NCAA Rankings 12/15/2025
- Thread starter maxpain
- Start date
I am well aware of that stance. If you have read I have been the one defending it. However, again, I also know they are human and there absolutely are times when personal bias plays a part. Hell, I wouldn’t even blame someone for moving Duke up if that were the case…
Who is Cael?He just wrestled at the Bill F so the time to get healthy stuff isn't a factor. Cael has seen plenty of Kasak and Duke and he made the decision, but I realize he probably doesn't have your keen eye for judging skill. Either Cael think Duke will win or he just doesn't care about team titles in March and wants to let other teams have a fair chance. Saint Cael
^^^ This, if anyone thinks Duke/Sealy is a 2-1 match if they are on different teams, I would like some of what they’re smoking.
Wrestling Duke is also for lineup synergy. Duke is not long for 157. Kaska will come back to 157 next year while Duke redshirts and he moves up to 65. That is Messenbrink’s final year so Duke slots right in at 65 after the RS.He just wrestled at the Bill F so the time to get healthy stuff isn't a factor. Cael has seen plenty of Kasak and Duke and he made the decision, but I realize he probably doesn't have your keen eye for judging skill. Either Cael think Duke will win or he just doesn't care about team titles in March and wants to let other teams have a fair chance. Saint Cael
So even if Duke is not better than Kasak, but the drop off is minimal, it makes sense to wrestle Duke this year.
I dont disagree with anything you said. Somehow questioning dukes finish when kadak is already proven was overlooked. I agree with both sides i believe duke can win it but i also agree until he proves hes better than kasak then it is what it is. Time will tell which is what you are saying
I think there's a really good chance that you annoy all fan bases....just sayin
Maybe, maybe not. What fan base do you represent? Just so we can see how wide that annoyance spreads…
Calm down buddy. Wasn’t attacking you. Just correcting your assertion on 133. Ono only redshirting because as of now he only has 1 yr. If he would have gotten 2 you would have seen him this year as well
As far as Duke/Kasak. Cael made it clear in an early press conference that Duke/Kasak never wrestled off. More of his using redshirts to plan ahead
Make no mistake, I am as calm as a cucumber. I actually thoroughly enjoy when you come over here for me. I feel so special....
As far as 133-141 goes, my argument still stands, regardless of Ono. He is a complete unknown at 133 in DI wrestling. Meanwhile Blaze is a bonafide, inarguable stud. PSU benefits mightily putting Blaze at 133 over ANYONE else...this is especially true due to just how top heavy 133 is. A couple VERY good wrestlers are going to finish off the podium this year...
As far as Duke/Kasak goes, I have no doubt that Duke is very good. I just simply took umbrage with the assertion that he is automatically better than Kasak when he has barely wrestled DI. He may very well be, but he most certainly has a TON to prove before anointing him...
Thanks. Always enjoy your takes. MSU should hire you as head coach, you've always been a great talent evaluator. Wrestling is wrestling so it's unfortunate you wouldn't want Ono on your squad as a complete unknown in folk. Hopefully you can give props to Cael for developing Ono when he dominates the field next year since he's such a project.
Lmfao, not remotely what I said. I would happily take Ono on ANY team. I am simply saying he is NOWHERE NEAR the guarantee that Blaze is. If I had to bet, I most certainly wouldn't bet against Ono having much success in DI. I am sure he will do rather well. However, 133 is loaded this year and mat wrestling in DI, along with the boundary rules can do an absolute TON to offset any advantages he would have in neutral. Giving him a full season in the room training folkstyle should work huge dividends going into next season...
It would be a better argument if it were Sealey they were using rather than Duke. Duke and Kasak each have a redshirt to use, plus Duke could use an Olympic redshirt later. The reason they are using Duke over Sealey is the skill difference. Cael cares far more about dominating than saving one year of eligibility on a guy who isn't a national title threat. He did things this way because he knows Duke is a monster. Everybody knows this except a few people who want to see it proven lol.
LMFAO. I don't think there is a single person that truly follows wrestling that doesn't think Duke is going to be really good. However, there is NO SUCH THING as a sure thing. Plenty of top recruits never make it. Hell, undefeated guys get to NCAA's and go 0-2.
I am not saying ANY of the above will happen, but it is only fair and RIGHT to expect him to actually do it ON THE MAT, before crowning him. As far as I know, Carl is the ONLY undefeated 4x champ in DI history and even he lost when redshirting...
With that said, I think 157 is about as thin as tissue paper and I would put him and fellow freshman Robideau as the favorites with relatively small sample sizes. But, what I "think", or anyone else for that matter, means nothing until the results actually come in...
I cannot find any instances of undefeated wrestlers going 0-2 at NCAAs. But I do not have all season records. Can you give an example?
You are speaking to a chamber. Nobody ranked above Duke is a sure fire national champ either. It comes down to using available information to rank guys based on that information. I hear the freestyle results don't matter argument, and they certainly aren't the be all end all of future folkstyle results, but they are the best available indication of what we can expect. March performance comes down to way too many factors to be a science, but age level world champions have fared quite well in the past. PSU true freshmen have Fared quite well in the past. It is all just a guess it just seems with all of the available information putting PJ Duke at 11 isn't a very educated guess.
