I do know last week NDSU's 57 Luke Weber beat Pittsburg's ranked 57 soundly in their dual. I have always rooted for Wyatt especially because his father was a great Cowboy wrestler. Two dual wins is fantastic and maybe he has jumped a level but I will have to say Pittsburg's 57 did not look very good against the Bison last week. Also Daton has not looked good on his feet against good 33"s either not super quick with his shots or not chaining takedown moves together in sequence (Obviously not doing this because lately he is not taking many shots period). Hopefully you guys are right and he starts dominating and distancing from very good 133's. I did not see this dual but I am very surprised he lost to Phillipi. Injuries have really hurt us again this year. It is good to see Joe Smith wrestling again.
OK State vs. Pittsburgh
- Thread starter oberebo
- Start date
Fix is nothing special against good guys. I was hoping for another JO type attack guy, but he simply isn't that right now.
Maybe he's sick? Maybe something is wrong? But something clearly isn't right? Against the last two top ranked guys, he's making a name for himself as being one of the best hand fighters in the country...and he's 1-1 at it. Nolf, Retherford, JO, he is not at this point.
Sheets is brutal on top, and I'm anxious to see if he can capitalize on it.
Maybe he's sick? Maybe something is wrong? But something clearly isn't right? Against the last two top ranked guys, he's making a name for himself as being one of the best hand fighters in the country...and he's 1-1 at it. Nolf, Retherford, JO, he is not at this point.
Sheets is brutal on top, and I'm anxious to see if he can capitalize on it.
i believe fix will always keep it close with the top guys but will play with fire and it will cost him. i still believe he is great but he's not a sure 33 champ come march.
i need to see more matches from sheets before i jump on board.
Yeah, he’s only been a world champ. He’s quick as a whip and rarely out of position. Offensively I wonder how his lack of length affects him. I notice on Gfeller he will do this thing where he stands up amd does this leg shakeout thing and let’s himself get totally out of position while his opponent is too close for comfort. Plus needs to get knee pad that fits or get rid of it if he can’t quit messing with it during the match. Will cost him one day.
I think Fix is learning and figuring out what works against the top level guys. He is still one of the best at his current weight with one career loss as a RSFR. Retherford lost 3 times and finished 5th his first year of varsity completion. JO lost 4 times and finished 4th his first year.
Lots of time for development for Fix.
I agree with that. I think many thought 4xer and maybe the second undefeated 4xer...I know he thought that.
The last two big matches suggest different. A world champ should wrestle as such, but I believe he has zero takedowns against two of the Top 4 at his weight. He's a long way from where he was as a world champ, and I lump myself in with his biggest fan group.
Lots of Wrestling left for this young man, and I doubt I'm disappointed as much as I'm elated. I just think my expectations might have been a little high, but can still be met.
Two weekends in a row with back to back weigh ins, a week away from home, wrestling the night before then traveling for an early morning match, fatigue has to be setting in. Even professional athletes get road weary after awhile.
This will make them tougher come NCAA's though.
This will make them tougher come NCAA's though.
Pretty sure they returned to Stillwater after Rutgers and then traveled back east again.
Question for the longtime fans...I know Mike Sheets is known as a great leg rider, but what was he like on top?
Was he "mean" and physically "punished" guys? Did he turn them? What did he use, a turk, bow & arrow?...
Was he "mean" and physically "punished" guys? Did he turn them? What did he use, a turk, bow & arrow?...
I'm too young to remember watching or getting to watch sheets live, but I've watched video and yes, he was a copperhead on top.
Seems like I remember him using a turk and working power halfs? I do remember thinking he was rough on his opponents.
Wyatt looked similar, and I caught myself smiling quite a bit.
He was an animal on top. His last 2 years I don’t remember a close match other than when he was knocked unconscious at NCAA tournament and came back to win. Turk was the way I remember turning most opponents. They knew it was coming, but couldn’t stop it.
This was before the technical fall was in place or most of his matches would have ended that way.
Very true and it's exactly why John schedules like he does. He wants to put them in tough situations and have to face some adversity.
Mike Sheets was simply the best top position wrestler ever in my opinion.He was strong and mean and exceptionally punishing and he did not use the leg ride just to ride but to go for bonus points. Wyatt is not that but who is to say he can not be in the future. However, I think at the present time Shomers is the best we have at 157. Congrats to Wyatt on his first two wins and he stepped in admirably.
Actually, he scored there more than he did his feet. IMO, he's better than backpack by far and I've been told he's very skilled on his feet...just scared to do it live. Once he starts pulling the trigger live, neutral, he's worth the money on top.
