italy
- Thread starter Rdcldad
- Start date
Why exactly are they wrestling in Italy? Are they trying to get the world to take folk style more seriously or make it an olympic sport? Is it a recruiting tool to get more kids to go to OSU? Do they just want some authentic pizza?
Journeyman Wrestling helped set it up and it's a nice showcase for college wrestling and pretty cool event.
It will be held at the Naples Navel base and will be a cool event for the troops.
It will be held at the Naples Navel base and will be a cool event for the troops.
Obviously, it's to get Pizza, Spaghetti and other great Italian food in the place the food comes from, everyone has to eat right? and may as well go where the great food is from, They also have a match against a very good North Carolina State team who has upgraded it's program to a top 3-8 team It will be a very tough match with a lot of close matches, Ok St should win if everyone wrestles to their potential, but if they wrestle like they did against Wyoming it could get ugly.
Think maybe John can talk Chamizo into coming over, take a redshirt, then fill in at 157?
My predictions for the Italy dual based on watching NC State in Reno.
125 Nic Pic vs. Sean Fausz Fausz is a big 125 pounder and ranked in the top eight and he wrestled Fix to a 2-1 match in Reno. Pic by a point in a close one OK State 3-0
133 Kaid Brock vs. Jamel Morris Morris was 4-1 and took 3rd at Reno and tf over Gary Wayne Harding. Brock in a regular decision OK State 6-0.
141 Dean Heil vs. Kevin Jack Could go either way. Kevin Jack was 2nd at Reno and lost to Bryce Meredith 4-3 in the finals. Heil just because he is a 2x champ but really close.
OK State 9-0.
149 Geo Martinez vs. Beau Donahue Donahue was 2nd at Reno and dec. Tristan Moran 7-2 and Josh Heil of Campbell 3-2. Close match but Geo loses regular decision.
OK State 9-3
157 Jonce Blaylock vs. Hayden Hidlay. Hidlay won Reno and dec. Joey Lavallee 3-1 in SV in the finals. Major decision to Hidlay OK State 9-7
165 Chandler Rogers vs. Brian Hamann Fall by Rogers. OK State 16-7.
174 Jacobe Smith vs. Daniel Bullard Bullard was 3rd in Reno losing in the semis to Daniel Lewis by fall. Another very close match. Smith regular decision OK State 19-7
184 Keegan Moore vs. Pete Renda. Renda was 1st at Reno and is highly ranked.
Renda by Fall over Moore. OK State 19-13.
197 Preston Weigel vs. Michael Macchiavello. Macchiavello was first at Reno and ranked 4th in the Country. He is the biggest 197 pounder I have seen in the 56 years I have watched wrestling and is very good. He is very aggressive and good on his feet. If we can get him on the mat we can win but I give this match to Macchiovello in a close one.
OK State 19-16.
285 Derek White vs. Malik McDonald This could be the deciding match. McDonald was 5th at Reno but is better than that. In a close match Derek White by a decision
OK State22-16.
However, we could lose at 125 which should be close and at 141 where we have been beaten before. Both have lost close matches to Meredith this year. Bullard is also good enough to dec. Jacobe and Geo is good enough to decision Donahue. In other words this will be a very close match with several key battles. Brock, Rogers and Renda appear to be the only odds on favorites.
Picc will beat Fausz comfortably when they wrestle, he deserves a lot more credit than what he’s getting at the moment and i for one believe he’s a title threat. NC State is probably going to go with Tariq Wilson at 133 i also don’t see Martinez losing to Donahue at all in any scenario but i also believe he won’t be the guy wrestling for OSU in this dual.
Picc is absolutely a title threat. Are we for sure we don't see Boo at 149?
Fausz's size will create problems for Pic but I agree Pic will win. Donahue is better than you think. I did not list Lewallen but you may know more than I about his situation. (I know nothing and I did not see a list of who went on the trip). In any event Donahue will give either all they want.
