. The problem with the slide up is that there’s no one at 149 , no? So Jax to 141, Vega to 149, ?? 157, Robideau 165, Dee 174.
Can the Raney twins be 133/157? If the plan is 133/149, is Vega a 157?
Maybe Jax all the way up there eventually.
Good problem to have but the meat being in that window means we’re probably seeing one Raney a year until it clears out in 2030. That ignores Rocklin Zinkin and Ramirez.
Yep
125 Luke
133 Ono (he will be the answer to those highly talented freshmen)
141 Blaze
149 SVN
157 kasak
165 pj
174 Mitch
184 rocco
197 Barr
Hvy Cole or a transfer
Probably lose Desmond if it shakes out this way. He showed a lot of promise and was the only guy that beat Luke. A redshirt from Blaze gets Nate in the lineup and you figure things out the following season.
I think it’s possible even if his projected weight class for 28 Olympic attempt would be 163 pounds. Seems like a guy who might want new challenges and relish going for 174 title slightly undersized.
wouldn’t count it for sure, has over a year to get back down to Olympic weight