PSU - Ohio State '26 Match thread

[Spykers Secretary]

This should be a pinned thread. We’ve been debating it and educating about it for 20 years. I swear Bveo has copied and pasted that post more times than Joe had wins.

for a school that complains about alcohol use they found a justification to bring beer sales into the stadium.

so don’t you think if they would do that, they are clearly about the Benjamin’s and would have more matches at bjc if it could raise revenue?

 

[F7Mello]

BJC exists only because (1) B10 required a new basketball arena to admit PSU; (2) Harrisburg coughed up taxpayer money.

Harrisburg would not pay anything toward a basketball-only arena that would be used roughly 25x per year. It had to be multi-purpose and useful year-round. The deal was: it's a concert venue with free facilities for Men's and Women's Basketball, plus Athletics offices. Everyone else needs to pay to use.

We have so much to thank the original BIG for....

 

[F7Mello]

I just got off the phone with Bruce Parkhill and Jerry Dunn. They both want to know what the hell “PSU Basketball” is. What a joke. I say flush the men’s basketball program. It’s been circling the rim long enough.

Way to build a facility designated for a sport no one cares about (at least on the men’s side).

I recognize the names Parkhill and Dunn, and even remember a pistol Pete, but Basketball??? Don't know what that is....

 

[CTStall]

tell your friend Lehigh can recruit these guys

Just a note. His son did not wrestle for Lehigh . He just goes there to see decent wrestling.

 

[Alphalion75]

They do not. 10,000 for Oklahoma with covers over the seats upstairs, 13,000 for Nebraska, 16,006 for OSU. I forget the Wyoming number last year but it wasn't close to a sell out. 5 matches in last 2 seasons, OSU and Iowa were sellouts, the other 3 not.

But are those numbers still better than what the basketball teams pulls or when they wrestle at Rec Hall?

 

[El_Jefe]

It’s not actually. Penn State Athletics is completely self-supported. It receives no financial support from the University or taxpayers.

Mostly true. PSU Athletics receives no financial money from the University, and no taxpayer money supporting operating expenses.

Both the University and Athletics have received taxpayer support for capital expenditures -- new academic and admin/support buildings on campus, BJC, past Beaver Stadium upgrades, etc.

Also, Athletics receives no money from student fees -- this is not the case at all schools. (Some fees go to lower-case athletics things like the fitness center, IM facilities, etc. -- but nothing toward varsity sports or Athletics administration.)

 

[SRATH]

6,850 x $25 = $171,250 Rec Hall Attendance is approx
8,000 x $55 = $440,000 BJC OU attendance is approx
13,000 x $55 = $715,000 BJC Neb attendance is approx

Oklahoma was not a good opponent and it started at 6. I would guess BJC concessions cover the tickets and concessions of a Rec Hall match. More people, more parking.

Yeah, who knows what they pay to get wrestling in there. Love or hate Kraft, he is the disruptor who would blow up the current situation to accommodate more wrestling.

 

[Psalm 1 guy]

That was bizarre. 4 restarts without apparently even trying to gain wrist control. Not many escapes happen without it.

Loved Gibbons' call on this one. He saw the possible reversal coming seven seconds before it happened.

I have always appreciated the wrestling knowledge and insights Gibbons brings to matches. The other thing I appreciate is he always stays focused on describing the action and not rambling on about other things. It always drives me nuts when the commentator is droning on with a story while simultaneously ignoring the exciting action occurring on the mat. It makes it even worse when they are talking about themselves! Burroughs is especially bad in this respect.

 

[El_Jefe]

I just got off the phone with Bruce Parkhill and Jerry Dunn. They both want to know what the hell “PSU Basketball” is. What a joke. I say flush the men’s basketball program. It’s been circling the rim long enough.

Way to build a facility designated for a sport no one cares about (at least on the men’s side).

Loss leader to make the rest of Athletics financially viable.

Or, we could've been stuck with the ACC revenue package.

And, yeah, BJC was obsolete when it opened in the 1990s. The alternative would've been worse.

 

[Psalm 1 guy]

Dynasties don't last forever. But saying we'll be the Iowa fans is just plain mean.

 

[DWKeller]

Thank you for thank. Beautiful!

 

[El_Jefe]

I’m curious how B1G seeds at 285 shake out for the top 4. Will it be 1. Ferrari 2. Ghadiali 3. Mirasola 4. Feldman?

Without doing the B10 seeding math: probably, due to Ferrari's H2H win over Ghadiali. Nobody else is breaking into the top 4 seeds.

