few observations on Iowa from a prior wrestler who surely is NOT an expert

[psykim]

What a tight tight wrestling match which could have gone either way with a few OT matches and tight scores! Fortunately, led by Dean's comeback we broke
Iowa's long dual meet winning streak-but do we actually ever wrestle them at PSU.CONGRATIONS to our #1 team but winning NCAAs will not be easy!
My observations and curious what others with better wrestling minds think. First, RBY is a sensational wrestler and as fast/quick as I have seen. However, he was not very aggressive last night and almost lost because of not being aggressive. I think when he goes on the offensive he is so tough to beat as he so quick!So glad he won but I think he is a much better wrestler than he showed last night. Was his passivity a strategy? which is not typical for a PSU national champion! He should be national champ again but he can do better in my humble opinion. Curious as to his post college wrestling plans- for the Olympic weight classes he is stuck in never never land-too big for one and too little for the next but many international competitions have more weight classes!
I have seen 2 Dean late comebacks and 1 loss recently. He sure shows perseverance and being in great shape but I wish he wrestled as well in the first period as he did in the third! But he sure did deserve WRESTLER OF THE MATCH (by BTN) as he sealed the victory!
Amazing how lineup has changed with additions at 125, 165, and 197 from transfers or return to wrestling (Berge). I thought Berge was too passive and is better than he showed last night!
We should have 2 returning champions back next year (2 will graduate as RBY says he will move on) but with all the comings and goings predicting next year's lineup sure can not be made now! I sure hope we can improve at 157 and remain competitive somehow at 125!
Last note-with Iowa wrestlers being in their 7th year in school in some cases-I sure hope they get a few master's or work on Ph.D.-that is a lot of college! Only kidding-not many guys like John Urschel around-he got 2 master's at PSU and made all big 10 in football and now has his doctorate in math from MIT-not too shabby!

 

[watoos]

What a tight tight wrestling match which could have gone either way with a few OT matches and tight scores! Fortunately, led by Dean's comeback we broke
Iowa's long dual meet winning streak-but do we actually ever wrestle them at PSU.CONGRATIONS to our #1 team but winning NCAAs will not be easy!
My observations and curious what others with better wrestling minds think. First, RBY is a sensational wrestler and as fast/quick as I have seen. However, he was not very aggressive last night and almost lost because of not being aggressive. I think when he goes on the offensive he is so tough to beat as he so quick!So glad he won but I think he is a much better wrestler than he showed last night. Was his passivity a strategy? which is not typical for a PSU national champion! He should be national champ again but he can do better in my humble opinion. Curious as to his post college wrestling plans- for the Olympic weight classes he is stuck in never never land-too big for one and too little for the next but many international competitions have more weight classes!
I have seen 2 Dean late comebacks and 1 loss recently. He sure shows perseverance and being in great shape but I wish he wrestled as well in the first period as he did in the third! But he sure did deserve WRESTLER OF THE MATCH (by BTN) as he sealed the victory!
Amazing how lineup has changed with additions at 125, 165, and 197 from transfers or return to wrestling (Berge). I thought Berge was too passive and is better than he showed last night!
We should have 2 returning champions back next year (2 will graduate as RBY says he will move on) but with all the comings and goings predicting next year's lineup sure can not be made now! I sure hope we can improve at 157 and remain competitive somehow at 125!
Last note-with Iowa wrestlers being in their 7th year in school in some cases-I sure hope they get a few master's or work on Ph.D.-that is a lot of college! Only kidding-not many guys like John Urschel around-he got 2 master's at PSU and made all big 10 in football and now has his doctorate in math from MIT-not too shabby!

Good analysis, especially because you ignored making a great meet about the referee which it wasn't about. What a great match, once again we win those OT thrillers. Looking forward to getting Robbie Howard back at #125 next year, no worries there, Beau Bartlett will shine at #141.
Yeah, the Brands brothers certainly do shy away from wrestling in Pa. you'd think they would want to wrestle here seeing as half their team is from Pa.

