OT: How about a little wrestling?
- Thread starter Relayer
- Start date
Was awesome!!... would have been even better if we were enjoying cocktails at Friend's for the finish.
We all agreed Cassar "upset" at 197 was massive (offset Lee's semi-upset loss), Nickal's back points at the buzzer was huge. We said before the match if 125 & 133 didn't lose by Fall, there could be conceivable path to victory if the big 4 came through and Nevlis stayed on his feet to decision loss vs. a World Champ.
125 & 133 could have easily put them down 12 and the rest of this is nill, give those guys credit for hanging tough.
This line-up, with a healthy Nolf for Nationals, should do it again. If Suriano didn't transfer out, they'd probably brake all existing records on points and championships at Nationals? Cael has built a dynasty, tOSU is right in there this year, we'll see..
Louis Molino 3rd..
Relayer,
I used to follow wrestling a lot closer back in the day but not as much since about 2000. Couple questions for you: Council Rock before the split was the powerhouse of District 1. I've always wondered why. From a distance, I wouldn't have thought that area would be a wrestling hotbed. Was it coaching, youth feeder programs, something else? Is it still the same after the split?
Thanks
Hoops. good to see you posting and Go Nova!
CR has always had great feeder programs, both schools. There are many alum that get involved. It doesn't hurt that South hired Brad Silimperi from Nazareth 15 years ago when the school was born. He might be the top coach in D1, regardless of sport. The commitment is remarkable. These guys are running at Tyler State Park at 6 in the morning. The Escape The Rock tournament has become one of the best on the entire east coast.
North hasn't been as strong, but still one of the better programs in D1. If the schools were still combined, they probably would have challenged for a few more state titles over the years. South did win the state title back in '05.
Most D1 appearances at state duels.
10 - Council Rock South
9 - Boyertown
7 - Upper Perkiomen
6 - Council Rock North
5 - Spring-Ford
4 - Owen J. Roberts
3 - Pennsbury
2 - Downingtown East
2 - Downingtown West
2 - Norristown
2 - Quakertown
1 - Garnet Valley
1 - North Penn
1 - Pennridge
1 - Upper Darby
Most wins at state duels:
Nazareth (33-9)
Easton (32-10)
Central Dauphin (31-13)
Cumberland Valley (26-18)
Council Rock South (21-17)
Only CRS and Upper Perk (14-8) have winning records from D1.
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Silimperi is on the short list of best coaches in the state. He was an outstanding competitor (Ray Nunamaker's first state champion at Nazareth and a multi-time NCAA qualifier at Lock Haven) who has high level competition experience that seems to really translate in that sport. He teaches technique and creates a style that is built to win at the high school and college level (handfighting, high percentage leg attacks, ability to ride and turn). He also wrestles a tremendous schedule year in and year out, and his guys are battle tested come this time of year in a way that most D1 teams are not.
He's also the club director of Apache Wrestling, which is probably the best club in the southeastern part of the state where his guys and a lot of the best D1 kids train. He's creating a top notch training environment for his kids starting in Junior High that is a year round opportunity. That's really common in the Lehigh Valley (Dark Knights, Weaver, Redhawk, Gold Medal) and in the western part of the state (Young Guns, Quest, Nauman) but Apache is really the only game in town in suburban Philly. Silimperi has the best guys in the area coming to be training partners with his guys.
And Relayer, that Easton record has been sitting on 32-10 for far too long!!! They've got one of the best sophomores in the state, the makings of a pretty special freshman class (4 solid starters as 9th graders, including 145, 152, and 170, where kids usually take their lumps in year 1) and another big class of kids on the way, including a FloNationals and Super 32 finalist (assuming they all end up at Easton). I've got a lot of faith in Jamarr Billman to mold the group and hopefully we'll be meeting you guys out in Hershey sooner rather than later.
He's also the club director of Apache Wrestling, which is probably the best club in the southeastern part of the state where his guys and a lot of the best D1 kids train. He's creating a top notch training environment for his kids starting in Junior High that is a year round opportunity. That's really common in the Lehigh Valley (Dark Knights, Weaver, Redhawk, Gold Medal) and in the western part of the state (Young Guns, Quest, Nauman) but Apache is really the only game in town in suburban Philly. Silimperi has the best guys in the area coming to be training partners with his guys.
And Relayer, that Easton record has been sitting on 32-10 for far too long!!! They've got one of the best sophomores in the state, the makings of a pretty special freshman class (4 solid starters as 9th graders, including 145, 152, and 170, where kids usually take their lumps in year 1) and another big class of kids on the way, including a FloNationals and Super 32 finalist (assuming they all end up at Easton). I've got a lot of faith in Jamarr Billman to mold the group and hopefully we'll be meeting you guys out in Hershey sooner rather than later.
On Penn State-Ohio State, the NCAA tournament is going to be awesome. Penn State is probably only going to score at 8 weight classes versus Ohio State's 10, but I don't see how the Buckeyes overcome the bonus points Penn State is going to score. This is all assuming Nolf is good to go, but I've heard that he should be ready to go.
