Tigers and Hokies

[The_KC_Godfather]

50 minutes ago, MidwestMan said:

I had this dual circled since the Tiger schedule had been released.  This dual has been competitive and entertaining and with the possibility of a lineup bump, Otoole vs Lewis, and Mauller vs Andonian "dog fight", it was a no brainer to jump in the car and do the 2+ hour drive from BFE Missouri on a week night.

I have a "12 hour rule", learned via school of hard knocks, about making comments before adjusting perspective, minus emotion, and definitely sober.  I've earned all my grey hair.

When I arrived for the dual, Mizzou was giving away foam hands with 3 fingers held up indicating 3 pt takedowns, and this was part of the theme for the night.  I got a chuckle when a Tiger fan commented that AJ Ferrari would need 2 of em!  I would find my self commenting during earlier matches that I'm not sure I'd send my kid to a Tiger Style Camp to learn offensive takedowns, as V. Tech was hitting some textbook singles and scoring the initial 3.  This is where I have to be a little selective in my interpretation, and maybe my view is skewed.  Over the years, the Tigers have infused more "funk" into their repertoire, and that style leads to defensive strategies.  Great when it works, not so in the current 3 pt takedown scenario and it could be the difference in finding the podium at season end.

Anyhow, your getting my take so here we go: Noah going all out with the lateral attempt in OT, I'll call that a "growing opportunity."  I'm not a mouse in the Tiger wrestling room so I don't have privy to how they approach OT strategy.  Moore-that stick was electric.  Going to be fun watching this kid continue to develop.  Absolutely love his fire.  Edmond-that was a head scratcher.  I was excited about seeing him at 141, and when he was a frosh he was exciting to watch with his explosive speed.  I certainly don't want to short change VT'S Tom Crook, as he is tough kid, but Edmond seemed to be in control until the crash out a bounds and then it was like he switch got flipped off.  Don't know if it was conditioning or what.  Now I question how much he is improving.  Gioffre-gave up the first takedown but hung in tough with #2 Henson, with funky style.  Another wrestler that might surprise.  Mauller-I can't hide my frustration I have with Brock and his defensive/control style of wrestling.  I always thought that Brock and J. Jacques must have been practice partners as their styles are so much alike.  Brock is a beast physically.  Gotta think if he would open up more with leg attacks, with his strength, he can score.  Mauller and Andonian are not new to each other and styles totally conflicting.  You can flip a coin between these two any time they wrestle, and with their experience, I think it would be disappointing and a lack of achieving potential if they don't finish in the top 3.   Coaches gotta coach.  Break score Miz-6, VT-12.  What's the plan Stan?  Are we going to see the Otoole-Lewis showdown.  Who's doing the math?  I was wondering if we might see Steed in the lineup at 165, but I also know he was injured wrestling in a previous tournament and may not be available.  Speculation came to an end when Otoole reported to the mat and proceeded to do KO stuff for the tech.  Conway-took one for the team.  Tough draw for anyone not named KO or Starocci.  It was coming down to NCT "nutt cutting time" and Whiting is the project that we all wondered about, and finally arrived.  Another exciting, aggressive wrestling style and the guy moves like he is a middle weight.  Whiting didn't disappoint with the major.  Elam 1-Speculation flying.  Why has Rocky been out of the line up?  Hell if I know, but whatever it was, he's back.  I was pretty sure the match was in the bag after Whitting's match, Rockys major adding the first layer of frosting.  Elam 2-and by the way, I'm so old I watched their dad Bryan wrestle in HS.  We knew Zach would be a monster as he continued to fill out his frame.  Now it's a matter of continuing the positioning and technique improvements and having Dom Bradley as a coach/training partner is certainly a plus.  Decision Elam.  Victory and dual current streak alive fir the season.  A dual win always makes that damn drive home much easier.

Great recap...thanks for that!

I too get frustrated with Edmond and Mauller. I felt the same that Edmond looked so promising as a freshman (up a weight), and not to say that he won't turn it around, but wondering if the weight cut is the issue that's causing him to gas?  Seems like he explodes at the beginning of the match and burns all of his gas.

