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Bo Bassett

They can not complete in PIAA tournament series this year (and next, I believe). I think they are scheduling as many of the biggest tournaments as they can.…iron man,beast, Power Ade, etc..
 
I am sure the motivations are different from kid to kid, but we have kids like the Lees giving up their entire Senior season to get a head start on training for college at the NLWC. Not the same situation for Bo for sure, but is he losing that much being able to wrestle the entire regular season along with some select big tournaments with high quality competition? Plus, he has plenty of High School eligibility left to chase state titles in later years if he wants.
 
I am sure the motivations are different from kid to kid, but we have kids like the Lees giving up their entire Senior season to get a head start on training for college at the NLWC. Not the same situation for Bo for sure, but is he losing that much being able to wrestle the entire regular season along with some select big tournaments with high quality competition? Plus, he has plenty of High School eligibility left to chase state titles in later years if he wants.
Again I don't know the situation but I do know McCort is in Johnstown, right? He could stay at home and wrestle for any other of the area schools correct? Greater Johnstown, Westmont Hilltop, Forest Hills, Conemaugh Township, Richland, etc...? Or he could move to State College with M2 and wrestle for State College correct? Again I suppose the main goal is no longer the States, but now it's the big National tournaments
 
Times have definitely changed. 40 years ago HS wrestling was all about winning states and placing at Fargo in the Summers. Now, these kids are wrestling nationwide even during the season! For the best, winning the state tournament now is like winning Districts was for us. It's just not the ultimate goal any longer.
 
Again I don't know the situation but I do know McCort is in Johnstown, right? He could stay at home and wrestle for any other of the area schools correct? Greater Johnstown, Westmont Hilltop, Forest Hills, Conemaugh Township, Richland, etc...? Or he could move to State College with M2 and wrestle for State College correct? Again I suppose the main goal is no longer the States, but now it's the big National tournaments
He could but that's not realistic. His father is the head coach at McCort, after an ugly falling out with his home district (Forest Hills).

Search for the Erik Gibson thread -- details there.

He trains daily at his father's basement gym (The Compound club) and on weekends with M2 and Young Guns.

The big national tourneys aren't the goal either. The goal is senior-level international, and therefore a college + RTC that will train him for that. For now, whatever competition advances him fastest.
 
He could but that's not realistic. His father is the head coach at McCort, after an ugly falling out with his home district (Forest Hills).

Search for the Erik Gibson thread -- details there.

He trains daily at his father's basement gym (The Compound club) and on weekends with M2 and Young Guns.

The big national tourneys aren't the goal either. The goal is senior-level international, and therefore a college + RTC that will train him for that. For now, whatever competition advances him fastest.
And he’s already a previous UWW World Champion. State titles prolly dont mean quite as much anymore.
 
Times have definitely changed. 40 years ago HS wrestling was all about winning states and placing at Fargo in the Summers. Now, these kids are wrestling nationwide even during the season! For the best, winning the state tournament now is like winning Districts was for us. It's just not the ultimate goal any longer.
Also the Prep schools have become much more prominent, and seen as better training toward college.

Accordingly quite a few wrestlers have transferred to the Preps after PIAA medals but before winning states. Ed Ruth was the most obvious to us. Seth Janney made state finals at South Western, then that offseason transferred to Malvern.

Before them, Mike Evans transferred from Cumberland Valley to Blair, but that was a crappy situation.
 
Also the Prep schools have become much more prominent, and seen as better training toward college.

Accordingly quite a few wrestlers have transferred to the Preps after PIAA medals but before winning states. Ed Ruth was the most obvious to us. Seth Janney made state finals at South Western, then that offseason transferred to Malvern.

Before them, Mike Evans transferred from Cumberland Valley to Blair, but that was a crappy situation.
Impressive
 
I agree back in my day, PIAA states was everything to us.
Now realistically PIAA is way down there on wrestlers goals. Seniors every year arent wrestling them because they aren’t that big of a deal.

The top kids wrestle nationally ranked kids every weekend at these duals. If guys like, Forest and Bassett never wrestle one PIAA match that won’t hurt them a bit with recruiting, College wrestling or their future. Truth be told the PIAA is losing out on not having them in their event and watering it down. Somebody last year won a gold medal and knows if Gibson was there they probably wouldn’t have.
College coaches don’t nearly recruit PIAA like they used too. They want to see how these kids do against kids from across the country at Super 32, Powerade, Elite 8 duals, World Trials, Fargo, Iron man, Beast, Escape the Rock, and the list could go on and on.
 
I think your selling a PIAA state title or should i say multiple titles way short. According to your forrest, bassett and other are shoe in 4 timers if they wrestled state tourny
 
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PA is still one of the toughest state tournaments, but it doesn’t hold as much weight as the bigger national events. I am saying those guys don’t need PIAA to get recruited. Super 32 and the others would be good enough.
 
