I watched as Poel_Jeer survived his first post on 34 and Counting. It inspired me to jump out of the weeds and offer a little more commentary on this year's Scuffle as my first post to the group. This was my third consecutive year at the tournament. While there I realized how hard it is to get a flavor for the tournament and the performance of Cowboy wrestlers without being there. Especially those wrestlers whoare not in the starting lineup and you rarely get a chance to see.
So here goes some Scuffle thoughts from an avid OSU wrestling fan who was a very poor high school wrestler.
First some observations of the tournament itself...
1. There might not be a Scuffle without Penn State. It appeared that at least half the folks in the crowd were PSU fans. Orange was very scarce this year, mostly bunched in the SE corner of the arena, and the number of OSU fans seemed to be much smaller than in the prior two years. Same for Minnesota. It provided for relatively little fan support for OSU wrestlers during matches. My estimate is that maybe 1/3 of the remaining crowd were locals or from the broader TN/GA region.
2. I expect Flo's online coverage to hurt attendance at tournaments like this - badly. It may be a delicate balance to tweak the business model for an NCAA wrestling tournament going forward. I hope Flo is providing revenue is some way to offset declining attendance. I suspect it will get worse.
3. The crowd at the tournament was surprisingly silver-haired. Not guys in their 40s or 50s, but a lot of retirees or near-retirees. Relatively small number of kids under 16.
Moving to wrestling...
4. I couldn't be more sad for Kaid Brock... he was more impressive than I had hoped. He DESTROYED all of his opponents but one before being injured in the semis. He wasn't quite ready for Garrett, but the talent is obvious. He is strong, quick, tactical.... I'll stop before I make myself sad. I hope we see a lot more of him down the road because what I saw was phenomenal.
5. Nahshon Garrett was even more impressive than Brock. It has been a while since I have seen a wrestler dominate every opponent with overwhelming strength, quickness, and strategy to the degree he did. Barring injury, I will be shocked if he loses this year. He and Bo Nickal were the most impressive wrestlers at the tournament in my view - easily.
6. Lehigh is for real. Even their backups looked good.
7. Central Michigan has a good thing going on too. Very impressive.
8. Saw Bo Nickal wrestle in person for the first time and it was quite a treat. He is a rare talent and easily earned OW at the tournament. Complete and overwhelming domination of every opponent. He wrestled conservatively in the finals match and still won relatively easily. The other 174s do not match up well against him. He is significantly taller than the rest, with very long arms and legs. Seems remarkably flexible as well. Seeing both Nickal and Crutchmer up close at the tournament it appeared Crutcher is about 5'8" and Nickal is at least 6'2". Nickal is very lean and not particularly muscular but showed uncanny strength. He seemed far stronger than the other top 174s. Despite my competitive dislike for PSU, he even seems like a nice kid.
On to other cowboy wrestlers...
9. Eli Hale surprised me. He wrestles under control, seems to have some offense, and is pretty good on top and bottom. He is really tall and skinny, much like Megaludis but taller. Seems like a muscled up version of him at 133 would be formidable. This guy is a pretty good backup if Eddie has health issues.
10. Eddie Klimara remains solid AA caliber wrestler. He is not going to beat Megaludis or the other three usually ranked ahead of him. He simply doesn't have the quickness or exceptional strength. But it looks like 4th-8th place in March is reasonable.
11. Dean Heil is a legit #1, but Joey McKenna is his clone. They are the exact same size, have the same style, and will be banging on each other for a few years. They both look big for 133. Heil is quick enough - McKenna may be quicker. But Heil is never out of position and can defend shots like all top wrestlers can. I will be surprised if he does not win a title at OSU.
12. Collica surprised me as well, given his recent injury struggles. He lost to a tough kid in the 3rd round (see Central Michigan above) and then won several consolation matches. We know he has potential, but hasn't broken through yet. My expectation is that his upside is breaking into AA status much like Eddie did last year if he remains healthy. Would give it less than a 50% chance at the moment but expect that could go up as the year progresses. Might not though. Jonce Blaylock looked pretty good as well at 149 but still seems a clear step behind Collica. Blaylock lost a close match to Minnesota's Freddy Stroker and a close match to a Lehigh kid (see above on Lehigh).
