Penn State - Wyoming '25 Match Thread

[LemonPie]

Mirasolas have a case of Nevills feet. Just nowhere close to elite lateral movement. And it’s strange because they have good timing for re-attacks. You’d think they go hand-in-hand, but not always. Guys you gotta have your kids play basketball or soccer for at least a couple of years before the year-round wrestling stuff.

Cole looks like the same guy he was last year, which is unfortunate because he had such a good freestyle season. There won’t likely be a transfer portal upgrade available, but he’ll also likely be passed by the likes of Mocco, Ross, and Merrill. Nothing wrong with a perennial 5-12 guy. I’m sure Brown will push him for a spot, and if some super-recruit emerges, Cael will be on it.

As for Cochran, he does give you the top-wrestling element, so I’m willing to see how it translates against top-15 wrestlers before handing Cole the spot.

 

[mcpat]

While early results have been good and he may ve PSU's best option, he wouldn't be competitive with Mendez. Mendez is at a world class level right now.

Agreed

 

[El_Jefe]

 

[Random4598375]

Nothing like a measly 40-7 December win where the only losses were to higher ranked wrestlers to bring out the pearl clutchers.

Yeah, not too worried. In the past we’ve always had a black hole or two at 125 or 149 along with 3 or 4 potential champs and NQs we were hoping could find a way to AA at the other weights, and that was good enough to win nationals every year except 2021. Now we have at least 6 and possibly 8 legitimate contenders if not favorites and at most 1 zero weight (141 if Nagao doesn’t come back), so the pearl clutching has moved to the guys who are “only” low AAs instead. First world problems.

 

[El_Jefe]

 

[HikeNatParks]

From what I’ve “read” (thx @SlipperyPete ) and the clips I’ve seen, we had a great win out west! Some downright brutal pins, methodical techs, and that madcap Desmond at 141. Only losses were the freshmen twins against top-10, upperclassmen, so no surprise there. Back to Nate, if he benches a side of Kasak beef a few hundred times and then eats it, he’ll be more than adequate at 141 if Aaron’s injury hampers him.

 

[El_Jefe]

 

[pish69]

If you have Flo, they have some good interviews from Branch after the dual and Novak. Seem like good dudes.

Branch gave props to PSU for coming out and said it was the first time in a while he had butterfly’s all day.

Novak good interview as well if you want to check it out.

No interviews from Cael or wrestlers. Flo scared to ask? Or Cael not giving access?


This video is via @FloSports App
https://www.flowrestling.org/video/...ranch-was-the-record-setting-crowd-in-laramie


This video is via @FloSports App
https://www.flowrestling.org/video/...ocused-on-scoring-points-good-things-happened

 

[SRATH]

While early results have been good and he may ve PSU's best option, he wouldn't be competitive with Mendez. Mendez is at a world class level right now.

Nasdeo, good kid, would get decked. If Nate could keep it to a decision it would be amazing. Even a major would be a blessing.

 

[SRATH]

A+ on the mat………really cool.

 

[pawrstlersinpa]

If you have Flo, they have some good interviews from Branch after the dual and Novak. Seem like good dudes.

Branch gave props to PSU for coming out and said it was the first time in a while he had butterfly’s all day.

Novak good interview as well if you want to check it out.

No interviews from Cael or wrestlers. Flo scared to ask? Or Cael not giving access?


This video is via @FloSports App
https://www.flowrestling.org/video/...ranch-was-the-record-setting-crowd-in-laramie


This video is via @FloSports App
https://www.flowrestling.org/video/...ocused-on-scoring-points-good-things-happened

Lol. How many coaches try to clear their minds by going on a horse ride? That's the most Wyoming thing ever.

 

[Sunshine88!]

Mirasolas have a case of Nevills feet. Just nowhere close to elite lateral movement. And it’s strange because they have good timing for re-attacks. You’d think they go hand-in-hand, but not always. Guys you gotta have your kids play basketball or soccer for at least a couple of years before the year-round wrestling stuff.

Cole looks like the same guy he was last year, which is unfortunate because he had such a good freestyle season. There won’t likely be a transfer portal upgrade available, but he’ll also likely be passed by the likes of Mocco, Ross, and Merrill. Nothing wrong with a perennial 5-12 guy. I’m sure Brown will push him for a spot, and if some super-recruit emerges, Cael will be on it.

As for Cochran, he does give you the top-wrestling element, so I’m willing to see how it translates against top-15 wrestlers before handing Cole the spot.

Agree. Would definitely give Lucas Cochran a shot now. Cochran beat a couple really good guys last year. Be interesting to see if Cochran wrestles this weekend coming up.

