SocraTease

Yes, looks stronger than DT as a freshman but not yet as slick. DT had (has) such developed technique and smooth chain wrestling. He was dominant on top even as a freshman. But Haines looks great.

Haines' father wrestled for Lock Haven and I think his uncle is Thomas Haines, who was recruited to Penn State before Nevills was recruited over him

He used to drive to DT's M2 practice sessions from quite a distance, I think, while in high school. Taylor has always been big on Haines

Haines is a beast! He is getting better and better as a true freshman. Always looking for points. I see him becoming a bonus point machine as he progresses.

Van Ness still looking for a signature win

Should have gone with Vespa. The cat (RBY) played with the mouse (Mendez) and was close to the major

Not sure. But apparently, Vespa was a big high school cradler. Might be worth a go given that Steen is a very long shot to make NCAAs.

Let's get at it: PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (11-0, 4-0 B1G) 125 Gary Steen Fr. Hermitage, Pa./Reynolds 5-9 133 #1 Roman Bravo-Young Sr.+ Tucson, Ariz./Sunnyside 10-0 141 #5 Beau Bartlett Jr. Tempe, Ariz./Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) 14-1 149 #13 Shayne Van Ness Fr. Somerville, N.J./Blair Academy 11-3 157 #9 Levi Haines Fr. Arendtsville, Pa./Biglerville 13-1 165 #8 Alex Facundo Fr. Essexville, Mich./Davison 11-2 174 #1 Carter Starocci Jr. Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep 11-0 184 #1 Aaron Brooks Sr. Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown 7-1 197 #4 Max Dean Sr. Lowell, Mich./Lowell 13-2 285 #2 Greg Kerkvliet Jr. Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley 9-1 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (11-1, 5-0 B1G) 125 #10 Malik Heinselman Sr. Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View 18-2 133 #9 Jesse Mendez Fr. Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point 11-1 141 #19 Dylan D’Emilio Jr. Curtice, Ohio/Genoa 12-7 149 #3 Sammy Sasso Sr. Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth 18-3 157 #25 Paddy Gallagher Fr. Chesterfield, Ohio/St. Edward 8-4 165 #12 Carson Kharchla Jr. Powell, Ohio/Olentangy 8-3 174 #7 Ethan Smith Sr. Latrobe, Pa./Sparrows Point (Md.) 14-4 184 #5 Kaleb Romero Sr. Mechanicsburg, Ohio/Mechanicsburg 19-3 197 #17 Gavin Hoffman Sr. Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville 15-4 285 #18 Tate Orndorff Sr. Spokane, Wash./University 9-4

Nice interview with Levi Haines, who seems quite mature for a first year wrestler ... if you might be looking for a slight distraction from this thread: https://gopsusports.com/podcasts/levi-haines-wrestling-episode-10/155

What are the backgrounds (e.g., ethnicities) of Bartlett and Facundo? Just curious

Hall and Valencia both score bronze at 86KG

Yes, Nolf is being more strategic about this shots and improving his positioning and defense. That's necessary against top guys whom he can't just overwhelm with offense

Amine vs. Valencia now for bronze. What happened to Hall? Did he make it through repechage? Looks like Hall is up in the other bronze medal match

Nolf pulls out another close one. Three tough matches in a row in win gold. He had the only takedown and a push out. The Iranian had two push outs and a caution point. 3-3 on criteria. Way to win the tight matches. The Iranian was a two time bronze medalist at the World Championships

Pantaleo coming up against Aliyev in the finals at 70 KG. Then Nolf in the finals at 74 KG. Aliyev is a 3-time World Champ at 61KG and has medaled at 57 KG and 65 KG in the Olympics. Guess he has decided to get fat in his old age. Should be an interesting matchup. I seem to recall Aliyev being a bit of a trickster on the mat while Pantaleo is more about power, position, and pace

Yes, the key is to get Musakaev to the final 2 minutes. Kind of like the approach to Spencer Lee. Yanni famously came back on hims from something like 8 or 9 down

