Reflecting on the Dual Season

[isucyclone05]

It has been a tough dual season. 9-10 overall and 0-4 (0-5 if you include national duals) in the BIG XII. There are likely to be some highlights coming up in conference and NCAA tournaments. But here is a look at the results. (Rankings based on 2-21-11 The Open Mat.)

9 wins: notable Va Tech #8 and national duals runner-up and American #18. Nice come-back win vs. UNI.

10 loses: 9 of 10 losses came to teams in the top 10 (Cornell, Iowa, Ok St 2x, Minnesota, OU, Boise St x2, and Missouri) and 1 loss to #15 Nebraska. It is not like we were beat by a bunch of nobodies.

We wrestled Iowa to the same dual score as Penn State (22-13) and similar to how MN wrestled them (19-12).

We had holes at several weights and open weights due to injury. We all knew it was going to be a down year and at times it was lower than we expected. But, at the same time there have been some highlights. Reader has wrestled great. Sorenson has wrestled well at or above expectations. I think that Simonson has come out and shown he is a quality wrestler but gives up weight. He seems to wrestles better on the road than at home. Mayfield has looked much better as the season progressed. Weatherman has the potential and I think/hope will make great progress this off season. Shafer has had a couple good wins just needs to greatly improve his ability from the bottom position. Cash and Jones fight hard for 7 minutes. Ward has potential but it is up to him whether he uses it or not.

Next year will be an improvement and in a few years, we will again be a top ten/five team and hopefully be NCAA title contenders.

 

[Judoka]

Yeah, it was a tough year. But to those who don't follow wrestling (since we had a thread asking if the sky was falling after every loss), I think it is important to note that those losses were to teams ranked 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 14, and 18 in the latest rankings, and we also had wins over American, which is ranked 8th, and Arizona State, which is ranked 12th. Losing Drioun for a month also made a few of the dual scores look a lot more ugly than they should have been.

We just weren't a good dual team this year. Too many holes. At the start of the year we had huge holes at 125, 133, 157, and 184. Weatherman and Shafer definetly became a lot more competitive as the year went on, but still weren't dependable winners. Cash and Jones just aren't ready for the Big XII. Since one of them will likely still be in the line-up next year at 133, hopefully they improve greatly.

Looking ahead to next year, we lose Drioun, Carr, and Ward. Carr and Mayfield seem to be at about the same level so that won't be a big loss (plus I'd love to see Weatherman down at 149 anyways), but losing Drioun and Reader will be big for points. Reader was always good for at least 4 (and often more), and Drioun was very solid.

However, I think we'll be a greatly improved dual team next year. We lose a few studs, but we also get some great freshman coming in to plug those holes in guys like Finch and Moreno. Plus Weatherman and Shafer should be greatly improved with this year behind them and another summer/fall under Jackson (assuming Shafer can beat out Gadson, that is). Sorenson, Spangler, and Ward should all be good for a lot of points, and hopefully Simonson can put on a few more pounds of muscle and win us some more matches.

Overall, we lose some great guys but also become a much more even team next year, which is what is important for Duals. So while I'm not sure we'll be better in March next year, I am sure we'll be a much better dual team.

 

[buf87]

Losing Reader next year is the only part that really hurt as far as duals, since we forfeited alot of Drouins matches. Time will tell at nationals, Drouin alway gives us a chance to win. Next year, I'm worried about the weight cuts, Moreno to 157, Weatherman to 149, and Ward to 184. We've seen what the long season does to a guy when they are cutting alot of weights (ie Carr - looked good to start season). Also worried about depth and injuries, mainly Gadsen at 197, if Ward is cutting to 184 and Gadsen gets hurt, tough to make Ward competetive at 197. Also Hwt, Gibson not making grades, is he going to be here next year?

Finch will make noise at 125, Weatherman will be vastly improved at 149 (if this is true), Moreno at 157 will be very good, if he can handle the cut, Soreneson at 165 watch out, Spangler at 174 should be good if the move up doesn't make him undersized.

133 and 141 - don't know if Goettl is ready for 141.

