Post by Earl on Mar 23, 2008 21:47:32 GMT -5
What are everyone's thoughts about the tournament/finals/anything???
125-Escobedo is just what I like to call a "gamer". He never looked overly dominate in any match but he got it done. I was suprised he won in the semi's and finals after his shoulder injury in the q's vs Precin. Escobedo and Joe Dubuque's 2 titles give Indiana 3 titles in four years at 125. Coach Mike Mena is doing something right!!!!McKnight was a pleasant surpise, the guy has been close to AA's mutiple times but never got it done. Then to finish 4th after a WC is awesome.
133-Great moment seeing Scott win. I got to chat a few times with someone close to Scott and he told me details about Scott's early season injury, a growth spurt this season, and his desire to win a title. I've followed his career since HS and hoped to see him get the title. I don't know what was on TV, but hopefully they showed some of the Baker/Fanthorpe 7th place match. It has more blood that I can ever remember seeing. Both guys shot at the same time and I think bumped heads.
141-This in my opinion was a weight were if the tournament was wrestled 10 times, you would get a new winner maybe 8 different times. Jaggers had a great tournament knocking off Russell and Griffin just to get to the finals. He also showed a lot of guts after the ankle injury. I didn't have a great view of it in person but it seemed bad. I thought Mendes had a TD at the end of the 2nd, which could've changed the match but who knows it was close. Matt Kyler had a big tournament, just in 2005 he was a 103lber.
149-Metcalf is the man. He was OW and deserved it. His conditioning is unrivaled among anyone at any weight. It will be interesting to see if all these guys stay at 149 since Churella is the only AA to graduate. I was happy to see guy from VA (Bubba) in the finals. His match in the semi's with Caldwell was very good as was the Metcalf/Palmer match. Palmer was very close to getting a late TD to win.
157-I think its safe to say nobody picked Leen to win. Everyone (myself included) was anticipating a Poeta/Gillespie final. I became a Leen fan seeing how physically he wrestled early in the tournament. Kind of strange sequence in the match with Poeta getting a "fleeing the mat" call without actually going out of bounds. As usual 157 ended up having a few upsets with Leen meeting 12 seed Zupancic in the semi's and unseeded Bonilla-Bowman and 11th seed Sherfey in the q's.
165-The only champ to repeat, Perry!!! It wasn't the barnburner that I thought it would be, but that was testiment to how great Perry is. He made Tannenbaum wrestle his match.
174-The only guy to finish the season undefeated, Gavin!!!! (Officially Pucillo is too, but he was pinned in a match that didn't happen in Vegas). I would say that the Hodge trophy either his or Metcalf's.
184-This was the match that I was looking forward to the most. It didn't really live up to my expectations with Pucillo winning in the second TB. Neither guy really committed to a shot, so there wasn't a whole lot of action. I do really like how Pucillo is able to turn it on late. He got a late TD to beat Todd in the B10's, Keddy in the Q's and Jordan in the semis.
197-Great finish to a great career in PSU's Phil Davis. Pretty remarkable for a guy who didn't finish higher than fourth in the PA state tournament. He also never won a district title. Wow, Four-Time AA, 2X finalist and NCAA Champ!!!! It was good to see MAC champ Michalak in the finals after an upset of returning champ Josh Glenn. I also liked seeing ACC Champ Hudson Taylor finish 3rd.
285-Being a guy that work's out with the upperweights, I hate the term "typical heavyweight match" but I guess you can say that here. Bergman outworked Fox but the scoreboard didn't reflect it.
Teamwise Brands, had the Hawks ready to roll. They were impressive. Once the tournament started you could tell the race would be for 2nd.
Coach Ryan has done a great job with the Buckeyes. With the way the state has gotten behind the team and the recruits that he has gotten, I figured OSU would be a major player in wrestling. I just didn't think it would happen in year two. They only lose Bergman so don't be suprised to see them back in the hunt.
Penn State came out of nowhere to finish third. They were helped out by McKnight's weekend of a lifetime and Bubba making the finals.
