PAC 10 at 125 lbs this season

[bronco]

It appears that the following will be what the PAC 10 will look like this season at 125 lbs:

ARIZONA STATE - Anthony Robles - Redshirted Freshman - Currently ranked # 19 in the nation at 125 lbs by INTERMAT and # 16 in the nation by both W.I.N. MAGAZINE and AMATEUR WRESTLING NEWS

BOISE STATE - Alan Bartelli - True Freshman - 9-1 so far this season - 2nd place at Best of West tournament - 1st place at Cowboy Open Under 20 Division.

CAL POLY - Boris Novachkov - True Freshman

CS BAKERSFIELD - Brandon Zoetewey - Junior - Placed 5th at 2007 PAC 10 tournament

CS FULLERTON - Sean Roman-Marin - True Freshman

OREGON STATE - Jake Gonzales - Junior

PORTLAND STATE - Nobody

STANFORD - Tanner Gardner - Senior - 2 time PAC 10 champion - Currently ranked # 4 in the nation at 125 lbs by W.I.N. MAGAZINE and AMATEUR WRESTLING NEWS and INTERMAT

UC DAVIS - Marcos Orozco - Senior - Placed 3rd at 2007 PAC 10 tournament - Ranked # 17 in the nation at 125 lbs by W.I.N. MAGAZINE

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON - Beau Malia - Junior (Currently injured)

That's a pretty solid group IMO. How would you rank these ten competitors? I would have to rank them as follows:

# 1. Tanner Gardner - Stanford (Senior)
# 2. Anthony Robles - Arizona State (RS Freshman)
# 3. Marcos Orozco - UC Davis (Senior)
# 4. Brandon Zoetewey - CS Bakersfield (Junior)
# 5. Boris Novachkov - Cal Poly (True Freshman)
# 6. Alan Bartelli - Boise State (True Freshman)
# 7. Jake Gonzales - Oregon State (Junior)
# 8. Beau Malia - University of Oregon (Junior)
# 9. Sean Roman-Marin - CS Fullerton (True Freshman)
# 10. Portland State

Agree or disagree? ;D ;D ;D ;D

[yankeekev]

I have only seen 2 of these guys wrestle so I will agree. I know Gardner is a horrible match up for Ben Ashmore. I think he would win 9/10 minimum in head to heads which is a little disappointing because before the season started I hoped Ben would AA. I think he needs another year of hitting the weights hard as he looks a little small for the weight. Nothing wrong with his technique, He is very exciting to watch.

[bronco]

Well for the PAC 10 this is a very good group of 125 lb guys. It isn't the Big 10......not even close......but for the PAC 10 (for this season) this is a pretty talented bunch. Consider that last season Jake Gonzales was considered to be among the upper half of the guys in the PAC 10 at 125 lbs......now he would have to be considered seventh best this season. Point being they (the PAC 10 teams) have improved this season at 125 lbs.....at least IMO they have.

The "ringer" in this group is Boris Novachkov. He may prove out to be worthy of a much higher ranking.

[Earl]

As of right now, barring any upsets that probably would be what my next set of rankings would look like. Novachkov certainly has the potential to move up. You probably remember that the new Cal Poly lightweight coach is Sammie Henson. I'm sure its no coincidence that Mendes is off to a great start and both Novachkov's are doing well.

[yankeekev]

Sammie Henson was a stud.

[bronco]

admin said:

As of right now, barring any upsets that probably would be what my next set of rankings would look like. Novachkov certainly has the potential to move up. You probably remember that the new Cal Poly lightweight coach is Sammie Henson. I'm sure its no coincidence that Mendes is off to a great start and both Novachkov's are doing well.

That has been mentioned elsewhere by the Cal Poly guys. Henson is really emphasizing riding time and staying tough on top. Mendes has always been a stud......he's just finally getting a chance to shine now that Vasquez is gone.

[yankeekev]

Bronco, you called it, the Cal Poly kid gave Donahoe all he wanted.

[bronco]

Yep......and Boris is a TRUE freshman....right out of high school.

Did you also notice what Boris' older brother, Filip, did? He beat the # 1 Seed at 133 lbs - 6-3 - Louis Ruggirello of Hofstra. Those two brothers plus Chad Mendes at 141 lbs are going to make Cal Poly VERY tough to beat this season in the PAC 10....and nationally as well.

Hey, check out how Boise State has done as well. They still have half of their team in contention and they have pulled off a number of upsets yesterday......they're doing dammmm good (plus they are missing at least one of their starters in Nate Lee at 174 lbs - he won't be back until early January).

[yankeekev]

Boise is currently in 10th. these brothers are going to shake things up.

[bronco]

Boise State finished with four placers.

Tyler Sherfey took 5th place at 157 lbs (beat Mike Chandler of Missouri a second time in the 5th/6th place match)

Adam Hall took 7th place at 149 lbs. He also took the defending PAC 10 champion at 149 lbs to overtime before losing 4-2 in OT.

Levi Jones took 8th place at 141 lbs and "upset" two or three ranked guys along the way.

Kurt Swartz took 8th place at 165 lbs and he also "upset" a couple of guys along the way.

I'm also positive that they would have done better if Nate Lee had been healthy and in the lineup at 174 lbs.