Trending Up, Trending Down?

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

How is your favorite program trending?

I'll go first Penn State - it's seems hard to say you are trending up when you've already won 10 of the last 11 contested NCAAs.  But I think there is room for improvement.  Sure RBY is gone but guys like Bartlett, SVN, Haines, Facundo and Kerk have lots of room to improve.

 

Would be interested in hearing opinions of fans of the following teams:

- Iowa

- Ok St

- Oh St

- Cornell

- Michigan

- Minnesota

- Rutgers

- Wisconsin 

- and more

[mspart]

Obviously, they all have room to improve.  Like a lot of room. 

mspart

[AgaveMaria]

10 of the last 12 contested...

[nick]

Bellarmine picked up wins over teams they lost to last year (VMI, Davidson The Citadel) and won the NCWA national title - even in losses this year, they felt a lot closer.

Recruiting is picking up and Coach Shuck is making headways locally with the Knights RTC

For a new program, I would say its trending upwards 

[Perry]

Oklahoma state in the gutter. Gotta think smith is on a short clock at this point.

[Red Blades]

I like the trend for Cornell - 7th place tournament finish last year, up to 3rd this year with two champs, two more AA's and a couple of R.O. 12s.  Arguments that these are still Rob Koll's recruits aside, Mike Grey & Co. are showing they can still develop the talent.  Great base for Grey to build recruiting on.

Edited March 21, 2023 by Red Blades

[Gus]

2 minutes ago, Red Blades said:

I like the trend for Cornell - 7th place tournament finish last year, up to 3rd this year with two champs, two more AA's and a couple of R.O. 12s.  Arguments that these are still Rob Koll's recruits aside, Mike Grey & Co. are showing they can still develop the talent.  Great base for Grey to build recruiting on.

Plus you have Meyer Shapiro coming in who is going to be a hammer.

[ugarles]

Cornell trending up in the short term, though the loss of Yianni (and I'm still worried about Vito going OLY and not returning) are serious blows. Other than Shapiro the kids coming out of SCRTC next year look more like workout partners than competitive depth. Class of '23 looks very good but I expect them to grayshirt. The long term trend depends on who joins Jaxon Joy from the class of '24 when it's all on Mike Grey instead of residual Koll. Optimistic but idk.

[JVStateChamp]

A school that I have noticed not only this year but just recently trending in the right direction is Cal Poly, they utilize the transfer portal and recruit well. Seems every year they are well represented at NCAAs and they are building a culture there.

[CTV4ISU]

I know it has taken a little time, but Dresser and Co. at Iowa State seem to be tredning in the right direction. Every year the place higher at NCAAs, and the recruting is moving in the right direction. Lot to be optomistic about. 

[Smsu150]

Mizzou is trending up.  A very good tournament for the Tigers, who will return 5 AA's and a National Champ next season.  The tournament will be held in Missouri, which is sure to be a boost for the Tigers. 

[Warm Up Champ]

Although Oregon State took a bit of a step back at NCAAs this year I do think the program is on the rise.  Pendleton is building something solid.  Positive momentum.  Excited to see where they are in a few years.

[Sublime607]

Northern Colorado seems to have a good thing going on.

[ionel]

6 minutes ago, Sublime607 said:

Northern Colorado seems to have a good thing going on.

You are talking about the brick thing, correct? 

[KCMO2]

16 minutes ago, Smsu150 said:

Mizzou is trending up.  A very good tournament for the Tigers, who will return 5 AA's and a National Champ next season.  The tournament will be held in Missouri, which is sure to be a boost for the Tigers. 

Also, Hawks and Surtin improved by leaps and bounds this year and won multiple matches at natties.  They'll both be potential AA's next year.  Edmond who qualified at 149 in 2022 will fill in nicely at 141 for Hart.  Whoever gets the 133 spot (Crawford or Seltzer?) will perform as well as Brown did (2 and que at natties).  157 will be a question mark, but after watching Jacques lose in OT seemingly every week, it will definitely be less exhausting to watch.  The Tigers were 1 spot shy of trophying this year.  Anything less would be a letdown next season.

