Wrassler I think you are right. In fact I think they will be favored to win 197 also. I have been looking for wrestler development to reassure we have a chance next year but I have not seen much development at all and have not seen anyone jump levels. I would imagine most of that is on the wrestlers but some certainly on the coaches. We have to recruit higher rated and more driven wrestlers. Our development as I see it ( probably more negative than most). Picc some development but not enough, Brock no development from last year, Heil has regressed a lot, Lewallan looked much better at 41 last year than this year at 49, Blaylock has improved some and gets the most out of his abilities, Rogers has not progressed at all from last year(yes he is still exciting), Smith maybe has made a little progress but I was hoping for better than 12th in the country, Moore is a redshirt freshman who unbelievably has made no progress maybe he has regressed., Weigel has not made any progress from the end of last year but injuries could be part of that and then the shining star is White who likely has jumped a level in the move to HWT. Also Martinez has not made any progress in almost 2 years in Stillwater. We have to recruit higher rated and more driven wrestlers. Our coaching staff needs a through and honest evaluation. Maybe this has begun with the changes that have been made so far.
I'm not quite as bearish as some of you on next years prospects. Don't get me wrong. I think PSU will be the favorite and I definitely have some concerns, but disagree with some of what you're saying
How has Weigel not made any progress from last year? The only match he dropped he was hurt and was in control pretty much the whole match except for one dumb move. In his short time this year he's wrestled an insanely tough schedule, almost every guy in the top 10. Do you all realize that guy from Kent State that he completely blasted and tech'd in the first period beat Shakur Rasheed this year? The guy that may be PSU's starter at the NCAA tournament.
I think everyone sees White's development and is excited about that.
I think Piccinnini is better this year. The weight's just a lot tougher. The only guy that graduated was Gilman, then Suriano comes back healthy, Nato drops a weight, and Lee comes in. If you take those 3 out of the equation he's ranked exactly where he finished last year and has a win in a match that doesn't count against the defending champ.
Brock still sucks on bottom, but both his losses were because of big moves. He's still probably the best wrestler in the country on his feet and that includes Gross IMO. He's really probably the #2 guy at the weight. He's scoring a lot more points and getting more bonus this year than he did last year. That's not saying much because he pretty much scored none last year, but he's getting more.
Rogers is the most up and down wrestler on the planet, and has always been that. He could lose every match from here til the NCAA tournament and I'd still think he could either pin his way through and win a title or go 2 and out.
Boo seems to have regressed from where he was at the beginning of the year and Heil hasn't looked great either, but as you said Boo is undersized at 49. Also does nobody realize they lost their coach? On a lot of levels I think the move needed to be made, but Guerrero recruited Heil and was part of the reason he stayed when he almost quit a few years ago. Guerrero was the coach for those lower/mid weights and now he's gone. The guy that studied all their film, that watched them in practice every day, knew what made them tic, etc... Again from my understanding of some things leading up to that I don't think it's the worst thing that Guerrero is gone, but does it make sense that 2 guys around his size are struggling a bit? I would say so.
I thought Smith had some struggles early this season, but was wrestling well up until he was hurt in the Lewis match.
Moore has been a disappointment no doubt. Hopefully Marsden can do OK there or Wittlake make the jump to 84 next year.
With all of that, we all know Fix will be a star, but OSU will potentially be better at 141 next year than they are currently. Does no one realize Kaden Gfeller beat Nick Lee and his only losses were to Jack, Eierman, and Heil?
I still have no idea how the lineup will shake out next year, but in theory if you just plug in Kaden Gfeller at 141 he's maybe preseason #4 with all those Sr's clearing out.
Don't get me wrong PSU is really good, but I wouldn't jump off the ship just yet.
Also they aren't plugging in a guy at 149 that's some superstar. Verkleeren's not bad, but didn't even place at the Scuffle. Probably top 8 at the NCAA tournament at best. Their starter at 125 next year is maybe #6 at the weight in HS, so expecting him to come run through that gauntlet and do any more than win a few matches is a bit overzealous in my opinion. It's fair to say they'll be good at 33. Probably about like Lee is for them at 41 currently.