Then we have Cozart and Mayfield. Would be surprised if Mayfield doesn't make the lineup somewhere. He would win alot of matches, I think.

As far as this season, I don't think it would have been as frustrating if we had Drouin. UNI wouldn't have been so close and the losses wouldn't have been so lopsided. Injuries and depth are keys to the future.

 

[Wesley]

Sop the concensus is wrestling was probably better than our perennial 15 win bball team?

 

[brett108]

Losing Reader next year is the only part that really hurt as far as duals, since we forfeited alot of Drouins matches. Time will tell at nationals, Drouin alway gives us a chance to win. Next year, I'm worried about the weight cuts, Moreno to 157, Weatherman to 149, and Ward to 184. We've seen what the long season does to a guy when they are cutting alot of weights (ie Carr - looked good to start season). Also worried about depth and injuries, mainly Gadsen at 197, if Ward is cutting to 184 and Gadsen gets hurt, tough to make Ward competetive at 197. Also Hwt, Gibson not making grades, is he going to be here next year?

Finch will make noise at 125, Weatherman will be vastly improved at 149 (if this is true), Moreno at 157 will be very good, if he can handle the cut, Soreneson at 165 watch out, Spangler at 174 should be good if the move up doesn't make him undersized.

133 and 141 - don't know if Goettl is ready for 141.

Then we have Cozart and Mayfield. Would be surprised if Mayfield doesn't make the lineup somewhere. He would win alot of matches, I think.

As far as this season, I don't think it would have been as frustrating if we had Drouin. UNI wouldn't have been so close and the losses wouldn't have been so lopsided. Injuries and depth are keys to the future.

Cozart was a terrific recruit. He is kind of buried at the weight he came in though. I would like Weatherman down at 149, but that means Mayfield and Cozart do not have a home. I don't think Mayfield can move down, he is an awfully large 149, but Cozart might go to 149, or possibly 157. We will have to see how this works out.

the one thing I can say is there is goign to be a lot of competition for these top spots, and I expect that we will see better wrestlingat all our weights next year.

 

[Judoka]

Weatherman will be vastly improved at 149 (if this is true), Moreno at 157 will be very good, if he can handle the cut.

Just making a guess there. Jackson has said that Moreno will be at 157, so I have to think that Weatherman will try to go 149 to stay in the line-up. Plus he seemed undersized at 157, so it should be do-able. We probably won't know for a while though.

What I'd love would be Mayfield/Weatherman/Moreno/Sorenson/Spangler for our middleweights next year. I don't know if those cuts are do-able for Mayfield and Weatherman, but I'd be really excited about that line-up.

 

[ca4cy]

Yeah, it was a tough year. But to those who don't follow wrestling (since we had a thread asking if the sky was falling after every loss), I think it is important to note that those losses were to teams ranked 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 14, and 18 in the latest rankings, and we also had wins over American, which is ranked 8th, and Arizona State, which is ranked 12th. Losing Drioun for a month also made a few of the dual scores look a lot more ugly than they should have been.

We just weren't a good dual team this year. Too many holes. At the start of the year we had huge holes at 125, 133, 157, and 184. Weatherman and Shafer definetly became a lot more competitive as the year went on, but still weren't dependable winners. Cash and Jones just aren't ready for the Big XII. Since one of them will likely still be in the line-up next year at 133, hopefully they improve greatly.

Looking ahead to next year, we lose Drioun, Carr, and Ward. Carr and Mayfield seem to be at about the same level so that won't be a big loss (plus I'd love to see Weatherman down at 149 anyways), but losing Drioun and Reader will be big for points. Reader was always good for at least 4 (and often more), and Drioun was very solid.

However, I think we'll be a greatly improved dual team next year. We lose a few studs, but we also get some great freshman coming in to plug those holes in guys like Finch and Moreno. Plus Weatherman and Shafer should be greatly improved with this year behind them and another summer/fall under Jackson (assuming Shafer can beat out Gadson, that is). Sorenson, Spangler, and Ward should all be good for a lot of points, and hopefully Simonson can put on a few more pounds of muscle and win us some more matches.