 

[District 4]

Someone should make a clutching pearls t shirt lol

Nothing like a measly 40-7 December win where the only losses were to higher ranked wrestlers to bring out the pearl clutchers.

 

[District 4]

Have we ever had wrestlers in the last 10 plus years not improve im thinking the twins are fine they have a great foundation and a desire to get better. Add that to great coaches and they will be fine.

 

[amattaro]

Lol. How many coaches try to clear their minds by going on a horse ride? That's the most Wyoming thing ever.

Branch is the man. His non-wrestling twitter stuff is great. He definitely living the cowboy life.

 

[WPIALBrwnPSU]

Is that the parking lot outside the arena?

 

[Aardvark86]

Cowboys are a little different breed. Once when we were out there we spent a couple of weeks at my aunts ranch and she put us kids to work moving irrigation pipes. One of the pipes rolled up on the ankle of my cousin bill, who was a real rodeo cowboy. So he goes into town and the doc tells him it’s broken and he has to put a cast on it. Bill says that he has a rodeo that weekend. The doc says that’s nice but that he has a broken ankle and has to get a cast.

bill came home with an ankle cast with a spur sticking out the back, and rode bulls that weekend.

we don’t see a lot of that sort of thing back east.

 

[amattaro]

Cowboys are a little different breed. Once when we were out there we spent a couple of weeks at my aunts ranch and she put us kids to work moving irrigation pipes. One of the pipes rolled up on the ankle of my cousin bill, who was a real rodeo cowboy. So he goes into town and the doc tells him it’s broken and he has to put a cast on it. Bill says that he has a rodeo that weekend. The doc says that’s nice but that he has a broken ankle and has to get a cast.

bill came home with an ankle cast with a spur sticking out the back, and rode bulls that weekend.

we don’t see a lot of that sort of thing back east.

My impression of Laramie is always that it appears to be the type of place the US “used to be”. I was the kid who grew up in PA and never went anywhere. Always thought Wyoming was nothing but flat wasteland and tumbleweed. There is a lot of that, but a whole lot more, all around the state.

 

[jack66]

Ferrari wins all of those, too.

No one said it would be easy.

Two years ago, Rocco wrestled 11 matches at the Big Tens plus NCAAs and allowed 1 TD (Ruth).

There is no one at 184 he can't beat, but he'll need to do it his way. Fans need to accept that.

Welsh vs Ferrari should be a war.

 

[Fatwoodchuck]

If nobody else will......I will give a shout out to FLO. The camera work was better than Ironman. They followed the wrestlers all over the mat and as they walked off to be congratulated. Clear picture. Good Sound. Good announcers. Now THAT is what I pay for. Thanks FLO. Just so you know....FLO hasn't paid me a dime.......YET

The camera work was great, when Carrol (i believe) came out and the camera followed him across the mat was awesome. Might have been Novak i am not sure.

 

[Nitlion1986]

Ferrari wins all of those, too.

By NCAAs Rocco and Ferrari will have wrestled twice. I have a whole lot more faith in PSU's adjustments v TnT's.

 

[Goggles Paisano]

There is no one at 184 he can't beat, but he'll need to do it his way. Fans need to accept that.

Welsh vs Ferrari should be a war.

FIFY - Welsh vs Ferrari or Sinclair or McNelly should be a war.

 

[El_Jefe]

By NCAAs Rocco and Ferrari will have wrestled twice. I have a whole lot more faith in PSU's adjustments v TnT's.

Maybe. McEnelly will affect seeds/brackets at B10s.

But yeah, the adjustments are much more likely to come from one direction than the other.

 

[Goggles Paisano]

Desmond creates a very interesting dilemma.

If one is being honest, assuming he can get to equal to or greater than Nagao, burning his shirt may make a lot of sense.

I am not a fan of undersized guys wrestling, it is usually limiting once you got top 4 type guys who can just horse you around. Mendez will be quite a challenge, due to ability alone, least a 5-10 lbs of walking around weight delta.

Positives

- I love what I see from this kid. He is wrestling well above true freshman expectations.

- Nagao is showing some of the same sloppy and a bit reckless tendencies as 2 years ago. He has it in him to be anywhere from a semi finalist to a blood round guy if he gets too 'creative'.

- when you think about it, redshirting Desmond next year may make more sense than this year. Unless Lilledahl or Blaze shirts, where does he fit with Ono going and we also have Davis in the mix?

