RU @ Penn State

[GV4444]

Oh, and has anyone else noticed MM has been going for falls big time.  It was his biggest shortcoming last year when matched up against his fellow Hodge candidates.  I see the same intensity from Mendez.  I think they have added motivation this year.

 

[scorenomore]

10 hours ago, Threadkilla said:

I would love to watch Duke v Kasak.  The two best at the weight in the same room 

What is this non-sense for PSU and the backups, they are not all champs and best in the country.  What place did Kasak take last year?  What place did he take the year before that?  He is good no doubt, but 157 is stacked, I don't think PSU has the top 1,2 and 3 157's in the weight class.  Duke is the real deal and might win it all, but if Kasak was also in the tournament, I'd put him behind Duke, Cannon, Shapiro and likely behind Larkin but we need to see more of Larkin.

[Siberian]

To answer your questions, Kasak placed third last year after winning the Big10 and was third as a freshman at 149 the previous year. He was ranked 2nd preseason this year behind the defending champ before he was displaced by Duke as the starter. Since Taylor has taken several early losses this year and Duke continues to move up, these results make a good case for the top 1 and 2. As far as #3 goes, Sealey is also making a good case so for to be considered.

[Threadkilla]

3 minutes ago, scorenomore said:

What is this non-sense for PSU and the backups, they are not all champs and best in the country.  What place did Kasak take last year?  What place did he take the year before that?  He is good no doubt, but 157 is stacked, I don't think PSU has the top 1,2 and 3 157's in the weight class.  Duke is the real deal and might win it all, but if Kasak was also in the tournament, I'd put him behind Duke, Cannon, Shapiro and likely behind Larkin but we need to see more of Larkin.

What is this nonsense about PSU not having the best 157's in the country?    Kasak got third the last 2 years.  Beat Shapiro  (STEROIDS) at NCAA's. Canon by major at B10s and beat NCAA champ Taylor 9-3 and pin.   His only loss was 5-4 to Blaze who is at 165 now.   So talknomore.  

[scorenomore]

Seally's best win is against Zapeda, otherwise he has no top 20 accomplishments.

You guys answered my point on Kasak, good, but not champ at this point.  He took 3rd two years in a row which is really, really good, but not champ.  He isn't beating Duke, Shapiro, Larkin and I think this year's Cannon is better than Kasak as well.  I also think Cardenas would match up well against Kasak and likely win as evidenced by a very close loss to Duke.

Based on Flo's top 8, I can't slot Seally in this group and as noted above, I'd put Kasak somewhere in the 7 slot behind Duke, Shapiro, Cannon, Taylor, Larkin and Cardenas which again is not putting Seally and Kasak and Duke as 1,2 and 3.

Rank	Grade	Name	School	Previous
1	SO	Brandon Cannon	Ohio State	1
2	SO	Ty Watters	West Virginia	2
3	FR	PJ Duke	Penn State	3
4	JR	Antrell Taylor	Nebraska	4
5	FR	Landon Robideau	OK State	5
6	JR	Meyer Shapiro	Cornell	6
7	SR	Vincent Zerban	Iowa State	7
8	JR	Daniel Cardenas	Stanford	8

[Le duke]

What is this non-sense for PSU and the backups, they are not all champs and best in the country.  What place did Kasak take last year?  What place did he take the year before that?  He is good no doubt, but 157 is stacked, I don't think PSU has the top 1,2 and 3 157's in the weight class.  Duke is the real deal and might win it all, but if Kasak was also in the tournament, I'd put him behind Duke, Cannon, Shapiro and likely behind Larkin but we need to see more of Larkin.

Based on what? Kasak beat the tar out of Cannon last year. Beat Shapiro, too. Beat Antrell Taylor 2x, 9-3 and PF.


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[scorenomore]

10 minutes ago, Le duke said:

 

Based on what? He beat the tar out of Cannon last year. Beat Shapiro, too. Beat Antrell Taylor 2x, 9-3 and PF.


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If you watched the match against Cannon, he did not, it was one sequence.  Yes he beat Shapiro out of the hospital.  He did beat Taylor pretty good, but he didn't get the job done at nationals.  A healthy Shapiro is 100% the likely winner in this bracket, but I don't know if he can handle Duke's power; at best 3rd again behind Shapiro and Duke.

[Nak21]

5 hours ago, GV4444 said:

It is interesting watching Penn State guys getting reversed or taken down, they just go about their business and pin their opponent, like it was manifest destiny.  They are not afraid to give up points.  

I almost cover my eyes when Mirasola wrestles.  He could have easily been taken down several times during his match.  He wrestles like a scrambler, which isn't going to work against quality heavyweights that outweigh him by 20-50 lbs.  

 

I think it’s very much the mentality they all talk about, going out and having fun, not being afraid to take chances, give up a takedown, getting better and the process over results. All leads to already very good wrestlers, wrestling free and open, taking chances and improving and winning.

Completely agree on Mirasola. He was giving up some weight last night and no idea how came out ahead or neutral in some of those scrambles. Lucky for him this really does seem to the year of the lighter HWY so he’ll get into those scrambles the rest of the Big Ten season with guys closer to his size.

[Threadkilla]

1 hour ago, scorenomore said:

Seally's best win is against Zapeda, otherwise he has no top 20 accomplishments.

You guys answered my point on Kasak, good, but not champ at this point.  He took 3rd two years in a row which is really, really good, but not champ.  He isn't beating Duke, Shapiro, Larkin and I think this year's Cannon is better than Kasak as well.  I also think Cardenas would match up well against Kasak and likely win as evidenced by a very close loss to Duke.

Based on Flo's top 8, I can't slot Seally in this group and as noted above, I'd put Kasak somewhere in the 7 slot behind Duke, Shapiro, Cannon, Taylor, Larkin and Cardenas which again is not putting Seally and Kasak and Duke as 1,2 and 3.

Rank	Grade	Name	School	Previous
1	SO	Brandon Cannon	Ohio State	1
2	SO	Ty Watters	West Virginia	2
3	FR	PJ Duke	Penn State	3
4	JR	Antrell Taylor	Nebraska	4
5	FR	Landon Robideau	OK State	5
6	JR	Meyer Shapiro	Cornell	6
7	SR	Vincent Zerban	Iowa State	7
8	JR	Daniel Cardenas	Stanford	8

The problem is when you say I think.  Kasak majored Ridge Lovett in 2024.  Who was  #1 NCAA seed after reeling off 7 wins on the backside .  Beat Teemer who was ranked #1 before his injury last year.    Wrestlestat ranks everybody and has Kasak at number two right now.   You can rank in wherever you want but he's beaten four of the guys that you put ahead of him and we don't know how he and Duke do in the room.  I've been a season ticket holder at Penn State since before Cael was hired.   Cael quit doing public wrestleoffs in about 2012.  Nobody knows what happens in the room.  Does Duke beat Kasak or vice versa?  Do you know?  The only thing I ever heard was DT used to get the better of a heavier Ruth and I only knew that because a friends kid was in the room at the same weight but couldn't break the lineup. 

Edited January 11 by Threadkilla

[Nak21]

All in all a solid dual and dominating win. It’s the Big Ten schedule and you can’t control who they put on the mat to face you. You just go out and do your job, which PSU did. I guess RUs 141 is in trouble? No idea where the few other guys were, some already commented that Goodale is a big dual guy, so where were the kids?

125- LL still looks a little off. Not quite as aggressive, not scoring like I’d hope. Big match coming up with Iowa, Peterson beat him last year. That match will tell us more about LL. Still wondering if that loss to Desmond is effecting him still?? 
133- Blaze is a stud. 133 this year is gonna be amazing, whoever comes out on top. Took a little while to get going, Rutgers Fight Club makes it tough on the feet, but once he got rolling it was all over. Big match coming for him on Fri too. Does Ayala get his groove back?
141- Davis!! Honestly don’t know if I was expecting him or not. But happy to see him. Looked plenty big enough. Was active and aggressive, 3 TDs in the 1st period which is unlike him. Definitely gassed mid 2nd period and got sloppy but he’s 2 months behind getting in match shape, weekly weight cut grind etc. We’ll see how the Big Ten schedule goes!

149- Van Ness. Pinned. That’s great. Struggled to get off the bottom most of the 2nd period and almost appeared to not even be trying. Talked about wanting to hit the assassin and did, I’m all for game plans and feeling you can assert your will anytime you want, but I don’t think it’s wise to let guys hang around. 
157- Duke. He’s a beast. I’m not gonna address it separately because it doesn’t deserve its own post, it’s that clownish, Duke and Kasak are the 2 best 157s in the country. It’s not debatable.

165- MM is still dominant on his feet, TD aside. But seems determined to add some mat wrestling and pinning to his repertoire. I think he has more pins so far than techs.

174- Levi. I genuinely feel bad for most of these kids when he gets on top and grabs that ankle and you know the bow and arrow is coming. That does not look fun.

184- Welsh. Active, aggressive. Was pleased with the scoring. Got to his attacks and finished. Next week is a big test. Elite defense, elite wrestler who doesn’t like to wrestle, drops to a knee, backs up, rides the edge. Gonna need to attack, finishing just one likely wins the match.

197- Barr. Along with Levi, maybe the biggest jumping of levels. Seems healthy, active, aggressive, converts. He’s gonna be tough to beat the next 3 March’s.

285- Mirasola. He won, kid was bigger than him. Gets in positions where I almost can’t watch. Still want a slightly bigger HWY or another 10-20lbs on him next year if he can carry it. Friday is a big test.

 

[Pinnacle]

 

Tyler put the HEW into Jacori Teemer.

Edited January 11 by Pinnacle

[PSUDad97]

On 1/11/2026 at 10:44 AM, Threadkilla said:

What is this nonsense about PSU not having the best 157's in the country?    Kasak got third the last 2 years.  Beat Shapiro  (STEROIDS) at NCAA's. Canon by major at B10s and beat NCAA champ Taylor 9-3 and pin.   His only loss was 5-4 to Blaze who is at 165 now.   So talknomore.  

[manatree]

On 1/10/2026 at 6:57 PM, ionel said:

Could you tell which half were starters?  

 

On 1/10/2026 at 6:58 PM, flyingcement said:

The left side of each wrestler

 

I believe it was their backsides.

Edited January 16 by manatree
spelling

[ionel]

5 hours ago, manatree said:

 

 

I believe it was their backsides.

 

[Tyler]

On 1/11/2026 at 9:31 AM, scorenomore said:

What is this non-sense for PSU and the backups, they are not all champs and best in the country.  What place did Kasak take last year?  What place did he take the year before that?  He is good no doubt, but 157 is stacked, I don't think PSU has the top 1,2 and 3 157's in the weight class.  Duke is the real deal and might win it all, but if Kasak was also in the tournament, I'd put him behind Duke, Cannon, Shapiro and likely behind Larkin but we need to see more of Larkin.

You may as well throw Jordan Williams in the mix of guys that are clearly better than Kasak

[scorenomore]

On 1/16/2026 at 1:19 PM, Tyler said:

You may as well throw Jordan Williams in the mix of guys that are clearly better than Kasak

No need to keep arguing with you guys.  I'll come back at the end of the season.  

Really can't help people that quote wrestlestat for Kasak at #2 when it shows Duke down at 7 behind Taylor, Robideau and Watters.