General 2012-13 Wrestling thread

[gjk22]

The recruiting rankings are highly variable, inevitably some guys are late bloomers and others live up to the hype or exceed it. I remember when we placed 2nd at NCAAs in 2010, and then we signed the class with the #3 and #5 recruits (see below), I thought we would become unstoppable and win the title in '11 or '12. However, there is not too much to be made with recruiting rankings, a top 5 guy can be Kyle Dake or Marshall Peppleman, and a #66 recruit can be Nashon Garrett or someone that never cracks the lineup. If anything, I try not to hold it against a guy for being highly touted, that is out of their control.

Top Recruits in recent years(ranking is overall, not weight specific)
2009, Dake #4
2010, Villalonga, #3
2010, Peppelman, #5
2010, Shanaman, #63
2011, Dixon, #49
2011, Garrett, #66

[Weder]

The NCAA, anticipating a Dake vs. Taylor match, has rearranged the order of the finals at the championships to make 165 the final bout.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130313/SPORTS/303140053/Andy-Hamilton-NCAA-s-unusual-change-for-wrestling-finals?Sports

[Al DeFlorio]

The NCAA, anticipating a Dake vs. Taylor match, has rearranged the order of the finals at the championships to make 165 the final bout.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130313/SPORTS/303140053/Andy-Hamilton-NCAA-s-unusual-change-for-wrestling-finals?Sports

A really chicken-shit move, in my opinion, therefore not a surprise coming from the NCAA.

[RichH]

The NCAA, anticipating a Dake vs. Taylor match, has rearranged the order of the finals at the championships to make 165 the final bout.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130313/SPORTS/303140053/Andy-Hamilton-NCAA-s-unusual-change-for-wrestling-finals?Sports

A really chicken-shit move, in my opinion, therefore not a surprise coming from the NCAA.

Good ol' E$PN. Throwing its weight around, messing with everything. Again.

[upprdeck]

too bad the olympics dont care at all and people complain about ESPN doing this ?

[gjk22]

They are just trying to increase the excitement associated with the event, and if there is one thing wrestling needs, its more attention/fans/excitement. In this way, I am OK with it. And if there is anything we have learned about Dake in the past 3 years, it's that he generally rises to the occasion. The bigger the occasion, the better he will be.

[ugarte]

We've got 7 wrestlers in the tournament. Here are their seeds:

125: Nahshon Garrett #6
141: Mike Nevinger #11
149: Chris Villalonga UR
165: Kyle Dake #1
184: Steve Bosak #4
197: Jace Bennett UR
285: Stryker Lane UR

The tournament starts next Thursday. Let's Go Red!

[George64]

Nice YouTube video about Kyle Dake.

[ugarte]

Tough start for the Big Red.

Nahshon Garrett, Steve Bosak and Kyle Dake - as expected - all won their first round matches. Garrett and Bosak won by MD, Dake coasted to a 3-0 win (either that guy just didn't want to be embarrassed or Dake decided to save his energy).

But oh boy. Nevinger lost because he is still having trouble from neutral and couldn't dominate on top (gave up an escape point in regulation and a reversal in the TB round). Bennett and Lane lost by MD and Villalonga lost as well.

7 wrestlers, 5 team points in the first round. That hasn't happened to Cornell in a long time.

The second round and consolation bracket start this evening at 7:30 Eastern.

[Roy 82]

"The only thing I really appreciate in a joke is originality which should explain why I hate the Harvard Sucks thread so much."

Jerk.

[ugarte]

"The only thing I really appreciate in a joke is originality which should explain why I hate the Harvard Sucks thread so much."

Jerk.

That took far too long. Typical.

[billhoward]

"The only thing I really appreciate in a joke is originality which should explain why I hate the Harvard Sucks thread so much."
Jerk.

As Grandma said: Once funny, twice silly.

[ugarte]

Bad News:

On the bottom of the bracket, Cornell wound up having its worst Day 1 in recent memory.

