creek chub

VT’s Noah Ninninger. Prior to getting hurt his true freshman year, he had a great but brief season. He bumped to 165 and appears to likely take the spot from Church. Dude is laidback and cool as a cucumber from an emotional standpoint with a high, under the radar potential the baby faced killa will get some big wins along with some of the usual freshman bumps in the road but by March, he’ll be a force to contend with for almost everyone

Wright is a good pick up for Ohio State. I watched a couple of his matches his true freshman year. He wrestled some 165 and 174 too, I believe, but was ineligible last season. He’s a stud out WV and 2 sport star and probably will end up a full sized 174 or maybe 184. Hate to see him leave VT but doubt he was gonna beat Burton anytime soon

The top tier guys at 149 should be able to take more ground by hand fighting and controlling center more than most of the 141 guys. He’s a natty title contender but it’s highly unlikely that he’ll go undefeated again without giving up a takedown all season.

If you hand fight him and get him backing up early and often without having to take a full committed shot, eventually the refs have to ding him for stalling. Heavy snaps and head control is another option. Shooting on him is almost a guaranteed 3 or more for Vega. The only way I’d recommend shooting on him is a quick shot like a Hi-C but immediately lifting him off the mat. If he sprawls, he wins the sequence

That’s a good question but I honestly don’t know too much about him other than catching highlights and the natty tournament. To me his style is boring but wildly successful. Not trying to hate on him at all but I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a Mehki Lewis type career. Meaning, relying on reattacks during the freshman year and winning a natty championship but after that high level dudes had a plan that mitigated the defensive style and forced him to open up his offense or get hit for stalling. Vega doesn’t look very big but body mass is a strange thing. He had a great gas tank from what I seen at 141 but didn’t seem to overpower guys and relied on sitting the corner a lot and using his length. Not sure he has the upper body horsepower at 149 to have the success he did at 141 but he’s a natty champ for a reason and will definitely be in the conversation for potential titles

What a stacked weight with 3 natty title holders!! Somewhat of a homer pick but I’ll go Henson. It’ll be interesting to see if Vega can be as dominant up a weight. There will be strategy to beat him. He rarely shoots so look for more SV matches next season. We should see a regular season match between Henson and Vega. I think there’s another dual but not sure. Valencia is a stud and wrestles a style similar to Henson. Depending on seeding I’d prefer a Henson vs Valencia finals but that may not happen since they are both in the ACC. SVN is a potential champ. He’s awesome but I think Henson, Vega and Valencia are still developing and the clear favorites

Ninninger definitely has the frame to go 165. If he puts a lot of time in the weight room til November, he should be ready by next season. He’ll have to beat Church but I think he has the skills to do that. He beat Arrington at 157 last year and will have Green to train with to get him ready and Andonian too.

Anybody got a link to the senior FS brackets?

Man, Smith would have slotted in perfectly at 184 for VT. I doubt he links up with his buddy Henson now.

They blamed Haught but failed to look in the mirror. TJ regressed his sophomore season and had about a 500% winning percentage. Preseason, TJ’s dad said something to the effect TJ could beat Starcocci, which obviously didn’t age well since he was the only non qualifier for nationals for the team. TJ’s dad even publicly suggested on the VT board that TJ would transfer after getting on the podium his freshman year. He said he needed to be respected. Many fans were supportive of TJ staying on the team and it’s assumed he was compensated to stay for his sophomore year and beyond. I and others called it for what it was, a childish temperature tantrum wanting attention by his dad. Well that failed and that behavior will likely resurface wherever he lands. I hope he goes elsewhere and that appears to be the case since he is in the portal

It sounds like the brothers got bad advice from their dad. The dad was also like this while his sons were in high school. I can’t fathom why a parent would post so frequently on their sons’ team board, especially negative comments about the program. I’m sure they are embarrassed

Wishing TJ all the best but wonder if he’d be a good fit for the program? His family health issues definitely impacted his ability to both wrestle and more importantly stay in good academic standing. Allegedly he was being escorted to classes in his last semester while on the team. Also his dad was a toxic poster regarding the team. I would say a lot would have to change before we see TJ back in a VT singlet. Good to hear his mom is on the mend.

WVU would be a good fit for Wright since he’s from WV. He’s gonna be a good one once he gets back on his he mat full time either at 174 or 184. Tampa Tom is solid but would be curious if Morgantown would be a cultural shock. Maybe not but he’s a great guy and hope he lands some where he likes soon.

I’m a VT fan but objective too. I’d say it’d be a toss up match. SVN does have the head to head win but that was in 2023. Henson is a better wrestler than he was in 2023. Is it enough to win? Hopefully we get to see that match

Doubtful either one would bump to 57. Bo supposedly walks around mid 140’s. Not sure about Seidel’s weight but that’d be a 3 weight class jump.