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WIN Magazine ranks Iowa preseason #1

Excuse me while I whip this out:
ian-anderson-performing-with-jethro-tull-in-the-bbc-television-studio-picture-id488957405
 
Surprised it hasn't come up yet, but there is the Carver advantage to consider. How many of our guys have yet to wrestle a dual there? Or a dual that will be as hyped as this one?

Although such a phenomenon is normally contrary to my reasoning, I've seen unexpected results there enough times to consider it a thing. And then there are still questions about who is even taking the mat. I'm calling it a draw until we know more about who will be competing.

Some good ribbing and banter in this thread, though. ;)
 
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Surprised it hasn't come up yet, but there is the Carver advantage to consider. How many of our guys have yet to wrestle a dual there? Or a dual that will be as hyped as this one?

Although such a phenomenon is normally contrary to my reasoning, I've seen unexpected results there enough times to consider it a thing. And then there are still questions about who is even taking the mat. I'm calling it a draw until we know more about who will be competing.

Some good ribbing and banter in this thread, though. ;)
thinking only Joseph and Hall have wrestled there
 
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Surprised it hasn't come up yet, but there is the Carver advantage to consider. How many of our guys have yet to wrestle a dual there? Or a dual that will be as hyped as this one?

Although such a phenomenon is normally contrary to my reasoning, I've seen unexpected results there enough times to consider it a thing. And then there are still questions about who is even taking the mat. I'm calling it a draw until we know more about who will be competing.

Some good ribbing and banter in this thread, though. ;)

When BIGs were in CHA in 2016 a number of our wrestlers were there for the first time. Didn't keep us from handily winning BIGs that year, to the chagrin of a LOT of Iowa fans. I think a bit of the mystique of CHA has worn off recently. Over the last six seasons they have lost to us twice, Minnesota, Missouri, NC State, and Michigan.
 
When BIGs were in CHA in 2016 a number of our wrestlers were there for the first time. Didn't keep us from handily winning BIGs that year, to the chagrin of a LOT of Iowa fans. I think a bit of the mystique of CHA has worn off recently. Over the last six seasons they have lost to us twice, Minnesota, Missouri, NC State, and Michigan.
Here is Bo Nickal at Carver:



I love the comment below - “the crowd sounded like they just saw someone get beheaded”
 
Iowa fans seem to think Berge has no chance v Young. Berge at 157 will be a far different story. Also Wrestlestat has Shakur in a dec over Cash. That match is almost certainly bonus points for PSU.

Totally agree. I think given his pedigre and a redshirt year, Berge underperformed vs very high expectations. In his defense he wrestled at a weight he hasn't seen since earlier in highschool. I think the cut, capped him at about 85%. I continue to have high expectations and would not be surprised to see him finish top 4 this year... If he opens it up a little more. He was a bit too conservative last year as well.
 
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Iowa fans seem to think Berge has no chance v Young. Berge at 157 will be a far different story. Also Wrestlestat has Shakur in a dec over Cash. That match is almost certainly bonus points for PSU.
Young finished 5th last year and while not normally very offensive he is as strong or stronger than all other 57 pounders and he has that Iowa gas tank. Their optimism is understandable, but a 157 Berge is a different animal than a 149 pound Berge and a 149 pound Berge was good enough to beat Iowa's perennial national champion Lugo.
 
Surprised it hasn't come up yet, but there is the Carver advantage to consider. How many of our guys have yet to wrestle a dual there? Or a dual that will be as hyped as this one?

Although such a phenomenon is normally contrary to my reasoning, I've seen unexpected results there enough times to consider it a thing. And then there are still questions about who is even taking the mat. I'm calling it a draw until we know more about who will be competing.

Some good ribbing and banter in this thread, though. ;)
One of the factors noted on a post on page one.

The coaches do a very good job of keeping the guys loose, regardless of venue, circumstances, etc. We'll see how they handle it, odds are it (home mat) will be a factor, just not as big as Iowa fans think. See NoVa's answer too, about our last trip to CHA.
 
