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U20 and U23 Trials Thread

4 returning champs + Kerkvleit is 5 top-2 guys. MAJOR upgrades at 165 and 149 w/ Facundo and SVN and BB wrestling at his best weight is markedly better than any other lineup in the country. I don't even know who the #2 team is at this point. Iowa lost a TON, OSU will be a little better but still not in PSU's league and OklaSt is still rebuilding IMO. Is ASU #2?

Love the enthusiasm, but we only have 3 returning champions. Nick Lee graduated.
 
I’d still like to see more from Facundo in terms of setups. His reattacks agaisnt Thomsen were crisp, but his own offense was a lot of straight on shots where he got extended. Now, he was able to pull them in and finish against Thomsen, but not sure that’ll be the case against elite competition. It’s also not really ideally for your shoulders long term.
I think the biggest question about Facundo is how well the free style success translates to folk. He pretty clearly is better in free and has admitted that he much prefers free style. As noted, one of the questions is how well he can set-up and establish his own offense in folk.
 
Ah Sorry, temporary insanity on my part
Max Dean won’t make the finals again next year and def won’t win again if the crazy cowboy is back. RBY and Brooks are locks to be back, as is probably Carter S. It’s gonna be extremely tough for anyone to knock off Penn State once again next year… no matter what happens.
 
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Max Dean won’t make the finals again next year and def won’t win again if the crazy cowboy is back. RBY and Brooks are locks to be back, as is probably Carter S. It’s gonna be extremely tough for anyone to knock off Penn State once again next year… no matter what happens.
Now how do you know this. Based on, what, exactly?
 
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Basically I think our guys fared well. Bartlett is coming but it takes more time. Haines is ready and looking like Howard will be ok.
 
Max Dean won’t make the finals again next year and def won’t win again if the crazy cowboy is back. RBY and Brooks are locks to be back, as is probably Carter S. It’s gonna be extremely tough for anyone to knock off Penn State once again next year… no matter what happens.
Max won't make the finals again next year? I suppose the two previous finals appearances were both lucky flukes. As far as beating the crazy Cowboy. If I was wagering I am placing my bet on the guy who wrestles for the guys who always seem to have their guys better prepared. Just saying.

Your post causes me to ponder the possibility BFosr1 is just another way to say Greg Martin.
 
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lol how come I cant hear anything??
 
Bartlett has all of the physical tools. He can go with anyone currently at 141. We saw him lose to #9 and beat #4.

Can he get out of his own head and just wrestle? That's the thing.

One thing I noticed about his match with Saunders: when he starts REALLY handfighting, he starts scoring. He doesn't really shoot when he's not in contact with his opponent, ever. He's just wasting time. Even on the last TD, there was some space between them but Saunders had a hand on his head. He changed levels under that and got right in. He's not a Nate Jackson type dude with Go Go Gadget arms who can reach out and snag your leg from 6 feet away.
 
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Bartlett has all of the physical tools. He can go with anyone currently at 141. We saw him lose to #9 and beat #4.

Can he get out of his own head and just wrestle? That's the thing.

One thing I noticed about his match with Saunders: when he starts REALLY handfighting, he starts scoring. He doesn't really shoot when he's not in contact with his opponent, ever. He's just wasting time. Even on the last TD, there was some space between them but Saunders had a hand on his head. He changed levels under that and got right in. He's not a Nate Jackson type dude with Go Go Gadget arms who can reach out and snag your leg from 6 feet away.
Speaking of Go Go Gadget arms - remember Ed Ruth. Dude would grab a leg and it was his forever.

Sigh
 
Speaking of Go Go Gadget arms - remember Ed Ruth. Dude would grab a leg and it was his forever.

Sigh
Actually talked with EZ ED a couple minutes Sat.
He had quite a few guys there, Edmond got flattened right in front of us lol.

Tank was there with a couple guys including Figgy.
 
One encouraging thing to take away from his match from D'Emilio I guess is Beau could move him around pretty easily ... 5 pushouts in a half. As @CSauertiegPSU said before, an inability to move someone around can definitely be discouraging. He'll be able to do that to 141s vs 149s. Also as he said, Beau should be locked in a room and forced to watch his 2nd half of his match against Saunders over and over and over again.
 
Oh also, I didn't even know but his first wrestleback opponent was the Southern Conference Champ and NQ Shannon Hanna from Campbell. So not a world beater but a solid opponent overall. Based on the score (8-1 Beau) looked pretty one sided. 3 good wins in wrestlebacks (Hanna, Carlson, L to Lovett then Saunders)
 
Oh also, I didn't even know but his first wrestleback opponent was the Southern Conference Champ and NQ Shannon Hanna from Campbell. So not a world beater but a solid opponent overall. Based on the score (8-1 Beau) looked pretty one sided. 3 good wins in wrestlebacks (Hanna, Carlson, L to Lovett then Saunders)
Good perspective. I feel a little better, but still concerned.
 
Good perspective. I feel a little better, but still concerned.
There are definitely plenty of positives to take away for Beau Bartlett from this weekend as well. He's not going to get overwhelmed physically at 141 and 65KG but that also doesn't mean he's going to come in dominating everyone either. The D'Emilio match particularly showed he won't be bullied physically anymore (he was the bullier if anything) but it also showed that alone doesn't translate to wins (D'Emilio had the only takedown and also the 4 point move, though it wouldn't be points in folk)

The key thing is he still has plenty to work on (mentally) even at 141 next year. Still inconsistent and hesitant at times. Trust in Cael!
 
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So 125, 149 and HWT are gonna be question marks going into the season because of injuries. And the jury is still out on 141. Correct?
 
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So 125, 149 and HWT are gonna be question marks going into the season because of injuries. And the jury is still out on 141. Correct?
125 - If there's no cartilage damage - Howard will be healed in less than 2 months.

141 - Jury out

149/285 - Pretty sure they took the time off to get healthy. It's going to be a case of how good they are/not get injured again.
 
So 125, 149 and HWT are gonna be question marks going into the season because of injuries. And the jury is still out on 141. Correct?

Are our 149 and HWT wrestlers injured?

Because I follow both SVN and GK on social media and there are no indicators that either one of them are seriously injured. Or even injured at all, in the case of the former.
 
I'd say we are fine at 141, he's got the goods to place. He should score points either way..
 
Are our 149 and HWT wrestlers injured?

Because I follow both SVN and GK on social media and there are no indicators that either one of them are seriously injured. Or even injured at all, in the case of the former.
It is probably speculation as last year in the extremely limited time we got to see SVN he had a Spencer/Bull sized knee brace on and as we all know Kerk got hurt at nationals which was the reason he forfeited the 3rd place bout. Again, on socials both appear to be fine.
 
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I don't think our guys are ever going to broadcast injuries on social media. Similarly, nobody is ever going to be 100% by nationals, it's about being as close as possible. For example, RBY revealed he had some very bad injuries last year. Hand wrapped, ankle hurt and he didn't tape his shoulder for a fashion statement. Nick tweaked his knee against Willits first match and wore a sleeve over it the rest of the season (I checked previous years, he never did before). Cael has his reasons for holding guys out obviously. There is a reason Nico and Zain basically went AWOL in their redshirt year in 2015.

Just know we are blessed to have the best trainer out there in Dan Monthley. Talking to someone who was on the team (who tells me Cael has his reasons for holding guys out) ... we all hype up Dan but we don't even know just how amazing he is at his job. Perhaps the most important part of the dynasty as this guy calls him.
 
125 - If there's no cartilage damage - Howard will be healed in less than 2 months.

141 - Jury out

149/285 - Pretty sure they took the time off to get healthy. It's going to be a case of how good they are/not get injured again.