5-8 should be equally interesting between Luffman, Kueter, Amos, and Hopke. Luffman is 4-1 in conference but all 4 were bottom feeders (lost to Ferrari). Kueter is 4-4 but beat Hopke and Amos. Amos beat Hopke.

Catka lost to Hopke and didn't beat anybody above him, so he's probably the 9. After that, gets less interesting.

I think I'd rather see Mirasola draw Ferrari in the semis. But either way, this is doable.

 

[El_Jefe]

6,850 x $25 = $171,250 Rec Hall Attendance is approx
8,000 x $55 = $440,000 BJC OU attendance is approx
13,000 x $55 = $715,000 BJC Neb attendance is approx

Oklahoma was not a good opponent and it started at 6. I would guess BJC concessions cover the tickets and concessions of a Rec Hall match. More people, more parking.

Yeah, who knows what they pay to get wrestling in there. Love or hate Kraft, he is the disruptor who would blow up the current situation to accommodate more wrestling.

If every match were at the BJC, would PSU still be able to charge $55/average per ticket? It could no longer be sold as an event.

Also, $25 for Rec Hall is still a bargain.

Still not knowing the BJC facility fees, seems like more matches could move. I'm sure Kraft is looking into this. I'm also sure Kraft is looking into whether that facility fee is truly necessary 30+ years after the building was opened -- at this point it seems more bureaucratic than useful. OTOH, what would PSU be if not bureaucratic?

I do hope that Senior Day remains in Rec Hall, because of the more personal nature of that day. Otherwise, whatever makes more financial sense.

 

[SRATH]

If every match were at the BJC, would PSU still be able to charge $55/average per ticket? It could no longer be sold as an event.

Also, $25 for Rec Hall is still a bargain.

Still not knowing the BJC facility fees, seems like more matches could move. I'm sure Kraft is looking into this. I'm also sure Kraft is looking into whether that facility fee is truly necessary 30+ years after the building was opened -- at this point it seems more bureaucratic than useful. OTOH, what would PSU be if not bureaucratic?

I do hope that Senior Day remains in Rec Hall, because of the more personal nature of that day. Otherwise, whatever makes more financial sense.

All true.

 

[Psalm 1 guy]

Regarding the BJC/Rec Hall debate, Cael has said repeatedly in the past that he loves wrestling at Rec Hall because of its intimate setting. Cael also sees the benefits of having the high profile duals at BJC. One factor that might sway Cael toward more BJC matches is that it opens up a lot of seats for those who aren't season ticket holders, which I think is important to Cael.

 

[1Maddog]

Rocco working for hand control (photo from msn). Not sure at what point in the match this was:
View attachment 1187433

This has to be very late period 1 or period 2 because for most of period 1 he made no attempt at hand control

 

[LostInTransition]

Regarding the BJC/Rec Hall debate, Cael has said repeatedly in the past that he loves wrestling at Rec Hall because of its intimate setting. Cael also sees the benefits of having the high profile duals at BJC. One factor that might sway Cael toward more BJC matches is that it opens up a lot of seats for those who aren't season ticket holders, which I think is important to Cael.

Correct. Point 1, Cael prefers the atmosphere of Rec Hall. Point 2, Pat Kraft is on the record that Cael gets what Cael wants.

Going forward, I expect 3 duals will be the minimum in BJC and a new wrestling facility will be built before we see every dual in BJC. In other words, as long as wrestling operates out of the current Lorenzo location we'll continue to see some duals in Rec Hall.

 

[F7Mello]

Mostly true. PSU Athletics receives no financial money from the University, and no taxpayer money supporting operating expenses.

Both the University and Athletics have received taxpayer support for capital expenditures -- new academic and admin/support buildings on campus, BJC, past Beaver Stadium upgrades, etc.

Also, Athletics receives no money from student fees -- this is not the case at all schools. (Some fees go to lower-case athletics things like the fitness center, IM facilities, etc. -- but nothing toward varsity sports or Athletics administration.)

There is a lot written about this. Penn State is one of the FEW exceptions where this is true. I work at a school where every student has to pay 5000 dollars in fees, with more than 3500 going directly and specifically to support the coaches and athletes (who do not pay tuition or fees). And, no, I did not forget to add a decimal point. I may or may not have strong feelings about this, you will have to decide for yourself if 3500 as a sport fee each year is a good investment in education and advancement

 

[manatree]

Oklahoma was not a good opponent and it started at 6. I would guess BJC concessions cover the tickets and concessions of a Rec Hall match. More people, more parking.