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I’m trying real hard but having a hard time convincing myself to go to Iowa City, in January. Anyone else thinking about it?
 
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One of the factors noted on a post on page one.

The coaches do a very good job of keeping the guys loose, regardless of venue, circumstances, etc. We'll see how they handle it, odds are it (home mat) will be a factor, just not as big as Iowa fans think. See NoVa's answer too, about our last trip to CHA.

I'm not seeing that post, at least not in the context I was using. Also, NoVa's answer referenced B1Gs, which also isn't the same context as a big-time dual.

Our last dual there was in January 2017. Our lineup looked like this:

PSU
125 - Suriano (Fr)
133 - Carpenter (So)
141 - Gulibon (R-Sr)
149 - Retherford (R-Jr)
157 - Nolf (R-So)
165 - Joseph (R-Fr)
174 - Hall (Fr)
184 - Nickal (R-So)
197 - McCutcheon (R-Jr)
285 - Nevills (R-So)

So let's look at the freshmen and sophomores . . . Redshirt-sophomores Nolf and Nickal were returning NCAA finalists and took care of business as expected. Nevills (#5) beat Holloway (NR). Carpenter (NR) lost to Clark (#3). No surprises from that contingent.

Redshirt-freshman Joseph (#4) beat Gunther (NR). No surprise there.

Both of our true freshmen lost (#3 Suriano to #1 Gilman, Hall to #13 Meyer).

The only thing that didn't go according to script with our young guys was Hall losing to Meyer. Was he Carvered? Don't know, but almost all of our ranked freshmen and sophomores were highly favored to win, so the Carver potential was low in that dual.

Fast forward to what we expect for lineups this season:
Freshman Teske vs. #1 Spencer Lee.
Sophomore Verkleeren vs. #8 Lugo.
Sophomore Berge vs. #5 Young.
Freshman Beard (?) vs. #7 Warner.

Where our guys are young, they go up against returning AAs (and only one of our contingent even has a match at Nationals on his resume). Not sure what's happening at 133, but if sophomore RBY goes, he's not getting a cupcake in Teasdale or DeSanto.

The point is, we were heavily favored in 2017, and few of our younger guys (Suriano and Carpenter excepted) were underdogs. That could be much different this season, and the dual is expected to be close. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a couple of young guys getting Carvered, and it being the difference in the dual.

That's not a knock on the coaches or the wrestlers. But let's not kid ourselves, January 2020 isn't even comparable to January 2017. Iowa is much improved, and the fans will be more rabid than ever. Should be a good one.
 
I'm not seeing that post, at least not in the context I was using. Also, NoVa's answer referenced B1Gs, which also isn't the same context as a big-time dual.

Our last dual there was in January 2017. Our lineup looked like this:

PSU
125 - Suriano (Fr)
133 - Carpenter (So)
141 - Gulibon (R-Sr)
149 - Retherford (R-Jr)
157 - Nolf (R-So)
165 - Joseph (R-Fr)
174 - Hall (Fr)
184 - Nickal (R-So)
197 - McCutcheon (R-Jr)
285 - Nevills (R-So)

So let's look at the freshmen and sophomores . . . Redshirt-sophomores Nolf and Nickal were returning NCAA finalists and took care of business as expected. Nevills (#5) beat Holloway (NR). Carpenter (NR) lost to Clark (#3). No surprises from that contingent.

Redshirt-freshman Joseph (#4) beat Gunther (NR). No surprise there.

Both of our true freshmen lost (#3 Suriano to #1 Gilman, Hall to #13 Meyer).

The only thing that didn't go according to script with our young guys was Hall losing to Meyer. Was he Carvered? Don't know, but almost all of our ranked freshmen and sophomores were highly favored to win, so the Carver potential was low in that dual.

Fast forward to what we expect for lineups this season:
Freshman Teske vs. #1 Spencer Lee.
Sophomore Verkleeren vs. #8 Lugo.
Sophomore Berge vs. #5 Young.
Freshman Beard (?) vs. #7 Warner.