The documentary on RBY that FLO dropped today is well done and worth a watch. In some ways, it is less directly about RBY's wrestling (style, technique, big matches, story) and more about his background, upbringing, family, and community support system as well as they challenges he faced along the way. One thing occurred to me about RBY's absolute obsession with video games when he was younger is that it might have helped to cultivate and hone his hand-eye coordination, his perception of very small changes immediately around him (especially his opponent's moves and body), his focus and mat awareness, and has ability to attack and counter-attack at the right time. He apparently was/is very good at numerous video games and was considering a professional "career" playing these games for money rather than going to college. He has an unbelievable cat-like quickness which may be reinforced by his habit of playing endless hours of these games. It's speculative, but there could be something to it. David Taylor likewise apparently grew up riding horses and that may have helped encourage his body awareness and even his ability to ride and chain wrestle. Similarly, Dake seems to have a background of some kind in gymnastics, which seems to have aided his athleticism and proprioception. Nolf ran cross country in high school and has really good endurance and an incredible "gas tank". And I'm pretty sure there are other examples out there of secondary pursuits and sports that help turn a very good athlete into an elite one: Mason Parris and football? Ben Askren played very high level competitive disk golf. Spencer Lee's mother influence with martial arts?

Until he is beaten, Starocci still has to be a favorite to repeat. While a few guys can slow him down, he has yet to be taken down this entire year. His defense is exceptional and he can ride and win close matches when need be. I think he returns to a higher offensive output in the last five matches. And we know he has the match with Indiana's Donnell Washington (who beat him his freshman year) circled on his calendar this Sunday in addition to a tough bout against Ohio State's Ethan Smith on Friday. Cael should have him ready. As for Penn State's sputtering offense, which a lot of people have been talking about (see FLO's FRL), I don't know why they aren't looking for cradles recently, something that Ruth, DT, Nickal, Cenzo, Quentin Wright, and Nolf were always aware of. Surprisingly, RBY got one against Iowa, and he is not known as a cradler. Look for some greater offense and some techs and pins against Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers, and Clarion in the final four duals, which will provide confidence heading into B1Gs and NCAAs.

We could see a Yazdani vs. Zahid Valencia match. Would tell us something about where Zahid is. He' definitely seems to be on the rise, though Taylor handled him easily in the second match last year. 86kg Benjamin GREIL (AUT) Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) Andrew JOHNSON (CAN) Zushen LIN (CHN) Xiao SUN (CHN) Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA) Ruslan VALIEV (FRA) Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO) VICKY (IND) Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR) Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN) Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL) Myles AMINE (SMR) Boris MAKOEV (SVK) Zahid VALENCIA (USA) Mark HALL (USA)

I don't think it bothers Lee either. If/when Lee wins his 4th, wrestling fans everywhere likely will be cheering for him ... or at least they should be in my opinion. And the next discussion will be whether, when, and what happens if Lee tangles with Gilman (or even RBY) for a spot on the World Team

Quite frankly, that is the way I recall it-- that the crowd was rooting for DeSanto and his "vision quest" upset. In fact, I've heard Lee say in an interview that it was one of the only times that the crowd was rooting against him and booing him. Maybe it was because a PA guy (Lee) was going to Iowa (while DeSanto was staying in the state and going to Drexel). Maybe it was because DeSanto was getting after it and it appeared like Lee was stalling (which he was). Lee was spent and barely hanging on. I know I was rooting for DeSanto and the upset at the time. Here's the match:

Wow, Harvard beat Princeton. When was the last time that happened? https://gocrimson.com/news/2023/1/27/6-different-crimson-record-victories-to-help-wrestling-defeat-princeton.aspx And Columbia beats Lehigh. https://lehighsports.com/news/2023/1/27/wrestling-late-rally-falls-short-as-mountain-hawks-fall-18-17-at-columbia.aspx