I’m thinking DT got in BT‘s ass yesterday after losing 7-1 to a nobody with zero offense. If the Pinto match is the result then Coach Taylor needs to stay there.
Carroll should have won 4-4 on criteria. The last point was BS. Looks like the weight cut is affecting Carroll's endurance - or something else is.
I agree he can't allow 5 pushouts, but he clearly had a lot more energy in his next match. Practically sprinting back to the middle of the mat after going out, continually shooting and moving, nonstop high pace - looked like the same Carroll I've been watching for awhile. His energy level during the match he lost did not look like himself. Lots of tie ups and just hanging on. Few shots. Slowly returning to the center of the mat. At one point he didn't even have enough energy to try a gut wrench after a takedown which he is really good at, and his arms were around his opponents waist - he chose to just rest instead, that is not like him. He was tired.
In 2023 there were 4 great wrestlers around 174, Thompson, Barr, Ryder, and Welsh. At the end of his junior year I thought we got the best 1 but since he has come to Stillwater we got the guy who seems lost and isn't right. The rest are stars with great futures and we got the big question mark. The 5th place match was pitiful to watch getting overpowered, taking weak shots and giving up. wrestles a couple of good matches and then pitiful. I was really concerned with Carroll against Shumate but in the second period dominated and won by tech. Over all this was a not very good showing for the Cowboys.
Outside of Dee and CC I’m not sure anyone else really makes the long term lineup so while I was bummed, I’m not too concerned.
I agree. Pushouts are the easy points the more seasoned freestyle guys get on the young guys. Mat awareness and understanding the situation comes with experience. CC losing on five pushouts is meaningless to folkstyle and as time goes on, it will not be an issue with regard to freestyle. CC will be a good one. This is just part of his learning curve, as I'm sure his coach told him.
Carroll has a really good gut wrench. His energy level for this match looked good again.
Hughes V Blaze would’ve been good if he had made the cut. Hughes is a stud.
We had 4 wrestlers going into the tournament that I thought could make some noise. Lockett won it, Merrill got beat on criterion in the finals. CC got 3rd - should have been in the finals in my opinion if not for a bad call. Hughes didn't make weight - you never know what that is about. So I'd say they did about what I expected.
This is where I’m at. Very excited for CC for 4 years. BT should’ve always been redshirted. A lot of how I feel about him was from a season he had no biz wrestling in anyway. Hopeful he can turn it around. He def has the ability just needs to flip a switch.
It was an awesome showing from Lockett, a great showing from Carroll, a no-show from Hughes, and more of the same from BT. Remember that this is Carroll's first time competing down to weight and that definitely showed with his conditioning compared to previous matches. The conditioning will improve as long as he cuts weight the right way, which it seems he is very committed to doing. I'm most interested to see how well his freestyle results translate to folkstyle though, because he scores alot from savvy freestyle moves.
I’m gonna put that one out of sight out of mind for a year haha. Will make more assessments when we seem him fall of 2025…
That's the question with him. 215 or 220 would be a good weight class for him, I don't know about heavy weight though.
I think the difference for Merrill was even though he is down to about 215 from his 245 something a few months ago I thought he still wrestled like he did when he was 245. He was not as explosive and aggressive as I saw him in Fargo and was a split second slower and therefore missed out on couple of takedown attempts in the finals. This was a big cut in a couple of months and maybe the aggressiveness, execution and super quickness will come back as he slowly gains some weight. Carroll was the better wrestler but it is not good when you lose matches to guys not as good as you. But he is cutting weight and adjusting and so I have great hope for him as a Cowboy. Also I did like Thompson's 2 matches against Pinto and Parker although I am not sure Pinto just got sloppy having dominated the 1st period. Time will tell about Thompson but he was the 2 seed and took 6th so I am concerned. Yesterday I wrote that Lockett is fantastic and still in high school. I know the cut for Hughes is tough but when a world team is on the line you need to make weight. So that can not be anything to feel good about plus it leaves us questionable about the 133 weight class next year. Some good and some not so good. To gain on Penn. St. that will not do
I wouldn't worry about it. Taylor has barely stepped foot on campus. No telling really what will happen with some of these guys as far as their weight classes, their individual development, their adjustment to a different set of expectations from the new staff etc... It will take some time before everything is rolling. This is not a tournament to gauge much against.
