Some thoughts for the week without a dual

[GregPickel]

Hello all,

Put together some thoughts for this week without a dual, and thus no interviews with Cael Sanderson or the wrestlers. Fire away with any thoughts, takes, or disagreements you might have!

4 Penn State wrestling thoughts during the Lions' first February week off from competition

Penn State wrestling has a weekend off before returning to Rec Hall for its regular season finale opposite Rider on Sunday, Feb. 20.

www.on3.com

 

[SonnyAbeFan]

Greg, I feel emptiness without a dual this weekend and pretty much quiet for the next few weeks until Big 10s (yes, I know we've got Rider). While I am no one to question Cael, I incredibly respectfully and barely disagree with his assessment of Barraclough. I understand his perspective on confidence and belief, but to me, Terrell doesn't create angles or levels sufficiently well on shots. Nearly all seem to be head-on and are fairly easily defended by better wrestlers. Now, this could be a difference in talent (because it's much easier said than done) or even confidence (maybe he's had great success with straight on shots throughout is career and it takes confidence to attempt things outside of one's wheel house). But I do believe Terrell has talent, and my wish is that he would study or emulate his successful peers who use a variety of techniques (footwork, two-on-one, level changes, ankle/knee picks, etc.) to create offensive opportunities. I'm blanking, but wasn't Nick Lee this past weekend who used that upper body tie/whizzer to allow him to get to Chad Red's knee? What an awesome setup. He must've seen something or known something about his buddy, and he chose that method to create his opportunities. I don't think he converted them all (because Chad Red is damn good), but that was awesome wrestling by Nick. Even RBY is bringing new setups to the party. AB is relentless, always keeping his hands on his opponent, always letting them know he's an arms length away and they can't take a breather. Wonderful strategy because it must be exhausting mentally and physically to have a guy like AB always in your face - and then when he moves on offense, he's a masterful and strong technician. Love how he uses leverage and his chin to make guys tumble with almost no resistance. Granted, the aforementioned guys (and others) are among the most talented in the nation, if not world, so it's always a bit unfair to say to other guys, go do it like that. There's a reason why they're the 1% of 1%.

Whew, that got a little more lengthy and off track than anticipated. Loved the writeup. Keep em coming so I have something to do for the next few weeks!

 

[EddyS]

Seems to me, that as of now, Berge overrated, and I too question our ‘57.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Seems to me, that as of now, Berge overrated, and I too question our ‘57.

4 matches, after not training in the offseason. And in those matches, he's 3-1. His only loss is to Marinelli, who 1) is how old? 2) is very physical, which works against somebody that hasn't been in the room very long, and 3) is ranked anywhere from #2 to #5.

Brady, even when healthy (which wasn't too often), has never been a TD machine in college. His wrestling style is not one that too many other PSU stars have exhibited over the past years. Off the top of my head (i.e., without too much thought), the closest comparison I could come up with past PSU champions is probably Matt Brown, and Brown was more physical, and also in great shape. I have no idea what Brady will accomplish this season, but I think there is insufficient data to draw many conclusions about Berge. The coaches and Brady have over a month to get him in the best position he can be. (That presumes that he gets through the B1G Tourney and makes NCAAs.) I think we should let it play out, and see what decisions the coaches and Brady make about weight class, and what level of conditioning he can attain by B1Gs.

 

[GregPickel]

Greg, I feel emptiness without a dual this weekend and pretty much quiet for the next few weeks until Big 10s (yes, I know we've got Rider). While I am no one to question Cael, I incredibly respectfully and barely disagree with his assessment of Barraclough. I understand his perspective on confidence and belief, but to me, Terrell doesn't create angles or levels sufficiently well on shots. Nearly all seem to be head-on and are fairly easily defended by better wrestlers. Now, this could be a difference in talent (because it's much easier said than done) or even confidence (maybe he's had great success with straight on shots throughout is career and it takes confidence to attempt things outside of one's wheel house). But I do believe Terrell has talent, and my wish is that he would study or emulate his successful peers who use a variety of techniques (footwork, two-on-one, level changes, ankle/knee picks, etc.) to create offensive opportunities. I'm blanking, but wasn't Nick Lee this past weekend who used that upper body tie/whizzer to allow him to get to Chad Red's knee? What an awesome setup. He must've seen something or known something about his buddy, and he chose that method to create his opportunities. I don't think he converted them all (because Chad Red is damn good), but that was awesome wrestling by Nick. Even RBY is bringing new setups to the party. AB is relentless, always keeping his hands on his opponent, always letting them know he's an arms length away and they can't take a breather. Wonderful strategy because it must be exhausting mentally and physically to have a guy like AB always in your face - and then when he moves on offense, he's a masterful and strong technician. Love how he uses leverage and his chin to make guys tumble with almost no resistance. Granted, the aforementioned guys (and others) are among the most talented in the nation, if not world, so it's always a bit unfair to say to other guys, go do it like that. There's a reason why they're the 1% of 1%.

Whew, that got a little more lengthy and off track than anticipated. Loved the writeup. Keep em coming so I have something to do for the next few weeks!

Ha! You got it. Have some other ideas in the works.

On Barraclough, I do think that some of what you're saying is indirect being said by Cael in his quotes. It's confidence to create more beyond just winning and losing. We'll see if he can put all the pieces together.