Where our guys are young, they go up against returning AAs (and only one of our contingent even has a match at Nationals on his resume). Not sure what's happening at 133, but if sophomore RBY goes, he's not getting a cupcake in Teasdale or DeSanto.

The point is, we were heavily favored in 2017, and few of our younger guys (Suriano and Carpenter excepted) were underdogs. That could be much different this season, and the dual is expected to be close. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a couple of young guys getting Carvered, and it being the difference in the dual.

That's not a knock on the coaches or the wrestlers. But let's not kid ourselves, January 2020 isn't even comparable to January 2017. Iowa is much improved, and the fans will be more rabid than ever. Should be a good one.

As Ed McManhon used to say "you are correct sir".

 
I'm not seeing that post, at least not in the context I was using. Also, NoVa's answer referenced B1Gs, which also isn't the same context as a big-time dual.

Our last dual there was in January 2017. Our lineup looked like this:

PSU
125 - Suriano (Fr)
133 - Carpenter (So)
141 - Gulibon (R-Sr)
149 - Retherford (R-Jr)
157 - Nolf (R-So)
165 - Joseph (R-Fr)
174 - Hall (Fr)
184 - Nickal (R-So)
197 - McCutcheon (R-Jr)
285 - Nevills (R-So)

So let's look at the freshmen and sophomores . . . Redshirt-sophomores Nolf and Nickal were returning NCAA finalists and took care of business as expected. Nevills (#5) beat Holloway (NR). Carpenter (NR) lost to Clark (#3). No surprises from that contingent.

Redshirt-freshman Joseph (#4) beat Gunther (NR). No surprise there.

Both of our true freshmen lost (#3 Suriano to #1 Gilman, Hall to #13 Meyer).

The only thing that didn't go according to script with our young guys was Hall losing to Meyer. Was he Carvered? Don't know, but almost all of our ranked freshmen and sophomores were highly favored to win, so the Carver potential was low in that dual.

Fast forward to what we expect for lineups this season:
Freshman Teske vs. #1 Spencer Lee.
Sophomore Verkleeren vs. #8 Lugo.
Sophomore Berge vs. #5 Young.
Freshman Beard (?) vs. #7 Warner.

Where our guys are young, they go up against returning AAs (and only one of our contingent even has a match at Nationals on his resume). Not sure what's happening at 133, but if sophomore RBY goes, he's not getting a cupcake in Teasdale or DeSanto.

The point is, we were heavily favored in 2017, and few of our younger guys (Suriano and Carpenter excepted) were underdogs. That could be much different this season, and the dual is expected to be close. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a couple of young guys getting Carvered, and it being the difference in the dual.

That's not a knock on the coaches or the wrestlers. But let's not kid ourselves, January 2020 isn't even comparable to January 2017. Iowa is much improved, and the fans will be more rabid than ever. Should be a good one.
Iowa is much improved?
Spencer is better than a very good Gilman.
DeSanto is good, but not Clark.
Murin and Carton (what mat?) are even
Lugo is not Sorenson
Young is not Kemerer
Marinelli is better than Gunther
The 174 rehabed version of Kemerer is an unknown and whoever else may be here is not as good as Mayer so 74 is kind of a tossup.
184 Wilcke is not Sammy
Warner is an upgrade from Wilcke
Cass is most likely a huge upgrade over Holloway

So the 2017 has 4 stronger weights, the 2020 team has 4 stronger weights and there are a couple toss ups.

Iowa 2019-20 doesn't appear to me, to be much improved over 2016-2017.
PSU has lost Suriano, Zain, Nolf and Bo which are huge. However there are significant upgrades at 133 (RBY), 141 (Nick) and HWT (Anthony).

The match may be more competitive this time around, but most likely a closer score is a bit more indicative of PSU's lost 9 titles from 2017. Not great improvement inside the Iowa room.
 
