Cougar Clash

[Tyler Perry]

12 hours ago, happyvalet said:

Awesome breakdown. SIUE has some dogs! I was surprised Simma forfeited the finals, I didn't see anything happen to him in the semis. Was John Smith with the team or in the stands as a fan?

In the stands with his cowboy hat (so much aura) 

[Tyler Perry]

5 hours ago, Mizzou Fan said:

Might Mizzou have a new starter at 141 in Hilton?  Hilton looked great and Seltzer seems to be slipping back into 2024 mode.  Also wonder if Mendoza will redshirt or be the new starter at 149.  

Honestly, I’d let it be how it is now, it’s not like you’re competing for the stand anyway. Besides Teague over Conway. But I wonder if they get Edmond back down to 141, then Mendoza 49. I hope Zeke holds him off. Hinton looked good tho 

[The_KC_Godfather]

1 hour ago, NM1965 said:

I wouldn't say Doucet needs a LOT of work, but he needs work. He only had 5 matches last year. He's looked good so far this year. I'd like him to get a strong tournament finish under his belt for seeding at NCAAs. Hopefully OSU sends their starters to the Scuffle this year. He's not the only one though, I'd like to see OSU's "super freshman" to get more matches under their belts as well, I want to see how they'll do in a big tournament (I think they will do quite well). 

Regarding Figs, I don't know how much NIL money, if any, that's he's gotten. I saw a comment that AA transfers in wrestling usually command $100,000 - 1,000,000 in NIL, but I also saw an article that said Figs "turned down millions" in NIL money to wrestle for David Taylor. I find the idea of someone paying Figs "millions" to wrestle to be a massive overstatement, but supposedly he turned money down to wrestle for Taylor. If that's true, he made a VERY bad decision. 

I hope Figs is not ill, which is speculated by guys here. I remember when that one dude from Cornell (well over a decade ago) was top 10 preseason, and the guy just basically fell apart on the mat that year in front of everybody. People were saying he was a loser, that he had HEW, etc, then he died within a couple years from some type of aggressive cancer. 

I'd love to see them all as much as possible. While the 3 star freshmen (#2 Vega, #2 Robideau, and #2 Lockett) have some big wins, I think they still need as much high level competition as they can get.

Vega - Could have had #9 Land, although Land only beat Mizzou's backup 16-13. Vega likely would have eaten him for lunch. Outside of Vega's MD over Hardy, he wrestled #7 Jack and #11 Bailey to pretty close matches. He needs some more tough tests if he's going to compete with Mendez.

Robideau - Would have liked to see him against #7 Webster. Robideau the most impressive of the three to me so far with what he did to Cardenes and Vonovich. I haven't been that impressed in a long time. I think he beats Watters but needs the comp. for Duke.

Lockett - Don't think the Cougar Clash would have helped much with competition. Big wins so far over Caliendo and Garvin, but Messybrink is a different level. 

Edited December 8, 2025 by The_KC_Godfather

[The_KC_Godfather]

32 minutes ago, Tyler Perry said:

Honestly, I’d let it be how it is now, it’s not like you’re competing for the stand anyway. Besides Teague over Conway. But I wonder if they get Edmond back down to 141, then Mendoza 49. I hope Zeke holds him off. Hinton looked good tho 

I think Smith said at the beginning of the season that Edmond was too big for 141. As much as he gasses now, I can't imagine how bad he'd be at 141.

As much as I'd love to see Mendoza in the lineup now, I'd rather him RS and be in the lineup next year with Mauger/Walker/Seltzer/Mendoza/Rath/Bambi/Steed/Aeoden/???/Stillwell.

[ionel]

2 hours ago, NM1965 said:

No, I watched National Duals, and enjoyed the hell out of it, but I'm talking about a real tournament, not a dual tournament.  

Just checked their schedule and saw the Scuffle is on their schedule. Wasn't too impressed (Army won the Scuffle last year, it was so weak) until I saw some of the other teams that are committed this year. Would still be happier if PSU, Ohio State, or some other strong teams would show up. 

• Top-ranked teams: Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, Cornell, Little Rock, Penn, and Maryland are expected to be among the top teams competing, FloWrestling.
• Other participating teams: A wider list includes Army, North Dakota State, Virginia, The Citadel, Northern Colorado, Chattanooga, Gardner-Webb, Duke, Utah Valley, Clarion, Morgan State, Brown, American, App State, Kent State, Michigan State, Bellarmine, Campbell, Davidson, and Presbyterian, FloWrestling. 

 

Cougar is not a "real" tournament, Midlands is no longer a real tournament, neither is Soldier Salute or Scuffle.  Vegas prob is but that wouldnt fit in schedule this year.  Covid ruined a bunch of the "real" tournaments.  What are these real tournaments they should of signed up for?  

[happyvalet]

13 minutes ago, The_KC_Godfather said:

I'd love to see them all as much as possible. While the 3 star freshmen (#2 Vega, #2 Robideau, and #2 Lockett) have some big wins, I think they still need as much high level competition as they can get.

Vega - Could have had #9 Land, although Land only beat Mizzou's backup 16-13. Vega likely would have eaten him for lunch. Outside of Vega's MD over Hardy, he wrestled #7 Jack and #11 Bailey to pretty close matches. He needs some more tough tests if he's going to compete with Mendez.

Robideau - Would have liked to see him against #7 Webster. Robideau the most impressive of the three to me so far with what he did to Cardenes and Vonovich. I haven't been that impressed in a long time. I think he beats Watters but needs the comp. for Duke.

Lockett - Don't think the Cougar Clash would have helped much with competition. Big wins so far over Caliendo and Garvin, but Messybrink is a different level. 

Lockett needs to be doing shark bait drills weekly if he wants a chance to hang with MM 

[NM1965]

3 hours ago, ionel said:

Cougar is not a "real" tournament, Midlands is no longer a real tournament, neither is Soldier Salute or Scuffle.  Vegas prob is but that wouldnt fit in schedule this year.  Covid ruined a bunch of the "real" tournaments.  What are these real tournaments they should of signed up for?  

From your post apparently there are no "real" tournaments anymore, at least until conference tourneys. The Scuffle at least has a handful of good teams in it this year, per their site, unlike the limp-wrist affair last year where Army (!) got 1st and OU got 2nd. I think there are HS tournaments better (in fact I know it!). 

[NM1965]

3 hours ago, happyvalet said:

Lockett needs to be doing shark bait drills weekly if he wants a chance to hang with MM 

Alright, you have to tell me what "shark bait drills" are. 

[Michael Moran]

To me, Taylor wrestled starters who he was not totally pleased with.

The 3 true freshman could not have done better.  Spratley lost 2 close matches but in general wrestled well.  Doucet and Merrill wrestled pretty well, with one close loss each.  Not sure he expected more from them.

But at 133 and 149, OSU has been weak.  And I think he thought the PSU transfers at 174 and 184 would have done better.

Ryder and Facundo will be the starters at 174 and 184, but can they more up. Right now they are borderline AA.  Can they move to solid AAs (even if not title threats).

But can OSU change horses at 133 and 149.  My view is 149 was always a better weight for Jamison, and I think if you slot him in he would be an upgrade.  Less sure about Travis or Carter Young.

At 133, pretty clear to me RR has replaced Fig.  But what about Hughes.  Not sure of his status, but I view him as a real stud.  If he can make 133 I think he is a big upgrade.

[NM1965]

27 minutes ago, Michael Moran said:

To me, Taylor wrestled starters who he was not totally pleased with.

The 3 true freshman could not have done better.  Spratley lost 2 close matches but in general wrestled well.  Doucet and Merrill wrestled pretty well, with one close loss each.  Not sure he expected more from them.

But at 133 and 149, OSU has been weak.  And I think he thought the PSU transfers at 174 and 184 would have done better.

Ryder and Facundo will be the starters at 174 and 184, but can they more up. Right now they are borderline AA.  Can they move to solid AAs (even if not title threats).

But can OSU change horses at 133 and 149.  My view is 149 was always a better weight for Jamison, and I think if you slot him in he would be an upgrade.  Less sure about Travis or Carter Young.

At 133, pretty clear to me RR has replaced Fig.  But what about Hughes.  Not sure of his status, but I view him as a real stud.  If he can make 133 I think he is a big upgrade.

I think Ramirez is doing better than Cael would do at 133.  Sadly, I doubt we see Cael wrestle again in orange/black, and I'm surprised he hasn't hit the transfer portal already. At 149 I have mixed feelings. Swiderski is struggling, but he's wrestled a very tough schedule so far. He's not getting blown out by the excellent guys he's wrestled either. I think maybe his results will improve over the course of the season as his conditioning improves. I don't think Carter Young is a good option at 149, he's basically regressed every year he's wrestled in college. He's a tough kid who wrestles top guys close, and occasionally beats one, but I think he might have HEW. 

I think Ramirez may well be AA level by NCAAs, and the same for Swiderski. I like Cael and, to a lesser extent Carter, but I don't think those guys will wrestle any important matches this year, they may get picked to give the starters some matches off. I'd love to be proven wrong, however, and see those guys rebound and have great years. 

Edited December 9, 2025 by NM1965

[boconnell]

35 minutes ago, Michael Moran said:

To me, Taylor wrestled starters who he was not totally pleased with.

The 3 true freshman could not have done better.  Spratley lost 2 close matches but in general wrestled well.  Doucet and Merrill wrestled pretty well, with one close loss each.  Not sure he expected more from them.

But at 133 and 149, OSU has been weak.  And I think he thought the PSU transfers at 174 and 184 would have done better.

Ryder and Facundo will be the starters at 174 and 184, but can they more up. Right now they are borderline AA.  Can they move to solid AAs (even if not title threats).

But can OSU change horses at 133 and 149.  My view is 149 was always a better weight for Jamison, and I think if you slot him in he would be an upgrade.  Less sure about Travis or Carter Young.

At 133, pretty clear to me RR has replaced Fig.  But what about Hughes.  Not sure of his status, but I view him as a real stud.  If he can make 133 I think he is a big upgrade.

I am guessing it was more about guys who need wins for winning % and RPI.

[MizzouFan01]

1 hour ago, Michael Moran said:

To me, Taylor wrestled starters who he was not totally pleased with.

The 3 true freshman could not have done better.  Spratley lost 2 close matches but in general wrestled well.  Doucet and Merrill wrestled pretty well, with one close loss each.  Not sure he expected more from them.

But at 133 and 149, OSU has been weak.  And I think he thought the PSU transfers at 174 and 184 would have done better.

Ryder and Facundo will be the starters at 174 and 184, but can they more up. Right now they are borderline AA.  Can they move to solid AAs (even if not title threats).

But can OSU change horses at 133 and 149.  My view is 149 was always a better weight for Jamison, and I think if you slot him in he would be an upgrade.  Less sure about Travis or Carter Young.

At 133, pretty clear to me RR has replaced Fig.  But what about Hughes.  Not sure of his status, but I view him as a real stud.  If he can make 133 I think he is a big upgrade.

If you are referring to Teague Travis, it was announced a week or so ago he’s now at Mizzou and will finish his eligibility there. 

[Truzzcat]

1 hour ago, Michael Moran said:

To me, Taylor wrestled starters who he was not totally pleased with.

The 3 true freshman could not have done better.  Spratley lost 2 close matches but in general wrestled well.  Doucet and Merrill wrestled pretty well, with one close loss each.  Not sure he expected more from them.

But at 133 and 149, OSU has been weak.  And I think he thought the PSU transfers at 174 and 184 would have done better.

Ryder and Facundo will be the starters at 174 and 184, but can they more up. Right now they are borderline AA.  Can they move to solid AAs (even if not title threats).

But can OSU change horses at 133 and 149.  My view is 149 was always a better weight for Jamison, and I think if you slot him in he would be an upgrade.  Less sure about Travis or Carter Young.

At 133, pretty clear to me RR has replaced Fig.  But what about Hughes.  Not sure of his status, but I view him as a real stud.  If he can make 133 I think he is a big upgrade.

Very much agree with everything you said. I do not think Hughes is a factor at 133 though/ Julian Farber majored him last year and thats who RR beat in the semis although it was a very tightly contested bout.

[happyvalet]

3 hours ago, NM1965 said:

Alright, you have to tell me what "shark bait drills" are. 

It may have other names as well, but it's basically where you continually send fresh guys at someone. You could do a 1-2 minute go and then sub in the next guy and do another go, and so forth. Or sub each time there's a takedown earned it given up 

[Gus]

On 12/7/2025 at 8:19 PM, Tyler Perry said:

I went undercover (I just showed up) to the Cougar Clash, here are my takeaways. I also went to the practice before at our wrestling center.
 

125: 
solid day by Spencer Moore, took out Mauger and Trever Anderson (I also thought Boden Downey was Anderson and I think his feelings were hurt). (Sorry Boden  ) 

133:

Figueroa is done man, lost to Garrett Rinken then MFF out of the tournament. Sad for him man  

Marcel Lopez (SIUE) looks great, could qualify for NCAA for sure. Takes out Farber for third (who also looked good today)

True Freshman Jackson Tucker (Little Rock) looks good. 
 

141:

A week after Danny Pucino majored Zeke Seltzer, his backup, Easton Hilton, beats Danny 4-1 SV, Pucino then MFF out. Hilton then lost 16-13 to Cory Land.

JJ McComas puked on the floor during the night before practice. Nice guy tho.

 

149: 

Weekly Swiderski crash out, beats Mendoza 7-5 then chirps, things get chippy, both walk away. He then lost 8-1 to Caleb Tyus in the finals, pushed his face at the end, but relatively tame. I like Casey, he was nice when I met him last night. He’s very strong. 

Caleb Tyus (SIUE) is LEGIT. Very stingy defense, Swiderski couldn’t get anything offensively. Tyus has a good single, legit R12/AA threat imo. 

Mendoza won 5-4 over Kolton Burton (OKST) lost 7-5 Casey Swiderski, then techs two straight by the 2nd period for third.

RSFR Kolton Burton (OKST) was suprisingly tough today. Lost a close match to Seth then wins 11-4, 13-5, before losing and getting 5th

 

157:

Webster is good 

 

165: 

Ryder Downey is good. Beats Scoles 11-2 in the finals.

Kody Routledge (OKST) is very good. Lost 10-5 to Scoles before taking third. (Shoutout Brock Woodcock) 

 

174: 

Simma and Facundo make finals, Facundo MFF.

facundo is short

RSFR Collin Kelly (ILL) is right there, lost 6-3 in SV to Jared Simma in the Semis before taking third. 
 

184: 

Zack Ryder wins (get you a partner that looks at you like David Taylor looks at Zack Ryder)

 

197: 
Andrew Reall (Brown) wins 197. Never heard of him tbh, he looks good, will have to look into him. 

northern Colorado Tyler Perry took 4th, so I’m considering that a win for me 

285: 

Alex Semenko tried to crash out on Voelker, things got heated. 

Voelker beats Luffman 8-5

keep an eye on Bryson Buhk (SIUE) after an abysmal year last year, he takes 4th after beating Jarrett Stoner 7-5, losing 4-1 SV to Luffman, pinning Brett Mower, and losing a close match off a controversial call to Stoner 2-0

 Met/pics with David a Taylor, John Smith, Doug Schwab. And so many more. Would recommend 

 

Tyus now has wins over Swiderski and Stiles on the season and only has one loss. He was teched by Bassett

[NM1965]

13 hours ago, happyvalet said:

It may have other names as well, but it's basically where you continually send fresh guys at someone. You could do a 1-2 minute go and then sub in the next guy and do another go, and so forth. Or sub each time there's a takedown earned it given up 

Ah....thanks. We didn't have anything like that on our wrestling team. We did something like that in football though, no takedowns of course just hitting. 

[NM1965]

6 minutes ago, Gus said:

Tyus now has wins over Swiderski and Stiles on the season and only has one loss. He was teched by Bassett

Everybody is beating Swiderski so far! To be fair though, he's had a pretty brutal schedule and has kept the scores close. I think he just needs a little more work this year and he'll be alright. He's giving me Caleb Fish type vibes, oddly, I think he'll take a lot of losses and still AA in March. 

[ionel]

13 hours ago, happyvalet said:

It may have other names as well, but it's basically where you continually send fresh guys at someone. You could do a 1-2 minute go and then sub in the next guy and do another go, and so forth. Or sub each time there's a takedown earned it given up 

I remember watching Adam Tirapelle go thru this his NC year the week after he lost in b10 finals.  Recollection there were only six in the room:  a coach, three "fresh guys", AT and a nobody on the treadmill.  It went well for the one not so much for the three. 

[Tyler Perry]

23 hours ago, The_KC_Godfather said:

I'd love to see them all as much as possible. While the 3 star freshmen (#2 Vega, #2 Robideau, and #2 Lockett) have some big wins, I think they still need as much high level competition as they can get.

Vega - Could have had #9 Land, although Land only beat Mizzou's backup 16-13. Vega likely would have eaten him for lunch. Outside of Vega's MD over Hardy, he wrestled #7 Jack and #11 Bailey to pretty close matches. He needs some more tough tests if he's going to compete with Mendez.

Robideau - Would have liked to see him against #7 Webster. Robideau the most impressive of the three to me so far with what he did to Cardenes and Vonovich. I haven't been that impressed in a long time. I think he beats Watters but needs the comp. for Duke.

Lockett - Don't think the Cougar Clash would have helped much with competition. Big wins so far over Caliendo and Garvin, but Messybrink is a different level. 

I believe Land was up 16-4 in the third, a takedown, locked up cradle, and a last second takedown skewed the score to look closer 

[Tyler Perry]

23 hours ago, The_KC_Godfather said:

I think Smith said at the beginning of the season that Edmond was too big for 141. As much as he gasses now, I can't imagine how bad he'd be at 141.

As much as I'd love to see Mendoza in the lineup now, I'd rather him RS and be in the lineup next year with Mauger/Walker/Seltzer/Mendoza/Rath/Bambi/Steed/Aeoden/???/Stillwell.

Deadly. Wonder if a guy like Heiser could grow to 97 but probably not 

[Tyler Perry]

17 hours ago, NM1965 said:

I think Ramirez is doing better than Cael would do at 133.  Sadly, I doubt we see Cael wrestle again in orange/black, and I'm surprised he hasn't hit the transfer portal already. At 149 I have mixed feelings. Swiderski is struggling, but he's wrestled a very tough schedule so far. He's not getting blown out by the excellent guys he's wrestled either. I think maybe his results will improve over the course of the season as his conditioning improves. I don't think Carter Young is a good option at 149, he's basically regressed every year he's wrestled in college. He's a tough kid who wrestles top guys close, and occasionally beats one, but I think he might have HEW. 

I think Ramirez may well be AA level by NCAAs, and the same for Swiderski. I like Cael and, to a lesser extent Carter, but I don't think those guys will wrestle any important matches this year, they may get picked to give the starters some matches off. I'd love to be proven wrong, however, and see those guys rebound and have great years. 

Ronnie may be an AA threat next year, but where does he fit in? He’ll be sandwiched by Spratley, Jax, Vega, and the Raney twins next year 

[Tyler Perry]

2 hours ago, NM1965 said:

Everybody is beating Swiderski so far! To be fair though, he's had a pretty brutal schedule and has kept the scores close. I think he just needs a little more work this year and he'll be alright. He's giving me Caleb Fish type vibes, oddly, I think he'll take a lot of losses and still AA in March. 

I’ve never seen a guy look so good in his matches, yet lose. He was in so many times on Caleb, but tyus has insane defense. I wonder if weight cut is a factor for him, he was going through it the night before 

we’ve all been there before  

[NM1965]

5 minutes ago, Tyler Perry said:

Ronnie may be an AA threat next year, but where does he fit in? He’ll be sandwiched by Spratley, Jax, Vega, and the Raney twins next year 

I'm just talking about this year. 

[Tyler Perry]

1 minute ago, NM1965 said:

I'm just talking about this year. 

Oh I misread it, my bad 

[NM1965]

3 minutes ago, Tyler Perry said:

I’ve never seen a guy look so good in his matches, yet lose. He was in so many times on Caleb, but tyus has insane defense. I wonder if weight cut is a factor for him, he was going through it the night before 

we’ve all been there before  

Yeah, Swiderski isn't looking bad or anything. He'll be alright, he's rolling with some tough kids in practice, and he'll get better.