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Shane Grifith?

As of today from what I am hearing if Suriano wrestles again in college there is a good chance it will be where his college career started.

Uh guys - bopper was who broke the Suriano the Rutgers news. WAY WAY ahead of time. It seemed impossible at the time also. He didn't say it would happen only it COULD and that assumes he wants to wrestle in college again.
 
I think beating Iowa is possible next year with Howard at 125, SVN at 149, the Claw or Boone at 157 and Joe Lee at 165. Do I expect a whole bunch of points out of them? Perhaps not. But if you get a low-AA performance out of someone, that's what, 7-8 points? If we can get Howard and SVN at 7th, and the Claw/Boone and Joe Lee make the quarters, that's significant improvement in production.

The other area we need to improve on is racking up bonus points in the round of 32 and 16. Kerkvliet actually killed it here; his 7th place 11pt result was worth 2.5 more points than Kaleb Young's 7th at 8.5pts. That adds up. Similarly, a guy like ADS was huge for Iowa, with 19.5 points for the team with his 3rd place finish, compared to Tariq Wilson's 3rd place at 141 with 17. Myles Amine was 3rd as well, and only scored 14.5. Hell, Massa was 5th and scored 17 points.
 
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None. And he's an absolute stud.

Beard is soooo freakin close to becoming a National Champion.

Wrestling Internet talks all the time about 'development'... look at this dude's ascension arc! I personally very much enjoy watching Cael coach Beard. With dudes like Nolf & Zain, camera pans in on Cael in the corner and all we get is stoic silent appreciation b/c 'that's what ___ does.' But pan in on Cael coaching Beard or Rasheed, and he's on his feet and vocal. Freakin Cael sees how close Beard is!

Nick Lee is a totally different body type, but had super similar HS results / prospect creds, and he reached the podium top in his 4th year (I know he hit the lineup in his TRFR yr in 2018 szn, but not sure when he'd actually arrived--was it 2017szn? So, maybe 5th year?). Beard just finished his 3rd year in Lorenzo, on the 7th step of the podium. We've seen his struggles, but we've also seen him overcome them! He's got sick skills, in multiple positions, and he's got lots of eligibility left.

Man, I hope PSU fans stick with this kid, b/c I'm betting he is going to create a lotttt of extremely joyful performances for fans and will leave his college career with at least one National Championship.
 
I don't think anyone wants us to replace Beard. I think the problem is Brooks potentially wanting to do a Myles Amine in 2024, his last year of eligibility, and get up to a weight where he can't get down to 184 in order to go 86kg. Or, he could take an ORS.
 
Beard is soooo freakin close to becoming a National Champion.

Wrestling Internet talks all the time about 'development'... look at this dude's ascension arc! I personally very much enjoy watching Cael coach Beard. With dudes like Nolf & Zain, camera pans in on Cael in the corner and all we get is stoic silent appreciation b/c 'that's what ___ does.' But pan in on Cael coaching Beard or Rasheed, and he's on his feet and vocal. Freakin Cael sees how close Beard is!

Nick Lee is a totally different body type, but had super similar HS results / prospect creds, and he reached the podium top in his 4th year (I know he hit the lineup in his TRFR yr in 2018 szn, but not sure when he'd actually arrived--was it 2017szn? So, maybe 5th year?). Beard just finished his 3rd year in Lorenzo, on the 7th step of the podium. We've seen his struggles, but we've also seen him overcome them! He's got sick skills, in multiple positions, and he's got lots of eligibility left.

Man, I hope PSU fans stick with this kid, b/c I'm betting he is going to create a lotttt of extremely joyful performances for fans and will leave his college career with at least one National Championship.

I agree with all of this.

Beard is on a trajectory to be that Nick Lee/RBY path in so many ways. Are there areas of improvement necessary? Absolutely. Are there signs that it's not far off? Absolutely. But he more than proved he can go with the big dogs at the weight. His match with Amine was so controlled, both of them really. At NCAA, he kind of Now it is a matter of getting better little by little.
 
Seems like the former members of the team really liked Nick and never have said a bad thing about him. I believe Cenzo raved about his grip strength being second to none in the prior Baschmania podcast with MrFastTwitch and AnttheChamp. It was a very "interesting" interview with MrFastTwitch and funny and somewhat uncomfortable for me listening at many times. But it is very cool to see how tight the fraternity of wrestlers really is across all of the schools. Go listen (or sign up to Rokfin and listen). The content is well worth it in my opinion with NLWC, Baschmania and Willie alone. Find out where MrFastTwitch Dad almost holds a world record in human anatomy (and son is close behind) o_O
I think this is REALLY important. If there was no bad relationship severing between Nick and the staff, then all of the message board "How can they possibly take this guy back?" doesn't matter.