 

[psykim]

watoos-Bartlett does not look strong enough for 149 but should do well at 141. Too bad nobody has taken over 156 and run with it-only weak weight class thanks to transfers at 125 and 165- we surely are strong at 197 with a top backup! Unfortunately, it does not look like we have a top guy to follow RBY at 133 after he leaves!
I hope you are right about Howard-hopefully his redshirt year allows him to get healthy and stronger!

 

[dicemen99]

Actually, I have less concern about RBY after last night than before - not that there was a concern, but DeSanto HAS beaten him before and you always have that "nagging" feeling. DeSanto is clearly a level below RBY IMO - last night seems to be best case for him. I just don't see a situation where DeSanto is scoring from neutral without a clear RBY mistake which rarely, rarely happens.

I feel the same re: 174 - despite Carter looking really good, there is always that element of doubt because let's face it, last year you would have to lean Kemerer in a best of five. But despite the close score, CS has clearly jumped a level and is the superior wrestler. Old man Kemerer still is a bit wily, but give me CS all day long as a betting man.

Obviously, last night was great for Dean, but more importantly, that was exactly the match that Warner wants to wrestle - early TD and then sit on the lead, which he is excellent at - and Dean was able to score the win.

A couple of negatives. Really don't agree with everyone who is putting BB up a few levels when he heads to 141 next year. He's clearly not a threat to AA at 149 - Murin is better than him at this point, that is clear. He's had two years up here now. You give one of the top 141s a half a season up a weight and they are not matching up like that with Murin. BB needs a lot of work in more than just getting to the right weight class to be a contender.

Marinelli is probably a bad matchup for Berge, but Berge was completely done in the 3rd. He is what I expected - R16 type with best-case low podium with a great bracket. Needs another month to get his sea-legs but that is not going to give him a huge bump this late in his career.

AB looked like he gassed about 1/2 way through the match. Maybe an adrenaline dump, especially after CS great match and his more active than usual first period.

Not concerned about the two failed upper body attempts by Kerk, but the match brought out two things to me. First, Iowa clearly had a plan after seeing his snatch attempts against Parris and forced Kerk to the opposite side where he is not as comfortable. Secondly, the thigh-pry ride was clearly still a problem for Kerk, it didn't look like he was even attacking it correctly although that could have had something to do with Cassiopi's strength. That is going to be the blueprint against him going forward by the top guys - he's going to need to adjust.

 

[Superdave63]

A couple more thoughts and observations:

125 - very fortuitous to draw Iowa’s 3rd string, but those are the breaks. Ybarra did a good job of avoiding any meaningful contact....until the very end.

133 / 141 - RBY and Lee are money when it matters most. Both do a nice job of knowing their opponent and having a great strategy.

149 - Beau is going to be good at 141 but really needs to work on getting out from the bottom. Can’t give up riding time points and win the close matches.

157. - Need a little help here, but Barraclough doesn’t give up a lot of point.

165 - Looks like Berge needs a little more conditioning and a little more confidence in his shots. And that was the quickest stalling call of the entire match, only 1 minute in....really?

174 - Starocci is solid but again, I hope Cael is working on getting out from the bottom next week.

184 - Thought Brooks could have got the Major in spite of Assad’s defensive strategy.....oh well.

197 - Great win for Dean but also wish he was a bit more buttoned up in the first period.

Hwt - As good as Kerk was against Paris last week, he looked equally unprepared for Cassioppe. With a better strategy he should be more competitive next time the meet.

But honestly, these last two Friday matches have been some of the best and most exciting dualsI can remember. Will be interesting to see how this success translates to tournament scoring.

 

[psykim]

nice post dicement99-very informative. I thought Kerk did better when he used his quickness and lost match with the two failed upper body attempts! I think he would wrestle differently if they meet again! Agree with comments on BB unfortunately! It is going to take a lot for him to be a top guy at 141.
I still think RBY could be more aggressive-who can keep up with him when he uses his quickness-no one I know of!

