Vito next

[Elevator]

A few thoughts on Vito.

Quite a year!   I would guess it is at least some small consolation for the NCAA guys he beat last year that they lost to the best wrestler in the world at that weight.

While it would be understandable if he sticks with freestyle and ditches his (I think) final year of NCAA eligibility, I would guess he might like the challenge of another NCAA title.

When you are a defending NCAA champ, the top contenders are always gunning for you.  I would guess that a chance to knock off the defending champ and the reigning world champ is just a little more motivation?   Not going to be easy.  But as we saw with Spencer this year, somebody can have your number.  Would expect most will wager on Vito over the field.

Is Vito the most likely to win next year or is it Starocci or Brooks moving up?

[Wrestleknownothing]

Good question. I think I have to say Vito, even as a PSU fan.

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

Vito was so dominant that everyone would have to put him at the top of the list.  Even a PSU homer like me.  I dare say he would even beat Spencer Lee (healthy).

[CHROMEBIRD]

He's team captain and may feel obligated to compete, even though he doesn't owe anyone anything, but the grind of the season will take its toll and distract from preparing for trials. Maybe he'll do the limited season thing. ORS? I can't remember what happened with his ORS in the runup to the Tokyo Olympics and the cancelled season, etc.

I also wonder how Fix will prioritize (or not) his senior season against getting ready to make an Olympic run.

[Ched64]

I am just curious how it would even work.  Wrestling 133 all year before dropping to 57 for the Trials would be a real achievement.  I don’t think it is a coincidence that Vito is wrestling at his very best after moving up in weight. He looks far healthier and stronger and mentally, he is laser focused and clear eyed.  This is yet another example of the unfairness of Olympic vs Non-Olympic weights. He has to drop 10 lbs to compete while true 57s stay where they are.  Would it ruin the sport to move the weight class to 59k? It would make 61k deeper while giving the 57s some relief.

[Takuto_Otoguro]

This guy wrestled U17 worlds and got silver at 58kg all the way back in 2016. 

Is he the only noteable wrestler ever to try and wrestle on the senior level at a weight lower than they did at the U17 age group? 

[nhs67]

17 minutes ago, Takuto_Otoguro said:

This guy wrestled U17 worlds and got silver at 58kg all the way back in 2016. 

Is he the only noteable wrestler ever to try and wrestle on the senior level at a weight lower than they did at the U17 age group? 

Gross.

[BigRedFan]

2 hours ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

He's team captain and may feel obligated to compete, even though he doesn't owe anyone anything, but the grind of the season will take its toll and distract from preparing for trials.

I keep seeing this kind of comment.  Vito wrestled the entire college folkstyle season, winning the EIWA and getting the OW award at the NCAAs.  He then won the World Team Trials and now he won the Senior World Championships.  

How'd that "grind of the season" work out for him this year?

[billyhoyle]

4 minutes ago, BigRedFan said:

I keep seeing this kind of comment.  Vito wrestled the entire college folkstyle season, winning the EIWA and getting the OW award at the NCAAs.  He then won the World Team Trials and now he won the Senior World Championships.  

How'd that "grind of the season" work out for him this year?

Even though it worked this year, it's a terrible idea to do it for the Olympics. If it weren't a terrible idea, you'd see guys like Dake, Burroughs, and Taylor wrestle duals every week leading up to their trials. Also, the Olympics are 1-2 months before the WCs, so there is less time to recover. 

[Ched64]

18 minutes ago, nhs67 said:

Gross.

Yes it is

[Ched64]

10 minutes ago, BigRedFan said:

I keep seeing this kind of comment.  Vito wrestled the entire college folkstyle season, winning the EIWA and getting the OW award at the NCAAs.  He then won the World Team Trials and now he won the Senior World Championships.  

How'd that "grind of the season" work out for him this year?

Yes but he didn’t have to shed an additional 9 lbs to do so. 57k is approx 125 lbs…61k is 134…these guys are small…9 lbs is a 7% drop which for a world class athlete is huge.  It takes a toll in every way.  

[nhs67]

19 minutes ago, Ched64 said:

Yes it is

I meant Seth Gross.  He was 138 in High School.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

19 minutes ago, nhs67 said:

I meant Seth Gross.  He was 138 in High School.

I think Vito was,too.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

1 hour ago, Takuto_Otoguro said:

This guy wrestled U17 worlds and got silver at 58kg all the way back in 2016. 