Any Ohio State hope for a title I think means that Bo Jordan has to finish higher than Mark Hall or Myles Martin has to finish higher than Bo Nickal. I really don't see either happening. Hall has his hands full with Zahid Valencia (Arizona State), but I think he's passed Bo (and Hall and Bo should be on the same side of the bracket as the 2 and 3 seeds). Nickal is so damn funky and hard to score on, as we saw Saturday, and I don't know how Myles scores enough points to beat him.
Penn State has two locks for champs in Retherford and Nolf and a solid favorite in Nickal. Hall and Joseph are both almost locks to make finals and own wins over their projected opponents (Zahid Valencia and Isaiah Martinez). Nick Lee is one of the best freshmen in America and I think finds his way into the 5-8 range on the podium, and Nevills could finish as high as 3 and is almost a lock to AA (I don't think he beats Snyder or Coon). 197 is the worst weight class in the country, and whoever Penn State ultimately trots out there is just as likely as anyone to place high. That's a lot of points pretty much locked in.
As for Ohio State, Snyder is there only lock for a champ. Kollin Moore has the next best chance, and I would have called him a lock before this weekend (he's pinned #2 twice and has dominated everybody before Cassar this weekend). Other than that, it's a lot of maybes. I think Tomasello is the best guy at 125, but Lee, Suriano, and Cruz are all just as good. That's the best top tier of any weight in college this year, and if we wrestled that weight 100 times, they'd each win it 25. Luke Pletcher is a dark horse title contender, and I think finishes in the top 5, but I don't know if he can score enough points with Seth Gross or Kaid Brock. Bo Jordan has a Zahid Valencia and Mark Hall problem, I don't see a world where he finishes higher or lower than 3rd. Ditto for Myles, he beats everybody but Nickal...but I don't see him beating Nickal. From there, it gets hairy. Micah Jordan is a 5-8 guy, and struggles enough on bottom that he could get upset early. Ke-Shawn Hayes needs to wrestle his best weekend to AA. Joey McKenna has finished 3rd and was a national title contender his past few years, but doesn't seem quite there right now, and has a history of NCAA flameouts when he was at Stanford. And Te'Shawn Campbell is the longest shot to AA (they're going for 10) and the Buckeyes need solid points out of him to have a chance.
Any Ohio State hope for a title I think means that Bo Jordan has to finish higher than Mark Hall or Myles Martin has to finish higher than Bo Nickal. I really don't see either happening. Hall has his hands full with Zahid Valencia (Arizona State), but I think he's passed Bo (and Hall and Bo should be on the same side of the bracket as the 2 and 3 seeds). Nickal is so damn funky and hard to score on, as we saw Saturday, and I don't know how Myles scores enough points to beat him.
Penn State has two locks for champs in Retherford and Nolf and a solid favorite in Nickal. Hall and Joseph are both almost locks to make finals and own wins over their projected opponents (Zahid Valencia and Isaiah Martinez). Nick Lee is one of the best freshmen in America and I think finds his way into the 5-8 range on the podium, and Nevills could finish as high as 3 and is almost a lock to AA (I don't think he beats Snyder or Coon). 197 is the worst weight class in the country, and whoever Penn State ultimately trots out there is just as likely as anyone to place high. That's a lot of points pretty much locked in.
As for Ohio State, Snyder is there only lock for a champ. Kollin Moore has the next best chance, and I would have called him a lock before this weekend (he's pinned #2 twice and has dominated everybody before Cassar this weekend). Other than that, it's a lot of maybes. I think Tomasello is the best guy at 125, but Lee, Suriano, and Cruz are all just as good. That's the best top tier of any weight in college this year, and if we wrestled that weight 100 times, they'd each win it 25. Luke Pletcher is a dark horse title contender, and I think finishes in the top 5, but I don't know if he can score enough points with Seth Gross or Kaid Brock. Bo Jordan has a Zahid Valencia and Mark Hall problem, I don't see a world where he finishes higher or lower than 3rd. Ditto for Myles, he beats everybody but Nickal...but I don't see him beating Nickal. From there, it gets hairy. Micah Jordan is a 5-8 guy, and struggles enough on bottom that he could get upset early. Ke-Shawn Hayes needs to wrestle his best weekend to AA. Joey McKenna has finished 3rd and was a national title contender his past few years, but doesn't seem quite there right now, and has a history of NCAA flameouts when he was at Stanford. And Te'Shawn Campbell is the longest shot to AA (they're going for 10) and the Buckeyes need solid points out of him to have a chance.
As always Rover, I appreciate your insight.
Sure seems like the brackets are messed up at the AAA level. Spring-Ford got an easier draw over South and the results showed yesterday. Nazareth-Kiski looks too good to be a quarterfinal.
Looking forward to Iowa-PSU tomorrow night.
Sure seems like the brackets are messed up at the AAA level. Spring-Ford got an easier draw over South and the results showed yesterday. Nazareth-Kiski looks too good to be a quarterfinal.
Looking forward to Iowa-PSU tomorrow night.