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Exactly his point…
Shouldnt “shoe-in’s” set tougher goals?
Spencer Lee was thought to be a shoe-in, and yet he did many tournaments and also attempted becoming a PIAA 4-timer. Bo acknowledged he looks up to Spencer in his interview. I don't think wrestling has evolved that much in the past seven years.

If McCort weren't banned from PIAA post-season and Bo's father wasn't McCort's coach, it's hard for me to reasonable think Bo wouldn't shoot for being a PIAA 4-timer with and under his Dad.

It's easy to rationalize not attempting an erstwhile achievement (or even devaluing it) when one sees no practical way to achieve it. But that is some real weak sauce.

Instead Bo has simply and maturely acknowledged circumstances beyond his control, and is intent on making the best of his situation moving forward. I see this as very wise and quite admirable.
 
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Spencer Lee was thought to be a shoe-in, and yet he did many tournaments and also attempted becoming a PIAA 4-timer. Bo acknowledged he looks up to Spencer in his interview. I don't think wrestling has evolved that much in the past seven years.

If McCort weren't banned from PIAA post-season and Bo's father wasn't McCort's coach, it's hard for me to reasonable think Bo wouldn't shoot for being a PIAA 4-timer with and under his Dad.

It's easy to rationalize not attempting an erstwhile achievement (or even devaluing it) when one sees no practical way to achieve it. But that is some real weak sauce.

Instead Bo has simply and maturely acknowledged circumstances beyond his control, and is intent on making the best of his situation moving forward. I see this as very wise and quite admirable.
It IS evolving though… more and more (shoe in’s) kids are foregoing their ENTIRE senior season to SET TOUGHER GOALS.

I dont pretend to know how the Bassetts feel about this situation but my first sentence cant be denied.
 
more and more (shoe in’s) kids are foregoing their ENTIRE senior season to SET TOUGHER GOALS
Don't think I denied. It's only that I believe the claim may be based on anecdotal evidence, recency bias, and/or confirmation bias.

Also, Bo's nowhere near being a senior, so I'm not really sure of the relevance. I guess we will see whether Bo wrestles for PIAA championship(s), including his senior year, or foregoes one or more once eligible for PIAA post season.

First, start with the definition of a shoe-in. I would say Gable Steveson was a shoe-in entering 11th grade. I personally don't believe any 8th, 9th, or 10th grader can be considered a shoe-in. There's simply too much variability in body maturity.

Still, I would l love to see a statistical trend graph over the last seven years of these "shoe-in foregoing seniors" from most HS traditioned wrestling states with the most prestigious HS wresting tournament states (say PA, NJ, CA) as a percentage of all "shoe-in" participants. Then I'd like to see others like Nick Lee (sorry @Hoosier Lion, IN is not PA), and younger or non-shoe-ins (like Joe and Matt Lee), who forewent a portion of their HS career. One might find the decision is as much rooted in family as it is in a desire to achieve greatness at the highest level.

A deep dive might not show a statistically significant trend, even as I recognize the role and efficacy that RTCs have afforded the opportunity for the kind of trend you assert.

How long has the Olympic RTC been taking HS seniors under the Elite Accelerator Program (since 2016 or 17)? I remember Snyder then Kervliet foregoing their senior HS seasons. But MD is not PA.

I haven't heard much of the Elite Accelerator Program since the year Aaron Brooks went his gray shirt year. I'd think the number per year would have to grow for more and more to forego. Has that number been increasing recently year to year?
 
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Point is NON of these kids are shoe ins to be a 4 time PIAA champ. True the landscape has changed as much to vendor / media promotion saying its better as it is great competition. Same way Flo saying and giving kids higher ranking in folk for free results. They’re promoting their product (free coverage). JMO
 
Point is NON of these kids are shoe ins to be a 4 time PIAA champ
Agreed. But whose point was that?

Likewise, none is a shoe-in to be accepted at an RTC for their senior year.

The new question on the table is whether increasingly elite wrestlers are foregoing their senior years (and any attempt to be a 4-timer) with greater challenges in mind.
 
Times have definitely changed. 40 years ago HS wrestling was all about winning states and placing at Fargo in the Summers. Now, these kids are wrestling nationwide even during the season! For the best, winning the state tournament now is like winning Districts was for us. It's just not the ultimate goal any longer.
I think you are off base a bit. 40 years ago Fargo was not hosting anything bigger than Bucky Maughan's Bison Open (if you don't know Bucky, read up.on PA wrestling history)
 
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Spencer Lee was thought to be a shoe-in, and yet he did many tournaments and also attempted becoming a PIAA 4-timer. Bo acknowledged he looks up to Spencer in his interview. I don't think wrestling has evolved that much in the past seven years.