Mack Lewnes, Max Askren off the top of my head...
I could be wrong about Max, he was the number 1 seed in 2007 and dominated the regular season, but he may have had 1 loss, that weight was absolutely stacked with Josh Glenn, Tamillow, Brester, Bergman, Michalak, Phil Davis, Backes, Weidman, Herbst and even a young Hudson Taylor...
Not quite the fit, but Bubba Jenkins was 27-0 going into the B1G finals in 2009, losing to Metcalf. He would go 0-2 at NCAA's with a 27-1 record...
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According to Max's Missouri bio, his losses at NCAAs were his 2nd and 3rd of the season in 2007:
Maxwell Askren - Wrestling - University of Missouri Athletics
Maxwell Askren - OUTLOOK: A three year fixture in Missouri's lineup at 197 pounds, senior Maxwell Askren will close out his Tiger career down one weight clas...
Still, a 1-loss, 1 seed at Nationals going 0-2 is a pretty big upset!
Yeah, I see he was 28-1 going into the tournament. The years kind of run together from back that far, but I kind of remember the loss being some kind of crazy scramble where he ended up getting pinned by Backes. Pretty sure he beat Backes a couple times that season...According to Max's Missouri bio, his losses at NCAAs were his 2nd and 3rd of the season in 2007:
Maxwell Askren - Wrestling - University of Missouri Athletics
Maxwell Askren - OUTLOOK: A three year fixture in Missouri's lineup at 197 pounds, senior Maxwell Askren will close out his Tiger career down one weight clas...mutigers.com
Still, a 1-loss, 1 seed at Nationals going 0-2 is a pretty big upset!
Duke won’t be able to make 157 again, that’s why he’s wrestling this year.
Can someone clear up MSU158's thoughts for me? Does the guy think that Duke needs to earn his ranking on the mat before we put him up with Kasak? I need him to tell me at least 20 more times so that I can truly understand his thought process.
Another PSU slappy over here just for little ol' me.. Awe shucks!
I truly used to enjoy your posts, and, unlike many on here, you've been complimentary of PSU and their wrestlers, and you don't make excuses. Lately, you've gone on this delusional tangent, telling yourself that you somehow own/upset PSU posters. It's silly and is something I'd expect from IronBird, not you.
Tell everyone crying about Flo and rankings that Penn St is still ranked the #1 dual team. And they've scored way more bonus points then everyone in the past but those can't be figured in. Can't believe how big of crybabies the fanbase has become over a December ranking with multiple freshman in the lineup that haven't faced anyone yet. It's like they don't understand rankings use results theyre not predictions
I just wish they would cry elsewhere
If so many of your brethren didn't troll on here, my "delusional tangent" wouldn't be nearly as prevalent. Mind you, I NEVER go over to your site and was just there because someone tagged me there and I didn't realize it when I clicked on the notification. The fact that I am even talked about there proves my entire point...The ONLY ones on here that are delusional in these types of exchanges are the PSU fans that come on here and say what I post doesn't bother them, while everything they post is to the contrary.
To be clear, PSU is the best wrestling program I have ever seen and I am saying that on a site that had Gable running their program. They have been an All Star team the past few years and I don't see that going away anytime soon. However, most of the PSU fans that post on here are so incredibly OBNOXIOUS and act like they are something special simply because they happen to be a fan of the best program. As such, I make it a point to annoy them in any way I possibly can.
I can only speak for myself, but, I couldn't care less about any rankings or predictions. I can't imagine getting upset over them.
Sorry to upset your ego, but, I don't think your posts bother PSU fans nearly as much as you think they do.
Listen, there is a fraction of PSU fans that annoy the hell out of me too. Every fanbase has good and bad fans. Success tends to bring out the trolls. I read this forum because beyond the clutter, there is a lot of good information on here. After all, we are all fans of a niche sport and should learn to appreciate all fanbases.
Backes hooked his head. It was pretty much a defensive pin while Askren was crab riding on top. It was the first career loss for Max. It was also about the time the long back injury first showed up.
Make no mistake, my ego is right where it should be. i am not thinking I annoy the entire PSU fanbase or even a significant portion. The point is to simply annoy the most obnoxious ones that post here…
Cael's Cookie — Deconstructed
caelscookie.com
In an attempt to “level the playing field,” Bob just placed a very large order.
Penn St fans can soon eat a Cael cookie while gambling at Ira's new casinoCael's Cookie — Deconstructed
In an attempt to “level the playing field,” Bob just placed a very large order.
Brooks and Gilman endorsing it?
From what I’ve heard they have a whole operation set up out there. Starocci sneaks onto Kasaks farm, he milks the cows (tried milking some bulls as well), steals the milk, passes it off with some other stolen ingredients to Snyder who has all his hoes bake the cookies. Then they give these special supplement cookies to Brookes and Gilman to taste test.