13. Joe Smith was the second greatest surprise at the tournament after Bo Nickal. He looks ready to me and handled all of his matches up to Nolf with relative ease. What was most impressive is the aggressiveness he showed. I felt he was easily the most aggressive OSU wrestler. Personally, the highlight of the tournament for me was Joe tossing a wrestler into the press table. I think it might of been for his Dad too if you could have seen the grin he was trying to hold in. Brought me to my feet. His ankle pick is a thing of beauty. He can score on his feet and can get off the bottom when necessary. He doesn't seem as cut as many of the 157s who have been working on their body longer, but he seems naturally strong. And he has a mean streak. I felt like I was watching Chris Perry. When he fell behind to Nolf, he didn't turn cautious but instead went after Nolf with even more energy. It was very impressive. He doesn't seem to get tired either. He seems to be another classic-in-the-making in the long line of OSU hammers. It should also give you a feel for how good Nolf is. I am looking forward to seeing Joe wrestle in the future and hopefully win a title or 2 or 3. I don't think he is ready for Martinez this year, and Nolf has a one year head start on him. But a Nolf/Smith match-up in March could be thrilling and a Smith/Martinez match-up next year would be as well.
14. Of course, Dieringer. He won his matches easily, smashing a number of opponents into the mat along the way. The guy just looks too big to be a 165 and has a clear strength advantage on all of his opponents. But he showed again that his style is all about strength and position and very little about tactical wrestling, scrambling, and funk. I'm not sure who is going to beat him. Bo Jordan provided a glimpse of how to beat him last year at NCAAs and young Logan Massa showed another piece of the puzzle at the Scuffle. They both made him look a bit human, but they were still so far away from beating him that it seems remote this year. I'm guessing that a big strong 165 like Bo Jordan who has some scrambling ability and is good on top is the only real threat to Alex winning #3. And we know how that worked out last year...
15. We really did not learn much about Kyle Crutchmer. He lost a close one to Ramos in the semis that could have gone either way and put him into the finals. Crutchmer was near a take down twice at the end of the match before the ref called a stalemate. He actually looked pretty good before dropping the match to Chandler Rogers. He then came back and beat Realbuto. Typical Crutchmer. He remains top 4 in March.
16. It was Chandler Rogers who was the biggest surprise at 174. He looks very small next to the other 174s and does not look very muscular compared to most. But he handled himself remarkably well. He would seem to be a tough out at 165. I hadn't seem much of him live, but he has some impressive skill. He may have more ways of putting a guy on his back than anyone I have seen in a while. He also has a lot of ways of putting himself on his back as well. If he can make 165, he will be fun to watch next year and seems to possess AA talent.
So here goes some Scuffle thoughts from an avid OSU wrestling fan who was a very poor high school wrestler.
First some observations of the tournament itself...
1. There might not be a Scuffle without Penn State. It appeared that at least half the folks in the crowd were PSU fans. Orange was very scarce this year, mostly bunched in the SE corner of the arena, and the number of OSU fans seemed to be much smaller than in the prior two years. Same for Minnesota. It provided for relatively little fan support for OSU wrestlers during matches. My estimate is that maybe 1/3 of the remaining crowd were locals or from the broader TN/GA region.
2. I expect Flo's online coverage to hurt attendance at tournaments like this - badly. It may be a delicate balance to tweak the business model for an NCAA wrestling tournament going forward. I hope Flo is providing revenue is some way to offset declining attendance. I suspect it will get worse.
3. The crowd at the tournament was surprisingly silver-haired. Not guys in their 40s or 50s, but a lot of retirees or near-retirees. Relatively small number of kids under 16.
Moving to wrestling...
4. I couldn't be more sad for Kaid Brock... he was more impressive than I had hoped. He DESTROYED all of his opponents but one before being injured in the semis. He wasn't quite ready for Garrett, but the talent is obvious. He is strong, quick, tactical.... I'll stop before I make myself sad. I hope we see a lot more of him down the road because what I saw was phenomenal.
5. Nahshon Garrett was even more impressive than Brock. It has been a while since I have seen a wrestler dominate every opponent with overwhelming strength, quickness, and strategy to the degree he did. Barring injury, I will be shocked if he loses this year. He and Bo Nickal were the most impressive wrestlers at the tournament in my view - easily.
6. Lehigh is for real. Even their backups looked good.
7. Central Michigan has a good thing going on too. Very impressive.
8. Saw Bo Nickal wrestle in person for the first time and it was quite a treat. He is a rare talent and easily earned OW at the tournament. Complete and overwhelming domination of every opponent. He wrestled conservatively in the finals match and still won relatively easily. The other 174s do not match up well against him. He is significantly taller than the rest, with very long arms and legs. Seems remarkably flexible as well. Seeing both Nickal and Crutchmer up close at the tournament it appeared Crutcher is about 5'8" and Nickal is at least 6'2". Nickal is very lean and not particularly muscular but showed uncanny strength. He seemed far stronger than the other top 174s. Despite my competitive dislike for PSU, he even seems like a nice kid.
