Tv for the match toady (11/19)
- Thread starter EvilPOKES
- Start date
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If our coaches directed Pic to go down in the 2nd period, they owe him an apology.
Big win for Blaylock against a top 10 wrestler in Short.
Rogers and sheik both beat good wrestlers. White added another good win and Geo Smith, and Mardsen did well to pick up majors. K Moore looked improved and pulled out a nice win.
Brock controlled McKee enroute a good win in what was closer on the scoresheet than how it played out.
As I mentioned in the other thread Lizak is just a very bad matchup for Pic. Pic has improved and was better everywhere but one spot but it's a big spot in that it is Lizaks bread and butter. Pic was the aggressor and got lazy on one 3rd period TD which he was able to escape and nearly had the winning TD late. He closed the gap between the two in a major way and could have easily had his hand raised today. Big steps for Pic and he looks like a contender this year.
Rogers and sheik both beat good wrestlers. White added another good win and Geo Smith, and Mardsen did well to pick up majors. K Moore looked improved and pulled out a nice win.
Brock controlled McKee enroute a good win in what was closer on the scoresheet than how it played out.
As I mentioned in the other thread Lizak is just a very bad matchup for Pic. Pic has improved and was better everywhere but one spot but it's a big spot in that it is Lizaks bread and butter. Pic was the aggressor and got lazy on one 3rd period TD which he was able to escape and nearly had the winning TD late. He closed the gap between the two in a major way and could have easily had his hand raised today. Big steps for Pic and he looks like a contender this year.
I was not there but heard Jacobe Smith looked really good, higher than his rank.
Thinking/Hoping he will surprise this year. Toughest weight class out there!
- Great overall team performance. I thought nearly everyone wrestled aggressively and looked to attack. Dean was probably the only one who didn't, maybe he was thrown off by starting the first match of the dual, I don't know. Not worried about him, he has proven that his style works even if it's frustrating to watch sometimes.
- I'm guessing there was a draw for the starting weight and it came up 141. That was the best scenario for MN since it gave their 2 biggest weight cutters, Lizak and McKee, an extra 90 minutes of recovery time. I just hope it was a draw and not our coaches agreeing to start at 141.
- Some of the good stuff:
Kaid didn't tire in the 3rd period.
Jonce making the most of his starting opportunity. Very good gas tank and he keeps coming at you.
Jacobe with his GIA debut. He is going to continue to improve as he gains experience at this level.
Keegan also with his GIA debut. Has real talent from neutral. His gas tank and work on bottom held up fine.
Andrew with a nice bounce back win. Always fun to watch.
- Some not so good stuff:
I'm sure Picc would love to have that one back, but he will learn from it and improve. According to John, he is one of the hardest workers on the team.
Based on Picc's match and others previously, we seem to have some trouble with leg riders - 1 leg in, 2 legs in, crab ride, riding an ankle. Picc struggled again, Kaid struggled with Gross and others (like Erneste) last year, Collica had maybe 1 or 2 escapes against Zain in all their matches, Nolan was ridden pretty hard by Pete Renda at the NCAAs a couple of years back. I hope the coaching staff devotes more time to countering these rides. Whether that's more practice time, bringing a specialist into the practice room like a Mike Sheets or an AJ Schoop (not him specifically but some PA hammer), or at least having our reserves work to better simulate the competition (Eli Hale, Mike Magaldo).
- I'm guessing there was a draw for the starting weight and it came up 141. That was the best scenario for MN since it gave their 2 biggest weight cutters, Lizak and McKee, an extra 90 minutes of recovery time. I just hope it was a draw and not our coaches agreeing to start at 141.
- Some of the good stuff:
Kaid didn't tire in the 3rd period.
Jonce making the most of his starting opportunity. Very good gas tank and he keeps coming at you.
Jacobe with his GIA debut. He is going to continue to improve as he gains experience at this level.
Keegan also with his GIA debut. Has real talent from neutral. His gas tank and work on bottom held up fine.
Andrew with a nice bounce back win. Always fun to watch.
- Some not so good stuff:
I'm sure Picc would love to have that one back, but he will learn from it and improve. According to John, he is one of the hardest workers on the team.
Based on Picc's match and others previously, we seem to have some trouble with leg riders - 1 leg in, 2 legs in, crab ride, riding an ankle. Picc struggled again, Kaid struggled with Gross and others (like Erneste) last year, Collica had maybe 1 or 2 escapes against Zain in all their matches, Nolan was ridden pretty hard by Pete Renda at the NCAAs a couple of years back. I hope the coaching staff devotes more time to countering these rides. Whether that's more practice time, bringing a specialist into the practice room like a Mike Sheets or an AJ Schoop (not him specifically but some PA hammer), or at least having our reserves work to better simulate the competition (Eli Hale, Mike Magaldo).
