2024 NCAA's - Day 1 - Match/discussion thread

[pawrestlersintn]

1200 messages? Can someone give the cliffs notes of the highlights?

 

[billrag]

1200 messages? Can someone give the cliffs notes of the highlights?

Penn State is kicking ass.

 

[NittanyLion84]

Penn State pair begins pursuit of 4th NCAA wrestling titles with easy wins

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Carter Starocci thought it a little odd that the selection committee gave him the No. 9 seed for the NCAA wrestling championships. So did most people. After all, Penn State’s star at 174 pounds has won three straight national championships. Now, after advancing to the quarterfinals

triblive.com

 

[HikeNatParks]

Topside, I’m antsy about 3, confident in 5. Below deck, I like both chances.
Ah, hell, I’ll go out on a limb and say we’ll still be leading after session 3

 

[Chickenman Testa]

1200 messages? Can someone give the cliffs notes of the highlights?

Braeden Davis is wrestling with a hook for a hand because of a grevious injury in the 1st round

 

[Callthestall]

Really hate the wrestling from the knees BS.

Change the rule and make it stalling. It would stop instantly. The guy on knees can not score unless other wrestler initiates.
I actually think if someone had the guts, they should come in like double leg but catch the guy around his chest. Brown would have stopped it by planting the guy.

 

[El-Jefe]

Braeden Davis is wrestling with a hook for a hand because of a grevious injury in the 1st round

 

[86PSUPaul]

Penn State is kicking ass.

And people are nervous…

 

[CentexLion]

Change the rule and make it stalling. It would stop instantly. The guy on knees can not score unless other wrestler initiates.
I actually think if someone had the guts, they should come in like double leg but catch the guy around his chest. Brown would have stopped it by planting the guy.

Anthony Robles hates this thought. 😎

 

[CJFisJoePaII]

Not much talk about Carr v Hamiti. Carr has very little offense and elite defense - this could be one of those 1-1 SV matches.

 

[Franklinstheman]

I wouldn’t read into Crookham’s match that much. Leete is visually impaired and his matches are all wrestled under constant contact rules. That is a tough thing to deal with especially in your first NCAA match. When Crookham is allowed to wrestle from space tonight I bet he looks better

Didn't Ramos squeak bye uninpressively

Somebody earlier asked about a state-by-state breakdown.

I'm too lazy to find that post, and far too lazy to do every state ... but by my count PA = 45:

125 = 1:
25 Berginc – Hempfield

133 = 4:
2 Crookham – Saucon Valley
13 Phipps – Norwin
14 Van Dee – Erie Prep
27 Strickland – Benton

141 = 3:
2 Bartlett – Wyoming Seminary
16 Chappell – Seneca Valley
18 Matthews – Reynolds

149 = 7:
3 Arrington – Forest Hills
5 Watters – West Allegheny
7 Kasak – Bethlehem Catholic
22 Willochell – Latrobe
30 Swisher – Bellefonte
31 Solomon – Franklin Regional
32 Boyd – Erie McDowell

157 = 2:
1 Haines – Biglerville
4 Scott – Dubois

165 = 1:
11 Cerniglia – Notre Dame Green Pond

174 = 5:
3 Ruth – Susquehanna Township
6 Welsh – Waynesburg
9 Starocci – Erie Prep
13 McCoy – Chestnut Ridge
23 Augustine – Waynesburg

184 = 2:
5 Pinto – Stroudsburg
30 Duvall – Penns Valley

197 = 8:
2 Hidlay – Mifflin County
4 Beard – Malvern Prep
15 Shaw – Thomas Jefferson
16 Luke Stout – Mt. Lebanon
21 Mac Stout – Mt. Lebanon
24 Urbas – State College
28 Wehmeyer – Malvern Prep
32 Crawford – Strath Haven

285 = 5:
5 Taylor – Brookville
9 Feldman – Malvern Prep
19 Crosby – Erie Prep
21 Pitzer – Mt. Pleasant
26 Catka – Sun Valley

Also a few others who graduated from PA schools but I didn't count above:
125 – Ungar – Notre Dame Green Pond, but from NJ (rumored to have stayed in NJ)
133 – Bouzakis – Wyoming Seminary; from FL, family has since moved to PA
141 – Henson – graduated from Waynesburg, but really from MO
149 – Griffin – Hill School, but really from MA

I did count Bartlett even though he's originally from AZ, because he had long established himself as a PA resident.

The Malvern Prep guys are all from PA. Beard is from the Pottstown area. Wehmeyer is from outside Bethlehem (northern Bucks). Feldman would've attended Solanco.

And we had to wait until Cael came along to capitalize on the gold mine in PA.

