Elevator

Anyone know if Cardenas at 197 is interested in PSU? He is graduating from Cornell and needs a new team as no Ivy graduate school athletes permitted. Does he have to enter the portal as a graduate student or does graduation set him free? I think I remember another Cornell upperweight or two finding their way South to State College.

Is this true or even truthy? Maybe he is going Dake and will wrestle 174, 184, and 197 in final year?

Good idea to up the number of wrestlers w NCAA titles. Maybe ditch Hamitti for Carr and get 100% Jesus bonus NCAA eligibility as part of an NCAA-Wrestling Faith Community initiative?

Beast, however this works out - this team will be contenders next year!

winters a little shorter and warmer - so maybe language barriers not too bad on a net basis!

Andy Matter was so dominant in his day that he was known as "the great Andy Matter" - so I've been told by wrestling fans from that era. Definitely would add him to the list - Abe is close too.

I have Lee and RBY higher and the story w Kerk, Haines and MM still being written.

Might be close, but I would take the over on Facundo earning a varsity spot. BB shows you can pretty far with great defense and positioning and Facundo reminds me of BB. Of course, I really do not know what happens in the PSU room and maybe Facundo is getting whupped by new guys (would suprise me)? He is more fun to watch, but I do not assume Hamiti would beat Facundo. Did someone hear that Parker K intends to hit the portal? I have not. My guess is that he can go where he wants if he seeks a new room/program, but not sure he translates seemlessly to 197.

Yes (but not at this level). I agree that wrestling above best weight for the team is tough at the highest NCAA level(e.g. BB at PSU at 149) or at olympics (too few weights and many great wrestlers have been between weights) - but I think Dake wrestled at his natural weight, which kept getting higher. Never heard that he was wrestling up to take one for the team. Some guys are even better up w not much weight management and my memory is Dake went where he wanted to go. Am I wrong? Could be!

Wolak will be tough - how many years does he have left? Will be fun to see what Sonny can do! Overall looks very good!

Meh - do not see the allure. Some guys grow more during their careers than others - but winning title does not get progressively tougher as the weigh class goes up. Dake was never particularly small for the weight as I recall - to the contrary he almost always was among the strongest and full sized for the weights. But my memory may not be perfect on this.

At least honorable mention: Mark Hall - probably belongs on the list but covid-robbed of his last year to get another title and NCAA finals appearance. Kerry McCoy - 2x NCAA Champ and won 131 of his last 132 matches w an 88-match winning streak.

Not disputed this at all, just hard to sort out those that spout their preposterous opinions honestly and those that are doing so with full knowledge that they are lying.

With the extra covid year still out there, I think the depth this year is at an all time high at most weights. A little tougher to get to AA and its is almost always very tough at every weight even without that factor.

This is a hard thing to measure with certainty, but he definitely lacks self-awareness. I guess it is an MMA celebrity thing for attention?

Yes - for 4 years he was the NCAA champ and it was his bracket.

I loved Bo as an NCAA wrestler - but he is about as sharp as a bowling ball. Bo lecturing about "class" is off the charts lunacy.

I have probably never rooted for Fix in NCAA matches, but he is a warrior that deserves some love and appreciation from the wrestling world. He is dedicated and highly skilled and successful, even if he did not quite get the brass NCAA ring. I tip my hat to his outstanding career and many records set.

It is such a small community that it is probably close to impossible to police this effectively. Plus, the teams with high level of success, NIL funs, and program assets are magnet programs. Does not necessarily take recruiting to get interest the wrestlers are interested in the opportunity. Also have examples of guys who graduate and are looking for a good graduate school opportunity - including Ivy guys (e.g. Cardenas and there have been others) who can no longer compete for their team as graduates. It will be interesting to see if there is much portal activity with AA level wrestlers this year - will not surprise me.

I do not love this thread - between injuries (known and unknown) and poor draws/style matchups, there will be guys who do not place. Its unlucky is all. Shake it off and move forward. All of the guys listed are outstanding competitors and warriors. I give them full credit for the effort.

As Starocci made clear, he was the champ already and it was his bracket. Might still be next year!

until that run to 3rd it seemed pretty clear, but I agree it could be a close battle by next year. But I think SVN is a little bigger and perhaps Kasak can be at 141 and SVN 149 one year and they each move up a weight for the next year? How much will Haines and MM grow?

He was really bad, but got better for the finals. His problem is he says whatever he thinks (much of which is idiotic) and babbles on endlessly about topics other than the match or matches going on.

sure - even putting aside academics, Ivies cannot take a grad transfer. Only undergrads can compete.

I think he does. So does Jacob Cardenas and he cannot compete for Cornell because he graduates and no grads for Ivy teams. Cardenas is looking . . . . hm. Not an easy call between Keck and Cardenas - does Keck have the frame for 197?