500 wrestler

Definitely true, just read this on the tOSU wrestling site. I'm really bummed about this and feel super bad for him; I've been following his career since he pinned a kid from my son's high school team in about 15 seconds in the Colorado state tournament. Would have been tough for him to AA this year but he was definitely capable of sneaking in. The irony is that the weight class really clears out next year and he would have been in a great position to do even better had he redshirted this year. But I don't think that would even be an option for him at this point. And it's good for kids to get on with their lives, not stay in college forever (seven years of college down the drain!)

Damn, I must have missed the championships where Lee won his 4th.

Another odd story. There was a senior 188 pounder (biggest weight at the time under HWT) on our team my freshman year who had wrestled all four years. Not sure how he did in prior years, but for the year we overlapped he lost every match. Got pinned in the first period every time. I'm convinced there was some major mental block going on with him. Our HWT was pretty decent, won a bunch of matches and took 3rd in district, and our 188 guy generally beat him in practice. Even beat him in a wrestle-offs before he cut down to 188. But when he got on the mat, some kind of switch shut off; he would go out all aggressive but always ended up on his back super quickly. But he never gave up nor seemed to get overly discouraged. Not sure I would have stuck with it with those results.

Definitely in the middle, as per my moniker. Freshman year, first year of wrestling every, started at JV at 119 and went 5-0, after 2 pound allowance dropped down to 114 and was thrown to the wolves at varsity. I was strong and kept most losses to a decision. Ended up going 3-12 on varsity; interestingly one of my 3 wins was a 27-4 win (no tech falls back then) against another freshman who became a regional champ his junior year, a big deal in NJ. Big jump sophomore year, full season around .500, got some league honors, better records junior and senior year but both seasons cut short due to injury, so it all added up to a little better than .500. Not many sports you can start as a freshman and be a 4 year varsity starter. The highlight of my career though was coming in 2nd in the intramural tournament my senior year of college at Cornell, got teched in the final by a guy who had just quit the wrestling team the week before. I still say he should not have been eligible !

Assuming he wins out this year and beats Fix again for his third title, then over the past 3 years he's on a par with the best ever around his weight. But when you factor in the first 2 years where he was very good but beatable, he's not in the conversation for best ever.

Two last year - also Ridge Lovett at 149. I’d be surprised if we didn’t see at least one this year. Will make predictions after seeding.

I said any of, not all of. He would likely have to beat one of them to finish third, unless at least one of them lost in an upset. More to the point: I don't see him finishing ahead of any of these three.

I think Murin finally AAs this year. But 3rd is not realistic, particularly if Gomez is not out. Murin’s not beating any of Yanni, Sasso, or Gomez.

I think refs generally handle it well when there is no scoring on feet. Typically they let them go when both are active or give a warning to the less aggressive wrestler. Here's a suggested tweak to the 1 minute of riding with no scoring: both wrestlers back to their feet, no warning/no escape point. Bottom man gets out of suffocating ride and gets opportunity to get a takedown, and top man can score again without giving up an escape point. Moves folkstyle a little closer to freestyle, and reduces non-productive riding.

Here are my dark horses, all ranked 14 or lower (yes that is arbitrary, but I like a few 14s) who have never AAd. Some are stretches for sure: 125: Braxton Brown (Maryland) #18 133: Aaron Nagao (Minnesota) #15 141: Vince Cornella (Cornell) # 16 149: Quinn Kinner (Rider) # 23 157: Chase Saldate (Michigan State) # 15 165: Caleb Fish (Michigan State) #25 174: Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga) #14 184: Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) #16 197: Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) #14 Hwt: AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) # 14 (Almost picked Jason Bullock here) And no I did not go to Michigan State, I went to the real Big Red (hint: not Nebraska)

Carter Starocci. He can clearly back it up, but based on post -match interviews he seems pretty arrogant - especially for a guy that is so vocal about his faith.