[Gus]

1 hour ago, CTV4ISU said:

I know it has taken a little time, but Dresser and Co. at Iowa State seem to be tredning in the right direction. Every year the place higher at NCAAs, and the recruting is moving in the right direction. Lot to be optomistic about. 

Is 2 AA's and an 11th place finish in year 6 for Dresser at Iowa State really something to be excited about in Ames? They have a strong history of excellence.

[Laxhawk174]

29 minutes ago, KCMO2 said:

Also, Hawks and Surtin improved by leaps and bounds this year and won multiple matches at natties.  They'll both be potential AA's next year.  Edmond who qualified at 149 in 2022 will fill in nicely at 141 for Hart.  Whoever gets the 133 spot (Crawford or Seltzer?) will perform as well as Brown did (2 and que at natties).  157 will be a question mark, but after watching Jacques lose in OT seemingly every week, it will definitely be less exhausting to watch.  The Tigers were 1 spot shy of trophying this year.  Anything less would be a letdown next season.

What about Messenbrink at 157? Followed by 165 the following season after Mocco is gone and O'Toole moves up. Obviously it needs to materialize first, but the AWA/Askren/Mizzou connection plus weight class seems like an obvious fit. 

[scourge165]

35 minutes ago, KCMO2 said:

Also, Hawks and Surtin improved by leaps and bounds this year and won multiple matches at natties.  They'll both be potential AA's next year.  Edmond who qualified at 149 in 2022 will fill in nicely at 141 for Hart.  Whoever gets the 133 spot (Crawford or Seltzer?) will perform as well as Brown did (2 and que at natties).  157 will be a question mark, but after watching Jacques lose in OT seemingly every week, it will definitely be less exhausting to watch.  The Tigers were 1 spot shy of trophying this year.  Anything less would be a letdown next season.

Messenbrink...

They definitely look like they're going to be up there with PSU, Cornell, Iowa and then after those 4, I'd say ASU and ISU(maybe Neb).

[KCMO2]

I may be out of the loop, has Messenbrink commited to Mizzou?  And O'Toole moving up?  He was a true 157 his freshman year.  165 seems like a good fit unless he has grown, dislikes cutting, or wants to help the lineup.

[KennyEBHS]

30 minutes ago, Gus said:

Is 2 AA's and an 11th place finish in year 6 for Dresser at Iowa State really something to be excited about in Ames? They have a strong history of excellence.

I was surprised how poorly they did based on their results earlier in the season. And you're right. It's been six years. They should be challenging for a trophy by now.

[PortaJohn]

19 minutes ago, KCMO2 said:

I may be out of the loop, has Messenbrink commited to Mizzou?  And O'Toole moving up?  He was a true 157 his freshman year.  165 seems like a good fit unless he has grown, dislikes cutting, or wants to help the lineup.

Who was it.  Maybe Askren.  Said with Mocco at 174 and them being close friends good chance he'll wait till he graduates to move up.

[Laxhawk174]

ISU should be happy about how Swiderski finished the season. His start and finish were good, but based on that whole middle part, didn't look like he would win more than a match or two. Have to figure it out with Paniro. I didn't see how he got bounced on the backside, but that was pretty surprising. Need him to rebound with a strong year. However, 149 is going to be pretty bonkers next year. Not the stacked high end talent (in terms of champs) as 165, but just look, pretty impressive list I'd say:

Sammy Sasso - Returning 3X AA, 2X Finalist

Shayne Van Ness - Returning Freshman AA

Kyle Parco - Returning 2X AA

Austin Gomez - Returning 2X AA, Many thought he would be in the finals opposite Yianni if healthy. 