 

[baccafarmer]

It is frustrating the way Kerk wrestles. He could have teched this guy with takedowns with ease. I just will never understand the philosophy of riding a guy 4 plus minutes when there is a 3 point takedown and Kerk could have broke him on his feet and got a techfall. Yeah i know it is complaining and in the long run it will not matter. But as a fan its also boring to watch a guy just lay on the other guy when both guys are not really doing anything.

Tourney wrestling for a guy at 260+ is a different ordeal than it is for a guy at 1/2 that weight. This is Kirk’s 4th Nationals. Probably he knows how to manage his energy. Winning > Entertainment. Of course, we could devolve back to “dancing bears” and then every HWT match could be boring.

 

[Callthestall]

I watched every single PSU match from start to finish without a single glitch on ESPN+. When there are two PSU guys at the same time....I just pause one of them until the first one is done. Easy. Just 10.00.....although I sold a kidney so I can upgrade to the Disney package for 3.00 more

I used ESPN+ yesterday. Never thought about delaying a match when 2 guys were same time. I would stream the radio and delay the Roku about 12 seconds and the Ironhead audio would be sync to TV video.
My only glitch was caused by Ironhead. I was listening for him to know if a second match was starting. He was doing the MM or Truax match and he says Starocci is wrestling and its 2nd period. It was actually 3rd period. WTF!! That's all I saw. Maybe I could of rewind that mat. Never thought about doing that .

 

[kps7987]

Somebody earlier asked about a state-by-state breakdown.

I'm too lazy to find that post, and far too lazy to do every state ... but by my count PA = 45:

125 = 1:
25 Berginc – Hempfield

133 = 4:
2 Crookham – Saucon Valley
13 Phipps – Norwin
14 Van Dee – Erie Prep
27 Strickland – Benton

141 = 3:
2 Bartlett – Wyoming Seminary
16 Chappell – Seneca Valley
18 Matthews – Reynolds

149 = 7:
3 Arrington – Forest Hills
5 Watters – West Allegheny
7 Kasak – Bethlehem Catholic
22 Willochell – Latrobe
30 Swisher – Bellefonte
31 Solomon – Franklin Regional
32 Boyd – Erie McDowell

157 = 2:
1 Haines – Biglerville
4 Scott – Dubois

165 = 1:
11 Cerniglia – Notre Dame Green Pond

174 = 5:
3 Ruth – Susquehanna Township
6 Welsh – Waynesburg
9 Starocci – Erie Prep
13 McCoy – Chestnut Ridge
23 Augustine – Waynesburg

184 = 2:
5 Pinto – Stroudsburg
30 Duvall – Penns Valley

197 = 8:
2 Hidlay – Mifflin County
4 Beard – Malvern Prep
15 Shaw – Thomas Jefferson
16 Luke Stout – Mt. Lebanon
21 Mac Stout – Mt. Lebanon
24 Urbas – State College
28 Wehmeyer – Malvern Prep
32 Crawford – Strath Haven

285 = 5:
5 Taylor – Brookville
9 Feldman – Malvern Prep
19 Crosby – Erie Prep
21 Pitzer – Mt. Pleasant
26 Catka – Sun Valley

Also a few others who graduated from PA schools but I didn't count above:
125 – Ungar – Notre Dame Green Pond, but from NJ (rumored to have stayed in NJ)
133 – Bouzakis – Wyoming Seminary; from FL, family has since moved to PA
141 – Henson – graduated from Waynesburg, but really from MO
149 – Griffin – Hill School, but really from MA

I did count Bartlett even though he's originally from AZ, because he had long established himself as a PA resident.

The Malvern Prep guys are all from PA. Beard is from the Pottstown area. Wehmeyer is from outside Bethlehem (northern Bucks). Feldman would've attended Solanco.

What about Chlebove? Originally from Northampton

 

[Sleepylion]

uncle Tony sighting

Is that Starocci's uncle?

 

[El-Jefe]

What about Chlebove? Originally from Northampton

I knew I would miss somebody. Thanks!

 

[El-Jefe]

Is that Starocci's uncle?

Negron's.

 

[CJFisJoePaII]

Change the rule and make it stalling. It would stop instantly. The guy on knees can not score unless other wrestler initiates.
I actually think if someone had the guts, they should come in like double leg but catch the guy around his chest. Brown would have stopped it by planting the guy.

You can shoot from a knee especially if the other wrestler doesn't watch their separation and doesn't lower their level. Nothing wrong with going to a knee to change levels and try to create an angle. But spending a prolonged period on a knee and doing it repeatedly such that you're spending the majority of Neutral wrestling time on a knee should be warned and called as stalling (i.e., Ref is permitted to tell wrestler that he has to be more active and if he goes to his knee again, he'll call stalling).