I don't think he's coming back to college, and I don't know if he would to PSU. But I don't necessarily think leaving PSU the first time has this permanent stigma attached that you can never be invited back. It's why you try to leave jobs on good terms and relationships in general on good terms.
 
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Personally, I would rather beat IOWA without Suriano and Griffith.
I would like beating the Hawks without Suriano and Griffith. However, I would love face stomping the Hawks with Griffith and Suriano!

No idea if the Suriano to PSU has legs or not, but to the question of whether or not Cael would take the kid back. Cael likes the kid, so I highly doubt he won't be allowed back.
 
I think this is REALLY important. If there was no bad relationship severing between Nick and the staff, then all of the message board "How can they possibly take this guy back?" doesn't matter.

I don't think he's coming back to college, and I don't know if he would to PSU. But I don't necessarily think leaving PSU the first time has this permanent stigma attached that you can never be invited back. It's why you try to leave jobs on good terms and relationships in general on good terms.
Suriano did not leave PSU on good terms.

Lest we forget the accusations of medical malpractice surrounding his broken ankle.
 
My only hesitation... and this feels odd to say, would be how Gilman feels about it all. It’s one thing to have good friends be forced to compete for international spots like we have in the room. It’s a whole other thing to bring in another guy at 57 that I have a very hard time seeing being friends with Gilman. Maybe the years play out okay. Gilman with the spot now and Nick going the MMA route in the near future. But you can’t disregard Gilman in this. A guy who has fit into the NLWC family seamlessly, and looks to be a major positive for the team in all aspects going forward.
 
Not implying anything is going to happen but I see some people are concerned about egos and weights and all that hoorah .... I think if an opportunity comes to really improve our lineup next year, the bald guy in Lorenzo will be able to figure out the rest.
 
My only hesitation... and this feels odd to say, would be how Gilman feels about it all. It’s one thing to have good friends be forced to compete for international spots like we have in the room. It’s a whole other thing to bring in another guy at 57 that I have a very hard time seeing being friends with Gilman. Maybe the years play out okay. Gilman with the spot now and Nick going the MMA route in the near future. But you can’t disregard Gilman in this. A guy who has fit into the NLWC family seamlessly, and looks to be a major positive for the team in all aspects going forward.
We had 4 guys competing at 86 KGs.
 
Personally, I would rather beat IOWA without Suriano and Griffith.
That's a nice idea, but objectively is unlikely to happen in 2021/22 if Iowa returns their entire line-up from 2020/21 and PSU doesn't find answers at 157 and 165 (in particular). If Joe Lee is one of those answers, great, but Iowa scored 129 points at NCAAs with next to nothing from Marinelli. So PSU needs to find another 30 or so team points to beat Iowa's stacked line-up in 2021/22. That's not an easy task.
 
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That's a nice idea, but objectively is unlikely to happen in 2021/22 if Iowa returns their entire line-up from 2020/21 and PSU doesn't find answers at 157 and 165 (in particular). If Joe Lee is one of those answers, great, but Iowa scored 129 points at NCAAs with next to nothing from Marinelli. So PSU needs to find another 30 or so team points to beat Iowa's stacked line-up in 2021/22. That's not an easy task.
Penn State has finished higher than Iowa in 8 of the last 10 seasons wrestled. Marinelli hasn't finished higher than 6th in 3 tries. I like those numbers.
 
I trust the staff but wouldn’t want to lose a career of Howard for one season of Suriano.
Howard could redshirt, plus at the least the board had concerns with a potential shoulder injury sustained in his last match at NCAA's (maybe there is something too it). Obviously Cael wants to win and he is going to look for ways to find 30 points via improved bonus points, existing roster or transfers if necessary.

If your Suriano having just been medically DQed from the Olympic trials, what is one big thing you can in wrestling in the next year? Keep Spencer Lee from winning 4 NCAA championships. You know Spencer is wrestling this year to help him get his goal of 2 team titles. Suriano would get to practice with GIlman, get some insight into Lee from Gilman (he helped Carter with Kem).

As far as Gilman and Suriano co-existing, Gilman's issue at Iowa was Brands focused on Spencer Lee. I think Cael has shown he can manage multiple elite wrestlers in the same weight class.
 
That would certainly be very logical. There, somewhat suspect, but yeah....

Still--might it instead be possible that Nick S is ready to make his MMA move, and that Bo's new gym may be looking for some resident athletes?
So what you're saying is Penn State has 2 slush funds now. One for MMA prospects. Damn, we were a few years too late, we could have gotten Pico then.
 
