Cliff Keen Invitational
- Thread starter stuclone
- Start date
Yonger up 5-0 with a escape, stall point and a takedown
Yonger wins 5-3 and rounds out the evening with 4 titles for the clones
Carroll did a whole lot of nothing that match, yet somehow had the same amount of stall points given up as Yonger
I still don’t understand how CC didn’t have one stall call, Yonger pressed him the match besides the last 30 seconds.
Would love to see Yonger be able to finish those late period rides.
I guess we'll see as the season goes on, but I think the only reason CC had anything left to fight for escapes at all was the BS brick WYO threw. That's not to say Yonger still shouldn't be better at finishing those end of period rides. It cost him the Major Dec in the IA dual too.
Heck of a tournament. Been a really good week for ISU wrestling. Excited to see how we progress through the rest of the season.
Tournament Grades:
125: B-. No shame in losing to Strickenberger or Provo, both are AA candidates. Stevo got bonus points in his other matches, but still needs to show he has some offense for the AA level guys at 125. Still, as a 1 seed, I can’t give Stevo better than a B- with a 4th place finish. He will still be right there in March as an AA contender.
133: A. Really wish we could’ve seen Evan vs Larkin, but guess we’ll have to wait until January. I thought he started a bit slow in his semi match today (expected with the cut), but he settled down and wrestled really well. 3 weigh ins down at 133 and he’s looked good in every match so far. Stay healthy and he’s right there with the top guys at 133.
141: A. Ech is just solid, was never really challenged this tournament. His mat wrestling has improved and he’s proven he can ride guys now which makes him even more dangerous. Ech is one of the best wrestlers at 141, and will be curious to see if he’s closed the gap at all with Mendez when we next see him in Nashville.
149: B. Great win over Valencia for Jacob, but then couldn’t finish in his semifinal match and it looks like he hurt his knee in that match. Still showed great effort even after the knee injury and never gave up. Hopefully it’s nothing too major, but I just have a feeling we’ll be seeing Paniro the rest of December. Great having this kind of depth!
157: A. Really wish we could’ve seen Vinny vs Watters, but he looked great up to the finals getting bonus and then winning against Cardenas. Vinny might be my surprise of the season so far. I knew he was good, but now I think he’s good enough to potentially be wrestling Saturday night in March. Even if he doesn’t get there, he’s proven he’s a high AA contender and also has the chance to be a bonus point machine in March.
165: B+. Riggins overall has a good tournament and wrestled hard. His only losses were to the 15th ranked guy and he got bonus points in other matches. Really wish we could’ve seen Euton against some of this competition, but it’s nice having depth at this weight.
174: C-. Not sure if it was a weight cut issue or if he wasn’t feeling well, but that first match yesterday was not good. He bounced back nicely with a solid win and then got caught against Beau Mant. I thought Mant would be a tough match for MJ, but I’m not too worried about him. Big opportunity for a bounce back for MJ in a couple of weeks.
184: C+. That kid that Dean lost to in the semis ended up being much better than I thought he was. However, I still need to see more offense from Dean. He is extremely athletic, hopefully the coaches can find a go to move for him over the next couple of months. If not, his ceiling is probably R16.
197: A. Really solid tournament from Rocky. Rademacher is a guy that I could see wrestling in the semis or even finals at NCAAs. You could tell Rocky was gassed and I’m assuming part of it was a tough cut (he is a massive 197). Good to feel that now before we get to March. Rocky will be a national title contender with his extremely stingy defense and solid attacks with great mat wrestling.
Hwt: A. Yonger wrestled really well and also was never really challenged. Carroll did nothing in the finals, and if Yonger finished the shot in the 1st, I think he breaks Carroll and majors him. The odd breaks also helped keep Carroll in the match. Regardless, I am starting to feel good about having back to back finalists at NCAAs with Rocky and Yonger
Team: B-. After the Iowa Dual, this just kind of felt like a “meh” performance (which is somewhat expected). The effort was there from everyone, just a couple of matches that we dropped that I had hoped we’d win. Even with what felt like a meh performance, Iowa State won the tournament running away (with a couple of other top 10 teams there). This team is really good and will be right there with the other top teams fighting for 2nd in Cleveland.