Give me Sheets at 57, you can have Shomers...they're both fun.
Sheets has losses to Chase Straw (Iowa State), Ben Anderson (Duke), Rian Burris (The Citadel), Tyler Mies (Newman), and Efe Osaghae (Fort Hays State) this season. It would be awesome if this weekend was the light coming on for the young man, but lets just say I'm skeptical.
Also, it has been pointed out, but Fix is still right on pace to have the type of career that JO, Retherford, and Nolf have had. It is fair to wonder about his offense, he has consistently struggled to take long guys down (Fausz last season, Gilman in the WTTs, Phillippi). Still, his bonus rate is above 60% (Retherford's was 41.67% as a freshman, I would be surprised if JO's was that high) and in the Phillippi match he was going for it, he just couldn't figure out the length in a wrestler who was very defensive in the first period. If people thought he was going to dominate a DEEP 133-pound weight class, they were kidding themselves. He can still win it all in Pittsburgh and he'll continue to improve.
Also, it has been pointed out, but Fix is still right on pace to have the type of career that JO, Retherford, and Nolf have had. It is fair to wonder about his offense, he has consistently struggled to take long guys down (Fausz last season, Gilman in the WTTs, Phillippi). Still, his bonus rate is above 60% (Retherford's was 41.67% as a freshman, I would be surprised if JO's was that high) and in the Phillippi match he was going for it, he just couldn't figure out the length in a wrestler who was very defensive in the first period. If people thought he was going to dominate a DEEP 133-pound weight class, they were kidding themselves. He can still win it all in Pittsburgh and he'll continue to improve.
Okay, off Sheets on back to Fix.
Sheets first...
To me, he lacked confidence trying to Wrestle a game that he's not familiar with. We've seen lately, he's a tough rider. He wants one takedown and ride the piss out of people. Hes not his dad, who used a ride to punish people after being destroyed in neutral. He just desires to destroy people on top. If he can be offensive and develop the takedown game, he's a big benefit.
Fix...
Comparing him to those guys is shallow. Did they have the same or similar accolades at this point? That young man is titled enough for NCAA to be warm ups for Global stuff. However, against top guys, he doesn't score and moves into the more strategic wrestler. He is no longer phenomenal against those guys.
He's clearly an unreal talent and I'm super excited, but Ive moved from super positive he'd win 4.
sheets can ride...thats about it. His offensive is something to be desired. Its obvious he's not his dad and likely won't sniff AA honors in his career. Daton, he had a minor hiccup. It happens. Every great has a bump on the road. Fix is still on schedule, and has a chance to bring an individual title this year.
I don't know if even the biggest Fix fan would tell you they were super positive he would win 4. Four time AA and multiple time champ? Sure but a 4 timer at his weight is a stretch. That is just extremely tough. IMar, Hall, Valencia, Nolf, Zain, JO, and Nickal were all recent phenoms and none were 4 timers.
Fix is giving up some size at 133 and in his first year as a varsity wrestler and as of now still has as good of chance as any to win.
He's better than Steiber, and IMO the best recruit I can think of. It's not a stretch to me and I gurentee not a stretch to him.
I was thinking like 184-0 and the greatest ever.
IMO, at 125 Daton blitzes the field except for Lee, which would likely be a tight match either way. At 133 he's still adjusting to the strength & length of the top guys. Ideally he would be doing the "cowboy bulk job", but I think he's trying to stay close to 57 kg (remember the rumors he would drop to 125 during the season).
I previously posted that I would like to see Daton work with Gary Calcagno and go all in for 133/ 61 kg, only dropping to 57 kg for the Olympics. The problem with that is the 2019 world medalists will get a bye into the Final X finals for the 2020 Olympics. So there's a lot riding on Daton making the World Team at 57 kg this year and medaling.
I previously posted that I would like to see Daton work with Gary Calcagno and go all in for 133/ 61 kg, only dropping to 57 kg for the Olympics. The problem with that is the 2019 world medalists will get a bye into the Final X finals for the 2020 Olympics. So there's a lot riding on Daton making the World Team at 57 kg this year and medaling.
Mike Sheets was highly underrated on his feet because he usually only needed one take-down per match but he had an extremely good high-crotch. Lightning fast.