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If he visits, I’m sure it could also depend on if/when the rumored weight slide takes place. It would make a difference if you ask him for 1 more year at 65, then he, Starocci, and Brooks move up versus if you are telling him he’s a 65 for three years here. He might like the program enough for one more year of hard cuts if it’s really just a wrestling decision.
Maybe the rumored weight slide will happen at the same time the rumored bump up to 149 by Nick Lee 😉
 
Cael, nick, Robbie, gilman....etc etc etc

The only thing that matters is bob suriano. Full stop.

Even then he does these trial balloons like a KGB agent to see the lay of the land and doesn't mean anything tangible.

Do people already forget the suriano saga....dig that thread up...OMG

#mindblown
I’d give this comment 10 likes if I could
 
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That would certainly be very logical. There, somewhat suspect, but yeah....

Still--might it instead be possible that Nick S is ready to make his MMA move, and that Bo's new gym may be looking for some resident athletes?
Maybe nick could take the next step in world dominance and start a production company in SC. He could put on shows starring himself at at the BWI/RTC casino.

#allmakessensetome
 
Penn State has finished higher than Iowa in 8 of the last 10 seasons wrestled. Marinelli hasn't finished higher than 6th in 3 tries. I like those numbers.
Those numbers over the last 10 seasons are nice. But those historical data didn't apply in 2020/21 and are unlikely to apply in 2021/22 unless PSU finds another 30 points or so.
 
Those numbers over the last 10 seasons are nice. But those historical data didn't apply in 2020/21 and are unlikely to apply in 2021/22 unless PSU finds another 30 points or so.
Let Cael work on the 30 points thing. Sit back and enjoy the show. As proven this year, even when we don't win, Cael is going to spoil the fans.
 
Let Cael work on the 30 points thing. Sit back and enjoy the show. As proven this year, even when we don't win, Cael is going to spoil the fans.
Thanks for the advice, but I'm merely pointing out a couple facts. Facts that are unrelated to what happened in 2011 thru 2019.

And as someone noted previously, this here is a discussion board.
 
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Thanks for the advice, but I'm merely pointing out a couple facts. Facts that are unrelated to what happened in 2011 thru 2019.

And as someone noted previously, this here is a discussion board.
I wasn't saying you were wrong in your analysis or that you were being negative. Apologize if you took it that way. For me, I try to always just take a sometimes overly optimistic approach with PSU wrestling. I follow way too many other sports teams where I overly try to think like the Coach or GM as a fan (including Penn State football) Penn State Wrestling is the one I try not to do it on (and I'm not saying message board discussions is doing that either)

If you see some of my previous posts, I very much analyze the difference between Iowa and PSU as of right now and what we need to do to close the gap:

1. More bonus from our champions (this will be huge, Iowa outbonused us by 10 this year, Cael cannot be happy about that)
2. Beard/Kerkvliet closes the gap on their Iowa counterparts
3. Fill the 125/149/157/165 holes (true freshman, transfers, insane improvement ... who knows! It'll be fun to watch)
 
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Those numbers over the last 10 seasons are nice. But those historical data didn't apply in 2020/21 and are unlikely to apply in 2021/22 unless PSU finds another 30 points or so.
4 champs is about as perfect as you can do at those weights with the exception of additional bonus points. Without taking into consideration that those champs will probably up their bonus games next year, let's just simplify the view of the other 6 weights. Your guess is we need to average 5 additional points in each of those weights. That doesn't sound outlandish.
 
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Also, don’t underestimate the impact of the Ivy League wrestlers participating next year.
 
I don’t think Cornell coming back next year hurts PSU much.

Unless Yianni and Nick Lee both go 149 or 141, I don’t see much “conflict” between the two teams at NCAAs. I guess Darmstadt could beat Beard, and Vito could beat Howard, but that’s about it on the front side.
 
I don’t think Cornell coming back next year hurts PSU much.

Unless Yianni and Nick Lee both go 149 or 141, I don’t see much “conflict” between the two teams at NCAAs. I guess Darmstadt could beat Beard, and Vito could beat Howard, but that’s about it on the front side.
Vito at 125
??? at 133 (they could put Vito here and Greg D at 125)
Saunders at 141
Yianni at 149
Yapoujian at 157
Ramirez at 165
Foca at 174
Loew at 184 (or Darmstadt/Cardenas wrestleoff loser ... not sure either can make 184)
Darmstadt/Cardenas at 197
Fernandes at Heavy
 
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