I've seen some disappointment in the board based on results and I gotta say I'm pretty proud of the guys. Full disclosure, I watched most of Friday's matches, but was only able to catch 1st/3rd matches tonight. The rest is from a review of the brackets.
125 - Seeded 2nd - Finished 5th: Slightly disappointing finish. The Semi's loss was a tossup. Loss in the Conso-semis was pretty bad, but bounced back for a good win in the 5th place match.
133 - Unseeded - Finished 4th. Very impressive finish. Hung in there with the eventual champ and then made a huge run through the backside. Even the loss in the 3rd place match was because of one move. I'm still adjusting to this "neutral danger' rule. Seems sometimes they only award a TD and sometimes they award TD + back. Todd gave up 6 on a fluke scramble at the end of the first and wasn't able to overcome it.
141 - Seeded 6 - Finished 4th. Great tournament for Ian. McKee is the real deal and a tough matchup. Really impressed he was able to handle Red. Demas overpowered him in the 3rd place match. I know he's beaten Dom before, but will need a new strategy if it's to ever happen again.
149 - Seeded 2 - Finished 6th. Was on pace to finish to seed or better if not for the injury. Even with, really impressed he toughed it out to get to the Semis before defaulting. Here's to hoping it's not that serious. The good news is Leisure is probably one of our best backups. It will be a step down from Degen for sure, but not as much as some other weights (if necessary).
157 - Seeded 3 - Finished 3. David wrested well. He's never going to be Cael who dominated everyone. Hopefully, by his Jr/Sr year he will be a Nolf, but remember even then Nolf had some close matches (Hidlay). Deakin is on a tear and may be a darkhorse for the Hodge trophy. Hopefully, David can close the gap by Nationals.
165 - Unseeded - DNP - Chase had a decent showing against #3 Fogerty but couldn't finish when he got in on his shots. Didn't see his backside match, so no idea what happened there, but it wasn't pretty. I have a feeling Chase will keep improving and peak at the end of the year like last.
174 - Seeded 12 - DNP (same thing) - Coleman had a huge win on the front side over #5 Skatzka who ended up 4th (should have been 3rd). Then ran into AValencia who is wrestling well and finally had a tossup match with Hastings in which he got killed. So high and low I guess.
184 - Seeded 8 - DNP - Sam was a victim of seeding here, which is his own fault. He would not have been seeded 8th without the loss to Brands. That said, getting Zahid and then Darmaset on the backside was unfortunate. Darmaset will be a bad matchup for Sam forever due to height difference.
197 - Unseeded - DNP - It looks to me like Joel is outhorsed at 197. He had some decent shots but just got rolled over. At this point, I wonder if Duggan wouldn't be a better option physical-wise until Joel can grow into the weight.
285 - Seeded 7th - Finished 4th - Fantastic tournament for Gannon! Only losses were to #2 seed Orndorff twice and he closed the gap in the 3rd place match. I do think Orndorff is a bit overratted and Gannon can beat him, but nontheless, good tourny for GG.
Overall, I'm very happy and hope we can build off this. Hope Degen is not out too long and Austin can get back in the lineup!
ps - thinking of going to watch the Hawks tomorrow at Princeton. I'm curious to see what Tavernhawk does in an Ivy League town. Any guesses?