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It looked like to me that Pic started having cramps in his lower legs right at the end of the first period.
I can't remember if it was late in the first or early in the second but Picc came up a little gimpy after some of the action that went out of bounds.
Was that confirmed? I guess I don't really understand that decision. Who cares if the fans stay or leave? This isn't nationals, with ESPN trying to boost the TV ratings of the finals. I think everyone knows Lizak is a different tournament wrestler than a dual wrestler. Why give him 2 1/2 hours to recover vs 1 hour?
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Plus, you hope to eventually meet him in a tournament setting, right? If my guess is correct, this is a way to give Picc the experience of wrestling a recovered Lizak. And, he was THIS {} close to pulling it off. Something to show him on tape and work on. I was impressed with how clean Picc got the first two takedowns-that length is tough to negate.
I think if I had a kid in the same position, I would have put him on top with the choice in the 2nd. He had just ridden Lizak for 1:30 and turned him. Might have scored more, and worn him down some for the 3rd. Plus, a 5 second difference in RT puts it in OT if I remember correctly.
Lessons learned, my friends.
I think if I had a kid in the same position, I would have put him on top with the choice in the 2nd. He had just ridden Lizak for 1:30 and turned him. Might have scored more, and worn him down some for the 3rd. Plus, a 5 second difference in RT puts it in OT if I remember correctly.
Lessons learned, my friends.
Gotcha. At the end of the day, Picc will have to prove he can get out from Lizak and everyone else at nationals. I just don't see giving the competition any advantages along the way. Go Pokes!
Ok, my last post on this point. If it was indeed done to simulate a tournament experience then I disagree with it. I don't think you intentionally give your competition any advantages. Just my 2 cents.
Some more comments on the match:
Head Coach John Smith
On his 400th victory:
“I didn’t even know it. It just means I’m old, I think. You look back on 400 and you know a lot of athletes participated in that. I’ve got a lot of pride in Oklahoma State wrestling. It’s tough to put 400 victories up. You’ve got to give your student-athletes a lot of respect because without them, you couldn’t have done this.”
On the GIA crowd:
“I’m telling people: I think we’re living the good old days in Oklahoma State wrestling. We have a lot of people who say ‘Oh, back when I went there’ and this and that and I’m like ‘Hey, we’re right there with you.’ People want to see good wrestling. People want to see you score points. We dominated on the scoreboard with takedowns. I think the thing I’m going to take from this dual is this that in the close matches, the tough matches, when we needed a takedown, we scored those takedowns. I haven’t seen Nick yet, but I’m sure he’s a little bit devastated about how that match went. That guy was a national finalist last year, and I think he showed why in the second period. It was a pretty dominant second period. He put up eight points. I think in these early matches, you don’t ever get what you want. When you see some of those mistakes, and you see guys letting up a little bit, you want to see guys go off the mat thinking, ‘I didn’t wrestle great, but I scored the takedown to win the match.’ That’s important to do and we did that.”
On Keegan Moore’s performance:
“It was important for him. That’s your first match suiting up and wrestling in Gallagher-Iba Arena. He’s from Minnesota, and he chose to come to school here, so there was a little bit of an emotion tied up in that match. I’m pleased with what I’ve seen since our discussion a few weeks ago. You either show some improvement fast or you’re not going to wrestle. I feel good about his last two weeks and what he’s done.”
On new wrestlers and their performances:
“As a starter, Jonce (Blaylock) knows he’s a starter. Joe Smith will redshirt. So those guys know that they’re going. There are still some guys that, as the season goes on, we’ll see some faces in the lineup that are different. Those new guys, I was pleased with Jacobe Smith and the outcome of that match. Keegan Moore, I was pleased with that. And that (Andrew) Marsden match: up to this point he’s wrestled pitifully. I don’t know any other word to use, but tonight he showed a little bit of game to himself that we know he’s capable of having. We’ve been all over him about his performances and I’m just glad he’s felt that pressure and has performed. Wrestling is a sport that has no lies. You better get tough when things aren’t going well, and if you don’t, it’s a rocky world that you might not ever recover from. You better grow up fast. It was good to see him showing some fight and he gave us some hope tonight.”
Dean Heil – 141 pounds, Sr.
On his match:
“I didn’t really do anything in the first two periods. When I needed to score, I was able to score. I need to keep that mentality throughout the whole match. I know I can score on a lot of these guys and I need to start from the get-go.”
