Gus

One thing that is for certain is that we will not be able to use pace to beat Japanese opponents. They can match our pace. I thought Mess looked like he has filled out a little bit.

The first period of the match was kind of weird. Mess is in on a shot looking to score and tie the match and then he hurts his knee. Then after that they are wrestling and they hit mess for a penalty point and I am not sure what for. Takahashi was able to time Mess's forward pressure and drop in on what looked like easy double legs.

Hopefully he spends the whole year eating and growing into heavyweight

For this year or next? They will have Julian Chlebove at 133 for this year but it looks pretty thin next year after Chlebove is gone.

I would agree with that. I would probably put Hardy, Lemley, Orine, Happel, Koderhandt and Vombaur into tier 2 with Swiderski.

A lot has transpired since Swid and Mendez last wrestled lol. Like Jesse Mendez winning an NCAA title and being an absolute hammer. I am not sure that Swid and Mendez have the same level of commitment year round to being the best in the world at wrestling.

Contender to AA or title contender? I don't see him in the Mendez/Alirez/Barlett tier. I think he would be a tier 2 or 3 guy that would be a contender to AA.

Interesting. Perhaps Ech just hates cutting weight. I thought he looked big at 141 last year but some guys just carry weight differently (i.e. Ryan Deakin).

He has the talent, no doubt. He lacked the consistency last year to make a title run. With another year under his belt and the training partners and coaches that he has, I would not be surprised to see him wrestling Saturday night this year.

That is gonna be the schedule to beat. Very tough.

Sprately is the real deal. He had wins last year over Luke Stanich, Jacob Camacho, Terukina, Richie Figs, Noah Surtin, Tanner Jordan, Cooper Flynn and more. 5 of his 8 losses were 1 point or SV. If he has truly jumped levels he is a title threat. He also does every possible little thing to try to get in his opponents head which is fairly entertaining.

Yeah, that's fair. But you do get more chances to beat guys when you are in the wrestle backs. The weight class that Bassett made the finals in for last chance had Jaydin Eierman, Ian Parker, Carter Young, Dean Heil, Michael McGee, Jordan Williams. He also beat fellow high schooler Aden Valencia. For context, Aden Valencia won the Henri Delglane beating Peiman Biabani (former U20 champ) and Khamzat Arsamerzouev (former U20 bronze) and that weight class also had Nahshon Garrett, Anthony Ashnault and Matthew Kolodzik who failed to medal.

I think Bassett's wins at the senior level are probably on par with Duke. Blaze has the best wins, followed probably by Forrest then Lockett.

So there is actually truth to the Swid to 141 rumor... That will be a big pull for him. But, might as well use him while he has eligibility. Swiderski on redshirt seems like a recipe for disaster.

Hard to criticize anything that PSU is doing until they start losing.

I hope Block is better than Schriever for their sake. Schriever was fine at 133 but wasn't overly big and doesn't have any great wins.

Part of my reasoning is I want to see PSU lose lol.

If SVN comes back in the same form he would certainly be considered the favorite. I do think that Parco will benefit from the Iowa room though and could make a small jump in performance. I know that Dean Hamiti had a bad NCAA's but the dude put up 11 on Mesenbrink and looked really good in that match. I also think he will make a leap working with coach DT and having the partners that he does not at OKSt. I think he is Tier 1 with KOT and Haines. Wyatt and Greg had a very close match in the semis two years ago at NCAA's. DT was just talking on Flo about working with Hendrickson and how he is now experiencing positions and situations wrestling live in practice that he never had experienced with his training situation at Air Force. Again, Greg should probably be the favorite but are you shocked if Wyatt wins that match?

Maybe I am just thinking about that whip over he hit on Mesenbrink but I think he can complete with anyone at the weight. I see a fair amount of parity at 157 again this year. Especially with Haines moving out of the weight class.

Willie, you think Antrell is a title contender at 157?

John Wiley has always been at OU as well.

I saw this idea posed on the Hawkeye board and thought it was a good one. If all the wrestlers in the country were available, who would be your first 10 picks? Remaining years of eligibility should be taken into consideration.

OK State/Iowa vs PSU 125 - Sprately = Lilledahl 133- Ayala > Davis 141- Block/Hughes/Jamison < Bartlett 149- Parco = SVN 157- Teemer > Kasak/Facundo 165- Caliendo < Messinbrink 174- Hamiti/Arnold = Haines 184- Plott/Brand < Starocci 197- Buchanan > Barr HWT- Hendrickson = Kerk You would have three strong favorites for PSU, three slight favorites for OKSt/Iowa and four toss up matches. I would lean PSU in all the toss up's however.

You cannot play the moral high ground on this when you are a PSU fan. Their hands are as dirty as anyone in the country. Who do you think Rob Koll's comment in the OP was directed towards? Some random folks from Happy Valley?