KOT v. Starocci

[McScoreley]

There is a good frame of reference, O'Toole did beat Shane Griffith to win his first title. Keep in mind March Shane is the best Shane, not in season Shane. There were also rumors that O'Toole got nicked up sometime during that NCAA and I remember watching him and thinking he definitely wasn't his usual self. I think him vs Mekhi would be interesting (being that Mekhi is so hard to score on in neutral) but would take Keegan over Mekhi if I had to put money on it.

Carter I think is just different period and he has shown that. I would take Carter over Keegan, I don't think Keegan's bag of tricks would work on Carter in a folk match. I remember thinking Foca would present an admirable matchup for Carter and ... he didn't. Keegan if he was allowed to weigh in at 174 would beat anyone else at that weight.

 

[PSUwrestling]

KOT bumped up and beat Ruth last night at 174. I'm guessing this is a one-off bump, but I would kill to see this match. I think you could make an argument that both guys are "tough matchups" for the others. Is Starocci too solid and basic for KOT's scrambing? Would KOT be able to force positions that Starocci can't wrestle out of?

I think I'd pick it similar to how the Carr-KOT series went last year. Starocci too solid in the first 1-2 matches. KOT figures him out and gets him after a couple cracks.

Starocci’s scambles with Kemdog were stuff of legends. You can’t say KOT has some sort of IQ edge on someone who won his first two titles against Kemerer then Lewis. KOT is fine without needing to be better than a beast like Carter who trains everyday with the likes of AB and DT for gods sake.

 

[mcpat]

I think Carter goes to a place no one else is willing to go. The final against Lewis was epic.

 

[doubleboots]

He just dominated #3 so I'd think so.

 

[Petch]