125 - Howard is getting it tweaked almost every time out. If I were a betting man I would go with Steen by the end of the season.

141 - BB is going to have a very solid, at least AA year. My unrealistic expectations for him; was another freshman hammer dominating out of the gate, my bad. He will be fine, just pump the brakes a bit.
 
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125 - Howard is getting it at least tweaked almost every time out. If I were a betting man I would go with Steen by the end of the season.

141 - BB is going to have a very solid, at least AA year. My unrealistic expectations for him; was another freshman hammer dominating out of the gate, my bad. He will be fine, just pump the brakes a bit.
Unfortunately I have to agree regarding Howard, major question mark as to whether he can last an entire season.

Bartlett is the victim of PSU success, so many guys hit the ground running at such a high level that competing for AA as a sophomore is considered a letdown.
 
My only wish is they can wrestle somewhat healthy this year...
DGK man do I want to see him with a full healthy season..
Same with Howard.. The woulda shoulda coulda's in the future sucks.
 
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Max won't make the finals again next year? I suppose the two previous finals appearances were both lucky flukes. As far as beating the crazy Cowboy. If I was wagering I am placing my bet on the guy who wrestles for the guys who always seem to have their guys better prepared. Just saying.

Your post causes me to ponder the possibility BFosr1 is just another way to say Greg Martin.
Lol just my opinion guys. Again IMO… I thought from watching the tournament Max was very fortunate to make it this year, even before winning it. But I obviously have no clue what happens in the future, and I am wrong a lot.

I should also, however, know better than to post something like that which obviously wouldn’t be received well on here, so that’s my bad. That’s a post for the Mat forum where it’s all fans’ opinion etc… so my bad.
 
Lol just my opinion guys. I obviously have no clue and am wrong a lot. I should know better that post wouldn’t be received well on here, so that’s my bad. That’s a post for the Mat forum where it’s all fans’ opinion etc… so my bad.
I have no problem with you posting that opinion of this site. I just think based upon history and facts available to aide in forming opinions, it is a silly opinion.
 
I have no problem with you posting that opinion of this site. I just think based upon history and facts available to aide in forming opinions, it is a silly opinion.
To be fair, Max was the beneficiary of about every call that was controversial. I think @BFosr1 makes a fair point. I don't agree with it, but he could just as easily finish 3-5th as win it again. There are 4-5 guys that are all within a score of each other at that weight.
That said, I pick max to be a finalist again in Tulsa.
 
Max isn't a lock to return to the finals sure ... not nearly on the level of our other 3 returning champs but other than Ferrari, who should be ranked ahead of him? He's beaten Warner twice now including at Carver. On the flip side, I'd be shocked if Kerk isn't a finalist next year, possibly champ.

What we lose in Lee (23 points) IMO can be made up by our young pups across multiple weight classes.

We got
0.5 from 125
1 from 149
2 from 157
0 from 165
 
To be fair, Max was the beneficiary of about every call that was controversial. I think @BFosr1 makes a fair point. I don't agree with it, but he could just as easily finish 3-5th as win it again. There are 4-5 guys that are all within a score of each other at that weight.
That said, I pick max to be a finalist again in Tulsa.
I said I have no problem with him sharing his opinions here. Favorable calls or not, his previous two NCAA tournaments he has been a finalist and the guys training inside Lorenzo don't spend a whole lot of time regressing. So the claim that Dean won't make the finals to me reads as more a fan's hopeful whine versus an informed opinion.
 
I also saw he wrote "probably" Carter Starocci. I know there are really no locks in NCAA (it's a wild tournament) but if you want to call RBY, Brooks locks to return, I'd say you need to put Starocci in that category. Who's at that weight that can challenge him besides Mekhi?

He handily beat Labriola and Hidlay (did not expect him to nearly major Hidlay) and Hidlay is gone anyways (as is Kemerer) Also, this is also a guy who corrected Ray Flores who sasid he's getting better every year with "every second"
 
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