Jimmy Cinnabon

With the unfortunate injury to Robbie Howard Penn State is yet again without a solid starting 125 pounder. The team may be good enough to win NCAAs anyway, even without a qualifier at 125 pounds...but should Cael try to dial-up the transfer portal and land a national qualifier level 125 pounder? I would propose going local...seeing if Anthony Noto at Lock Haven wants to bring his talents to State College. He won't be dethroning Spencer Lee (but then again, no one can) but he can at least make nationals and score some team points.

Mason Gibson will be a career backup?

Hardly a peep about this on the Cornell forums and oddly silent on this forum. Is this not as big of a deal as I thought?

Congrats to Erik and Mason!

Discuss

Transformed how? Was he fat before?

What exactly have either of them said that would qualify as "shit talking"? I've only heard them say things like I train to be the best, I believe I am the best wrestler, etc. Never trashing their opponents, but only expressing confidence in their own abilities. I'd call this confident talk, maybe even boastful, but it's certainly not shit talking.

Imagine if Starrocci were on your favorite team. Would you like him? If the answer is yes then it's just your bias showing because he competes for the Nittany Lions.

No. He was a 2x PA state champ but he's really undersized. He might be AA caliber in a 118 pound weight class though.

So bummed to hear Robbie Howard is out for the year...this makes 5 years since Penn State qualified a 125 pounder for NCAAs. Barring a transfer this is likely year 6 with a hole to start the lineup. As a Penn State fan I want to see them bring in a true AA caliber 125 pound transfer. Anyone come to mind?

I had many an opportunity to count the lights personally.

There's definitely something to be said for actual experience in the sport. You can't fully understand what it's like to wrestle under the lights as a mere spectator. Then again, there are many examples of professional coaches (like in the NFL) who never even played the sport.

Another interesting question is if Spencer ends up a 4x NCAA champ (like Dake and Stieber) but never wins an Olympic medal, because his body is spent....where does he rank in the all-time greats? I assume he would have to be ranked next to Stieber, maybe 1 spot higher since Stieber had the controversial win vs Oliver.

No bar. Even a 4x NCAA D-1 champ can be disrespected, for the right reasons.

Can you imagine if one day Spencer returns to his native PA and becomes head coach for Penn State?

I was admittedly a poor high school wrestler - a starter yes, but by necessity. But there have been D-1 champs, All-Americans, even world medalists who have posted on wrestling forums such as this. My question to you...is what minimum wrestling credentials does one have to achieve to obtain respect? High school state placer? College starter? D-1 All-American?

Spencer is winning it. It's as stone cold lock. I'd need 20:1 to take the field.

Make him Head Coach, pay him $3 million a year...

If Spencer is still recovering I wonder if this will affect his international aspirations post graduation. Hope his knees allow him to participate in at least one Olympics.

I would love to see a MMA fight between Ferrari and PD III

Casey Cunningham

It's totally normal for a married guy in his 30s to be talking about homeownership and mortgaes.

I use "world" to mean international comps -- he has won a bunch. Medal record Representing the United States Men's Freestyle wrestling World Cup 2015 Los Angeles 65 kg 2014 Los Angeles 65 kg Pan American Games 2015 Toronto 65 kg Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2015 Krasnoyarsk 65 kg 2013 Krasnoyarsk 65 kg 2011 Krasnoyarsk 66 kg Golden Grand Prix: Baku - Memorial Heydar Aliyev 2014 Baku 65 kg 2010 Baku 66 kg Paris Grand Prix 2015 Paris 65 kg Pan American Championships 2009 Venezuela 66 kg

*pours a 40 over my keyboard*

That's going to disappoint Iowa fans I think, even if he is AD at Iowa. ADs aren't really known for their influence on recruiting in individual sports.