AnklePicker

Dang Sammy Alvarez transferring? Anyone know the reasons why and where he might be headed?

No injuries? I seem to remember Kem having major shoulder problems no?

Yes agreed, lighter coaches more influence over lighter guys and heavier coaches more influence over heavier guys. But all work very well in their roles.

Their secret sauce, and it’s not very secret at this point, is Casey Cunningham. Wrestling coaching is about personality, Casey’s is the perfect yin to Cael’s yang. Obviously the burger is Cael, Cody is the lettuce and tomato but Casey is the secret sauce that brings it all together.

There should certainly be a category for defense as well. When you add that to the list, O’toole is the best wrestler in the country.

Well at the end of the day it’s the old eye test. I think his defense is better than all of the guys you listed. I also think he’s better on top than all but Lee. He doesn’t have a deficiency on bottom and his takedowns are underrated. The kid has one loss in his career and it occurred as a true freshman bumped up a weight. He also teched 11-0 in the finals of the junior worlds. Now I know it’s not senior worlds but it’s also nothing to sneeze at. I think he’s a better overall folkstyler than anyone on your list. Freestyle is harder to argue at this point but if I’m a coach doing a draft, give me O’Toole.

I think it was Mocco. I remember getting into some heated debates with JTTS about Mocco / McCoy. BTW both of those dudes look about 60 pounds. lighter these days.

My takeaways: O'Toole is the best wrestler in the NCAA this year. That includes Spencer, Yianni et al. He's the man. Completely dominated every second of his match with a game Hamiti. He is terrific in every position and his defense is even better. I said after his loss his freshman year that he would never lose again. Now I'd be a lot of money on it. Brooks looked bigger, stronger and just completely superior to Keckiesan. He's at a different level. I don't see Mekhi ever beating Carter. Carter stalked him the entire match and I don't think Mekhi even got a shot off let alone scoring on one. Carter is better on bottom and much better on top. Rode Mekhi easily. Elam has leg attacks, Warner doesn't. Credit to Warner for funking out of a shot and taking it to OT but Elam is the better wrestler imo. Cass just kept walking right into Kerk's low level attacks and had no answer in terms of a counter. Kerk started to gas but not enough to make a difference. Gomez's knee pull shot is one of the best in the game. Once he knew he needed to score he just turned up the heat and got to his offense. How can you not like this kid's style of wrestling? Alirez just kept attacking. He's the man right now at 141 which seems like a weak weight overall.

Jtts

He and Amine wrestled the same guy and lost but Thompson was a little closer. Almost had the late go ahead take down. This kid is legit and will do damage at the next level which at this point is the NCAA. Still in HS!

Gomez did a great job finishing those take downs. Not exactly easy on Yianni. So happy to see Gomez doing things like this. From out of the sport due to concussions to beating the best guy in D1. Hats off kid.

Some great wrestling yesterday. The dude who teched Nick Lee didn’t look like much but man he was tough. Nick kept testing him upper body only to get 4’d himself twice. I thought the vid here was the move of the night. Is it me or does Nashon seem to lose a lot of matches late? FullSizeRender.MOV

Jaxon Smith-MARYLAND

Wait...so has anyone actually cashed in any RAE? Can you cash it in? Please help an idiot.

He was a risk too coming straight out of high school. But Coach Goodale has great presence and he knows how to handle Jersey folk. He’s made a career out of it and has taken Rutgers to new heights. He’s done a great job attracting the top NJ kids while sprinkling in a few from out of state. Congrats Coach Goodale!

I've never seen anyone do what Soldano does. Guys will be so close to getting a takedown and putting him on his back even and he will keep that over hook and elevate you almost like a lat drop from his butt. Unreal ability there.

Thought Jaxon Smith looked good in a loss to Truax. I see Truax as a national finalist and Smith as a freshman AA for Maryland. O'Toole with another fall. Wow that kid. He's in a relatively tough match, slaps on a cradle, match over.

Was very curious if Soldano's style would translate to the next level. It obviously does and I'm happy to see it because he's so fun to watch. What a start.

Wow it's a shame the camera missed the end but Jaxon Smith's super duck to lift mat return straight to Braunagel's back was a thing of beauty. Also Keegan O'Toole keeping his Hodge chances alive and well pinning Barczak in the last seconds. Optional start with 15 secs to go, nearside cradle, pin.

Has it always been shoulders with Howard? Feel for the kid.

Forget Carroll. They got a kid named Jersey Robb who isn’t from NJ. Reminds me of a girl I met in SC with the name Camden, a name no one would ever name their kid in NJ.

Didn’t miss a beat. Good work fellas.

Should have spent the off season in Iran. Those dudes are pretty good at exactly what Hamiti is missing.