Mauller is as frustrating as they get. How many matches has he taken to OT because of the defensive mindset? To your point, if he would just shoot, he'd be one of the "leaders" that gets bonus when the team needs it.

[Tigerfan]

Seems to me Brock’s problem has always been giving too much respect to his opponents. He’s a different wrestler in the room and against clearly overmatched opponents, but he clams up against the top 8 or so guys. It’s like he’s convinced he can’t be taken down and can always win with one takedown, but year after year the top 5 or 6 guys CAN take him down and he’s always shocked that it happened. 
 

To be fair he has opened things up this year and I’m even more confident he’ll finish top 6 than ever. To climb any higher, he’ll need to stay offensive against the best. Alas, I doubt he can make that change at this point.

[Winners Circle]

13 hours ago, TylerDurden said:

I might be out of the loop, but I'm assuming a result like this keeps Seltzer on the bench if that wasn't already the case, yes? 

 

13 hours ago, MizzouFan01 said:

Thats a good question. I myself had high hopes for him this year. Seems weight management has been an issue. He wrestled 141 at Soldier Salute, losing to Kai Owen of Columbia and Josh Koderhant of Navy. He beat Clay Carlson of SDS en route to a 5th place finish. 

Yea I heard Seltzer is in the doghouse with coaches over weight management. Not sure what that means moving forward for him, but there ya go.

 

[MizzouFan01]

1 hour ago, Winners Circle said:

 

Yea I heard Seltzer is in the doghouse with coaches over weight management. Not sure what that means moving forward for him, but there ya go.

 

Is it a case of his poor weight management, or that he’s too big to hold 133 now? I remember Eierman was supposed to hold 133, which he did for a couple matches. I don’t know the details, but after those couple of matches he was up to 141 and Erneste took over 133. Pretty sure that wasn’t what the coaches wanted, and I have no information either way, but I lt seemed to work out. This scenario seems different as we have Edmund at 141 thus no real hole in the lineup. Zeke was a top 10 recruit, you want him at his optimal weight class. Is that 133 or 141, idk. 

[Winners Circle]

13 minutes ago, MizzouFan01 said:

Is it a case of his poor weight management, or that he’s too big to hold 133 now? I remember Eierman was supposed to hold 133, which he did for a couple matches. I don’t know the details, but after those couple of matches he was up to 141 and Erneste took over 133. Pretty sure that wasn’t what the coaches wanted, and I have no information either way, but I lt seemed to work out. This scenario seems different as we have Edmund at 141 thus no real hole in the lineup. Zeke was a top 10 recruit, you want him at his optimal weight class. Is that 133 or 141, idk. 

As someone that shifted weights in college myself, I agree that if he outgrew 133 that's one thing. But I heard weight management, as in he let it get out of control. Again that's just a rumor, as I don't have my own two ears on the ground. 

[Wrestej]

I have also heard it is weight management issue for Seltzer.  He opened the door for Moore to get a crack and it might be his spot now.  Got to be honest I knew nothing about Kade Moore but it didn’t take long for him to make me a believer.  Next couple of years we have some really good talent coming in up and down all the weights but especially 125-149.  The main difference I see in the tigers in the last 10 years is the depth in the room.

[TylerDurden]

46 minutes ago, Wrestej said:

I have also heard it is weight management issue for Seltzer.  He opened the door for Moore to get a crack and it might be his spot now.  Got to be honest I knew nothing about Kade Moore but it didn’t take long for him to make me a believer.  Next couple of years we have some really good talent coming in up and down all the weights but especially 125-149.  The main difference I see in the tigers in the last 10 years is the depth in the room.

Transferring to Indiana. Confirmed. 

[MizzouFan01]

9 minutes ago, TylerDurden said:

Transferring to Indiana. Confirmed. 

Sure hope not. As stated, a top 10 recruit, so we know he can wrestle. It’s just a matter of where he fits in the lineup to optimize his abilities. Now it’s on Zeke to figure that out. If he’s not okay with riding the bench and wants to go elsewhere I understand that. I don’t believe that a route anyone wants, but sometimes it’s what is done. Would love to see him do what we all believe he can do for the program and himself.