It started strong, with Jace Bennett pinning his first opponent in the consolation bracket, but it wouldn't last: Bennett lost his next match and Villalonga and Lane both went 0-2 at the tournament.

Lane is a senior, and making the tournament is an achievement in itself, and a solid way to finish his career. Good luck, Stryker.

Bennett is a sophomore and will have this experience to grow on. He bounced around weight classes a lot this year, fitting in wherever Koll needed him. He'll probably settle into 197 next year and make a run at All-American.

Villalonga is a junior, and was one of the most highly touted recruits in the last few years. His performance has been very disappointing to date. He has one year left to vindicate his high school reputation.

OK News:

Nevinger won his match and remains in the hunt. He'll need to win three tough matches to make it back to the podium. His path to All-America goes through the #12 seed Friday morning, followed by the winner of a match between two unseeded wrestlers he has already lost to this year, followed by a match against the #7 seed (if he's lucky; if he's unlucky, it's #2).

Good News:

125: #6 Nahshon Garrett will face #3 McDonough of Iowa in the QF. McDonough won 8-3 earlier this year but hasn't been as sharp in recent months. An upset here for the freshman would be fantastic.

165: #1 Kyle Dake hasn't given up a point. He won his first two matches 3-0 and 10-0, against wrestlers who it seems are mostly just trying to stay off of their backs. His opponent in the QF is the #8 seed, and not to look past him... but let's look past him. We're also going to look past the quality opponent he is likely to face in the SF. The expected final is against defending 165 Champion #2 David Taylor who has pinned both of his opponents without breaking a sweat. The 165 final is so highly anticipated that the NCAA has switched the order of the Finals matches so that they will start at 174 and finish with the expected high-profile Dake-Taylor match. It will match up a senior, 3X champ vs. a junior, defending champ (and 2X finalist). Real deal at this weight class.

184: #4 Steve Bosak has two shutout wins so far in defense of his NCAA title. He had a 12-0 waltz in the first round followed by a 2-0 slog in the second. He will next face the #12 wrestler, who he narrowly defeated at National Duals earlier this year. The expected semifinal is a matchup of 2012 champions. would be against last year's 174 champ, pinning machine Ed Ruth. Everyone was kind of hoping Bosak would get the #3 seed after a higher-ranked Lehigh wrestler medically defaulted out of the conference tournament just to push this match back to the final but it wasn't to be. (Honestly, I think that was fair; the Lehigh guy has Bosak's number. Hamlin has won 5 of 6 head to head matches.) I'll worry about the other half of the bracket (which includes Hamlin) if Bosak gets by Ruth (and Lofthouse).

Matches start at 11am Eastern.

[ugarte]

Great start to day 2!

Nahshon Garrett beats Matt McDonough - a three-time finalist, two-time NCAA champion - in the QF to move into the national semifinals as a true freshman. He is automatically an All-American and can finish no lower than 6th. Congrats, kid.

McDonough got a takedown in the first; Garrett escaped after a little under 30 seconds. Garrett started down in the second and escaped in a little over 30 seconds. After 2, the score was tied and McDonough had 1:01 in riding time - and that second would be crucial. In the third, Garrett rode McDonough the whole period. At the end of regulation, the score was still 2-2 and Garrett had :59 in RT. If he had one more second of RT, he'd have been awarded a point and won in regulation. No matter, though: about 30 seconds into SV, Garrett dropped McDonough on his ass for the 4-2 win (on what I am told was a great shot).

[ugarte]

Day 2 still going well!

Mike Nevinger got the pin at 4:12 to move on in his match. He will face Hucke (Mizzou), a 15-14 wrestler who upset Nevinger earlier this year. As expected, the winner will face #7 Ballweg for a spot on the podium.

No scoring in the first period. Nevinger started the second on top and it took him a little over a minute to turn Mecate on his back for the pin. Great work, Mike.