I'm in complete agreement on this assessment.
Penn State @ Black Knight Invitational '25 tournament thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
I’ve tried to find this but haven’t been successful. In years past the OW got another piece of kit—to compliment the flak jacket the champs all got. Nate had to be the guy, but I can’t confirm it.
I think it went to the guy at 141. He was the only non Penn State winner, even though it was by INJ DF.
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I think a lot of people have been almost dismissive of Nate Desmond's weekend, and are also confusing Luke L's prowess at freestyle with where he's at in folkstyle. Yes, he's one of the best in the country at his weight. I need to see more before I'd pick him to win in March. Desmond gave him all he wanted. Yes, familiarity plays a part in it, but in no way was that a Cornell-esque not really trying effort by Luke. I wouldn't expect Luke to just turn a switch and major Desmond the next time they met.
While I'm at it, I think we have the two best 157 lbers in the country (PJ, Kasak), and add Sealy, if he wrestles like last weekend could get high on the podium. I personally think our best 157 lber is redshirting. I love all these guys, but I don't go for the coronations. We had a guy bolt to Oklahoma State maybe because he thought 184 was his birthright (seems to be a smart move, I don't think he could hande Rocco).
While I'm at it, I think we have the two best 157 lbers in the country (PJ, Kasak), and add Sealy, if he wrestles like last weekend could get high on the podium. I personally think our best 157 lber is redshirting. I love all these guys, but I don't go for the coronations. We had a guy bolt to Oklahoma State maybe because he thought 184 was his birthright (seems to be a smart move, I don't think he could hande Rocco).
Sorry - I was being facetious. I edited my post to include an emoji.
It was interesting, because all the prior times I saw LL lose in college, he was strangely inactive. On Sunday, my live impression was that LL and Desmond were letting it fly, maybe because of the familiarity.
While I understand that LL feels he needs to be patient, it seems that the longer a match goes without a takedown, the less I like his odds. And that's without regard to the opponent. While I know he's capable of late-match heroics to put it on ice (see: U23 Worlds) it seems like he is content to tap knees and ankles for the first two-plus periods sometimes and not commit to shots that he could actually finish. Almost like he thinks he got in too easily and doesn't want to try to finish because of that.
IMO, I think they would have been dominant as well. Clearly they are not as dominant as PSU, but a similar blood bath.
Agree. Needs to work set ups and finish in the 1st period. Then keep the gas on. I’m sure he will adjust he always does. Could be a blessing this early. Honestly believe he’s the best in the Country.
Ok, now that I've watched that, I can comment intelligently. Lilledahl was better wrestler, so it's a no brainer to continue with the plan and keep Desmond in RS. Lilledahl was in on good shots for most of the first 1:30 and again in the second period. With that said, this should be a wake up that there is stuff that he needs to tighten up or he is exposing himself to losing matches like this again. First, he needs to finish to chances. No excuses, especially the one at the start of the match. Get ahead there and you can go on cruise control for the rest of the match. Second, he needs to ride better. He got the reversal at the start of the third. He had 0:37 RT at that point. He needs to be able to hold Desmond down there and get it over 1:00, but Desmond got out way too easily. The dynamic is completely different if Lilledahl is leading on RT at the end of the third instead of tied.
Credit to Desmond for finding the winning move when he needed it. That was slick. He had one opportunity the whole match and converted it whereas Lilledahl had several and converted none. Congrats to him. Even as I say Lilledahl is the better wrestler overall, Desmond earned that victory and that title.
Overall, it was a very low intensity match. I attribute that to being on the same team in the same room all the time and genuinely not really having the ultimate motivation to destroy the other guy. I'm not worried about Lilledahl long term this season. He's not going to mail it in when the B1G schedule hits.
Assume tOSU brings 2 deep as well:
125 - 1 PSU, 1 tOSU
133 - 1 PSU, 1 tOSU
141 - 1 PSU, 1 tOSU
149 - 1 PSU, 1 tOSU
157 - 1 PSU, 1 tOSU
165 - 1 PSU, 1 tOSU
174 - 1 PSU, 1 tOSU - maybe 2 PSU?