Negatives

- he is a true freshman and will only get better waiting

- if he goes 141, then going back to 125 is a distant memory, even 133 next year might be in the rear view mirror. Ono likely drives him to 141 again next year anyway.

- Even with some weight gain, he will be naturally undersized at least for this season. It will likely bite him against some of the best

Net-net - I am pretty excited by the possibility. I would go with him from here forward, let him wrestleoff vs Nagao once he comes back. I have a sneaking suspicion he could win the slot. Then red shirt him next year.

 

[Anon1676911284]

So he is t13 pounds higher than 2 weeks ago…… we are on the same ascent plan

Pretty amazing discipline on his part for a smaller body to fluctuate like that. Love the 141 lb fill in idea. Go to the weekest link weight class with no negau, ono or davis.

I think he looks like he is just taking a shot and not following up with it... next step, etc. Of course there is a lot of weight coming down on top of him

Cassars in the room and will train Cole to muscle memory the BLAST DOUBLE. I hope. Lol

 

[WexfordWarrior]

Pretty amazing discipline on his part for a smaller body to fluctuate like that. Love the 141 lb fill in idea. Go to the weekest link weight class with no negau, ono or davis.

Cassars in the room and will train Cole to muscle memory the BLAST DOUBLE. I hope. Lol

 

[Anon1676911284]

If they are testing the waters with Desmond, AN might be more serious than anticipated. Last week Byers mentioned him coming back. I don’t believe he mentioned him this week at all. Des would give Mendez a fight.

Wow. That's a very strong last statement. FYI Mendez pinned John alden in 33 seconds I believe not long ago.

 

[PAgeologist]

If they are testing the waters with Desmond, AN might be more serious than anticipated. Last week Byers mentioned him coming back. I don’t believe he mentioned him this week at all. Des would give Mendez a fight.

I respectfully disagree. There's a big difference between a 125 guy who quits cutting and a weight trained 141.

Nothing against Desmond, but Mendez is a different animal. He just teched the No 6 guy from NCST.

 

[El_Jefe]

I respectfully disagree. There's a big difference between a 125 guy who quits cutting and a weight trained 141.

Nothing against Desmond, but Mendez is a different animal. He just teched the No 6 guy from NCST.

Seriously. Really hope nobody is looking at a regular decision win vs an 0-5 opponent and extrapolating that to Mendez.

I mean, imagine the howls from here if HR claimed Jordan Williams would bump up 2 weights and give Levi a fight.

 

[WV lion]

If they are testing the waters with Desmond, AN might be more serious than anticipated. Last week Byers mentioned him coming back. I don’t believe he mentioned him this week at all. Des would give Mendez a fight.

Not even close to Mendez giving up that much good weight. Mendez would bonus him.

 

[Psalm 1 guy]

This was a lot like Nico's takedown vs Gilman in the NCAA finals -- in that it's a product of the guys doing so much play wrestling in the room. Get into a position, try stuff out, see what works. Even if that's not something he tried in the room, that training improves situational awareness.

This doesn't happen from hours upon hours upon hours of drilling single-leg takedowns in a college room. This happens after you've spent those hours in high school, and now you work through whatever positions you end up in.

Great analysis and comparison. I remember watching Nico's TD several times to figure out what he did there.

 

[Psalm 1 guy]

I can't remember ever seeing a true freshman with as much physicality and strength as PJ. I don't think Hill did himself any favors with those repeated head slaps/clubs. It seemed pretty obvious to me it just ignited a fire in PJ. Hill is also a graduate student, so the age disparity didn't make any difference. When it comes to PJ, the man among boys analogy is out the window.

 

[Psalm 1 guy]

Nothing like a measly 40-7 December win where the only losses were to higher ranked wrestlers to bring out the pearl clutchers.

I must admit I almost had a case of the vapors watching our two losses.

 

[CTStall]

Desmond creates a very interesting dilemma.

If one is being honest, assuming he can get to equal to or greater than Nagao, burning his shirt may make a lot of sense.

I am not a fan of undersized guys wrestling, it is usually limiting once you got top 4 type guys who can just horse you around. Mendez will be quite a challenge, due to ability alone, least a 5-10 lbs of walking around weight delta.

Positives

- I love what I see from this kid. He is wrestling well above true freshman expectations.

- Nagao is showing some of the same sloppy and a bit reckless tendencies as 2 years ago. He has it in him to be anywhere from a semi finalist to a blood round guy if he gets too 'creative'.

- when you think about it, redshirting Desmond next year may make more sense than this year. Unless Lilledahl or Blaze shirts, where does he fit with Ono going and we also have Davis in the mix?