 

[Mat Burn]

I used ESPN+ yesterday. Never thought about delaying a match when 2 guys were same time. I would stream the radio and delay the Roku about 12 seconds and the Ironhead audio would be sync to TV video.
My only glitch was caused by Ironhead. I was listening for him to know if a second match was starting. He was doing the MM or Truax match and he says Starocci is wrestling and its 2nd period. It was actually 3rd period. WTF!! That's all I saw. Maybe I could of rewind that mat. Never thought about doing that .

I got caught off guard with this one too. I was able to rewind the stream for his match.

I have to work on the sync with the video and Ironhead's audio that was a little frustrating yesterday. On my feed he was ahead of the video action around 10 seconds.

 

[PAgeologist]

I got caught off guard with this one too. I was able to rewind the stream for his match.

I have to work on the sync with the video and Ironhead's audio that was a little frustrating yesterday. On my feed he was ahead of the video action around 10 seconds.

That was my delay time as well. I didn't bother trying to sync them since I was bouncing around so much between mat feeds.

 

[Sleepylion]

Negron's.

Thanks.

He came down to the first row to cheer on Starocci like he knew him forever. A guy tried to make some small talk with him and he waved him off like he didn't want to be bothered.

 

[CJFisJoePaII]

Didn't Ramos squeak bye uninpressively

And we had to wait until Cael came along to capitalize on the gold mine in PA.

Not sure I agree with that, Spiedell, Koll, Lorenzo and Fitz consistently had PSU in the hunt at Nationals and produced a lot of AAs and Champs. It wasn't until Sunderland that the program took a huge dropoff Nationally. Fitz was coach when PSU began wrestling in B1G and he did quite well actually - if I remember correctly, they fired him because of some incidents involving wrestlers and they felt he did not run a tight enough ship in regards to his athletes behavior on campus.

 

[goldenanimal]

For what it’s worth I came across this breakdown a few days back. Not sure what metric was used to do the categorization but it also lists last year’s totals as well.

2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship Qualifiers By State - FloWrestling

See how many wrestlers your state qualified for NCAAs!

www.flowrestling.org

Great stuff, Jefe and thank you for that link, Bosox. PA dominating once again… Looks like Flo is using the “hometowns” metric so Bartlett to Tempe and Bouzakis to Tampa. Only discrepancies/additions are Griffin to Berwick, ME, Henson to Waynesburg, Ungar and Evan Maag (165) to Bethlehem (NDGP), Garrett Thompson (165) to Murraysville (Franklin Regional), Chlebove (133) to Northampton, and Maximus Hale (184) to West Chester (Downingtown West) for a total of 43 NQs for PA.

 

[baccafarmer]

App St. has a nice little program with scrappy kids.

I live about an hour north of Boone and get down to see Appy two or three times each winter. Great little town, very sports oriented and good bars. SoCon wrestling can be surprisingly good at times.

 

[railbirrd]

Ed Ruth is no longer on the Illinois staff.

yes, Illinois added Austin O'Connor to the staff this year, so maybe that's why Ed is gone, or vice versa.

 

[KCLion]

Question: was watching a match at the arena yesterday and on one particular match the ref required the wrestlers to be touching hands during every restart from the neutral standing position. Wasn’t sure if the all knowing board could explain this. I thought that it might be due to one of the wrestlers having a hearing issue, but it was a WAG on my part.

 

[El-Jefe]

You can shoot from a knee especially if the other wrestler doesn't watch their separation and doesn't lower their level. Nothing wrong with going to a knee to change levels and try to create an angle. But spending a prolonged period on a knee and doing it repeatedly such that you're spending the majority of Neutral wrestling time on a knee should be warned and called as stalling (i.e., Ref is permitted to tell wrestler that he has to be more active and if he goes to his knee again, he'll call stalling).

The complaint is about guys like Mason Beckman who drop to a knee from 25 ft away.

If you're disengaged from the opponent and drop to a knee, it's stalling.

 

[mvattivo]

Question: was watching a match at the arena yesterday and on one particular match the ref required the wrestlers to be touching hands during every restart from the neutral standing position. Wasn’t sure if the all knowing board could explain this. I thought that it might be due to one of the wrestlers having a hearing issue, but it was a WAG on my part.

