Penn St Wrestling Mt. Rushmore
- Thread starter mcpat
- Start date
Cael
DT
Bo
Man......this is tough!
Zain, Nolf, CStar, or Aaron (Carter and Aaron will slot in....bumping Bo when they win 4)
DT
Bo
Man......this is tough!
Zain, Nolf, CStar, or Aaron (Carter and Aaron will slot in....bumping Bo when they win 4)
Penn State needs a mountain range not just one mountain.
Nobody had put Zain on there? 3 straight undefeated seasons w/ a world gold.
I agree. You have Zain, Carter, and AB to consider and that is just this year. The future is bright.
I like reading all thoughts on this. But for me, it was who set up the success we have now.
I'm thinking how to incorporate Cael without including him as one of the 4 participants.
Carve Mount Nittany out to resemble Cael jawline. Inside the jaw incorporate Bo, Nolf, Taylor, and Zain.
Carve Mount Nittany out to resemble Cael jawline. Inside the jaw incorporate Bo, Nolf, Taylor, and Zain.
Cael
Ira
DT
The 4th for me hasn’t happened yet …
I’m choosing to ignore 1908 to 2009 …
Ira
DT
The 4th for me hasn’t happened yet …
I’m choosing to ignore 1908 to 2009 …
Winning one national championship from 1908 to 2009 and ten since makes that make sense.
Is this on Penn State Mt. Rushmore or throw off Penn State Mt. Rushmore?
I guess you mean Lincoln, although Washington was supposedly pretty good too. Teddy was into all the combat arts; wrestling, boxing, judo, jiu jitsu.
The real tragedy is Penn State did not put it together sooner. Pennsylvania has the most wrestling talent and most all Americans. Iowa and Okie state had been cherry picking Pennsylvania talent for years.
PSAC schools were producing 3 time national champs. There were years where 5+ Pennsylvania teams were in the top 20. I think at least 13+ pa schools produced D1 national champions. If PSU had picked up a couple key psac wrestlers they would have won years earlier.
PSAC schools were producing 3 time national champs. There were years where 5+ Pennsylvania teams were in the top 20. I think at least 13+ pa schools produced D1 national champions. If PSU had picked up a couple key psac wrestlers they would have won years earlier.
Benefactors notwithstanding and with folkstyle performance weighted heavily, I’ll probably have Cael, DT, Zain, and Starocci by the end of March. If Starocci Hodges his way through the rest of this season, it will be difficult to keep a two loss, 4x NC off of the mountain. He’s improved significantly this season, has seemingly widened the gap with Mekhi, chased Foca to 184, and has a Nolf-level separation from a field that includes 2 former champs… to say nothing of an opportunity at a fifth title if O’Toole is enough enticement for him to run it back. He won’t have the bonus rate of the top 5 guys (Taylor, Nolf, Zain, Ruth, and Bo), but he will have accomplished something to which none of them can lay claim.
If/when Nolf can solve his Dake problem, he’s a likely World/Olympic medalist and should supplant Starocci in the top 4. Ditto for Brooks, who, at 23 years old, might have the steeper hill to climb to overcome in Taylor, but once he does, is a likely 4x NCAA Champ, World/Olympic medalist in short order and would overtake Starocci on that mountain. Brooks’ freestyle game is just further along than Starocci’s at this stage. (The lack of Hodges will work against Brooks though.) Projection yes, but Dake is soon to be 33 and Taylor is already there. The future is coming.
When all is said and done and this coaching nucleus has spent decades together, the answer will be Cael, Cody, Casey and Varner. What they have already built and maintained between PSU Wrestling and the NLWC is truly remarkable. It will live on as one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of sport well into the future.