 

[WV lion]

Since everyone is throwing their 2 cents in
133 you give someone as good as desanto your leg that deep 6 times a match you are eventually going to give up a takedown or 2.
149 Bartlett looks afraid to shoot and get caught underneath the bigger guys, also has trouble getting out. Still think he is a title contender at 41
157 bear claw just needs that one signature win. He is close.
165 only handful of matches back, bull at Carver worst case scenario.
Hwt 2 alpha dogs, hell I would go upper body as well, nothing to lose, if he hits one there in a crater where Carver used to be. Match on the line he wrestles differently

 

[AK1967]

Actually, I have less concern about RBY after last night than before - not that there was a concern, but DeSanto HAS beaten him before and you always have that "nagging" feeling. DeSanto is clearly a level below RBY IMO - last night seems to be best case for him. I just don't see a situation where DeSanto is scoring from neutral without a clear RBY mistake which rarely, rarely happens.

I feel the same re: 174 - despite Carter looking really good, there is always that element of doubt because let's face it, last year you would have to lean Kemerer in a best of five. But despite the close score, CS has clearly jumped a level and is the superior wrestler. Old man Kemerer still is a bit wily, but give me CS all day long as a betting man.

Obviously, last night was great for Dean, but more importantly, that was exactly the match that Warner wants to wrestle - early TD and then sit on the lead, which he is excellent at - and Dean was able to score the win.

A couple of negatives. Really don't agree with everyone who is putting BB up a few levels when he heads to 141 next year. He's clearly not a threat to AA at 149 - Murin is better than him at this point, that is clear. He's had two years up here now. You give one of the top 141s a half a season up a weight and they are not matching up like that with Murin. BB needs a lot of work in more than just getting to the right weight class to be a contender.

Marinelli is probably a bad matchup for Berge, but Berge was completely done in the 3rd. He is what I expected - R16 type with best-case low podium with a great bracket. Needs another month to get his sea-legs but that is not going to give him a huge bump this late in his career.

AB looked like he gassed about 1/2 way through the match. Maybe an adrenaline dump, especially after CS great match and his more active than usual first period.

Not concerned about the two failed upper body attempts by Kerk, but the match brought out two things to me. First, Iowa clearly had a plan after seeing his snatch attempts against Parris and forced Kerk to the opposite side where he is not as comfortable. Secondly, the thigh-pry ride was clearly still a problem for Kerk, it didn't look like he was even attacking it correctly although that could have had something to do with Cassiopi's strength. That is going to be the blueprint against him going forward by the top guys - he's going to need to adjust.

If Berge is at 157 I think he AA and has already proven he can beat young. 165 is loaded this year. He simply got bullied last night and didn’t fight back. Guess we will see if he wants to drop down now for himself and the team. Just not strong enough for 165 against the better wrestlers. He’s has another very tough kid against Ohio State Friday in the BJC. That kid beat Alex M.

 

[crockster]

If Berge is at 157 I think he AA and has already proven he can beat young. 165 is loaded this year. He simply got bullied last night and didn’t fight back. Guess we will see if he wants to drop down now for himself and the team. Just not strong enough for 165 against the better wrestlers. He’s has another very tough kid against Ohio State Friday in the BJC. That kid beat Alex M.

He is not going down.

 

[AK1967]

He is not going down.

Probably right crock. Guess wishful thinking for us.

 

[TangSoo]

Good analysis, especially because you ignored making a great meet about the referee which it wasn't about. What a great match, once again we win those OT thrillers. Looking forward to getting Robbie Howard back at #125 next year, no worries there, Beau Bartlett will shine at #141.
Yeah, the Brands brothers certainly do shy away from wrestling in Pa. you'd think they would want to wrestle here seeing as half their team is from Pa.

I'm enjoying Hildebrandt. He seems like a real good kid and has a unique style. To run that close with Suriano is no small feat, as Mckee found out last night. Robbie Howard is going to be great (so long as the shoulder holds up). He had Ragusin and Heinselman counting lights last year (albeit tough matches), and he wasn't at 100%. Bartlett will be a beast at 141.