He has some level of blindness

 

[El-Jefe]

Great stuff, Jefe and thank you for that link, Bosox. PA dominating once again… Looks like Flo is using the “hometowns” metric so Bartlett to Tempe and Bouzakis to Tampa. Only discrepancies/additions are Griffin to Berwick, ME, Henson to Waynesburg, Ungar and Evan Maag (165) to Bethlehem (NDGP), Garrett Thompson (165) to Murraysville (Franklin Regional), Chlebove (133) to Northampton, and Maximus Hale (184) to West Chester (Downingtown West) for a total of 43 NQs for PA.

Dammit, I missed a bunch. That should teach me to try it after midnight.

 

[El-Jefe]

yes, Illinois added Austin O'Connor to the staff this year, so maybe that's why Ed is gone.

Other way around. Ed leaving opened up the position for O'Connor.

 

[railbirrd]

I'm in the same boat. Need some kind of miracle from Mr. Monthley.

Speaking of Dan Monthley, I heard JB on Lionvision saying many times during yesterday's action that Dr. ? was in the Penn State corner. I never heard him mention Dan. So what's the deal...is Dan there or not and who is this other doctor?

 

[El-Jefe]

Didn't Ramos squeak bye uninpressively

And we had to wait until Cael came along to capitalize on the gold mine in PA.

Yes and no. Cael definitely kick-started the dynasty with PA wrestlers.

But it's been a national program for 2 full 4-year cycles now, with more than half starters from out of state and many from states that do not border PA. Even this year, 4 of the qualifiers are from PA, and it would be 3 if Van Ness weren't injured.

Also, some of PA's best in this tournament committed elsewhere for various reasons: Crookham, Hidlay, Ruth, Pinto, Feldman, etc. Somehow we've overcome this.

We are also doing a far better job of recruiting PA for quality depth.

 

[WEAREPSU_LI]

Speaking of Dan Monthley, I heard JB on Lionvision saying many times during yesterday's action that Dr. ? was in the Penn State corner. I never heard him mention Dan. So what's the deal...is Dan there or not and who is this other doctor?

he was there all day.

 

[GogglesPaizano]

Maybe he's wearing a heavier brace as a precaution and his corner knew he could beat those opponents with a restricted range of motion. Maybe he'll go to a lighter neoprene brace now that he's wrestling #1.

I seriously doubt the brace is the problem.

Much more likely instability, lack of strength, pain, and especially lack of confidence and trust. Here to hoping he make gains in the final two over night.

 

[railbirrd]

Honestly up by 10, 10 alive is fantastic day 1. Trip up by Kasak and Nagao but they're refocused.

The day really only is dampened by the reality Carter isn't near his best self and you hate it for him at this point of his career more than anything else.

I was a bit shook when Rutgers Brian Soldano got injured (mat 8 during first round). His reaction reminded me of Adam Taliaferro (when the arm came up). Turns out, Soldano was treated at the hospital and released yesterday. It was a concussion and spinal contusion, FYI. Prayers that all wrestlers finish this tournament healthy.

 

[El-Jefe]

Maybe he's wearing a heavier brace as a precaution and his corner knew he could beat those opponents with a restricted range of motion. Maybe he'll go to a lighter neoprene brace now that he's wrestling #1.

Definitely whatever he has trained with and used to compete in Day 1, he should change that for Day 2 with no additional training or opportunity to adjust.

 

[OzarkLion]

I was a bit shook when Rutgers Brian Soldano got injured (mat 8 during first round). His reaction reminded me of Adam Taliaferro (when the arm came up). Turns out, Soldano was treated at the hospital and released yesterday. It was a concussion and spinal contusion, FYI. Prayers that all wrestlers finish this tournament healthy.

Thanks for the update. I was wondering if anything had been released. He was down a long time and not moving his legs. Scary stuff!

 

[railbirrd]

It look as tho Carter was in control and not in danger of losing those 2 matches. Did what.he needed. If Lewis goes balls to the wall tomorrow it could be trouble but that is not the Lewis I have seen this year. Riding is going to be huge and stall calls could come into play late 3rd period. Carter couldn't have better people I'm his camp for this weekend.

Part of it was likely mat rust due to limited work over the last four weeks while allowing the injury to heal. And I have to think, no matter what he may say or not say publicly, the fact that he was injured has to prey on his mind to one extent or another. He certainly doesn't want a repetition of what happened a month ago and, if he's truly fully confident in a fully healthy knee, what useful purpose might all the extra leg protection serve?

Wondering if the memory of the All Star match in December preys on Mekhi's mind...in a negative or a positive way. Will it cause Mekhi to wrestle more aggressive or "the same?"

 

[District four]

Not much talk about Carr v Hamiti. Carr has very little offense and elite defense - this could be one of those 1-1 SV matches.

Hamiti is going to make the finals for the rematch with mm

 

[NittanyChris]

Hamiti is going to make the finals for the rematch with mm