Does anyone actually know what percentage of concessions and parking that PSU Athletics receives from a match at the BJC?

 

[Niklex316]

When Levi leaves next year, are you guys expecting MM to move up to 174, and Kasak/Duke would figure out 157/165?

That obviously makes sense… but would it risk losing Henkle? He’s too good not to be wrestling as a RSFR. So could Duke do what Kasak did this year and take his shirt next year, which would allow Henkle to slide into 174, MM stay where he is, and Kasak return back to 157?

Also, how does Nate Desmond fit? Would Blaze take his shirt trying to keep every e happy and in the fold? Then Desmond and Ono would go 133-141? Not sure if Ononis getting more than 1 in year, but SVN would then graduate after next season which would create some wiggle needed to fit everyone.

But even if that all worked out, and considering Rocco and Barr are only sophomores… even keeping Henkel then creates a scenario where Jayden James would have to sit as a redshirt freshman with no room.

Such HORRIBLE problems to have… I don’t know you guys do it following this trash team…

 

[F7Mello]

When Levi leaves next year, are you guys expecting MM to move up to 174, and Kasak/Duke would figure out 157/165?

That obviously makes sense… but would it risk losing Henkle? He’s too good not to be wrestling as a RSFR. So could Duke do what Kasak did this year and take his shirt next year, which would allow Henkle to slide into 174, MM stay where he is, and Kasak return back to 157?

Also, how does Nate Desmond fit? Would Blaze take his shirt trying to keep every e happy and in the fold? Then Desmond and Ono would go 133-141? Not sure if Ononis getting more than 1 in year, but SVN would then graduate after next season which would create some wiggle needed to fit everyone.

But even if that all worked out, and considering Rocco and Barr are only sophomores… even keeping Henkel then creates a scenario where Jayden James would have to sit as a redshirt freshman with no room.

Such HORRIBLE problems to have… I don’t know you guys do it following this trash team…

Definitely a lot of questions I have as well. As stated previously, seems wrestlers come to be in the room, and "in the lineup" is a lower priority. Don't know how they do that, but hope they are able to keep the secret. It's obviously working

 

[Psalm 1 guy]

A couple thoughts about last night:

-- Luke's TD was a thing of beauty. He never let his feet stop moving and his finishing technique was impeccable. And for those who wanted Luke to be more aggressive with Nic early, Nic came extremely close to countering Luke's first period shot for his own TD. Nic is very dangerous, especially early in the match, and I think Luke's gameplan was perfect.

-- Marcus and Davino was a nail biter. I would have liked to see Marcus open it up more, but he and Davino know each other so well and Marcus knows how dangerous Davino is. Marcus choosing to grab Davino's leg rather than work for hand control was a huge decision. Once Marcus grabbed the leg it was either get the reversal or most likely lose because of the riding time. Overlooked was Marcus being able to keep hold of Davino's feet after the reversal. Had Davino been able to kick away at that point, he would have still had riding time.

-- SVN and PJ looked really good against lesser opponents. I absolutely love PJ's aggressiveness. It was great to hear PJ give a shoutout to Nick Lee for the help Nick has given him in the room.

-- Mitchell did Mitchell things against a very solid opponent. I was kind of surprised how long Mitchell chose to ride in the 1st period. Also, that official waited an awfully long time to call a stalemate when Gallagher was in on a shot in the 2nd. They were in that position for a minute before they went out of bounds.

-- I am sure going to miss Levi next season! He has been a pleasure to watch his entire Penn State career.

-- As has been mentioned, that was an odd match by Rocco. Good on him for the gutsy comeback, but I am sure the coaches will be working with him on a few things going forward. This has also been mentioned, but does Fishback have hollow bones? He is a huge looking 184!

-- Josh, as always, looked solid. Geog is ranked #10, and Josh put a solid Major decision on him.

-- I'm very happy for Cole! He has been so close against top competition, and it is great to see his progression throughout the season. He seems to get better each match. In the 2nd he was in on a nice single, but rushed the shelfing of the leg and couldn't complete the TD. If he can clean up positions like that he will be that much more dangerous. He might want to take some notes from how methodical Luke is on his single leg finishes.

Overall, that was an awesome dual and fan experience. We Penn State fans are spoiled, but I will take it any day!

 

[Aardvark86]

Both numbers seem higher than Rec Hall's capacity.

Sometimes the perception of scarcity stimulates demand.

 

[Roar More]

Observations from being there last night and other rants.

• This team is tight in that they really care about each other. I noticed that Mitch was standing and literally biting his nails during Cole's match. Everyone was encouraging their teammates on.
• On the other hand, this team is loose. When Braeden was back on the floor after his match, he was smiling and engaged with his teammates. This is a testament to the coaching staff and their philosophy that competition is part of the learning process and should be fun.
• I am tired of hearing about Ohio State's injuries and using backups. Everybody seems to forget that Davis is a backup. Nagao was supposed to be our starter this year. Penn State not only has better starters than other teams, it also has better depth.
• In the conversation about BJC attendance, let us not forget that the weather was a significant factor in the turnout for Nebraska. It was bitterly cold and a lot of potential fans are not local. (But I made it from Pittsburgh, risking gelled diesel fuel. I think I dislocated my shoulder patting myself on the back.)
• Unrelated to wrestling, do cross-country skiers get style points for the way they collapse after crossing the finish line?

 

[Aardvark86]

A couple thoughts about last night:

-- Luke's TD was a thing of beauty. He never let his feet stop moving and his finishing technique was impeccable. And for those who wanted Luke to be more aggressive with Nic early, Nic came extremely close to countering Luke's first period shot for his own TD. Nic is very dangerous, especially early in the match, and I think Luke's gameplan was perfect.

-- Marcus and Davino was a nail biter. I would have liked to see Marcus open it up more, but he and Davino know each other so well and Marcus knows how dangerous Davino is. Marcus choosing to grab Davino's leg rather than work for hand control was a huge decision. Once Marcus grabbed the leg it was either get the reversal or most likely lose because of the riding time. Overlooked was Marcus being able to keep hold of Davino's feet after the reversal. Had Davino been able to kick away at that point, he would have still had riding time.

-- SVN and PJ looked really good against lesser opponents. I absolutely love PJ's aggressiveness. It was great to hear PJ give a shoutout to Nick Lee for the help Nick has given him in the room.

-- Mitchell did Mitchell things against a very solid opponent. I was kind of surprised how long Mitchell chose to ride in the 1st period. Also, that official waited an awfully long time to call a stalemate when Gallagher was in on a shot in the 2nd. They were in that position for a minute before they went out of bounds.

-- I am sure going to miss Levi next season! He has been a pleasure to watch his entire Penn State career.

-- As has been mentioned, that was an odd match by Rocco. Good on him for the gutsy comeback, but I am sure the coaches will be working with him on a few things going forward. This has also been mentioned, but does Fishback have hollow bones? He is a huge looking 184!

-- Josh, as always, looked solid. Geog is ranked #10, and Josh put a solid Major decision on him.

-- I'm very happy for Cole! He has been so close against top competition, and it is great to see his progression throughout the season. He seems to get better each match. In the 2nd he was in on a nice single, but rushed the shelfing of the leg and couldn't complete the TD. If he can clean up positions like that he will be that much more dangerous. He might want to take some notes from how methodical Luke is on his single leg finishes.

Overall, that was an awesome dual and fan experience. We Penn State fans are spoiled, but I will take it any day!

It’s kind of insane how under the radar Barr is flying

 

[bwc]

Anyhow, when crunch time showed up Rocco kind of said the heck with subtleties and just snapped Fishback down and sprinted behind him. He certainly did not appear tired.

If you go back and watch the 10-15 seconds right before that takedown, it appeared to me that Rocco looked exhausted. On the shots, or half shots he took, he appeared spent and a little wobbly. I thought they both did, just that Rocco dug deep and overcame his fatigue.

Of course, I was also a little worried when he started celebrating early and took his control off that Fishback might escape, so what do I know?

 

[El_Jefe]

There is a lot written about this. Penn State is one of the FEW exceptions where this is true. I work at a school where every student has to pay 5000 dollars in fees, with more than 3500 going directly and specifically to support the coaches and athletes (who do not pay tuition or fees). And, no, I did not forget to add a decimal point. I may or may not have strong feelings about this, you will have to decide for yourself if 3500 as a sport fee each year is a good investment in education and advancement

I had friends at another school who were subjected to this in the late 80s/early 90s (though probably not at that expense back then). I won't name the school to protect the guilty, but Tyler Warren had a highlight reel game in Los Angeles.

 

[PSUAllTheWay]

Attended the PSU/OSU last night and came away with some thoughts.

125 - This was one of the best matches I've seen Lightning Luke wrestle since coming to PSU. Bouzakis had both Davis and Nagao in trouble in previous years, scoring 5 against Davis and 10 against Nagao. I thought Luke controlled the tempo and kept himself out of dangerous positions. He was patient waiting for openings and took advantage of the few he saw for a nice win.

133 - Some may disagree with this, but I thought Davino controlled the action and was the aggressor for most of this match. He clearly learned from previous matches how dangerous it is to shoot on Blaze and picked his spots much better than before. Why Davino tried to throw in legs during ride outs is beyond me, as all he had to do was give up the escape and run, and he'd still be undefeated. Blaze will have to make some adjustments if he hopes to win next time they meet. I'm confident he can make that happen, but it will be a toss-up between these two for the rest of the season. 133 is going to be fire in the B1G tournament. Marcus is still a stone cold killer, and I look forward to him competing for a National Championship.

141 - Nobody is beating Mendez this year and, NO, Nate Desmond wasn't keeping things any closer. I feel PSU fans have been underappreciating Mendez all year, with some even claiming that a healthy Nagao would beat him. Unfortunately, we will never know for sure, but I didn't see that ever happening. Mendez is wrestling at another level, and nobody is going to touch him. I would put him as a slight favorite for the Hodge over Mitchell. As part of that award is political, it might come down to who has a season left to win it next year, and that would be MM.

149 - I was really looking forward to SVN vs. Stiles, but I don't see Stiles beating Shayne, so at most this only saved OSU a few points. SVN did what you expected him to do to the backup.

157 - I was really, really looking forward to PJ vs. Cannon! I still believe when he is wrestling aggressively, and with a bit of a mean streak, there is no one in the Nation that can beat PJ at 157, and I was hoping he could prove that last night. I guess we will have to wait for this matchup in the B1G tournament, assuming PJ can get past Taylor next time.

165 - Lots of debate online about Mitchell riding Paddy for so long instead of going for the TF. I can assure you that if the match was in jeopardy at this point, the match strategy by the COACHES would have been different. But with the score what it was, Cael and Co wanted Mitchell to keep working on his top game, as from previous matches, that has clearly been a priority for him to improve on this year. And no, PSU wasn't 'training through OSU' this week, LOL. I can't understand why some fans can't figure out that when very high-level wrestlers meet and compete, 1) both wrestlers will get tired and 2) sometimes styles dictate the final score (and wins vs. losses) more than rankings. When we have close matches against good competition, to say we are training through them is just lazy and pretty arrogant to me. Let's be better than Iowa fans ...

174 - Levi and Kharchla would have been fun. Carson always shows up to scrap, and Levi respects that. I was disappointed that Levi couldn't finish off the pinning combo he had against the backup, as he usually does, but kudos to the kid for fighting off his back.

184 - Fishback seems to get no respect on this board. He has been right there with the top wrestlers in this weight class all season long. Rocco didn't particularly wrestle a smart match on either his feet or on bottom, but he has an incredible amount of heart, and gets some major kudos from me for winning this match. Sometimes things don't go your way, and a true champion will still find a way to win. Rocco found a way, and that's all that counts. I am sure Cael and Co will adjust his neutral offense to not walk into so many shots and will work on him doing a better job of getting hand control and escaping on bottom. I have no concerns about Rocco. He is right there. But the stalling call against Fishback when he was on top was a pretty lame call IMHO.

197 - Josh doing Josh things. Geog is a very tough customer, but Josh was never in trouble. Luke was trying to keep the score close instead of trying to win as other than one good shot, he didn't show much offense. Kudos to Josh for not taking as many crazy shots as he sometimes does. He showed better discipline against a good wrestler and didn't get himself overextended underneath. This is clearly something he is working on that is going to help him on his way to a National Championship!

Hwt - Watching Cole's improvement all season long has been a real treat. Some forget that Feldman beat him 10-3 in last year's dual when Kirk was out. His 4-1 victory is a 10 point swing from that match which is impressive progress. It's gonna be nip and tuck for Cole at the Natty but he can go with anybody in this field so anything is possible. I'm rooting hard for the kid. But I still can't figure out how Cole did not get credit for the TD he clearly got at the end of the third period. I've watched it many times now and am not sure what situation the referee was watching as Cole appeared to have control for much more than reaction time. These kinds of examples are one reason I had how reaction time is being called right now. It is too inconsistent.

 

[District 4]

I just got off the phone with Bruce Parkhill and Jerry Dunn. They both want to know what the hell “PSU Basketball” is. What a joke. I say flush the men’s basketball program. It’s been circling the rim long enough.

Way to build a facility designated for a sport no one cares about (at least on the men’s side).

Or grow the program like cael grew wrestling our basketball program should be one of the best in the big 10

 

[District 4]

Watch the sequence when Blaze comes back from getting his head wrapped and drops to his knees. Cael is right there in the background. Blaze looks right to the corner, maybe right at Cael, deep breath, then closes his eyes.

Inspiration. Visualization. Execution.???

The first thing I saw after the match was over was blaze pointing his finger at the corner like he was indicating whatever they told him worked. I had given up on that match completely as did most of those in attendance based on the roar we heard when we all were proved wrong. What a ******* moment. I'll never forget it

 

[District 4]

But are those numbers still better than what the basketball teams pulls or when they wrestle at Rec Hall?

I was at the psu-usc game this past sunday. It was a thon game so it was better attended then most. The upper deck was completely closed off and both ends behind baskets were basically empty except for student section and band. Maybe 2000 people if that

 

[El_Jefe]

When Levi leaves next year, are you guys expecting MM to move up to 174, and Kasak/Duke would figure out 157/165?

That obviously makes sense… but would it risk losing Henkle? He’s too good not to be wrestling as a RSFR. So could Duke do what Kasak did this year and take his shirt next year, which would allow Henkle to slide into 174, MM stay where he is, and Kasak return back to 157?

Also, how does Nate Desmond fit? Would Blaze take his shirt trying to keep every e happy and in the fold? Then Desmond and Ono would go 133-141? Not sure if Ononis getting more than 1 in year, but SVN would then graduate after next season which would create some wiggle needed to fit everyone.

But even if that all worked out, and considering Rocco and Barr are only sophomores… even keeping Henkel then creates a scenario where Jayden James would have to sit as a redshirt freshman with no room.

Such HORRIBLE problems to have… I don’t know you guys do it following this trash team…

157-174: Mesenbrink will get to choose his weight. I'd expect him to stay put at 165, given his freestyle weight is 74 kg/163 lb. Duke is outgrowing 157 and his freestyle weight is also 74 kg, so I'd expect him to shirt. Kasak goes 157 and Henckel goes 174. James shirts. Henckel and James might not be done growing ... and Smasher Cunningham might force his way in someday too.

125-149: The key here is Ono's freestyle aspirations. If he decides he can no longer make 57 kg, then he should build up to 141. Otherwise he should go 133. IMO Blaze is more likely to shirt if the plan is to move him up to 141. Desmond might be forced to sit or be a spot-starter. Davis will shirt and then presumably be the 149 in 2028.

While I don't think this is likely, I wouldn't entirely rule out Desmond or Blaze eating their way up to 149 to succeed Van Ness. Especially Blaze, who's brother is a 165.

BTW, we have another wave of lightweight logjam coming with Sidun, Burnett, and Soto all in the 2027 class. Mangano and Shepherd are both probably 149/157 in the same class.

 

[District 4]

Regarding the BJC/Rec Hall debate, Cael has said repeatedly in the past that he loves wrestling at Rec Hall because of its intimate setting. Cael also sees the benefits of having the high profile duals at BJC. One factor that might sway Cael toward more BJC matches is that it opens up a lot of seats for those who aren't season ticket holders, which I think is important to Cael.

That atmosphere at bjc has to be great for recruiting. Flames are awesome

 

[El_Jefe]

This team is tight in that they really care about each other. I noticed that Mitch was standing and literally biting his nails during Cole's match. Everyone was encouraging their teammates on.

Everybody should scroll up to the highlights tweets above and watch Ono at the end of matches. It's hilarious. Nobody was more pumped when Lilledahl won in SV. OTOH he looked confused when Blaze won. It's like he hasn't fully processed this OT rideout period thing yet.

 

[Goggles Paisano]

When Levi leaves next year, are you guys expecting MM to move up to 174, and Kasak/Duke would figure out 157/165?

That obviously makes sense… but would it risk losing Henkle? He’s too good not to be wrestling as a RSFR. So could Duke do what Kasak did this year and take his shirt next year, which would allow Henkle to slide into 174, MM stay where he is, and Kasak return back to 157?

Also, how does Nate Desmond fit? Would Blaze take his shirt trying to keep every e happy and in the fold? Then Desmond and Ono would go 133-141? Not sure if Ononis getting more than 1 in year, but SVN would then graduate after next season which would create some wiggle needed to fit everyone.