If/when Nolf can solve his Dake problem, he’s a likely World/Olympic medalist and should supplant Starocci in the top 4. Ditto for Brooks, who, at 23 years old, might have the steeper hill to climb to overcome in Taylor, but once he does, is a likely 4x NCAA Champ, World/Olympic medalist in short order and would overtake Starocci on that mountain. Brooks’ freestyle game is just further along than Starocci’s at this stage. (The lack of Hodges will work against Brooks though.) Projection yes, but Dake is soon to be 33 and Taylor is already there. The future is coming.
When all is said and done and this coaching nucleus has spent decades together, the answer will be Cael, Cody, Casey and Varner. What they have already built and maintained between PSU Wrestling and the NLWC is truly remarkable. It will live on as one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of sport well into the future.
They better leave room for these 2 guys!!!
..and all the others that are coming after them. Four choices just won't cut it. Maybe a dozen would suffice, for now. Lol.They better leave room for these 2 guys!!!
Good point. As a long term ST holder, we were always proud of our team and admired the considerable skills of our guys. REC Hall certainly was not always filled, but, we had many knowledgeable fans. The place could get real loud at the right times (not really terribly different than today’s REC Hall except for the lack of inane “we are” cheers by pre-teens. HOW it came to be that we didn’t win a single for 50+ years is a mystery. When someone writes the definitive history of PSU wrestling, perhaps they can offer rational explanations. As for myself, I subscribe to the following:
1. Teens who are elite athletes gravitate to known and established winners.
2. Just a few schools with proven success (Iowa, Okie St, maybe Okla & Cyclones) have both alumni and AD’s that legitimately SUPPORT wrestling. All the others have AD’s that feel that wrestling is just one of many “minor” sports.
3. Only when a generational mega star ( like Cael) appears and lights all the low lying forest brush …. does a new superpower emerge. The native land must have the raw combustibles. Pennsylvania qualifies.
I suppose all this is utterly obvious on this frigid Sunday morning. Just the same, I’ll always wonder why an utterly dominate wrestling state with serious numbers of passionate fans did not find a way to crank it up for 50+ years.
One reason is Penn State, in the early days, back when Oklahoma State was racking up all those titles, had a bad habit of not sending the entire team to nationals, they would only send a small handful of guys who won league titles.
HVI Mount Rushmore
ElJefe
Dicemen99
Spyker
21Guns
As soon as the carving was done there was a great earthquake and the mountain split in two.
ElJefe
Dicemen99
Spyker
21Guns
As soon as the carving was done there was a great earthquake and the mountain split in two.
Regarding the PSAC schools: some of their national champs likely would've gone to PSU had they taken academics more seriously in high school.
I'm specifically referring to Schalles and Angle, who both admitted as much. They're probably not the only ones.
PSU mount Rushmore? I can't narrow down my picks, but one thing is for certain, you had better find a very wide mountain.
In 1987 Pennsylvania had 5 schools in the top 10 at nationals.
Penn State was 3rd.
Bloomsburg 5th. Bonomo won his 3rd title
Clarion was 6th
Edinboro was 8th
Lehigh was 10th
Note Pitt Johnstown,Carlton Hasselrig won one of his 3 titles that year also.
My older brother wrestled some for Lehigh in the mid-late 60s. Didn't start much. He was at 123, Caruso's weight. He couldn't go 130 since Lehigh had 2x finalist Joe Peritore there. Occasionally my brother would start in Mike's place - didn't want to make weight or something. Hey, my brother retired undefeated! I think he only wrestled 3 bouts.
PA's big year was 1988. I was at PIAA states that year (like every other year) and the finals ran almost concurrently with the Nationals. After most finals matches the announcer would tell of the latest PA wrestler's achievement at nationals.
118 Jack Cuvo East Stroudsburg 1st
126 Jim Martin Penn State 1st
142 Pat Santoro Pitt 1st
Sean O'Day Edinboro 2nd
150 Scott Turner North Carolina State 1st
158 Rob Koll North Carolina 1st
275 Carlton Hasselrig Pitt-Johnstown 1st
Yes, the hits just kept coming.
Last edited:
