Jimmy Cinnabon

* This ranking assumes the wrestlers win out, in typical fashion ** With Yianni already taking a L he is out of the rankings 1. Spencer Lee - With Yianni losing, the Hodge is Spencer's to lose. He could wrestle the minimum regular season matches, skip Big 10s, and will still win NCAAs easily. 4x NCAA champ = auto-Hodge 2. RBY - this is a tough one since Starrocci and Brooks can also become 3x national champs this year, but I think if RBY beats Fix for a 3rd time in the finals he wins it. 3. Brooks - I think the margin between RBY, Brooks and Starroci is slim but I see Brooks winning in a more dominant fashion. 4. Starroci - I think he can become a 3x NCAA champ. Lewis can still knock him off though. 5. O'Toole - can become a 2x NCAA champ, will probably score a ton of bonus this season. 6. Schultz - a snoozefest but should easily repeat as NCAA champ this year

Say Yianni takes a second loss, but so does Gomez. Does the H2H win (a dominant one at that) of Gomez over Yianni mean anything? Does a 2 loss Yianni get the #1 over a one 1 loss Gomez assuming they finished the regular season this way?

You can thank Mr. Cunningham for that.

As of 11/22/22

O'toole dominating Hamiti is surprising (at least on paper). How did that go?

I didn't have the privilege to watch live but only follow PBP online. Any takeaways? I was surprised by Rocky Elam beating Warner and I see Kerk finally got over the Mt. Cassioppi. Other than that looks like most everything went chalk?

You are more optimistic than me, good sir. I have a hard time seeing him break .500 in the regular season.

Do you think he can qualify for NCAAs?

Kervliet and Cassioppi meet tonight at the All-Star match. Cass has dominated the series but Kerk is up to 253 pounds and supposedly healthy for the first time in a long time. How do you see this one shaking out? Can Kerk pull the upset?

With the unfortunate injury to Robbie Howard Penn State is yet again without a solid starting 125 pounder. The team may be good enough to win NCAAs anyway, even without a qualifier at 125 pounds...but should Cael try to dial-up the transfer portal and land a national qualifier level 125 pounder? I would propose going local...seeing if Anthony Noto at Lock Haven wants to bring his talents to State College. He won't be dethroning Spencer Lee (but then again, no one can) but he can at least make nationals and score some team points.

Mason Gibson will be a career backup?

Hardly a peep about this on the Cornell forums and oddly silent on this forum. Is this not as big of a deal as I thought?

Congrats to Erik and Mason!

Discuss

Transformed how? Was he fat before?

What exactly have either of them said that would qualify as "shit talking"? I've only heard them say things like I train to be the best, I believe I am the best wrestler, etc. Never trashing their opponents, but only expressing confidence in their own abilities. I'd call this confident talk, maybe even boastful, but it's certainly not shit talking.

Imagine if Starrocci were on your favorite team. Would you like him? If the answer is yes then it's just your bias showing because he competes for the Nittany Lions.

No. He was a 2x PA state champ but he's really undersized. He might be AA caliber in a 118 pound weight class though.

So bummed to hear Robbie Howard is out for the year...this makes 5 years since Penn State qualified a 125 pounder for NCAAs. Barring a transfer this is likely year 6 with a hole to start the lineup. As a Penn State fan I want to see them bring in a true AA caliber 125 pound transfer. Anyone come to mind?

I had many an opportunity to count the lights personally.

There's definitely something to be said for actual experience in the sport. You can't fully understand what it's like to wrestle under the lights as a mere spectator. Then again, there are many examples of professional coaches (like in the NFL) who never even played the sport.

Another interesting question is if Spencer ends up a 4x NCAA champ (like Dake and Stieber) but never wins an Olympic medal, because his body is spent....where does he rank in the all-time greats? I assume he would have to be ranked next to Stieber, maybe 1 spot higher since Stieber had the controversial win vs Oliver.

No bar. Even a 4x NCAA D-1 champ can be disrespected, for the right reasons.

Can you imagine if one day Spencer returns to his native PA and becomes head coach for Penn State?

I was admittedly a poor high school wrestler - a starter yes, but by necessity. But there have been D-1 champs, All-Americans, even world medalists who have posted on wrestling forums such as this. My question to you...is what minimum wrestling credentials does one have to achieve to obtain respect? High school state placer? College starter? D-1 All-American?