Pic is ranked third in the country by Intermat so I think he is getting the credit he deserves. If he makes it to the finals he will have to beat the likes of Tomasello or Suriano and Cruz and Lizak and now Spencer Lee is coming out of redshirt. Not to mention Fausz and Bresser. Not saying he can not be a finalist but this is a loaded weight.
Lewallen went on the trip with the team I’d imagine he’s the guy that goes this dual. I know Donahue is talented but from what I’ve seen both OSU 149’s are better
I don't follow the coaching stuff super closely but Popolizio has done a hell of a job at NC State. I would have to think he gets a look when John hangs them up.
Glad to see that Lewallen went on the trip. Both Geo and Lewallen ranked higher than Donahue in various polls (Donahue 16th on Intermat). I was impressed with him at Reno. My feeling is that Lewallen is superior to him and Geo may be as well. I might have bent over backwards in giving the decision to Donahue and not knowing Lewallen was or was not on the trip. Just one of several matches I mentioned could go either way in my original post. What is scary to me about Fausz is that he is just as big as Lizak but much stronger and more aggressive on his feet. Needless to say that I favor Pic in the match. He is a better wrestler.
I worry about whether the flu bug also went along for the trip. If either team has a critical wrestler with the bug it could determine the team outcome. Partially why I thought they'd take extra guys, and both Boo & Geo.
Boo looked pathetic. Couldn't finish anything. Didn't even try to finish anything. Did his best to lose. That was ugly and might cost us the match. Horrible
Top guys have Dean figured out. No real killer instinct and keeping matches close is now costing him.
I didn't get to watch (at work) but a friend was texting me the scores. It was close -- Final -- OSU 19, NCST 16.
I sure do not feel good after that victory. Reminded me of Wyoming where we didn't get 1 upset but were upset several times. Moore actually wrestled smart and did not get majored by maybe their best wrestler. Weigel wrestled good accept he did not get close to a turn and he quits wrestling with seconds still left in the match and a reversal would tied the match ( sad). White is solid. Piccinini wrestled poorly and he looked like how he looked in the beginning of last year where he shoots and guys outscramble him easily and get the takedown. Kaid wrestled very good (dominating). I don't know what is wrong with Heil. It seems so easy to get on his legs and he just depends on defense. He deserved to lose and he seemed to just quit when he had 15 seconds to get away to tie the match. Lewallen wrestled poorly and he deserved to lose. Blaylock wrestled okay but he just isn't that talented. Rogers wrestled good but scored most of his points on his 1st move. He road a long time but did not get any points. A lot of pressure on Smith and he came through with the win which won the dual. Very unimpressive team effort for the cowboys. I bet coach Smith is upset especially with some of the lack of effort.
Whew! Let's start with the bright spots. Derek White was dominant with almost five minutes of riding time and two takedowns against a representive heavy weight. Kaid Brock looked good. Chandler Rogers looked superb with a major. Keegan Moore wrestled 7 minutes and was not embarrassed by Renda who tech falled Nolan Boyd last year. Jacobe did not look great but got the decisive win.
Boo did not look good. I am hoping he had the flu bug the way he wrestled. He was gassed at the end but Donohue is tough. Dean Heil wrestled the same match he always does and could have won but Kevin Jack put together two great moves at the end to Heil's one and deserved to win. Pic just did not have answers to Fausz's length. They can all get better and I believe we will reverse these losses when it comes to crunch time.
LETS GO POKES!!!
Thanks for the props but never feel bad for supporting your wrestler. He can beat Fausz but he just has to finish quicker and not let the length matter.
Don't know why Heil wanted to defend by getting in a scramble ~20/30s remaining stay on your feet block and circle. We all know he is great at scrambling but with the new rules staying on you feet is probably safer.
Boo looked like first time in a "real" for the team match, got gassed or nerves, whatever, in the third. He should be fine.
Both Kaid and Chandler wrestled smart at the end, both could've gone for a throw but didn't.
This dual doesn't give one a lot of confidence in the everyone bump up a weight class for next year. All of their wrestlers look long and the length caused problems.