If McCort weren't banned from PIAA post-season and Bo's father wasn't McCort's coach, it's hard for me to reasonable think Bo wouldn't shoot for being a PIAA 4-timer with and under his Dad.

It's easy to rationalize not attempting an erstwhile achievement (or even devaluing it) when one sees no practical way to achieve it. But that is some real weak sauce.

Instead Bo has simply and maturely acknowledged circumstances beyond his control, and is intent on making the best of his situation moving forward. I see this as very wise and quite admirable.
It is, but what I'm getting at, is...why doesn't his father simply either allow the boy a shot at piaa with another school, or take a different coaching job?
 
It is, but what I'm getting at, is...why doesn't his father simply either allow the boy a shot at piaa with another school, or take a different coaching job?
If they wanted the kid to wrestle in PIAAs this year he would have to transfer to a school that would be, under the table, agreeable to not making a stink about it next year.
 
It is, but what I'm getting at, is...why doesn't his father simply either allow the boy a shot at piaa with another school, or take a different coaching job?
If Bo and his Dad talked, which I would hope's the case, they may've mutually agreed it's in Bo's best interest to stay closer to his father when it comes to wrestling. It's already been pointed out he's a world champion.

Mr. Bassett getting a different job at a school where his son might become PIAA post-season eligible seems impractical to me.

I believe there's more valuable things in life than on the mat success at Bo's age, not the least being a positive and close father-son relationship. I also don't believe in changing long-term plans as a result of a 3rd-party decision. Maybe the Bassetts think similarly.
 
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If Bo and his Dad talked, which I would hope's the case, they may've mutually agreed it's in Bo's best interest to stay closer to his father when it comes to wrestling. It's already been pointed out he's a world champion.

Mr. Bassett getting a different job at a school where his son might become PIAA post-season eligible seems impractical to me.

I believe there's more valuable things in life than on the mat success at Bo's age, not the least being a positive and close father-son relationship. I also don't believe changing long-term plans as a result of a 3rd-party decision. Maybe the Bassetts think similarly.
I guess. Growing up and wrestling in Pennsylvania I suppose I'm still living in the past thinking every kid wants to win in Hershey. But I honestly still think this. There's a whole room full of other kids at M2 who want that PIAA gold, I personally know the 2 high school coaches of Fye and Bainey and those two boys badly want to win the PIAA championship. They both are not quite at Bo's level but they are both being recruited by D1 schools right now also.
 
Those two including their parents are very happy Forest, Gibson, Bassett, Herring and even Gill aren’t wrestling PIAA. Someone stated this before. There should be an asterisk by the results. Mcort would have a few champions and would of had some last year. The Gibson brothers and even Margo. He beat AAA Finalists Perry and the Hempfield kid.
 
Those two including their parents are very happy Forest, Gibson, Bassett, Herring and even Gill aren’t wrestling PIAA. Someone stated this before. There should be an asterisk by the results. Mcort would have a few champions and would of had some last year. The Gibson brothers and even Margo. He beat AAA Finalists Perry and the Hempfield kid.
Yes and no. In 4 years all of these kids will be wrestling college and the entire thing will be different. Some will grow out of the lighter weights, some will get better, some will regress. Looking at some of these kids I think a few of them may turn into 141 or 149 in that time.
 
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NLWC. The whole family moved here I think. I can see Perry and Little Gibson, both for going his senior year. Because PIAA doesn’t mean that much to the higher level wrestlers. I think Shapiro and Arnold did the same thing. Both skipped their last year
 
NLWC. The whole family moved here I think. I can see Perry and Little Gibson, both for going his senior year. Because PIAA doesn’t mean that much to the higher level wrestlers. I think Shapiro and Arnold did the same thing. Both skipped their last year

Arnold will be wrestling his Sr year, but in Iowa.
 
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I think you are off base a bit. 40 years ago Fargo was not hosting anything bigger than Bucky Maughan's Bison Open (if you don't know Bucky, read up.on PA wrestling history)
I think most here know what I meant. Junior Nationals (aka Fargo) was the deal in the summer. I know the tournament didn't settle in Fargo until sometime in the 90s but it's the same tournament.
 
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Those two including their parents are very happy Forest, Gibson, Bassett, Herring and even Gill aren’t wrestling PIAA. Someone stated this before. There should be an asterisk by the results. Mcort would have a few champions and would of had some last year. The Gibson brothers and even Margo. He beat AAA Finalists Perry and the Hempfield kid.
Why should any state champ be slurred with an asterisk?

Mason Gibson was a lock at this time of his freshman year.
 
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