Negatives

- he is a true freshman and will only get better waiting

- if he goes 141, then going back to 125 is a distant memory, even 133 next year might be in the rear view mirror. Ono likely drives him to 141 again next year anyway.

- Even with some weight gain, he will be naturally undersized at least for this season. It will likely bite him against some of the best

Net-net - I am pretty excited by the possibility. I would go with him from here forward, let him wrestleoff vs Nagao once he comes back. I have a sneaking suspicion he could win the slot. Then red shirt him next

I don't think Nate goes back to 125 again.
The question is, how close is he to Blaze for the 133 spot ??? Blaze bumps to 141.?
If Nagao comes back I would think Nate redshirts.

 

[WV lion]

I don't think Nate goes back to 125 again.
The question is, how close is he to Blaze for the 133 spot ??? Blaze bumps to 141.?
If Nagao comes back I would think Nate redshirts.

I don't think anyone is bumping up long term for this season. Worse case pull Davis shirt. Let Nate keep his.

 

[Nitlion1986]

Seriously. Really hope nobody is looking at a regular decision win vs an 0-5 opponent and extrapolating that to Mendez.

I mean, imagine the howls from here if HR claimed Jordan Williams would bump up 2 weights and give Levi a fight.

You say that like it might not happen.

 

[tullfan68]

so seyko thinks Marisola has chance against Barr I say no way!

 

[McScoreley]

I'm pretty confident that Nate wants matches, he isn't going to get them at 125 or 133 and 125 is clearly a hard pull for him at this point. Might as well eat and drink whatever you want and enjoy wrestling when it doesn't matter. He is our only 141 that can wrestle without burning his redshirt. At 141, he would get horsed around by the majority of good wrestlers let alone a Jesse Mendez.

It's December, there is no way Nate can add good weight with fully focused on wrestling practices to be a full sized 141. There are guys cutting from 155-160 to get to 141. You don't waste a year of eligibility for a kid who clearly has a ton of potential on something like this.

My guess is they're pretty confident Aaron makes it back at some point. If not, I would almost certainly expect Braeden Davis to be the next man up and he would go get matches at open tournaments to get his count up if he is the guy. Davis was 133 last year and probably knew 133 was going to Blaze since early summer so imagine he was fully prepared to go up if needed.

There is a 0% chance we bump Blaze midseason from a weight he is clearly most comfortable and will clearly be a contender to win it. For the record, I think Marcus can be an upper AA at 141 undersized but size alone gives him little to no chance against Mendez. As many here know, Cael doesn't have his best guys change weights to make room for others, what's best for the team is his best guys wrestle what works for them.

 

[El_Jefe]

I'm pretty confident that Nate wants matches, he isn't going to get them at 125 or 133 and 125 is clearly a hard pull for him at this point. Might as well eat and drink whatever you want and enjoy wrestling when it doesn't matter. He is our only 141 that can wrestle without burning his redshirt. At 141, he would get horsed around by the majority of good wrestlers let alone a Jesse Mendez.

It's December, there is no way Nate can add good weight with fully focused on wrestling practices to be a full sized 141. There are guys cutting from 155-160 to get to 141. You don't waste a year of eligibility for a kid who clearly has a ton of potential on something like this.

My guess is they're pretty confident Aaron makes it back at some point. If not, I would almost certainly expect Braeden Davis to be the next man up and he would go get matches at open tournaments to get his count up if he is the guy. Davis was 133 last year and probably knew 133 was going to Blaze since early summer so imagine he was fully prepared to go up if needed.

There is a 0% chance we bump Blaze midseason from a weight he is clearly most comfortable and will clearly be a contender to win it. For the record, I think Marcus can be an upper AA at 141 undersized but size alone gives him little to no chance against Mendez. As many here know, Cael doesn't have his best guys change weights to make room for others, what's best for the team is his best guys wrestle what works for them.

Agreed ... though we do have others available to eat up matches before a Nagao-Davis decision needs to be made: Nasdeo, Cunningham, plus Garcia up 1 weight.

Next 2 matches are Stanford + ND State at Journeyman. Since that's 1 competition date, I'd expect Desmond to get both (including #15 Consiglio). He'd then have 2 dates remaining. Presumably the Scuffle would be another.

After that, the B10 duals schedule starts 1/10 vs Rutger (#5 Oliveri). That's the first real gate. If Davis starts, that's it for Nagao. If anybody else starts, then we're still keeping the seat warm.

 

[funkisfun10]

Imagine if Blaze sticks Ayala in a similar fashion as the Wyoming kid. I'd be banned from HR in less than a minute.