Post Mortem of the Lehigh Match...

[androcles]

...after letting all the hype settle I have concluded that the match unfolded about as might have been expected, but only after taking into account the backups that came into play...
126 - Cruz heavily favored and delivered 6 team points for Lehigh...
133 - 3rd ranked Parker would have been the favorite vs Keener but became a heavy favorite vs Giannangeli, making his initial varsity dual meet apprearance. Dominic was wrestling well until he got taken to his back from neutral and pinned. Lehigh another 6 points...
141- a toss up match decided by Cortez's inability to escape Karam's known ability to ride with legs and Cortez's inability to secure a TD...
...after those first 3 bouts Penn State was down 15-0, reminiscent of the Okie State match last year...
...similarly at 149 and 157 Zain and Jason came through with a fall and TF and PS was climbing out of the hole of a now 15-11 deficit , knowing they needed to win 4 of the last 5 bouts to win the meet...
...at 165 a very game 149 #er Bo Pipher subbed for NCAA champion Joseph ... knowing that every team point would be crucial he kept his focus and surrendered only a 4 point major...
...Lehigh's two best upperweights -Kutler and Preisch - were next up at 174 and 184 ... Lehigh felt possibly one of them would win... Preisch was leading Hall last year 3-1 late in their open match until Hall converted a cement-mixer and got the fall... Kutler is a similar tree- trunk tough style of wrestler but this year it appeared they were going to play the waiting game ... keep the matches close and hope to get a late score to win ... the strategy did not work and they both lost 2-3 decisions... team score now 17-19 with 2 bouts left...
197- a second toss up ... Lehigh's RS freshman vs untested Cassar ... a mat wrestler vs a free style wrestler... when Lehigh chose down in the 3rd period he had to escape and get TDs to win... instead he got taken down twice and lost 8-3...
285- Nevills stepped up and won a very workmanlike 2-0 decision, highlighted by a smothering 3rd period rideout...
... a hard fought 23-19 win under some very trying and unexpected circumstances... well done!!!!...
..."All's well that ends well!...

 

[tomsc]

I read elsewhere that 197 was a toss-up. I never saw it that way. Yes, Cassar still has to prove himself as to just how good he really is, but he already has wins over 3 ranked guys--McCutcheon, Mattiace and Caywood (ranked previously). With those wins I didn't see it as a toss-up.

 

[RoarLions1]

I read elsewhere that 197 was a toss-up. I never saw it that way. Yes, Cassar still has to prove himself as to just how good he really is, but he already has wins over 3 ranked guys--McCutcheon, Mattiace and Caywood (ranked previously). With those wins I didn't see it as a toss-up.

Jake Jacobsen beat Garrett Hoffman, who beat Anthony Cassar. I believe that's where the "toss-up" thought leading into the bout came from, at least it did for me. Picked Cassar, as he continues to improve.

 

[androcles]

...Cassar is used to "flattening out"from his freestyle matches because he will be put back up in a matter of seconds if he isn't turned...
... he needs to push back, get his weight over his heels, get hand control and stand up for an escape...
... if he can't escape from the bottom he will not reach the top step on the platform later in the season...
...but thas jes my opinion...

 

[jack66]

...Cassar is used to "flattening out"from his freestyle matches because he will be put back up in a matter of seconds if he isn't turned...
... he needs to push back, get his weight over his heels, get hand control and stand up for an escape...
... if he can't escape from the bottom he will not reach the top step on the platform later in the season...
...but thas jes my opinion...

I can see Cael continuing to put him down in duals so he can work on improving a weakness. At NCAAs and Bigs I think he chooses neutral against guys that want to ride.

Sure, he'll be spotting guys a 1 point escape, but as he gains confidence I don't see many 197 #ers matching his skills on their feet.

 

[tikk10]

Cassar has very limited freestyle experience, that is not his background.

Aside from being the junior US Open champ and making the junior national team in 2015, yeah.

 

[tikk10]

I did not say he never wrestled freestyle. How many years did he wrestle freestyle hmm, to accumulate this vast experience?

I don't know, do you? But for the sake of argument let's say he started in 2014 (he showed up to Beat the Streets that year). If he did start in 2014, he sure managed to get the hang of it pretty quickly, achieving a level of success that kind of moots whether he was wrestling FS for 2 or 10 years prior. Further, his strengths lend themselves to FS more than folk and even now he looks like a FS wrestler than most of the 197s he faces.

 

[tikk10]

The point is people keep saying his previous background is freestyle, it is not. Did he do very well in a very short period of time, yes.

But do you actually know when he started wrestling FS or are you just making an assumption? Considering that he didn't even qualify for the NJ state tournament until his senior year I'm thinking he couldn't have been all that experienced in folk either, probably not going back to grade school like most D1 guys. Maybe he was, I don't know. In 2014 at Beat the Streets it sure didn't look like his first FS match to me though.

 

[garw]

He has shown an ability to get a takedown. Repeatedly. The Raptor is has added an element to this team and this board that was absent with Cutch. More importantly, Cael keeps running him out there so for the no -believers there is that!

 

[tikk10]

He never wrestled freestyle until after graduating from high school and committing to Penn State.

And before this season he hadn't wrestled a folk match since high school. His most recent experience, training and matches, is in FS. That was Androcles' point, that he's wrestling like a FS guy still.

 

[NittanyLion84]

And before this season he hadn't wrestled a folk match since high school. His most recent experience, training and matches, is in FS. That was Androcles' point, that he's wrestling like a FS guy still.

Okay got it, a guy who has wrestled 3 freestyle tournaments in his entire life, has a wrestling background that is very deep in freestyle experience. Just to conclude here, you criticized my post, while not knowing what you were talking about. I have nothing more to say on this topic, would be like banging my head against a wall.

 

[RoarLions1]

Meet in the middle...Cassar has slightly more experience than one of you believe, and slightly less than the other believes .

 

[jack66]

The summer after Caesar won the Jr US Open, they showed a video of him and Snyder training together ... I presume it was at the Olympic training center.

That experience alone had to be worth wrestling an extra 2 or 3 international tourneys.

 

[bwfight]

Meet in the middle...Cassar has slightly more experience than one of you believe, and slightly less than the other believes .

Yes but as the Raptor, Cassar has more freestyle experience than Tanner Hall had as Sasquatch. That's the difference.

 

[bwfight]

Yes but as the Raptor, Cassar has more freestyle experience than Tanner Hall had as Sasquatch. That's the difference.

And Jerry Mathers as the Beaver is beating them both in the room

 

[El-Jefe]

Yes but as the Raptor, Cassar has more freestyle experience than Tanner Hall had as Sasquatch. That's the difference.

Ditka would beat them both.

 

[Dogwelder]

Okay got it, a guy who has wrestled 3 freestyle tournaments in his entire life, has a wrestling background that is very deep in freestyle experience. ...

That there is a mike drop!

 

[Dogwelder]

Yes but as the Raptor, Cassar has more freestyle experience than Tanner Hall had as Sasquatch. That's the difference.

Google turns up video evidence of their freestyle skilz (slightly mis-titled video):

 

[horraybeer]

And before this season he hadn't wrestled a folk match since high school. His most recent experience, training and matches, is in FS. That was Androcles' point, that he's wrestling like a FS guy still.

Not true. He wrestled in college opens his rsfr. year was something like 14-8.