Here are the stats:
Pic #2 seed/finished 5th (beat #31, #15, &7 & #7; lost to #3 & #8)
Fix #1 seed/finished 2nd (beat #33, #16, #8 & #5; lost to #3)
Kaid #15 seed /finished 9-12 (round of 12) (beat #18 & #17; lost to #2 and #13)
Gfeller #7 seed/finished 25-33 (beat nobody; lost to #26 & #23
Smith #33 seed/finished 9-12 (round of 12) (beat #32 & #15; lost #1 & &9)
Smith #7 seed/ finished 9-12 (round of 12) (beat #26 & #25; lost to #10 & #33
Geer #26 seed/finished 7th (beat #7, #2, #13 & #3; lost to #10 )
Wiegel #3 seed/finished 3rd (beat #30, #14, #11 & #4; lost to #2)
White #1 seed/finished 2nd (beat #32, #16, #9 & #4; lost to #2)
Here are the cold hard facts:
Only Geer and Wiegel finished to seed (Brock & Joe’s round-of-twelve were technically above seed)
Only Geer finished above seed (dito above for Brock & Joe)
Only Geer defeated a wrestler seeded above him (Joe defeated #15 & #32 but his seeding was ridiculous)
7th seed Gfeller went two and out losing to the #23 and #26 seeds (hurt or just freshman jitters? Who knows)
7th seed Smith went two and two losing to the #10 seed (no disgrace) and the #33 seed (WTF) while defeating only a #25 & #26
Brock was sadly only seeded 16th after a season of some good matches and crazy matches he then wrestled the same; some good, some crazy
Here are my opinions:
The issue of team weight control and the accompanying late season weight changes in the upper weights was a fiasco. With perfect hindsight, it seems that both Joe and Jacobe where struggling with weight control issues. This may not have been the case, but that’s as it appeared.
To have allowed Joe Smith to cut to a weight at which he could not effectively wrestle in a tournament setting was wrong. In the light of the fact that he bumped a two-time all-American senior from the line up was sad beyond belief. I am deeply saddened for Chandler and his family every time I think of it. However, to say that Chandler would have done better than Joe is pure speculation as, with his style, he could lose to any solid wrestler including the #1 and #9 seeds. But he could also have beaten almost anybody and potentially score a lot of bonus points.
That being said, it’s obvious to me that in watching Joe wrestle that he was the superior wrestler on the mat in all four of his matches including against the #1 seed.
There is a lot of complaining on this board about our wrestlers getting robbed or cheated particularly Daton. To me, his finals match is most reminiscent of Colman’s first finals match where he also had his opponent broken down and seemingly riding out for the win only to have a stalemate called; then losing. The example I also think of (which is used by others) was Oliver’s none-takedown call as to me it highlights the situation where you get into a position where one bad call by the ref can cost you the match.
Daton was in this position several times this year. I believe he is much too good both offensively and defensively to be so worried about being taken down early in the match. Just remember how many times Dakota was taken down in the first period and came back to win. I don’t recall Ringer ever being in that position.
The bottom line is, it seems to me that in all the matches our top seeds lost (Pic, Fix, Weigel & White), our guys took very few, if any, shots. Many wrestlers, including Fix in a few cases, has shown that you don’t need to shoot to win; but it makes it a lot easier and a lot more fun.
Last thought - Geer was the man;
Defeated #25 Lyon by MD; 12-2 (total domination)
Defeated #13 Bonacconsi 6-0 (domination)
Defeated #7 Reenan 6-0 (domination)
Defeated #2 Rasheed 4-2
Defeated #3 Zavatsky 5-4
Lost to #8 Priesch in sudden victory 5-3 (very close loss)
Lost to #10 Colbray 7-4 (the only match he was out of)
Pic #2 seed/finished 5th (beat #31, #15, &7 & #7; lost to #3 & #8)
Fix #1 seed/finished 2nd (beat #33, #16, #8 & #5; lost to #3)
Kaid #15 seed /finished 9-12 (round of 12) (beat #18 & #17; lost to #2 and #13)
Gfeller #7 seed/finished 25-33 (beat nobody; lost to #26 & #23
Smith #33 seed/finished 9-12 (round of 12) (beat #32 & #15; lost #1 & &9)
Smith #7 seed/ finished 9-12 (round of 12) (beat #26 & #25; lost to #10 & #33
Geer #26 seed/finished 7th (beat #7, #2, #13 & #3; lost to #10 )
Wiegel #3 seed/finished 3rd (beat #30, #14, #11 & #4; lost to #2)
White #1 seed/finished 2nd (beat #32, #16, #9 & #4; lost to #2)
Here are the cold hard facts:
Only Geer and Wiegel finished to seed (Brock & Joe’s round-of-twelve were technically above seed)
Only Geer finished above seed (dito above for Brock & Joe)
Only Geer defeated a wrestler seeded above him (Joe defeated #15 & #32 but his seeding was ridiculous)
7th seed Gfeller went two and out losing to the #23 and #26 seeds (hurt or just freshman jitters? Who knows)
7th seed Smith went two and two losing to the #10 seed (no disgrace) and the #33 seed (WTF) while defeating only a #25 & #26
Brock was sadly only seeded 16th after a season of some good matches and crazy matches he then wrestled the same; some good, some crazy
Here are my opinions:
The issue of team weight control and the accompanying late season weight changes in the upper weights was a fiasco. With perfect hindsight, it seems that both Joe and Jacobe where struggling with weight control issues. This may not have been the case, but that’s as it appeared.
To have allowed Joe Smith to cut to a weight at which he could not effectively wrestle in a tournament setting was wrong. In the light of the fact that he bumped a two-time all-American senior from the line up was sad beyond belief. I am deeply saddened for Chandler and his family every time I think of it. However, to say that Chandler would have done better than Joe is pure speculation as, with his style, he could lose to any solid wrestler including the #1 and #9 seeds. But he could also have beaten almost anybody and potentially score a lot of bonus points.
That being said, it’s obvious to me that in watching Joe wrestle that he was the superior wrestler on the mat in all four of his matches including against the #1 seed.
There is a lot of complaining on this board about our wrestlers getting robbed or cheated particularly Daton. To me, his finals match is most reminiscent of Colman’s first finals match where he also had his opponent broken down and seemingly riding out for the win only to have a stalemate called; then losing. The example I also think of (which is used by others) was Oliver’s none-takedown call as to me it highlights the situation where you get into a position where one bad call by the ref can cost you the match.
Daton was in this position several times this year. I believe he is much too good both offensively and defensively to be so worried about being taken down early in the match. Just remember how many times Dakota was taken down in the first period and came back to win. I don’t recall Ringer ever being in that position.
The bottom line is, it seems to me that in all the matches our top seeds lost (Pic, Fix, Weigel & White), our guys took very few, if any, shots. Many wrestlers, including Fix in a few cases, has shown that you don’t need to shoot to win; but it makes it a lot easier and a lot more fun.
Last thought - Geer was the man;
Defeated #25 Lyon by MD; 12-2 (total domination)
Defeated #13 Bonacconsi 6-0 (domination)
Defeated #7 Reenan 6-0 (domination)
Defeated #2 Rasheed 4-2
Defeated #3 Zavatsky 5-4
Lost to #8 Priesch in sudden victory 5-3 (very close loss)
Lost to #10 Colbray 7-4 (the only match he was out of)
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