But even if that all worked out, and considering Rocco and Barr are only sophomores… even keeping Henkel then creates a scenario where Jayden James would have to sit as a redshirt freshman with no room.

Such HORRIBLE problems to have… I don’t know you guys do it following this trash team…

Well, this board will be full of scenarios from March through November.

Personally, I think I kind of like the idea of both Duke and Markus redshirting next year, no matter how disappointing it will be not seeing them destroy in duals all year. Kasak goes at 157, and Ono at 133, this frees up 141 for Desmond. Sorry, but I don't think we see Nagao or Davis again after this year. Henkle takes 174, and a year later PJ moves up.

Crazy depth.

 

[Matter7172]

Attended the PSU/OSU last night and came away with some thoughts.

125 - This was one of the best matches I've seen Lightning Luke wrestle since coming to PSU. Bouzakis had both Davis and Nagao in trouble in previous years, scoring 5 against Davis and 10 against Nagao. I thought Luke controlled the tempo and kept himself out of dangerous positions. He was patient waiting for openings and took advantage of the few he saw for a nice win.

133 - Some may disagree with this, but I thought Davino controlled the action and was the aggressor for most of this match. He clearly learned from previous matches how dangerous it is to shoot on Blaze and picked his spots much better than before. Why Davino tried to throw in legs during ride outs is beyond me, as all he had to do was give up the escape and run, and he'd still be undefeated. Blaze will have to make some adjustments if he hopes to win next time they meet. I'm confident he can make that happen, but it will be a toss-up between these two for the rest of the season. 133 is going to be fire in the B1G tournament. Marcus is still a stone cold killer, and I look forward to him competing for a National Championship.

141 - Nobody is beating Mendez this year and, NO, Nate Desmond wasn't keeping things any closer. I feel PSU fans have been underappreciating Mendez all year, with some even claiming that a healthy Nagao would beat him. Unfortunately, we will never know for sure, but I didn't see that ever happening. Mendez is wrestling at another level, and nobody is going to touch him. I would put him as a slight favorite for the Hodge over Mitchell. As part of that award is political, it might come down to who has a season left to win it next year, and that would be MM.

149 - I was really looking forward to SVN vs. Stiles, but I don't see Stiles beating Shayne, so at most this only saved OSU a few points. SVN did what you expected him to do to the backup.

157 - I was really, really looking forward to PJ vs. Cannon! I still believe when he is wrestling aggressively, and with a bit of a mean streak, there is no one in the Nation that can beat PJ at 157, and I was hoping he could prove that last night. I guess we will have to wait for this matchup in the B1G tournament, assuming PJ can get past Taylor next time.

165 - Lots of debate online about Mitchell riding Paddy for so long instead of going for the TF. I can assure you that if the match was in jeopardy at this point, the match strategy by the COACHES would have been different. But with the score what it was, Cael and Co wanted Mitchell to keep working on his top game, as from previous matches, that has clearly been a priority for him to improve on this year. And no, PSU wasn't 'training through OSU' this week, LOL. I can't understand why some fans can't figure out that when very high-level wrestlers meet and compete, 1) both wrestlers will get tired and 2) sometimes styles dictate the final score (and wins vs. losses) more than rankings. When we have close matches against good competition, to say we are training through them is just lazy and pretty arrogant to me. Let's be better than Iowa fans ...

174 - Levi and Kharchla would have been fun. Carson always shows up to scrap, and Levi respects that. I was disappointed that Levi couldn't finish off the pinning combo he had against the backup, as he usually does, but kudos to the kid for fighting off his back.

184 - Fishback seems to get no respect on this board. He has been right there with the top wrestlers in this weight class all season long. Rocco didn't particularly wrestle a smart match on either his feet or on bottom, but he has an incredible amount of heart, and gets some major kudos from me for winning this match. Sometimes things don't go your way, and a true champion will still find a way to win. Rocco found a way, and that's all that counts. I am sure Cael and Co will adjust his neutral offense to not walk into so many shots and will work on him doing a better job of getting hand control and escaping on bottom. I have no concerns about Rocco. He is right there. But the stalling call against Fishback when he was on top was a pretty lame call IMHO.

197 - Josh doing Josh things. Geog is a very tough customer, but Josh was never in trouble. Luke was trying to keep the score close instead of trying to win as other than one good shot, he didn't show much offense. Kudos to Josh for not taking as many crazy shots as he sometimes does. He showed better discipline against a good wrestler and didn't get himself overextended underneath. This is clearly something he is working on that is going to help him on his way to a National Championship!

