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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Bob Preusse added to this discussion on March 17, 2009
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u right re 184 Kirk Smith, a bad hombre.
Palmer has tough second round match with a guy named Cathell (16-0).
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on March 18, 2009
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If Pucillo had beaten Keddy in OT, then Keddy would have been three seed. No way Smith gets seeded in front of Keddy under those circumstances. Smith is tough but not the same level. Pucillo's score with Smith was close but he beat him easy. The coaches recognize the nature of this weight class--it's a 3 man group with several tough guys a few steps behind.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Michael Rodriguez added to this discussion on March 18, 2009
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I would say it's a four man group. The guy's a returning AA and he's got one loss, by one point, to the defending National Champion. When you say the score with Pucillo was close but Pucillo beat him easily, I've heard many Buckeye fans up until last weekend describe Pucillo/Keddy that way. Had Pucillo won, Keddy would have had four losses, including being majored. I think Smith would had a legit argument. Throw in a little Big Ten backlash and Smith is your three seed.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Mike Taylor added to this discussion on March 18, 2009
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Forgive my ignorance, but when you say, "Throw in a little Big Ten backlash..." what do you mean? What's the backlash for? If memeory serves me correctly, the Big Ten continues to set the standard for college wrestling. This isn't college football, so I'm a bit confused.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
John Flanigan added to this discussion on March 18, 2009
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Quote from Mike Taylor's post:
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"Forgive my ignorance, but when you say, "Throw in a little Big Ten backlash..." what do you mean? What's the backlash for? If memeory serves me correctly, the Big Ten continues to set the standard for college wrestling. This isn't college football, so I'm a bit confused."
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I think it would be the discussion that there needs to be more widespread representation at the tourney. If other schools feel that Big Ten schools are getting an unfair advantage, they are less likely to put money into their programs.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Ben Golden added to this discussion on March 18, 2009
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Corey Morrison:
His first round match is against Dobies, who he has beaten this year. If he wins that, he will likely face Porter, who he ALMOST beat.
The thing is, I think Morrison has seriously gone downhill since the Porter match. I think the long season of wrestling much bigger guys has worn on him.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Michael Rodriguez added to this discussion on March 18, 2009
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Quote from Mike Taylor's post:
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"Forgive my ignorance, but when you say, "Throw in a little Big Ten backlash..." what do you mean? What's the backlash for? If memeory serves me correctly, the Big Ten continues to set the standard for college wrestling. This isn't college football, so I'm a bit confused."
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You're right, the Big Ten is the gold standard for college wrestling, and it's not close. When I said "Big Ten backlash", I was thinking of the top three seeds at 184 all being from one conference and there being a reasonable alternative from Boise State. I think that Smith and Keddy are close enough that an arguement can be made that Smith deserved the three seed (in the event of a Keddy loss to Pucillo at Big Tens). Keddy has and his shots at the Big Ten guys, now give the kid from Boise State the opportunity to make the finals, something that's probably not possible as a four seed.
For the record, given Keddy's upset of Pucillo, I totally agree with the seeding at 184.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Bob Preusse added to this discussion on March 18, 2009
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...
Pucillo
opposite Herbert, thats all he could ask for.
...
Rella
gets McSpadden from Okla st right away, that first match is the dangerous one, lose that and u rarely survive long. Rella went 2 & 2 last year here, so he can put up some wins but cant lose that first match.
...When he was a true freshman i saw
J.D. Bergman
,
unseeded
, lose his first match and then wr all the way back to take 3rd-- u don't expect to see that very often.
...
Palmer
gets a Bloomsburg kid right away--- only 2 kids per wt wrestle a true first round match, in this case at 149 its Palmer vs Bloomsburg kid. Everyone else gets a Bye (64 man bracket, 33 in each wt). I'm glad Palmer gets a match under his belt before meeting tough Cathel (16 & 0) from Delaware st in what will be the first round for everyone else in the wt.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Dan Cosimi added to this discussion on March 18, 2009
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About Jaggers' draw...