Overall, we lose some great guys but also become a much more even team next year, which is what is important for Duals. So while I'm not sure we'll be better in March next year, I am sure we'll be a much better dual team.

I don't think Shafer will be at the same weight as Gadson and even if he was, I don't see him beating him. From what I've heard, Gadson will be our '97 pounder next year and Ward will have to go back to '84 if he wants to see the mat.

I do agree that will should be a better dual team next year. If the cuts can be made that have been talked about (Weatherman to '49, Moreno to '57, Ward to '84) it should make us better, along with the seasoning of another year in the room for these guys.

As far as this season goes, I had managed to keep my chin up pretty well until Nebraska. We shouldn't have lost that dual. Ward and Jones need to find a way to win their matches. A winning dual season was on the line and it didn't seem to make too much difference to some of the guys. That was very disappointing for me.

 

[1100011CS]

Sop the concensus is wrestling was probably better than our perennial 15 win bball team?

Our worse year in wrestling will almost always be better than our best year in BB. I sometimes forget that myself.

 

[Judoka]

Gadson has been wrestling at 184 all year, why all the talk that he'd move to 197?

Gadson/Ward at 184/197 next year and then Gadson/Shafer the year after seems the most obvious line-up to me.

 

[brett108]

Just making a guess there. Jackson has said that Moreno will be at 157, so I have to think that Weatherman will try to go 149 to stay in the line-up. Plus he seemed undersized at 157, so it should be do-able. We probably won't know for a while though.

What I'd love would be Mayfield/Weatherman/Moreno/Sorenson/Spangler for our middleweights next year. I don't know if those cuts are do-able for Mayfield and Weatherman, but I'd be really excited about that line-up.

Weatherman wrestled in HS at 152 correct? With a college level nutirtion program he should be able to make it, at which point I am expecting big things from him. If Moreno can make 157, that would be a fantastic setup. Moreno did appear to have some excess weight on him in HS. I would expect him to be a big, tough 157 pounder next year.

Hopefully in two years Nik Pena will be able to fill the other hole at the low weights, and the team will be strong in all categories. It seems like we will need to start looking at the upper weights sooner rather than later though. I hoped Jackson could make good inroads with the big guys, being he is a big guy himself with tons of great international experience, but that hasn't been the case so far. Sanderson pretty much gets whatever upper weight kid he makes a phone call too. I hate the fact that the best wrestler ever to wear an ISU singlet is now the enemy.

 

[brett108]

Gadson has been wrestling at 184 all year, why all the talk that he'd move to 197?

Gadson/Ward at 184/197 next year and then Gadson/Shafer the year after seems the most obvious line-up to me.

I believe someone posted that his father said he would be at 197 next year. I think this makes sense based on frames. Gadsen has a much longer frame to put on good weight when you compare him to Ward.

 

[buf87]

I believe someone posted that his father said he would be at 197 next year. I think this makes sense based on frames. Gadsen has a much longer frame to put on good weight when you compare him to Ward.

The last Gadsen wrestled was the 1st or 2nd open tourney, but I've heard the same Gadsen at 197. I think alot of this got decided from the poor energy level from Ward at 197. I thought he would destroy people at 197 and he isn't wrestling any better than at 184 when I thought he might be having weight problems. Not saying that might not change if Ward lights a fire and does some big things at Big 12 and Nationals.

 

[WrestlingWatch]

It's one thing to want the wrestlers to drop weight classes, but then you will also want them to have high energy levels.....doesn't work that way. Then there are the injuries that occur to the same kids over and over again. Some kids just can't stay healthy.

Ward and Gadsen are both huge. I wouldn't count Ward out if he and Gadsen had to wrestle off. He has experience on his side. Shafer is a big 184 lb strong kid with a lot of heart and I wouldn't count him out either. He isn't sucking weight, which might make a difference in a wrestle off. You just never know.

Then you add making grades to the mix....3 or 4 of the wrestlers always have trouble with keeping their grades up.

Way too early to tell imo.