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Iowa is much improved?
Spencer is better than a very good Gilman.
DeSanto is good, but not Clark.
Murin and Carton (what mat?) are even
Lugo is not Sorenson
Young is not Kemerer
Marinelli is better than Gunther
The 174 rehabed version of Kemerer is an unknown and whoever else may be here is not as good as Mayer so 74 is kind of a tossup.
184 Wilcke is not Sammy
Warner is an upgrade from Wilcke
Cass is most likely a huge upgrade over Holloway

So the 2017 has 4 stronger weights, the 2020 team has 4 stronger weights and there are a couple toss ups.

Iowa 2019-20 doesn't appear to me, to be much improved over 2016-2017.
PSU has lost Suriano, Zain, Nolf and Bo which are huge. However there are significant upgrades at 133 (RBY), 141 (Nick) and HWT (Anthony).

The match may be more competitive this time around, but most likely a closer score is a bit more indicative of PSU's lost 9 titles from 2017. Not great improvement inside the Iowa room.

I'm not going to get into a debate about what constitutes "much improvement". It's tangential to the point I was making.
 
Good discussion. My thought above was re. wrestling in a hostile environment. We may lose, we may win, and the best guy that day will win each bout. If history is any indication, our guys will be ready.
 
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I’m trying real hard but having a hard time convincing myself to go to Iowa City, in January. Anyone else thinking about it?
i thought about it and actually looked at flights but it is hard to get there from here (Philly).
 
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Good discussion. My thought above was re. wrestling in a hostile environment. We may lose, we may win, and the best guy that day will win each bout. If history is any indication, our guys will be ready.
Does your history book only go back to 2011 Roar?:)
 
The match may be more competitive this time around, but most likely a closer score is a bit more indicative of PSU's lost 9 titles from 2017. Not great improvement inside the Iowa room.

Uh-oh, did Nitlion6 just agree with the "once Nolf and Nickal graduate" line that certain posters here love to poke at HR with?:cool:

What is this world coming to?
 
Uh-oh, did Nitlion6 just agree with the "once Nolf and Nickal graduate" line that certain posters here love to poke at HR with?:cool:

What is this world coming to?
Once Taylor and Ruth graduate Penn State will fall back. Err, wait a minute, once Nolf and Bo graduate Penn State will fall back.
This year's team has 3 national champions in the lineup, 4 other AAs, and 2 others who were junior world medalists (gold and bronze). If that is falling back, OK. If beating the hawks at Carver and winning the Bigs and NCAAs again is falling back, OK. If the Hawks finally having a shot at finishing second to the Lions is Penn State fall back, then yeah I guess they have fallen back.

For several reasons I am kind of rooting for Iowa to finally find a way to climb to the seat of second best. One, it used to be routine to root against Iowa wrestlers. Mostly because Iowa was perceived as a legitimate threat, somewhat because of the push, push scream for a stall technique. Lately however, with so many PA kids giving Iowa legitimacy combined with the cognitive recognition that Iowa is only a threat if your team is chasing a team medal for 3rd or 4th place it has become routine to cheer for Hawk wrestlers. It is still tough to deal with the push, push scream for a stall technique, but they are still PA kids.
The second reason is the history of Iowa wrestling. There are individual champions and team champions galore and it would be nice to watch the team and Iowa fans have the opportunity to cheer something more than that 3rd or 4th place trophy.
 
I can get to Des Moines from Denver for $147. Not sure it is worth a trip in January cold. I might be convinced to go if it looks like most of the possible redshirts on both sides end up not shirting.
If it's "Frontier" make sure that you have a seat reserved before or you may get bumped and not get to fly :mad:
 
i thought about it and actually looked at flights but it is hard to get there from here (Philly).

I've been seriously considering (for the past few years) going this year, but one of the selling points to myself for making the trek included being able to at least double-up on duals and get myself up to either Iowa State or UNI at the West Gym. Sadly, both those squads are out of town that same weekend, and the only way to get 2 or more arenas in during one trek is to go a week earlier than our dual & spend a Sunday to Friday in Iowa.
 
I can get to Des Moines from Denver for $147. Not sure it is worth a trip in January cold. I might be convinced to go if it looks like most of the possible redshirts on both sides end up not shirting.

