Midlands Thread - 12/29

Leonard23

Heisman
Feb 2, 2006
29,525
11,828
113
The Midlands are a shell of its former self. Seems that the national duals may have impacted participation.

Of the guys currently registered, Shawver is the highest ranked ranked 33lber, Clark is the second highest rank at 149, the highest ranked wrestler at 157 is # 25, # 17 is a true freshman and the highest ranked at 165, SCW and Cotton are the top ranked kids in their weight class, and at heavyweight the best three wrestlers including Catka are ranked 21, 23, and 24.

Hopefully some more wrestlers register so our guys can get some good competition.
A lot of factors contributed to Midlands decline. It never really came back after the 2021 COVID cancelation and last minute pivot to Illinois Matmen Open that year. Load management and more tournaments make most of these tournaments weak now. Midlands was moved out of Welsh-Ryan Arena this year and is at Ryan Fieldhouse on the turf with very little seating like Freestyle National Duals at Sportica or a D3 tournament.
 

Bobbynieds

All-American
Oct 19, 2012
4,406
5,368
113
Shawver survives 8-3 (or so) to advance...He was ridden pretty hard and almost gave up a turn in 3rd but was able to reverse with 30 secs eft.

He was generously awarded a TD at end of 1st when i thought time had expired....will take it
 
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Leonard23

Heisman
Feb 2, 2006
29,525
11,828
113
Shawver wins 8-3. Wish the Rutgers social media team was tweeting today.

No need for these metal barriers around the mats at Ryan Field House.
 

Leonard23

Heisman
Feb 2, 2006
29,525
11,828
113
Shawver survives 8-3 (or so) to advance...He was ridden pretty hard and almost gave up a turn in 3rd but was able to reverse with 30 secs eft.

He was generously awarded a TD at end of 1st when i thought time had expired....will take it
Oh come on Bobby, try to at least use the facts when you want to talk badly about someone. Almost gave up a turn? Not even close. Nice try though. Shawver was content resting on bottom but was never close to getting turned and rolled out for a reversal after getting hit with stalling.
 

Bobbynieds

All-American
Oct 19, 2012
4,406
5,368
113
Have you ever seen me talk badly about one of our wrestlers?

He got the reverse with 3o seconds left in the 3rd.
Was he being controlled on top? The wrestler even got a point for riding time.

IN the 1st, it looked like time had expired for the td.

Hey, survive and advance.


i am not a wrestline aficionado like you, but that is what my eyes saw
 

Leonard23

Heisman
Feb 2, 2006
29,525
11,828
113
Have you ever seen me talk badly about one of our wrestlers?

He got the reverse with 3o seconds left in the 3rd.
Was he being controlled on top? The wrestler even got a point for riding time.

IN the 1st, it looked like time had expired for the td.

Hey, survive and advance.


i am not a wrestline aficionado like you, but that is what my eyes saw
You said he was almost turned. That's what I took issue with. He wasn't. I didn't comment on anything else. Yes he was rode, but he wasn't close to being turned, and it looked more like he was just content to rest until he was hit with stalling and then got a quick reversal. In the 1st, you had another ref and the table confirm it was a takedown before time expired.
 

Bobbynieds

All-American
Oct 19, 2012
4,406
5,368
113
You said he was almost turned. That's what I took issue with. He wasn't. I didn't comment on anything else. Yes he was rode, but he wasn't close to being turned, and it looked more like he was just content to rest until he was hit with stalling and then got a quick reversal. In the 1st, you had another ref and the table confirm it was a takedown before time expired.
Cool, agree to disagaree.
You did say i wanted to talk badly about him.
I am good with difference of opinions, no agenda on this side of keyboard
 

Kiddagger311

Sophomore
Sep 17, 2025
245
132
43
All the tournaments are underwhelming. Cliff Keen used to be solid as well. The sport convinced itself that nothing matters until March, so no one is wrestling until March and shocker, no one is watching until March.

The sport is dying and the people who have the power to change it are accelerating its death. Cael is the biggest problem with the sport and most coaches follow his lead because him and his team are the best. You can’t have the best wrestler/coach of all time essentially telling the wrestling community that nothing matters until a 3 day tournament, and then telling the world it’s not his responsibility to improve the sport.
Another frustrating/funny trend now is when flo makes articles hyping up a particular match or tourney and most of the time the top matches doesn’t even happen or top guys don’t show up at tournament after being listed in preview.. it’s like we gotta hold our breath and be grateful when a full match actually happens as advertised.

For example, imagine being a West Virginia fan driving to see the star matchup, Waters vs Robidue.. except when u get there it doesn’t happen.. is he inj, is he dodging, is he being disciplined? Who knows, but thx for your $$ and being in the seat.
 

tlabue

Freshman
Jul 25, 2001
595
52
23
Session 2:
Quarterfinals
#3 Shawver vs #11 Aaron Seidel (Va Tech)
#3 Harer vs #6 CJ Hamblin (Oregon St)
#5 Barbosa vs #4 Jared Keslar (Pitt)
#25 Chapman vs #1 Daschle Lamar (Oregon St)
#1 Cartegna-Walsh vs #8 Ty Monteiro (Stanford)
#2 Cotton vs #7 Cade Lautt (Illinois)
#21 Casale vs #4 Seth Shumate (Ohio St)
#2 Katka vs #7 Josh Harkness (RIT)

Consols:
#15 Ford vs #25 Landon Johnson (SIUE)
 

NJwrestling26

Junior
Oct 16, 2025
154
243
43
Session 2:
Quarterfinals
#3 Shawver vs #11 Aaron Seidel (Va Tech)
#3 Harer vs #6 CJ Hamblin (Oregon St)
#5 Barbosa vs #4 Jared Keslar (Pitt)
#25 Chapman vs #1 Daschle Lamar (Oregon St)
#1 Cartegna-Walsh vs #8 Ty Monteiro (Stanford)
#2 Cotton vs #7 Cade Lautt (Illinois)
#21 Casale vs #4 Seth Shumate (Ohio St)
#2 Katka vs #7 Josh Harkness (RIT)

Consols:
#15 Ford vs #25 Landon Johnson (SIUE)
Shawver better eat his wheaties bc Seidel is the real deal and if he comes out like he did his first match he’s going to get wrecked

winnable matches for Harer , Barbosa , SCW and Catka

Chapman looks great so far ,tough match up but not impossible to pull out a win

Cotton looks great but Lautt is no pushover

Casale coming off the best win of his career but Shumate is tough and heavily favored
 

Kiddagger311

Sophomore
Sep 17, 2025
245
132
43
Noticed Chittum lost early.. didn’t he used to be the #1 p4p recruit? Yeah… think it’s safe to say not every top recruit is a lock for w.e reasons.
 
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Bobbynieds

All-American
Oct 19, 2012
4,406
5,368
113
SCW to me looked great. Seems to be solid in every position and has a high motor.
Harer looked good but struggled last match to get out. He did get out which was awesome to see, he did not give up.
I hope Harer des NOT choose down in any of his matches at the B10/NCAA
Shawver is just winning. I hope he continues to win and finds his AA mojo again.
cotton and catka dominated. How much does Catka weigh? 240??
PJ Casale had a nice tough win
 

Anon1751330127

Redshirt
Jun 30, 2025
56
45
18
Shawver looks like he’s ready to win a Natl Championship

he really needs to reevaluate where he is at bc he looks like complete dog ****

guys are not improving under Goodale. His ship has sailed
 
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