1. I would never, ever bet against J in a big match.
2. I hate that Gallick is in the same quarter as J because I think he will be the toughest guy to beat.
3. You heard it here: Jaggers will win his second NCAA title this weekend.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on March 18, 2009
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There's a press conference on themat.com (posted on youtube) with Tom Ryan, Tom Brands, Brian Smith, Tom Manning and Rob Koll. One of the topics they address is the new selection process used this year. The general consensus was that they liked it but would know better in a few years how well it was working. But one coach (I forget who) went a step further and noted that there seemed to be a lot more tough first round matchups. I agree. I think the new system has weeded out some less qualified wrestlers and made the NCAA field stronger.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Ethan Moore added to this discussion on March 18, 2009
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Hank - agree 100%. I was looking over the brackets with a friend today and it seemed I couldn't find an easy draw. In years past, it seemed to be common to have people with very friendly roads to the quarters.
I am a huge fan of the new selection process.
I follow results closely but didn't realize that Sponseller would drop to the 6 seed. He is someone I would want no part of on Friday or Saturday. I still think he is favorite to win it, I could see him handling Morningstar this time around. Oh, and I think he owns Stewart. Just my opinion.
It is clear that Kent's dry spell ends this year. Porter and Kilgore are almost un-upsettable, never dropping matches that you can say "he should have won that one..." For this reason I see them both as AA's in four days.
I am one of the few who believe the stall calls against Kilgore really dictated the Pucillo-Kilgore match, and believe that it would have come down to the last second if the ref would have let them wrestle. That was horrific officiating of a match between two top 5 wrestlers.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on March 19, 2009
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Here are my honest feelings as Ohio State and Kent head into Nationals:
1) Pucillo and Palmer are the most consistent Buckeyes and your most likely AA's. Pucillo, in particular, is one of the best "money" wrestlers in Ohio State history.
2) Reece Humphrey has had some odd lapses in the past but I expect his best this weekend. He's one of the most talented wrestlers in the nation and could have the highest finish of any Buckeye. In spite of what some may think, however, any AA finish for him would still be good. The key for him will to rebound well if he has a tough loss in any round prior to the sems.
3) J. Jaggers has picked it up at the right time but hasn't built up the same level of momentum as this point last season. Nothing that happened to him this weekend would be surprising from another finals appearance to failing to place. I love his passion as a competitor but he relies on it more than most. We'll know what to expect from Jaggers based on his first result. If he makes short work of Duenas, expect good things.
4) Sponseller has been a bit wobbly of late. His loss to Howe appears to have affected how he performed at Big Tens and that's not a good sign. Granted, Vallimont and M* are not slouches but those are guys you need to beat this weekend...esp. Vallimont. He appears to have made some technique mistakes at Big Tens that led to him giving up several takedowns. Given the depth at this weight class and the minor differences in ability between most of the top 12, a slight lapse will not be easy to overcome. I'd say any placement out of him would be a great weekend.
5) Any Buckeye wins beyond these five wrestlers will be welcome signs. It's hard to know how any of these guys will respond. Most have noticed that Rella is wrestling better and he's your best prospect to score and sneak in for a place. Johnstone and Morrison may be competing in their last tournament which usually leads to a few wins. Triggas gets the wrong opponent to start the tournament. Robles, with his middleweight power, kills on top. Triggas whole strategy needs to be to avoid getting taken down and to try to work on top. That's his only shot.
6) I like Kilgore to place. Consistency is always what I look for in terms of how one competes and Dustin has shown it. He should have what it takes to get on the stand. As to Porter, this season has been his most consistent as well. One always wonders if he'll bring the necessary effort in crunch time. If he were sufficiently motivated, a finals appearance is not out of the question. But any spot on the stand would be great for him. I'd rank him as 50% to do it.
7) Rashard Goff wrestles hard every match. While he's probably not going to sneak in, it would be a wonderful boost to CSU wrestling. They desperately need something good to happen.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
J.P. Barner added to this discussion on March 19, 2009
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Anyone have updates, or a site that has them? I've been searching and can't find a site that is tracking the tourney.
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Brad Proudfoot added to this discussion on March 19, 2009
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Discussion Topic: NCAA brackets
Greg Debbe added to this discussion on March 19, 2009
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