Caleb Henson - Returning True Freshman AA

Brock Mauller - Returning 2X AA

Ridge Lovett - 2022 NCAA finalist

Meyer Shapiro -  Top 3 P4p recruit - replacing Yianni after doing the Cornell Greyshirt system

Cody Chittum -  #1 p4p recruit - graduated HS early and spent the last year training with HWC)

Paniro Johnson - 5 Seed as a FR for ISU

Michael Blockhus - Returning AA 

 

I was talking about ISU and got a little distracted there. Bastida looks like he might be struggling making the weight and had some injuries, on the clone board some have him penciled in at HWT next year. Schuyler, I really thought he would break through and AA, looked tough all year. Tough matchup, with former multi-AA Hilger in the blood round (I had to laugh during the first 2 sessions, Shane Sparks kept mentioning on the matcast about how Hilger put on 50 LBS this off-season, eating 10,000 calories a day!). Plus 133 lber Redding, who was pretty unheralded and quietly made the R12. All in all they had an incredibly solid dual squad and conference tourney squad. Fell back from the pack in NCAA tourney setting. Only have 1 year left of Carr, and after that - severely lacking in the high end scorer department. 

[Gus]

13 minutes ago, Laxhawk174 said:

ISU should be happy about how Swiderski finished the season. His start and finish were good, but based on that whole middle part, didn't look like he would win more than a match or two. Have to figure it out with Paniro. I didn't see how he got bounced on the backside, but that was pretty surprising. Need him to rebound with a strong year. However, 149 is going to be pretty bonkers next year. Not the stacked high end talent (in terms of champs) as 165, but just look, pretty impressive list I'd say:

Sammy Sasso - Returning 3X AA, 2X Finalist

Shayne Van Ness - Returning Freshman AA

Kyle Parco - Returning 2X AA

Austin Gomez - Returning 2X AA, Many thought he would be in the finals opposite Yianni if healthy. 

Caleb Henson - Returning True Freshman AA

Brock Mauller - Returning 2X AA

Ridge Lovett - 2022 NCAA finalist

Meyer Shapiro -  Top 3 P4p recruit - replacing Yianni after doing the Cornell Greyshirt system

Cody Chittum -  #1 p4p recruit - graduated HS early and spent the last year training with HWC)

Paniro Johnson - 5 Seed as a FR for ISU

Michael Blockhus - Returning AA 

 

I was talking about ISU and got a little distracted there. Bastida looks like he might be struggling making the weight and had some injuries, on the clone board some have him penciled in at HWT next year. Schuyler, I really thought he would break through and AA, looked tough all year. Tough matchup, with former multi-AA Hilger in the blood round (I had to laugh during the first 2 sessions, Shane Sparks kept mentioning on the matcast about how Hilger put on 50 LBS this off-season, eating 10,000 calories a day!). Plus 133 lber Redding, who was pretty unheralded and quietly made the R12. All in all they had an incredibly solid dual squad and conference tourney squad. Fell back from the pack in NCAA tourney setting. Only have 1 year left of Carr, and after that - severely lacking in the high end scorer department. 

Iowa State is a very solid dual team. A lot of guys in the 8-20 range but lacks the horses to compete at NCAA's. They will graduate Schuyler and Coleman this year and have to fill those voids in the lineup.

[goheels1812]

UNC has huge shoes to fill now that O’Connor won’t be in the room for the first time since 2017. Everything I’ve heard out of the room is that he was the standard setter and a great leader. I think the team as a whole will improve from a disappointing year, but I’m interested to see who will fill the leadership role that’s being left. 
 

I’d say overall UNC is trending steadily. Another 3 All Americans in 2024 and Lachlan McNeil continuing to improve (assuming he doesn’t take an ORS) and pushing for a top 3 finish at 141 feels reasonable. 

[Frank Scrivener]

Oklahoma State fan here.

*sigh

I don't know what to think. John Smith is a favorite son of our state.  What he's done for our sport and our state cannot be exaggerated. He is known and respected far beyond wrestling circles. 

But for the past 10 years we have underperformed to a degree I can't excuse. We have really decent recruiting classes. Plott, Doucet,  Young, Voinovich, and many many others were/are highly ranked out of high school...no, not Penn st level,  but good enough to expect AA out of.

Yet they just win and lose in a very mediocre way.

God, it's horrible.  Once, we were angry to lose to Penn St, Iowa, Minnesota... Now we expect it and take it like a punk.