125: B-. No shame in losing to Strickenberger or Provo, both are AA candidates. Stevo got bonus points in his other matches, but still needs to show he has some offense for the AA level guys at 125. Still, as a 1 seed, I can’t give Stevo better than a B- with a 4th place finish. He will still be right there in March as an AA contender.
133: A. Really wish we could’ve seen Evan vs Larkin, but guess we’ll have to wait until January. I thought he started a bit slow in his semi match today (expected with the cut), but he settled down and wrestled really well. 3 weigh ins down at 133 and he’s looked good in every match so far. Stay healthy and he’s right there with the top guys at 133.
141: A. Ech is just solid, was never really challenged this tournament. His mat wrestling has improved and he’s proven he can ride guys now which makes him even more dangerous. Ech is one of the best wrestlers at 141, and will be curious to see if he’s closed the gap at all with Mendez when we next see him in Nashville.
149: B. Great win over Valencia for Jacob, but then couldn’t finish in his semifinal match and it looks like he hurt his knee in that match. Still showed great effort even after the knee injury and never gave up. Hopefully it’s nothing too major, but I just have a feeling we’ll be seeing Paniro the rest of December. Great having this kind of depth!
157: A. Really wish we could’ve seen Vinny vs Watters, but he looked great up to the finals getting bonus and then winning against Cardenas. Vinny might be my surprise of the season so far. I knew he was good, but now I think he’s good enough to potentially be wrestling Saturday night in March. Even if he doesn’t get there, he’s proven he’s a high AA contender and also has the chance to be a bonus point machine in March.
165: B+. Riggins overall has a good tournament and wrestled hard. His only losses were to the 15th ranked guy and he got bonus points in other matches. Really wish we could’ve seen Euton against some of this competition, but it’s nice having depth at this weight.
174: C-. Not sure if it was a weight cut issue or if he wasn’t feeling well, but that first match yesterday was not good. He bounced back nicely with a solid win and then got caught against Beau Mant. I thought Mant would be a tough match for MJ, but I’m not too worried about him. Big opportunity for a bounce back for MJ in a couple of weeks.
184: C+. That kid that Dean lost to in the semis ended up being much better than I thought he was. However, I still need to see more offense from Dean. He is extremely athletic, hopefully the coaches can find a go to move for him over the next couple of months. If not, his ceiling is probably R16.
197: A. Really solid tournament from Rocky. Rademacher is a guy that I could see wrestling in the semis or even finals at NCAAs. You could tell Rocky was gassed and I’m assuming part of it was a tough cut (he is a massive 197). Good to feel that now before we get to March. Rocky will be a national title contender with his extremely stingy defense and solid attacks with great mat wrestling.
Hwt: A. Yonger wrestled really well and also was never really challenged. Carroll did nothing in the finals, and if Yonger finished the shot in the 1st, I think he breaks Carroll and majors him. The odd breaks also helped keep Carroll in the match. Regardless, I am starting to feel good about having back to back finalists at NCAAs with Rocky and Yonger
Team: B-. After the Iowa Dual, this just kind of felt like a “meh” performance (which is somewhat expected). The effort was there from everyone, just a couple of matches that we dropped that I had hoped we’d win. Even with what felt like a meh performance, Iowa State won the tournament running away (with a couple of other top 10 teams there). This team is really good and will be right there with the other top teams fighting for 2nd in Cleveland.
What are you mad about? The guys that aren’t injured are wrestling. It’s simple. There’s no conspiracy or protecting seeds.
Who said I was mad? I simply said in my reply that as a “fan” I would love to see these matchups. I understand as a coach that if they aren’t 100% don’t send them out because it can only worsen.