Hwt - Watching Cole's improvement all season long has been a real treat. Some forget that Feldman beat him 10-3 in last year's dual when Kirk was out. His 4-1 victory is a 10 point swing from that match which is impressive progress. It's gonna be nip and tuck for Cole at the Natty but he can go with anybody in this field so anything is possible. I'm rooting hard for the kid. But I still can't figure out how Cole did not get credit for the TD he clearly got at the end of the third period. I've watched it many times now and am not sure what situation the referee was watching as Cole appeared to have control for much more than reaction time. These kinds of examples are one reason I had how reaction time is being called right now. It is too inconsistent.

Just wanted to add onto this. We had great seats last night and enjoyed them thoroughly. Some of my favorite parts were:

LL waving off a possible challenge at the end of regulation and indicating he wanted to keep things moving (I surmise he knew he would be able to take Bouzakis down if Bouzakis didn't get any rest).

Blaze was so cool and clutch.

MM - I was wondering if Gallagher had said something inappropriate about MM's mom because MM was just punishing him. I remarked at the match that MM has come so far in his top wrestling this season that I wouldn't be surprised by a Zain-like performance next year.

Welsh - I agree he looked a little rough the whole match but he gutted it out.

Barr - How many guys in the country have a 100% bonus rate? He's one of them. 'Nuff said.

Mirasola - I've been hoping he would start to put everything in place. This was a great step forward.

The best thing about our seats was we were right behind the Ohio State bench and got a good view of their coaching staff's body language. I can tell you they came in looking pretty confident. By the end of 133, they were very deflated and had that beaten look about them. Ryan did applaud PJ's pin, though.

 

[District 4]

Definitely a lot of questions I have as well. As stated previously, seems wrestlers come to be in the room, and "in the lineup" is a lower priority. Don't know how they do that, but hope they are able to keep the secret. It's obviously working

Asher as well would love to see him wrestle as well. Im thinking oly shirts will leave at least one year open for a lot of guys to make the line up. Who all is eligible for oly redshirts. Im seeing mm, ll, pj, blaze, barr, mirosolas. Probably forgetting some

 

[El_Jefe]

141 - Nobody is beating Mendez this year and, NO, Nate Desmond wasn't keeping things any closer. I feel PSU fans have been underappreciating Mendez all year, with some even claiming that a healthy Nagao would beat him. Unfortunately, we will never know for sure, but I didn't see that ever happening. Mendez is wrestling at another level, and nobody is going to touch him. I would put him as a slight favorite for the Hodge over Mitchell. As part of that award is political, it might come down to who has a season left to win it next year, and that would be MM.

I'm really looking forward to 141 at NCAAs with Mendez, Vega, Stanich, Hardy, and Echemendia. That's a monster weight that probably isn't getting its due because of Mendez being a 2x defending champ.

 

[Spykers Secretary]

When Levi leaves next year, are you guys expecting MM to move up to 174, and Kasak/Duke would figure out 157/165?

That obviously makes sense… but would it risk losing Henkle? He’s too good not to be wrestling as a RSFR. So could Duke do what Kasak did this year and take his shirt next year, which would allow Henkle to slide into 174, MM stay where he is, and Kasak return back to 157?

Also, how does Nate Desmond fit? Would Blaze take his shirt trying to keep every e happy and in the fold? Then Desmond and Ono would go 133-141? Not sure if Ononis getting more than 1 in year, but SVN would then graduate after next season which would create some wiggle needed to fit everyone.

But even if that all worked out, and considering Rocco and Barr are only sophomores… even keeping Henkel then creates a scenario where Jayden James would have to sit as a redshirt freshman with no room.

Such HORRIBLE problems to have… I don’t know you guys do it following this trash team…

Not everyone needs to fit.

merit will triumph and then if a kid/family wants to go elsewhere, great. It’s good for all and the sport.

we all believe our coaching staff produces great men. So what if some have to realize their goals other places. The more people that go out into the world with what they learn in that room the better.

the day will come when a former psu guy wins a natty against his former team mate. I would hope during the competition our fans root like hell for our side but all sides, stand and congratulate the other side.

I know I personally will celebrate ok state when that days happen. Maybe that’s me but I think the stadium will reflect that opinion to when the day comes.

 

[Sandy2176]

Huh
You do realize the OT wins were against wrestlers ranked 2-2-3, right. And we were the lower seed in two of those matchups.

Just saying if OSU starters were in would have been closer. We still would have won. Great match either way