With the big dance over, I just wanted to say how grateful I am for this board. Why am I writing this about an online forum of people I have never met? Because this forum gives me a platform to discuss something I am very passionate about with people who are equally or likely even more passionate about.
I joined a month ago and as many of you can probably tell, I couldn't stay away. I can't believe I've made 200 + posts here in that time. I've picked up on all the inside jokes from before (Mike Evans is not impressed, Nico is getting beat in the room, which mat is Carton/Pletcher on) and I saw a few more being born (every loss means your wrestler temporarily caught mono)
Went through some emotional matches with all of you including Nolf getting taken to the brink, Cassar overcoming everything to claim what is his, Bo/Nolf's last bow in Pittsburgh. Saw a clearly undersized true freshman go through and wrestle much bigger, stronger and more experienced wrestlers to grab his first AA in what some believe is the deepest weight class ever. Saw heartbreak of 2 of our former champs going down despite giving it all they have to fantastic opponents and our 184 pounder grinding out what is probably a more serious injury than any of us will ever know to try to help the team. I can't wait for many more.
I love Penn State wrestling and I love talking about it and believe me, it's so hard to find die hard fans like we have on this board in real life, even among all my Penn State buddies. General consensus is they don't follow it but just know that "we're really good at it" I always tell them, if you are missing out on this era of Penn State wrestling and you're a Penn State fan, you're really letting the best of life pass you by.
I find that a lot of people don't follow it because they are confused by scoring, their idea of wrestling is what's on WWE and that it's just not a sport you grow up watching on TV. It's really disappointing to hear that because I think the coaches and wrestlers on our team deserve all the support they have and then some for the work they put in, the class they show and how they try to innovate and grow the sport and inspire the next generational of young wrestlers.
That being said, the posters and moderators of this board have been nothing short of intelligent, helpful, welcoming, classy (to other teams fans as long as they show class back) and passionate. For that, I'm extremely grateful to have this board and with that, I just wanted to say:
Guys, thank you.
I joined a month ago and as many of you can probably tell, I couldn't stay away. I can't believe I've made 200 + posts here in that time. I've picked up on all the inside jokes from before (Mike Evans is not impressed, Nico is getting beat in the room, which mat is Carton/Pletcher on) and I saw a few more being born (every loss means your wrestler temporarily caught mono)
Went through some emotional matches with all of you including Nolf getting taken to the brink, Cassar overcoming everything to claim what is his, Bo/Nolf's last bow in Pittsburgh. Saw a clearly undersized true freshman go through and wrestle much bigger, stronger and more experienced wrestlers to grab his first AA in what some believe is the deepest weight class ever. Saw heartbreak of 2 of our former champs going down despite giving it all they have to fantastic opponents and our 184 pounder grinding out what is probably a more serious injury than any of us will ever know to try to help the team. I can't wait for many more.
I love Penn State wrestling and I love talking about it and believe me, it's so hard to find die hard fans like we have on this board in real life, even among all my Penn State buddies. General consensus is they don't follow it but just know that "we're really good at it" I always tell them, if you are missing out on this era of Penn State wrestling and you're a Penn State fan, you're really letting the best of life pass you by.
I find that a lot of people don't follow it because they are confused by scoring, their idea of wrestling is what's on WWE and that it's just not a sport you grow up watching on TV. It's really disappointing to hear that because I think the coaches and wrestlers on our team deserve all the support they have and then some for the work they put in, the class they show and how they try to innovate and grow the sport and inspire the next generational of young wrestlers.
That being said, the posters and moderators of this board have been nothing short of intelligent, helpful, welcoming, classy (to other teams fans as long as they show class back) and passionate. For that, I'm extremely grateful to have this board and with that, I just wanted to say:
Guys, thank you.
