Article: Jagger's Friday Mailbag - 10/28/2022

[InterMat Staff]

Welcome to the very spooky and positively ghoulish Halloween edition of the Friday Mailbag! What a curse it is that all the best eating holidays hover around wrestling season. You can't eat candy. You can't eat turkey and stuffing. You can't eat sugar cookies. Not my problem anymore. But you guys asked some questions and that is my problem. It seems All Hallow's Eve has brought out the most creepy and murderous Jagoffs, living or dead! Let's see what they want to know about the upcoming season.

NJ blue chip rivals question: Sammy Alvarez/Robbie Howard-do they make the podium in 2023, and if so, who places higher? Don Bashed Eyeball

The quickest way to the top of the mailbag is to butter me up with questions about former North Jersey stars. The two former NJ state champions head into the season with tons of question marks between them. Let's start with Sammy the Bull. Now entering his fourth year at Rutgers, Sammy has yet to complete a full season of college wrestling due to a series of events that were mostly weight related. Finally healthy and comfortable at 141, it may take him a bit to get used to the weight, but I expect the Sammy we all know and love to adjust easily. Much like his predecessor Sebastian Rivera, he's continuously moved up classes since early in high school and found success. 141 this year is a mystery, not even the Scooby-Doo gang can solve, right now, so who places where is anyone's guess. Lest we forget though, it wasn't terribly long ago that Sammy was taking RBY to sudden victory #2. The kid can go.

Robbie Howard might be the guy I'm most interested in seeing this year. The four-time NJ finalist and two-time champion had a bit of a soft opening as a true freshman in 2021. Now I'm no ageist, but in an era where true freshmen now hover around 20 years old, Robbie is actually a bit young for his graduating class. Heck, the kid made his third Cadet team two years before his college debut. If healthy, I expect adult Robbie Howard to earn the first of four AA"s with maybe some finals appearances in the future. I think he's that good and the year off will have done him well after a high school career of competing virtually everywhere. The Suriano Curse ends here. Crusader to Crusader.
 

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