Oh man, I would pounce on that, myself!
 
Once Taylor and Ruth graduate Penn State will fall back. Err, wait a minute, once Nolf and Bo graduate Penn State will fall back.
This year's team has 3 national champions in the lineup, 4 other AAs, and 2 others who were junior world medalists (gold and bronze). If that is falling back, OK. If beating the hawks at Carver and winning the Bigs and NCAAs again is falling back, OK. If the Hawks finally having a shot at finishing second to the Lions is Penn State fall back, then yeah I guess they have fallen back.

For several reasons I am kind of rooting for Iowa to finally find a way to climb to the seat of second best. One, it used to be routine to root against Iowa wrestlers. Mostly because Iowa was perceived as a legitimate threat, somewhat because of the push, push scream for a stall technique. Lately however, with so many PA kids giving Iowa legitimacy combined with the cognitive recognition that Iowa is only a threat if your team is chasing a team medal for 3rd or 4th place it has become routine to cheer for Hawk wrestlers. It is still tough to deal with the push, push scream for a stall technique, but they are still PA kids.
The second reason is the history of Iowa wrestling. There are individual champions and team champions galore and it would be nice to watch the team and Iowa fans have the opportunity to cheer something more than that 3rd or 4th place trophy.


Nitlion6,

I cannot decide if this is just a persona that you have adopted on here, or if you actually believe what you post in reference to all things Iowa. In large volume and mostly in a negative light, I might add.
I wonder how you would react IF Iowa is able to dethrone PSU this coming season. I hope that you would take the trash talking as well as you have been giving it(and I freely admit that you are an excellent trash talker).
I do have a sincere question for you. In all honesty(no BS, potshots, or insults), do you truly believe that Iowa is not a threat to PSU this year in either the dual or NCAAs?
 
Nitlion6,

I cannot decide if this is just a persona that you have adopted on here, or if you actually believe what you post in reference to all things Iowa. In large volume and mostly in a negative light, I might add.
I wonder how you would react IF Iowa is able to dethrone PSU this coming season. I hope that you would take the trash talking as well as you have been giving it(and I freely admit that you are an excellent trash talker).
I do have a sincere question for you. In all honesty(no BS, potshots, or insults), do you truly believe that Iowa is not a threat to PSU this year in either the dual or NCAAs?
How I would react if Iowa dethroned Penn State at nationals. I have already said if the bet is Iowa or the field, I am taking the field. If Iowa beats the field and wins the 2019-20 NCAA wrestling team championship I have already pledged to donate $250 in Tom Brands' name to Wrestling for Life. As far as the dual in Carver, a perfect Hawk night could lead to 1 or 2 point Hawkeye win. Part of a perfect night would require a PSU underperformance.

A perfect night for the other guys coupled with an off night from the Lions makes the Lions susceptible when competing against the Buckeyes or Cowboys as well as the Hawks, so it isn't like the Hawks are something special. The Hawks are as good as any other recent Hawk teams. The question this season answers is are this year's Lions, Buckeyes or Cowboys as good as recent Lion, Buckeyes or Cowboys teams. If the answer to that question is a collective "no", then there is an opening for a good Hawk team.

Being as certain of the Hawkeyes' good fortune as you appear, care to pledge $250 in Cael's name to Wrestling for Life if the field proves superior to the Hawks?
 
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Nitlion6,

I cannot decide if this is just a persona that you have adopted on here, or if you actually believe what you post in reference to all things Iowa. In large volume and mostly in a negative light, I might add.
I wonder how you would react IF Iowa is able to dethrone PSU this coming season. I hope that you would take the trash talking as well as you have been giving it(and I freely admit that you are an excellent trash talker).
I do have a sincere question for you. In all honesty(no BS, potshots, or insults), do you truly believe that Iowa is not a threat to PSU this year in either the dual or NCAAs?
Nitlion just gets a hard on for saying negative nonsense about iowa. I think hes the dude who predicted iowa would only be able to win 1 match against psu last year lmao
 
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