Overall the finals were down compared to last years finals, but still good.
125-Escobedo is just what I like to call a "gamer". He never looked overly dominate in any match but he got it done. I was suprised he won in the semi's and finals after his shoulder injury in the q's vs Precin. Escobedo and Joe Dubuque's 2 titles give Indiana 3 titles in four years at 125. Coach Mike Mena is doing something right!!!!McKnight was a pleasant surpise, the guy has been close to AA's mutiple times but never got it done. Then to finish 4th after a WC is awesome.
133-Great moment seeing Scott win. I got to chat a few times with someone close to Scott and he told me details about Scott's early season injury, a growth spurt this season, and his desire to win a title. I've followed his career since HS and hoped to see him get the title. I don't know what was on TV, but hopefully they showed some of the Baker/Fanthorpe 7th place match. It has more blood that I can ever remember seeing. Both guys shot at the same time and I think bumped heads.
141-This in my opinion was a weight were if the tournament was wrestled 10 times, you would get a new winner maybe 8 different times. Jaggers had a great tournament knocking off Russell and Griffin just to get to the finals. He also showed a lot of guts after the ankle injury. I didn't have a great view of it in person but it seemed bad. I thought Mendes had a TD at the end of the 2nd, which could've changed the match but who knows it was close. Matt Kyler had a big tournament, just in 2005 he was a 103lber.
149-Metcalf is the man. He was OW and deserved it. His conditioning is unrivaled among anyone at any weight. It will be interesting to see if all these guys stay at 149 since Churella is the only AA to graduate. I was happy to see guy from VA (Bubba) in the finals. His match in the semi's with Caldwell was very good as was the Metcalf/Palmer match. Palmer was very close to getting a late TD to win.
157-I think its safe to say nobody picked Leen to win. Everyone (myself included) was anticipating a Poeta/Gillespie final. I became a Leen fan seeing how physically he wrestled early in the tournament. Kind of strange sequence in the match with Poeta getting a "fleeing the mat" call without actually going out of bounds. As usual 157 ended up having a few upsets with Leen meeting 12 seed Zupancic in the semi's and unseeded Bonilla-Bowman and 11th seed Sherfey in the q's.
165-The only champ to repeat, Perry!!! It wasn't the barnburner that I thought it would be, but that was testiment to how great Perry is. He made Tannenbaum wrestle his match.
174-The only guy to finish the season undefeated, Gavin!!!! (Officially Pucillo is too, but he was pinned in a match that didn't happen in Vegas). I would say that the Hodge trophy either his or Metcalf's.
184-This was the match that I was looking forward to the most. It didn't really live up to my expectations with Pucillo winning in the second TB. Neither guy really committed to a shot, so there wasn't a whole lot of action. I do really like how Pucillo is able to turn it on late. He got a late TD to beat Todd in the B10's, Keddy in the Q's and Jordan in the semis.
197-Great finish to a great career in PSU's Phil Davis. Pretty remarkable for a guy who didn't finish higher than fourth in the PA state tournament. He also never won a district title. Wow, Four-Time AA, 2X finalist and NCAA Champ!!!! It was good to see MAC champ Michalak in the finals after an upset of returning champ Josh Glenn. I also liked seeing ACC Champ Hudson Taylor finish 3rd.
285-Being a guy that work's out with the upperweights, I hate the term "typical heavyweight match" but I guess you can say that here. Bergman outworked Fox but the scoreboard didn't reflect it.
Teamwise Brands, had the Hawks ready to roll. They were impressive. Once the tournament started you could tell the race would be for 2nd.
Coach Ryan has done a great job with the Buckeyes. With the way the state has gotten behind the team and the recruits that he has gotten, I figured OSU would be a major player in wrestling. I just didn't think it would happen in year two. They only lose Bergman so don't be suprised to see them back in the hunt.
Penn State came out of nowhere to finish third. They were helped out by McKnight's weekend of a lifetime and Bubba making the finals.
Overall the finals were down compared to last years finals, but still good.