Is he the only noteable wrestler ever to try and wrestle on the senior level at a weight lower than they did at the U17 age group? 

Wasn't he 138 in high school?

[scribers]

Vito cut zero weight in high schools by design. Many elite kids avoid weight cutting 

[BigRedFan]

40 minutes ago, scribers said:

Vito cut zero weight in high schools by design. Many elite kids avoid weight cutting 

That's not why.  He, Yianni, and Teemer agreed to wrestle different weight classes from each other in 2016 so each would win the NYS Title.  Teemer (won five titles) went 126, Vito 132 (four titles), and Yianni 138 (four titles).

[Wrestleknownothing]

4 minutes ago, BigRedFan said:

That's not why.  He, Yianni, and Teemer agreed to wrestle different weight classes from each other in 2016 so each would win the NYS Title.  Teemer (won five titles) went 126, Vito 132 (four titles), and Yianni 138 (four titles).

Same as me. Except I didn't wrestle so other guys could have all the titles.

[billyhoyle]

3 hours ago, BigRedFan said:

That's not why.  He, Yianni, and Teemer agreed to wrestle different weight classes from each other in 2016 so each would win the NYS Title.  Teemer (won five titles) went 126, Vito 132 (four titles), and Yianni 138 (four titles).

[Spladle08]

I think 57kg is going to hurt him, going to take some serious planning. I'm interested in his next 6 months

[Lleynor]

You know what's cooler than an NCAA Championship? An Olympic Gold...

I don't want to see to Vito what happened to Spencer Lee. In my opinion, the worst thing Lee ever did was wrestle at Iowa. His trajectory was through the roof. He should've healed those knees and went straight to the OTC. Now, us fans last memory of him is him looking up as the mat was slapped. 

I looooove college wrestling. Love it. But I am in love with World Dominance at the International level on all professional sports. I want 6 Golds in Paris for us! I just wish our best could get reps earlier. Hell, Snyder skipped his Senior year of High school to train, and look how that turned out for him!

[ionel]

1 hour ago, Lleynor said:

You know what's cooler than an NCAA Championship? An Olympic Gold...

I don't want to see to Vito what happened to Spencer Lee. In my opinion, the worst thing Lee ever did was wrestle at Iowa. His trajectory was through the roof. He should've healed those knees and went straight to the OTC. Now, us fans last memory of him is him looking up as the mat was slapped. 

I looooove college wrestling. Love it. But I am in love with World Dominance at the International level on all professional sports. I want 6 Golds in Paris for us! I just wish our best could get reps earlier. Hell, Snyder skipped his Senior year of High school to train, and look how that turned out for him!

Sure but if he hadn't wrestled at Iowa he wouldn't be their next head coach and AD.  That's the dream, just ask Jimmy.  

[Gus]

3 hours ago, Lleynor said:

You know what's cooler than an NCAA Championship? An Olympic Gold...

I don't want to see to Vito what happened to Spencer Lee. In my opinion, the worst thing Lee ever did was wrestle at Iowa. His trajectory was through the roof. He should've healed those knees and went straight to the OTC. Now, us fans last memory of him is him looking up as the mat was slapped. 

I looooove college wrestling. Love it. But I am in love with World Dominance at the International level on all professional sports. I want 6 Golds in Paris for us! I just wish our best could get reps earlier. Hell, Snyder skipped his Senior year of High school to train, and look how that turned out for him!

And did Snyder then skip 4 years of college?

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

10 minutes ago, Gus said:

And did Snyder then skip 4 years of college?

Nope, but some have said he seemed to do better in freestyle when he was in college!

[BobDole]

Growing up our guys have their formal season(November-February/March) and then an informal off-season with usually something once or twice a month. Then on the international stage they compete at most a handful of times. This is a hard adjustment when you go from getting constant feedback of your skills and abilities to needing to get that feedback during practice scenarios.

Hence, why you see guys do well right after a college season, then take a few years to adjust to an international schedule. You don't see this type of plateauing or regression in international wrestlers because they are used to that kind of schedule.

[Lleynor]

24 minutes ago, Gus said:

And did Snyder then skip 4 years of college?

Did Snyder blow his knee out? Did Snyder wrestle a part time schedule to still do Freestyle events?

Everything Iowa did to/for Lee was only about what they can get from him. Wrestling without ACLs? Come on...