I hope you're right but back to back losses to Merideth and Jack should have his attention. The lower his seed the harder the path to the finals in the NCAAs. Needs to get back on track.
Give me the date and time when you have ever felt good. We won the dual and lost some close matches that can be reversed. Look on the bright side!
Agreed and think Boo had some nerves and adrenaline dump working. Didn't wrestle great but was set to win until one late brain fart.
Picc will struggle with the big, long wrestlers and Fauz was just that. Picc was more offensive and was deep on several shots but will need to get in quicker and cleaner. He closed the gap big time against the other big long kid from Minn and I expect he will do so with Fauz.
White, Kaid and Rogers were great. Preston also had a big win against a tough wrestler who has been on a tear recently and also showed some offense in neutral.
The only guys who wrestled today who would likely move up next year were Brock and Rogers.
I watched the interview on Flo with coach Smith. Boo Lewallen did not help himself in this dual because John struggled giving an answer about the future at 149.
Good. Boo ended his match very poorly and despite starting strong faded quickly and just didn't wrestle well. Competition there will only help both guys.
Based on the coaching staff's comments, the Boo/Geo situation is starting to sound a little confusing. Yes, Boo faded in the 2nd half of his match, but he was aggressive early and was in on multiple attacks. I thought he would win the match, but that NC St kid is a tough defensive wrestler who fights every takedown. We saw that in Reno against Tristan, Josh Heil, and Tsirtsis. That loss was far more understandable than Geo's loss in Wyoming to an unranked opponent. If he deserves a mulligan for the elevation, doesn't Boo deserve one for his first dual being in Europe?Especially considering Boo wrestled aggressively early.
I was under the impression that Boo had earned the spot outright based on his 2 head to head wins and the coaches were just waiting on his 2nd half eligibility. I wasn't expecting a potential alternating duals scenario. I don't think ranking matches are the best way to determine a starter, but that's how things appeared. If the coaches were unsure, why didn't they send both to Midlands and see who performed better against a stacked 149 field? Then they could have both flown to Italy with the team.
I was under the impression that Boo had earned the spot outright based on his 2 head to head wins and the coaches were just waiting on his 2nd half eligibility. I wasn't expecting a potential alternating duals scenario. I don't think ranking matches are the best way to determine a starter, but that's how things appeared. If the coaches were unsure, why didn't they send both to Midlands and see who performed better against a stacked 149 field? Then they could have both flown to Italy with the team.
If sending those 2 to Midlands after they both just wrestled out west at altitude and then expecting one or both to fly to Italy and compete, you might as well just concede the NC State dual.
I don't necessarily see there is an alternating dual thing in the future. And I'd guess very little will be learned from the Iowa dual. Month+ ago, Iowa looked like it would be an easy (if there's ever such a thing against Iowa) duel (IL should've beat them in CHA). But now with Lee and Marinelli its a completely different matchup. Wrestlestat has Iowa winning by 7 but that's with Rogers beating Marinelli (this is not a good style match up for Chandler). OSU is really going to need wins at 197 and HWT and hopefully 184 (but they could throw PD in there still).
I'd expect both will make the trip but who they wrestle will be all about which guy on that day they think matches up best against Sorensen to keep them in the match.
I think the margin between the two at 149 is close and the staff is expecting consistency from both guys. I think they were upset with how Boo let off at the end and will use it and the threat of Geo retaking his spot as motivation and to push him.
Geo is a former AA and Boo is bumping up a weight and coming off being ineligible. Habits in the room and away from the room play a role. I think ultimately Boo is our guy but needs to wrestle like it and do everything outside of the room required as well. He seems like a great kid so I bet he does just that.
Geo is a former AA and Boo is bumping up a weight and coming off being ineligible. Habits in the room and away from the room play a role. I think ultimately Boo is our guy but needs to wrestle like it and do everything outside of the room required as well. He seems like a great kid so I bet he does just that.