184 - 1 PSU, 1 tOSU
197 - 1 PSU, 1 tOSU
285 - 1 PSU, 1 tOSU
If LL goes undefeated to win the B1G title, what is the short list of 125lbers who might be seeded ahead of him?
Isn't coaches' ranking the only one that affects NCAA seeding? Loss to teammate can't otherwise affect seeding, right?
So seems an unnecessary worry to me.
Yeah, but those polls have no bearing on NCAA seeding, and neither does a loss to a teammate.
Officially they can't factor in the loss to Desmond but that doesn't mean they won't. PSU is the big bully and everybody who isn't a PSU fan tries to knock them down.
It boils down to whether a wrestler cares about the opinions of rankers at this point in the season to the point where it adversely affects their performance.
I am hoping not. I believe that's what Cael preaches and Bonnie reinforces... not judged by Ws of Ls, stay present, more can be learned from an L than a W, etc.
Rankings really are worthless, sometimes wrestlers have off days or matches, don't want to see anybody hurt or injured but unfortunately it is part of the sport, the depth in the PSU room is amazing, thinking Cowboys will run into same issue in the near future. btw, the mysterious person in the corner was none other than PSU's wrestling GM, Clay Steadman, Besides injuries to PSU wrestlers, the major complaint of Black Knight was that the concessions were absolutely the worst!!!
So this instagram reel shows the award (a helmet). No confirmation on who got it yet—but it’s gotta be Nate, right?
I still don't see how the BKI loss hurts LL at all. And I don't see a loss in the room being materially different.
If his confidence is to suffer from and L, it would suffer the same.
Those rankings will never matter when it comes to the post season. They are often gamed, IMHO, to create story lines including making the team race look closer.
I tend to not like listening to any announcer during a match. I will often times mute a match as it allows me to pay more attention to the action. Even for the NCAA Finals matches I will mute the audio for the first few times I watch the matches, only later watching the matches with audio for entertainment purposes. And as much as I appreciate Ironhead for his commitment to the sport, I find his volume too much for me (probably due to my slight misophonia) along with some other particular dislikes in how he calls a match.
I guess I decided to comment on this because I didn't want to be hypocritical by my silence over the years when others would talk about their love for Ironhead's announcing. I make it my goal on this Forum to be a net positive and not drag down threads with negativity or stupid takes. I could see how my approach could even be thought of as pollyannish. I say all of this to let you all know I love Ironhead, even if his announcing style isn't my cup of tea : )
I can’t agree more. My son and I were arguing about him when I was listening to him call the Black Knight. I think he’s legendary, my son thinks he’s old school and nasally. I’ll take old school all day long.
One funny thing about Jeff--he comes across as loud because a) he wears a condenser mic on a headset and b) radio compresses the heck out of its audio. But if you stand next to him while calling a match, you can barely hear the guy--even at times when it seems like he's "shouting" into the mic. I personally love listening, though I rarely do live unless I can get a good sync to the video stream (which has gotten harder in recent years/platforms). However, he's perfect to me for something like the BKI--when I can't necessarily devote my full attention to a screen for 4 hours. But I can walk around chipping away on the "honey do" list with an earbud in. I love how he conveys the excitement of the match.
I would personally prefer him to use more wrestling terminology than he does (he certainly knows it)--but I respect his commitment to accessibility too. Frankly, in some small part, I think that approach helped turn me into a lifelong fan of the sport back when the only access to NCAAs short of a ticket was by tuning into him on the radio. Call it a cliche if you want, but when I think of Jeff Byers calling PSU wrestling, the word that first comes to mind is grateful.
I would personally prefer him to use more wrestling terminology than he does (he certainly knows it)--but I respect his commitment to accessibility too. Frankly, in some small part, I think that approach helped turn me into a lifelong fan of the sport back when the only access to NCAAs short of a ticket was by tuning into him on the radio. Call it a cliche if you want, but when I think of Jeff Byers calling PSU wrestling, the word that first comes to mind is grateful.
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I don't remember the event but is was back when Iowa till thought they were competitive with PSU. PSU was having themselves a separation round and Jeff was excited and loud enough Iowa nnouncer Ironside was beside himself having to hear Byers.
Well. I guess that's not the worst thing given his injury history. Im guessing 6-8 weeks?