BruceyB

Fish with the win at 157. No takedowns but a turn at the end along with an earlier escape for the win. Cam Amine with a 14-3 win over Picklo.

It was bizarre. And it looked like Young thought they were going back to neutral for a second OT. Did I miss something? I thought OT went: 2 minutes neutral, 30 and 30 for rideouts, if still tied they went back to their feet for an additional minute and then final rideouts? Clearly I missed the rule change.

Absolutely brutal end to the third between Young and McDougald. Two stall calls in the last 30 as McDougald just barrels forward in desperation. And then McDougald blatantly fleas the mat by kicking OB to get his foot off the mat and not even a warning issued. Edit: Wow, that felt like a real hose job against Carter Young. He was the aggressor all but the last 30 seconds in regulation, and they don't warn McDougald until well into OT.

Feldman is supposed to be out for a few weeks with a rib injury from the Hendrickson match. Not sure about the others.

TBH, I didn't go back and read all four pages of comments as most of them are well outdated by now. However, with Bo's comments in the past about wanted to be a trendsetter and "the guy" at a program, it seems only fitting that he is to David Taylor what DT was to Cael when building their respective programs. Bassett has the chance to be the face of the program during the revival of Ok St to a perennial title contender. It has to be tempting, especially having the chance to push for their first title in 20+ years during his career.

I don't disagree with a word that you said. As far as who is the favorite, I would argue that Keegan goes into the matchup a very slight favorite in Vegas odds because he has a longer track record, and I would argue, better wins in his career. We have a better idea of what Keegan's level is because he has wins over guys like Carr, Griffith, Caliendo, Hamiti, etc. Haines hasn't had the opportunities yet to notch wins of that caliber, so there is more unknown.

Ah, yes. That does pose a threat to them both going undefeated. I didn't actually check their schedules. When it comes to rankings, I think it would be hard to argue against Keegan. But, the conjecture around the matchup (maybe it's just a lot of noise from PSU homers and CP) seems to put a lot of stock into a backside freestyle win by Haines at WTT. I could be completely wrong and most people favor Keegan. Maybe I should have clarified in the original post. If it's an even money line, who are you picking, Haines or O'Toole?

What are the potential NCAA finals matchups that you think would be the most intriguing come NCAA's? This isn't a prediction, but weight by weight, the final that garners the most interest. Mine are... 10. 165 Mesenbrink vs Barraclough We've seen Mitchell vs Caliendo several times and the gap just seems to be widening. Nothing is likely to be exciting in the weight with how big of a favorite Mesenbrink is, but the off chance of the transfer taking down the superstar (ala Taylor vs Jenkins) would be the most interesting storyline. 9. 285 Steveson vs Hendrickson Until we see someone be truly competitive with Steveson, it's hard to get too excited over a match that seems like a foregone conclusion. I put in Hendrickson because I think the match is much more likely to be a snoozer if it's Greg and Gable. 8. 133 Bailey vs Crookham Not a lot of heat in this weight as it's really the dawn of a new age after the years with Desanto, Fix, RBY, and Vito as the top dogs. But Crookham winning a title after staying home at Lehigh or Bailey becoming the first NCAA champion from Little Rock would be big for both programs. 7. 125 Spratley vs Lilledahl A little bit of a curveball here, but (depending on the finals order) starting off the finals with pupil Taylor's Ok St vs the master Cael and Penn St is the most interesting matchup. For the most part, we've seen many of the matchups at this weight over the last handful of years, and none of them have the juice of a penn st vs ok st final. 6. 157 Shapiro vs Kasak I don't know if everyone gets a little fatigue from the 6th and 7th year guys, but I think to matchup between two young super studs that both finished 3rd in their true freshman season is the most exciting potential matchup in a weight without a real "final boss" type guy. 5. 149 Henson vs Van Ness Returning national champion vs young PSU stud. I don't have too much to say, but both guys are absolute dogs and this is the most interesting matchup of 149 this year. 4. Alirez vs Mendez Two super talented undefeated national champions that have yet to meet in college. 3. 174 O'Toole vs Haines Two NCAA champions that have hopes of becoming 3x champions when their careers are over. 2. 184 Keckeisen vs Starocci The unheralded recruit turned NCAA champion from UNI vs the man looking to become the first ever 5x champ. The potential of the upset makes this the match-up with the most on the line as it would likely be remembered for decades to come. 1. 197 Ferrari vs Buchanan I admittedly hate to put this as the most interesting potential matchup at NCAAs, but I believe it cannot be denied. From a purely on the mat perspective, I actually think would likely be the most boring match on this list. However, if AJ steps on the mat for round 1 at NCAAs, who isn't tuning in? Every match will grow the anticipation of him facing Buchanan, the man who stepped into "his" spot at Iowa after last year's events. The entire arena at NCAAs cheering or jeering as the match goes on. The reaction of AJ to the crowd (regardless of outcome) and the potential interview after. I truly believe if this is the 197 final it should be the last match of the night for two reasons. One, everyone who is a real fan of college wrestling either loves the Ferrari antics or is absolutely disgusted by them, so fans won't want to miss the match. Two, who knows what will happen during and after this match, and it would be a shame for those events to overshadow the wrestling still to come. Thoughts?

I'm curious if I'm the only one that feels like KOT is not getting enough respect in the matchup with Haines. I'm not taking away anything from Haines who just went undefeated in his true soph year, but it seems like a lot of people think it's a 50/50 matchup or might even favor Haines. Outside of a Carr matchup, when was the last time during a match you thought KOT was going to lose? He's had some close'ish matches, but the win never really has seemed in doubt, even in those. Hell, the Braunagel match this year was probably about the worst he's looked in the last three years, and he ended up with a major. All that to say, hopefully they both go undefeated into the NCAA finals.

I highly agree with you Scourge. I am really curious to see how the PSU stockpiling of recruits changes with Taylor at Ok St. From a recruits perspective, I can only imagine that Ok St is viewed as a true blue blood of college wrestling that now also provides the Penn St training model. I think whereas before, a lot of kids would rather risk not being a starter to go to Penn St, there is Penn St 2 in Stillwater. Obviously the room and track record aren't at the Penn St level, but give it time.

Final CKLV question: First tournament under DT coaching staff. Did the cowboys impress or meet expectations? They have a lot of studs that were heavily favorited, especially in the earlier rounds, but I thought they pushed the pace more than they usually have over the last handful of years (looking for bonus instead of coasting to a win for example). But, once the matches got tougher, they admittedly looked more similar to what we are accustomed to seeing. Nevertheless, impressive showing for the pokes and the Taylor regime.

Not a ref, but I counted four. He didn't sit up beyond 45 degrees at any point. His back was facing the mat for a four count.

I completely agree. But to be fair, you want to test bottom here rather than in march. Winning CKLV is big, but knowing where you are might be more important moving forward. But like you said, Norman looks like a legitimate top 3 contender that shouldn't be taken lightly. He looked really powerful. Interested to see how he progresses in the next few months.

I agree. 2 without a doubt, and with the way refs usually count during a tilt, I could have seen more.

Painful to watch Lovett stand around hoping to wait out the clock for rideouts. Great pace by Henson. Can't wait to watch Amine try to do the same.