Here are the matches from his Sr. year in which he was not scored upon (no escapes): 27-0,24-0,16-0,17-0,24-0,28-0,22-0,16-0,8-0,9-0,4-0,12-0,9-0. The last 9-0 was in the NCAA finals against Kistler of Iowa which followed his previous years finals score of 14-0 and both of those finals were against the #2 seeded wrestler. As you can see from the scores, there was no Tech-Fall then. I believe the Tech-Fall was put in because of Mike Sheets.
Mike and I are the same age. Got to know him pretty well as we were both pre-vet initially. He and Leo Bailey are the reason I got into wrestling. Mike from class - Leo from the bars lol.
Mike was just punishing. I don’t ever remember opposing wrestlers exhibiting as much physical pain as the guys who had to wrestle mike.
Leo was also such a stud. It’s unfortunate that John couldn’t hold 126 and had to bump up. This bumped Leo up. At 34 Leo was just so physically strong. He’d put the “big arm” on ya and you’d be on your back, but he wasn’t as physically dominant at 42.
I mean if your expectations were that Fix was going to pull at Cael and never lose I can understand why you would be disappointed. Outside of that, nothing about the kid's potential has changed. As a freshman he has proven he is going to be one of the favorites to win a national title. I'm not sure what else you can ask of the kid. How many of the all-time greats in recent memory didn't drop matches as freshman?They all do.
Also for comparison sake: as a freshman Oliver had 16 bonus points wins and was 8-4 against ranked opponents.
Fix with somewhere around 15 matches left to wrestle has 13 bonus points wins and is 5-1 against ranked opponents.
Also for comparison sake: as a freshman Oliver had 16 bonus points wins and was 8-4 against ranked opponents.
Fix with somewhere around 15 matches left to wrestle has 13 bonus points wins and is 5-1 against ranked opponents.
I've looked for Mike Sheets match video and the only thing I've ever found are his matches with Mark Schultz and some technique/instruction vids. Any idea where to find other videos?
i echo these thoughts on daton at 33
beating gross would have been tough
hell the tariq kid is ranked #10 and kaid had no chance with his length
daton can surely win it this year but catching pitt in their place on a back to back was not ideal
kudos to john our kids will be reading for the ncaa grind
if i remember correctly, leo won junior nationals in both greco & freestyle in 1981 in iowa city. leo had just graduated and john had just finished his sophomore year. leo could/would launch you.
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This is from the 1983 NCAA's, Mike's match starts at about 51 minutes in if the link didn't work right.
You can also search for the 1984 NCAA's and he has a match in there, there is also a vid of the 84 Bedlam where he wrestles Melvin Douglas all uploaded by Dan Chaid.
This is Sheets' finals match against #2 seeded John Reich of Navy who was himself a great rider but he also had 63 career pins. I remember almost having a heart attack when he hooked up that cradle but Mile easily pulled his head out of it.
Sheets won 14-0 and received the OW award after out scoring his opponents 68 to 3. All 3 were escapes and strangely, two were by his unseeded, first round opponent.
This might be one listed above; Sheets at 1:22:00 against a Tough Melvin Douglas. Lots of great names here; Fr. John Smith with a great move at 22:45, Kenny Monday, Mark Perry with a nice fall. Coaches Tommy Chesbro, Rickey Stewart, Bruce Baumgartner.
No official word but I have been told I am getting my tickets. Fingers crossed!
Other interesting info is that Kenny Monday and Mike Sheets came out of high school same time, and if remember correct, Sheets had 1 loss in high school to Monday and Monday only had 1 non win - a tie to Sheets. Monday wrestled 142 Fr year and there wasn't really a good spot for Sheets as M Skove was at 150 and Stewart at 158. Sheets didn't get into the lineup till first of the year when he then wrestled some at 158 (and believe once at 167) with Stewart out & wrestling some up at 167. Stewart was back down for the Big 8 tourney and Sheets went up to 167. Had wrestled Dave Schultz in the dual at 158, then wrestled Mark S. at NCAA at 167 and took 7th that year. I am certain he was not a big 167lber Fr year. So year had Dave S. in the 167 finals losing 4-4, 1-1, Cr5, pretty sure he didn't lose again. And btw Monday did not place at NCAA's Fr year, don't always have to suck weight to have success.
I got an answer to my email regarding my tickets and it was, "we are still allocating tickets for the NCAA's so I do not have an update for you unfortunately. If you e-mail me back or call on Monday we should hopefully have an answer for you! I apologize
Matthew Douglas" I know for certain that I have received tickets every year but one since 1981 from the ticket office but since I do not have season tickets to any other OSU sport my posse points are lower. I have NOT received notification that I am not getting my tickets which may be a good sign.
