Angelo did not lose to a national champ last night.
He’s just projecting forward to the end of this season. LOL.
Here are Iowa grades from a Penn State fan:
125 Peterson. B. Came out aggressive and tried to bully Lilledahl, who is a skinny technician, not a brawler. He did that last year and it worked. This year it didn’t, but he’s just not as good as Lilledahl, and he did what he could. He tried to set a tone, and if he had pulled it out, it would be a different match.
133 Ayala. B-. It’s weird to say a two time finalist is at a talent deficit, but here we are at 133. The influx of world class talent this year is going to make it difficult for either returning finalist to get back there. Blaze is a kid who beat the #1 ranked NCAA wrestler and made the Olympic team as a 16 year old high school junior. He may be the best recruit Cael has ever gotten,
and he’s no lock for the finals either. I can’t wait for 133 at nationals this year. Ayala did what he could and can still beat anyone with a little good fortune.
141 Bailey. B+. A+ first period, C rest of match. Both guys gassed, but credit to Bailey for stopping backing up to avoid the last stall that would have sent the match to OT. Davis had no offense at that point, he was just looking for another stall.
149 Block. B-. Great job getting the takedown, but in what is a recurring theme, he’s good, but just not good enough. Did a good job avoiding the 6 in the bow and arrow. Contrast that with Dillard vs Antrell who gave up and pinned himself in the last second after giving up the TD.
157 Williams. C. Was controlled from start to finish, but again, there’s a talent gap here and Duke is world class.
165 Caliendo. B-. Respect for not turtling and trying to avoid bonus, but Mesenbrink is the Hodge favorite with a 100% bonus rate this year, so staying aggressive is just going to open you up to get majored. Still, it’s good to see guys who are willing to keep going for it and aren’t scared of MDs. He’s still the second best 165 this year.
174 Gabe. C. Opposite of Caliendo, Gabe does pretty much nothing and plays for 4-1 SV matches. Both lose, but I have much more respect for Cali’s approach.
184 Ferrari. D. I’m so glad they hit him for stalling going to a knee. Here’s one step worse than Gabe, he’s playing for 2-1 TB wins. Someone on the PSU board said he’s going to be the first guy to never give up a TD and still be a 0x champion. He’s better than that. I hope they make him get up and wrestle instead of stall more often. It’ll make him better. He should win this match.
197 Sampson. C. It is what it is. “C” for average considering the outcome was exactly as expected. Someday, he can tell his grandkids he wrestled a national champion.
285 Kueter. D. He’s regressing. He needs to quit watching Angelo & Gabe stall through every match. Mirasola is no pushover, but Kueter is far better athletically and isn’t outsized. He needs to win that.
Overall. C. The lightweights did what they could. The heavies were disappointing.
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