goheels1812

Going to go ahead and check-in (and to help bump this back up in case others are looking). I’m good for 9:30. See everyone in here for picks and on the google doc to follow along.

For sure. I think it’s unlikely, but watching his matches with Cole Matthews he’s right there and getting closer every time. I could see the next match having the results flipped. But there are other guys at 141 that may be too much for Jack as well. Just a guy to keep an eye on in a couple weeks.

Thanks. Just sent Venmo. I’ll get a gmail up and running and send that to @lu_alum as well.

Sounds good to me. I don’t have gmail, but I can quickly make one. I’m looking forward to donating my 20 dollars and finishing dead last. Just let me know any steps I need to complete pre draft and I’ll get it done.

Any chance I could still join? Sorry for late notice, I just now saw this thread. I’m fine with paying the entry fee and all of the details look great to me. I’m flexible for drafting time and day.

I’ll go with Ryan Jack of NC State. He’s the little brother of Kevin Jack, a 3 time all American. Ryan is 23-3 on the year. Losses were by a combined total of 4 points. 2 losses were to Cole Matthews, and he went 1-1 against Brock Hardy this year. I don’t think he’s gotten a ton of national love, but he’s a guy you don’t want to see on your side of the bracket either. He feels like a lock to at least AA and has the upside to make a run to the finals.

I’ll list one that shocked me, Max Shaw getting in at 197. 14-10 on the year. Best win was probably an 8-4 decision over Levi Hopkins of Campbell. I don’t mean this offensively to Hopkins, but really just no notable wins that jump out. Finished dead last in the ACC and was the 6 seed in the ACC tournament. He was the only UNC wrestler to lose in the dual against Duke (wrestlestat has the Duke wrestler ranked 80th). Followed this up by going 0-2 in the ACC tournament. To his credit he doesn’t get beat bad by good wrestlers honestly, but he also doesn’t win against them either. Admittedly, I haven’t followed college wrestling as closely as I have in the past (job and young kids keep me busy), but wow 197 must not have had much depth this year.

This would be an incredibly tough path for O’Toole. Griffin in the quarters, Hamiti in the semis, rematch with Carr in the finals. Assuming all seeds held of course. I think O’Toole would navigate it to reach the championship, but it certainly won’t be easy.

I was surprised Carr let the first stall call happen. It felt like everyone knew it was coming and Carr was just content to hang on to O’Toole without working a return. You really don’t want to take that one there because the second one is inevitable when O’Toole brings the final flurry. Ultimately didn’t matter, but I was surprised as well. Both calls were right in my opinion.

Ok? Glad you didn’t have a problem with it lol. I’ve been around more coaches and wrestlers at the collegiate level than I can even begin to count that also don’t like when refs do that. Enjoy your evening and have a great Monday tomorrow.

Similar situation at the end of the ncaa championship in 2021 with O’Connor and Sasso. Sasso was extended on the mat, but had the ankles and no hip control. Refs reviewed and called no takedown. There was a lot of debate about that on the old board.

For sure. Thought he made the right calls. I just don’t like when refs become so chatty on the mat. Just do your job, make your calls, and run off when you’re done. Anything else seems performative and like you want to be a bigger part of the match than you are.

Askren is going to tee off on this ref. The constant talking to the wrestlers and then making sure to tell them good luck at nationals… Man just do your job and then head off the mat. You don’t need to be a part of this instant classic match.

David Carr might be good at this wrestling thing…

Gavin Kane knocked off Hunter Bolen in the 184 semis. Given their history, I figured Bolen would win that one and move on to wrestle Hidlay for the millionth time in the finals. This upset didn’t happen, but Mekhi Lewis got pushed to the brink in the finals by 16-6 Alex Faison of NC state. Lewis won in OT, but Faison was starting to hunt him down smelling blood in the water. That one would’ve been nuts.

This too! 149 is going to be so much fun.

Holy horsepower from Paniro at the end of that match. Goodness.

Mauller feels a guy that could blow up a bracket in the NCAA tournament. He has tons of experience and I think he could beat anyone outside of Yianni. 149 should be a very fun weight class in a couple of weeks.

It’s crazy how much bigger Hart looks at 141 than he did at 133. That 8 pounds of muscle has gone a long way on his frame.

Not only that but he’s already transferred schools and is finding success at Colorado now. He started at NC State and couldn’t get the nod over Trombley. Feels surreal he’s in college now, especially his 2nd college.

Wrestling is over lol. Started at 165 and ended at 157.

Now that my annoyance at the brick fiasco has died down, how in the world does the ref miss that takedown…? Even Rock said Andonian’s hand was on the mat for at least 3 seconds. That wasn’t even a hard one to get right. Oh well. Sometimes wins are pretty and you just move on.

Coleman asleep at the wheel with his brick my goodness. That’s an easy challenge and takedown for O’Connor. Can’t expect to throw the brick 30+ seconds later and get it reviewed.

I’ll throw Lachlan McNeil’s name in at 141. He wrestles a high pace, is solid on his feet, and has some nice wins this year. UNC guys also generally overperform their seed at the NCAA tournament. I think Lachlan is pretty likely to at least make the blood round and depending on his matchup can win there to AA as a redshirt freshman.

Sherman has been hurt all year, his shoulder is basically nonexistent. I think he will suit up for the ACCT, but I don’t expect the results to be pretty. Guida and Bryant have been decent backups as they’ve switched off matches. I just don’t see any potential for them to ever be good at the national level. My overarching problem with the current staff is we’ve had the same problems with the same weights for years now. 125, 133, 165, 197, and 285 have all been a revolving door of below average wrestling (197 and 285 have especially been reallyyyyyy bad for a long time). Brandon Whitman never developing at all after being a 4 timer in Michigan has been bizarre. It’s basically just annoying as a fan of UNC to see NCSU and VT reload year after year across all their weights and unc still has the same lineup problems. Next year in the post O’Connor era has the potentially to get ugly in my opinion.