RE: NCAA Wrestling Tournament
DePalma wrestled brilliantly at times. He was on track to beat his Okie State opponent but was caught trying to get out from bottom and pinned with 2 seconds left in the period. When he won his 5th place match, his brief interview was up on the big board in MSG; a very cool moment for him and his family. His turnaround from last year was remarkable.
McGuire did as well as could have been expected given his injury. He certainly wasn't moving as well as usual. He did beat a returning AA in his first match but lost his next to Hall who ended up as an AA for Iowa State. McGuire lost to Hall earlier in the year by a score of 4-3. In NYC, he was out-muscled by him. In his third match McGuire, who is usually good on his feet, slowed down the match and stuck to mat wrestling; he rode his opponent for over 4 minutes. In his second loss, he didn't get the opportunity to ride as his TD attempts were thwarted by good defense. When he fell behind, he was screwed. His Utah Valley opponent also ended up as an AA. If healthy, Mack would beat him more often than not. If healthy, I think McGuire would have been an AA.
Miller was victimized by bad luck again. He out wrestled IMAR, attacked him repeatedly, and was very close to scoring on two occasions; the last takedown attempt had a lot of fans calling for a review. He is a definite crowd favorite and a lot of other school's fans thought he was the best at 157. Even if he had beaten IMAR, there was no way he could have wrestled effectively in the final. Rumor has it that he tore something in his knee and may be finished with wrestling given the laundry list of injuries and concussions he has incurred due to a style that does not lend itself to longevity.
In his match with PSU’s McIntosh, Conel took him down one more time than (National Champion) Cox did in the 197 final. He almost pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament when he put McIntosh on his back and with a little more room, he would have pinned him. So close, yet so far away. In his second loss, Conel was forced to chase his MAC nemesis from Northern Illinois. Inexplicably, there were no stalling calls against the Huskie. If he improves his conditioning, he can be a multiple AA.
Buckwalter had a very difficult draw. There was no way he was going to beat Jordan from Ohio State and ended up losing his third match to the 13th ranked wrestler on a last second TD.
KSU has a great class coming in this year and will bolster the likes of Conel, Tutolo and Sparkman. At 285, Mimmo is finished and no longer at KSU. The back injury did him in. Between Nye and Suglio, we will be fine. We may add another heavy this year, but we will probably wait another year given the youth of Nye and Suglio. We are set at 197. For 184, I don’t know who other than Harris will fill the spot. Ranked as the 66th senior in the country and in the top 10 for his weight class, Harris should be able to hold his own even as a freshman. He won his first Ohio state title this year to go along with three other high placements. Barreiro won another New England championship and will definitely push for a starting spot at 174 or 184. I think Harris has the edge between the two given the higher level of competition he faced in Ohio versus what's available in the New England area. With that being said, hopefully Barreiro is not too big for 174. Barreiro is also nationally ranked and won a title at high school nationals. As a former starter, Spohn will be in the mix at 174.
Jairod James has the definite edge at 165 given his appearances this year at 174. His natural weight is 165 and he showed that he can win tight matches. If not him, Isaac Bast or Jared Walker will fill the spot. They are both multiple state placers in Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively, and could also be of service at 174. I cannot recall a time when KSU had multiple wrestlers with these types of credentials at one or two weight classes. Sparkman will be at 157. At 149, Rooney has wrestled well for us and was a 4x placer in Ohio at division I level. He could also compete at 141. Nick Monico is another great recruit with impressive credentials including a 3rd place finish in PA this year to go along with 3 other placements. He was ranked 17th in his weight class so he can come in and compete at 149. Again, more depth.
141 is the only weight class that gives me concern as we don’t have anyone proven or an incoming recruit at the weight. Driscoll had the spot at the beginning of the season but he failed to show that he was ready. If not Driscoll or Rooney, there’s always the possibility of an unknown recruit. At 133, Tutolo will be at his natural weight class so there will be a solid replacement for McGuire. At 125, Dickson returns and will be challenged by 2 highly regarded recruits that have placed multiple times in Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively. Seth Beard won an Ohio title this year while Ethan McCoy finished 7th in Pennsylvania. Although Beard lacks McCoy’s national ranking, he may be on the upswing.
The future looks bright!
(This post was last modified: 03-23-2016 08:40 PM by Lambert58.)
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