On being the first match of the dual:
“I knew I had to get it rolling just for the team so Coach Smith could get his 400th win…It’s been a while since I’ve been the first match in a dual. I couldn’t think off the top of my head when that was.”
On coaching from the bench:
“I like doing it. If coach tells me stop, I’ll stop. If he’s okay with it then maybe there’s more to come. As long as I get a good break after my match.”
On being a coach:
“That’s one of the biggest things is when my wresting career is done, I would love to coach.”
Jonce Blaylock – 157 pounds, RJr.
On the crowd’s impact:
“There’s definitely something different about Gallagher-Iba. There’s more tradition and history here than any other venue.”
On the mental aspect of sudden victory:
“Coach Smith tells us every day that, expect it to be tough. No matter how prepared we are or how much better we could be. Always expect the worst outcome. Going into a match like that, it helps when you get into a situation that you don’t necessarily want to be in, but you’re prepared for it.”
Link:
https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestli...ate-beats-Minnesota-for-John-Smiths-400th-win
Head Coach John Smith
On his 400th victory:
“I didn’t even know it. It just means I’m old, I think. You look back on 400 and you know a lot of athletes participated in that. I’ve got a lot of pride in Oklahoma State wrestling. It’s tough to put 400 victories up. You’ve got to give your student-athletes a lot of respect because without them, you couldn’t have done this.”
On the GIA crowd:
“I’m telling people: I think we’re living the good old days in Oklahoma State wrestling. We have a lot of people who say ‘Oh, back when I went there’ and this and that and I’m like ‘Hey, we’re right there with you.’ People want to see good wrestling. People want to see you score points. We dominated on the scoreboard with takedowns. I think the thing I’m going to take from this dual is this that in the close matches, the tough matches, when we needed a takedown, we scored those takedowns. I haven’t seen Nick yet, but I’m sure he’s a little bit devastated about how that match went. That guy was a national finalist last year, and I think he showed why in the second period. It was a pretty dominant second period. He put up eight points. I think in these early matches, you don’t ever get what you want. When you see some of those mistakes, and you see guys letting up a little bit, you want to see guys go off the mat thinking, ‘I didn’t wrestle great, but I scored the takedown to win the match.’ That’s important to do and we did that.”
On Keegan Moore’s performance:
“It was important for him. That’s your first match suiting up and wrestling in Gallagher-Iba Arena. He’s from Minnesota, and he chose to come to school here, so there was a little bit of an emotion tied up in that match. I’m pleased with what I’ve seen since our discussion a few weeks ago. You either show some improvement fast or you’re not going to wrestle. I feel good about his last two weeks and what he’s done.”
On new wrestlers and their performances:
“As a starter, Jonce (Blaylock) knows he’s a starter. Joe Smith will redshirt. So those guys know that they’re going. There are still some guys that, as the season goes on, we’ll see some faces in the lineup that are different. Those new guys, I was pleased with Jacobe Smith and the outcome of that match. Keegan Moore, I was pleased with that. And that (Andrew) Marsden match: up to this point he’s wrestled pitifully. I don’t know any other word to use, but tonight he showed a little bit of game to himself that we know he’s capable of having. We’ve been all over him about his performances and I’m just glad he’s felt that pressure and has performed. Wrestling is a sport that has no lies. You better get tough when things aren’t going well, and if you don’t, it’s a rocky world that you might not ever recover from. You better grow up fast. It was good to see him showing some fight and he gave us some hope tonight.”
Dean Heil – 141 pounds, Sr.
On his match:
“I didn’t really do anything in the first two periods. When I needed to score, I was able to score. I need to keep that mentality throughout the whole match. I know I can score on a lot of these guys and I need to start from the get-go.”
On being the first match of the dual:
“I knew I had to get it rolling just for the team so Coach Smith could get his 400th win…It’s been a while since I’ve been the first match in a dual. I couldn’t think off the top of my head when that was.”
On coaching from the bench:
“I like doing it. If coach tells me stop, I’ll stop. If he’s okay with it then maybe there’s more to come. As long as I get a good break after my match.”
On being a coach:
“That’s one of the biggest things is when my wresting career is done, I would love to coach.”
Jonce Blaylock – 157 pounds, RJr.
On the crowd’s impact:
“There’s definitely something different about Gallagher-Iba. There’s more tradition and history here than any other venue.”
On the mental aspect of sudden victory:
“Coach Smith tells us every day that, expect it to be tough. No matter how prepared we are or how much better we could be. Always expect the worst outcome. Going into a match like that, it helps when you get into a situation that you don’t necessarily want to be in, but you’re prepared for it.”
Link:
https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestli...ate-beats-Minnesota-for-John-Smiths-400th-win