On to other cowboy wrestlers...
9. Eli Hale surprised me. He wrestles under control, seems to have some offense, and is pretty good on top and bottom. He is really tall and skinny, much like Megaludis but taller. Seems like a muscled up version of him at 133 would be formidable. This guy is a pretty good backup if Eddie has health issues.
10. Eddie Klimara remains solid AA caliber wrestler. He is not going to beat Megaludis or the other three usually ranked ahead of him. He simply doesn't have the quickness or exceptional strength. But it looks like 4th-8th place in March is reasonable.
11. Dean Heil is a legit #1, but Joey McKenna is his clone. They are the exact same size, have the same style, and will be banging on each other for a few years. They both look big for 133. Heil is quick enough - McKenna may be quicker. But Heil is never out of position and can defend shots like all top wrestlers can. I will be surprised if he does not win a title at OSU.
12. Collica surprised me as well, given his recent injury struggles. He lost to a tough kid in the 3rd round (see Central Michigan above) and then won several consolation matches. We know he has potential, but hasn't broken through yet. My expectation is that his upside is breaking into AA status much like Eddie did last year if he remains healthy. Would give it less than a 50% chance at the moment but expect that could go up as the year progresses. Might not though. Jonce Blaylock looked pretty good as well at 149 but still seems a clear step behind Collica. Blaylock lost a close match to Minnesota's Freddy Stroker and a close match to a Lehigh kid (see above on Lehigh).
13. Joe Smith was the second greatest surprise at the tournament after Bo Nickal. He looks ready to me and handled all of his matches up to Nolf with relative ease. What was most impressive is the aggressiveness he showed. I felt he was easily the most aggressive OSU wrestler. Personally, the highlight of the tournament for me was Joe tossing a wrestler into the press table. I think it might of been for his Dad too if you could have seen the grin he was trying to hold in. Brought me to my feet. His ankle pick is a thing of beauty. He can score on his feet and can get off the bottom when necessary. He doesn't seem as cut as many of the 157s who have been working on their body longer, but he seems naturally strong. And he has a mean streak. I felt like I was watching Chris Perry. When he fell behind to Nolf, he didn't turn cautious but instead went after Nolf with even more energy. It was very impressive. He doesn't seem to get tired either. He seems to be another classic-in-the-making in the long line of OSU hammers. It should also give you a feel for how good Nolf is. I am looking forward to seeing Joe wrestle in the future and hopefully win a title or 2 or 3. I don't think he is ready for Martinez this year, and Nolf has a one year head start on him. But a Nolf/Smith match-up in March could be thrilling and a Smith/Martinez match-up next year would be as well.
14. Of course, Dieringer. He won his matches easily, smashing a number of opponents into the mat along the way. The guy just looks too big to be a 165 and has a clear strength advantage on all of his opponents. But he showed again that his style is all about strength and position and very little about tactical wrestling, scrambling, and funk. I'm not sure who is going to beat him. Bo Jordan provided a glimpse of how to beat him last year at NCAAs and young Logan Massa showed another piece of the puzzle at the Scuffle. They both made him look a bit human, but they were still so far away from beating him that it seems remote this year. I'm guessing that a big strong 165 like Bo Jordan who has some scrambling ability and is good on top is the only real threat to Alex winning #3. And we know how that worked out last year...
15. We really did not learn much about Kyle Crutchmer. He lost a close one to Ramos in the semis that could have gone either way and put him into the finals. Crutchmer was near a take down twice at the end of the match before the ref called a stalemate. He actually looked pretty good before dropping the match to Chandler Rogers. He then came back and beat Realbuto. Typical Crutchmer. He remains top 4 in March.
16. It was Chandler Rogers who was the biggest surprise at 174. He looks very small next to the other 174s and does not look very muscular compared to most. But he handled himself remarkably well. He would seem to be a tough out at 165. I hadn't seem much of him live, but he has some impressive skill. He may have more ways of putting a guy on his back than anyone I have seen in a while. He also has a lot of ways of putting himself on his back as well. If he can make 165, he will be fun to watch next year and seems to possess AA talent.
