West Virginia 1/8

[JM4CY]

149- A+. Might be the best Paniro has looked as an Iowa State wrestler as far as being the aggressor the entire match and not sitting back waiting to counter the other guys moves or wait for a last second takedown to win the match. Hillegas was a pretty highly ranked recruit out of high school and is a solid wrestler and Paniro dominated the entire match. This version of Paniro can wrestle on Saturday night in Philly, it just comes down to consistency with him.

Paniro's always had that ceiling and a lot have busted his balls about it because you don't always see it. If the hair on fire version of PJ is out, I totally agree he can be deep into the good side of the bracket.

 

[jcordova8]

I was honestly disappointed in the West Virginia fanbase. I think they have a lot of good guys on that team and some damn good recruits and the crowd was soo bad. Very disappointing for the wrestlers like Payton Hall

The crowds the state of Iowa attracts for their wrestling programs is very much not common across the country. With the exception of like OSU and Penn State, wrestling doesn't draw large crowds so I wouldn't even let this be a factor in any scenario tbh.

 

[Cyclonewrestlingfan2022]

The crowds the state of Iowa attracts for their wrestling programs is very much not common across the country. With the exception of like OSU and Penn State, wrestling doesn't draw large crowds so I wouldn't even let this be a factor in any scenario tbh.

Not disputing that at all. Idk how many people were there last night but it didn’t look like over a thousand people. That’s why I just feel bad for these wrestlers last night because they are to good not to have more people watching.

 

[CyDegen]

Not disputing that at all. Idk how many people were there last night but it didn’t look like over a thousand people. That’s why I just feel bad for these wrestlers last night because they are to good not to have more people watching.

There wasn't more than 300

 

[SouthJerseyCy]

Grades:
125- C. Strickenberger is a good wrestler, but that is a match Kysen has to win. I thought he wrestled hard for 6:58 of the match and was in on some good shots, just couldn't finish. The last 10 seconds of the match were just frustrating and Kysen trying to do too much and then giving up with 2 seconds left. Kysen will qualify for nationals, but is probably a 1-2 or 2-2 best case in Philly.

133- A. Competition wasn't great, but it was extremely encouraging to see Evan wrestle like he did first match right off the scale. I thought the movement and energy from Evan might have been the best I've seen from him this year. I thought I read or heard from Dresser that he was dealing with an illness the first half of the year that might've been impacting his energy, and as he gets healthier, he will be dangerous in March. AA contender in Philly.

141- B. I thought Jacob wrestled a solid match and was the aggressor most of the match. Got JO'd for a takedown in the 1st, but battled back for a couple of his own. Needs to wrestle smarter the last 20 seconds, but I thought he was clearly the better wrestler than Titus (who was ranked top 15 for most of the year last year). If Ech can get healthy and go 141, he has a higher ceiling than Jacob, but I am fine if we roll with Jacob the rest of the year. I think Jacob's ceiling is low AA to BR in Philly.

149- A+. Might be the best Paniro has looked as an Iowa State wrestler as far as being the aggressor the entire match and not sitting back waiting to counter the other guys moves or wait for a last second takedown to win the match. Hillegas was a pretty highly ranked recruit out of high school and is a solid wrestler and Paniro dominated the entire match. This version of Paniro can wrestle on Saturday night in Philly, it just comes down to consistency with him.

157- B. I know Cody got the pin, but that was a really sloppy 1st period. He will always wrestle hard, now we need to have him wrestle smarter. I think as he gets more matches this year, he will continue to improve. To me, Cody's ceiling in March is probably 3rd place, but I expect him to improve on last years performance and at least be wrestling Friday Night in the BR.

165- C+. The 2nd period was promising from Riggins as he got in on Hall's legs multiple times. I am still not expecting much here, but hoping Aiden proves me wrong with the weight change. He still makes dumb mistakes during the match, but he will always give you 100%.

174- D. Conley is a fine wrestler, but that was a disappointing match from MJ. He looked small and got horsed around a bit, and if you are going to just try to launch the guy, being small will not work. I hope MJ bounces back this weekend and attacks the legs- look for that high-C, get in on single legs, just get something going from neutral. Weight mismanagement for MJ is probably my biggest frustration from this season, but we will see how he finishes the season. Ceiling is probably low AA in March (MJ is still a very talented wrestler), floor is not even qualifying and being in Philly. This weight could end up being the difference between being top 10 at NCAAs and struggling to crack top 15.

184- A-. Really solid match from Evan against a pretty good wrestler from WVU. Evan always seems to be in solid position and he's opening up more than his UVU days. I think there is still another gear there and he can separate himself further to put him squarely in the AA conversation. 184 is tough this year, but I think Evan's ceiling is a 5-6th place finish, floor is R16. Need him to be on the attack and get bonus for us in March.

197- D-. No comment on that effort. This weight overall has been the most disappointing this year. Hopefully when Carroll gets back in the lineup, we see a new Christian that is motivated and hungry to dominate. If we don't get that version of Carroll in the lineup, I doubt we see this weight in Philly.

Hwt- D+. Wolfgram is a fine wrestler, but Herrera should not have lost that match. He made a freshman mistake at the end of the 2nd period and completely gassed in the 3rd. This might be a harsh grade for a freshman, but I have high expectations for Daniel and he should not be gassing like that. Weight cutting certainly isn't an excuse. If Yonger is out for the year, ceiling for Daniel is probably 1-2 in March, but not qualifying is also a strong possibility. Hopefully we keep seeing improvements here- Daniel has the talent and skill, need to see smarter wrestling and better conditioning.

Overall, this team is probably going to be a better tournament team than dual team this year. Just massive holes at 165 and 197 right now and disappointing wrestling from 174 and Hwt. I still have very high hopes for the Frost brothers, Paniro, Cody, and Bockman. MJ has time to turn the season around, but I am nervous about how small he looks. Kysen is what he is- a good wrestler, but won't challenge for AA. Herrera is a true freshman and should get invaluable experience this year. Need to see more out of 165 and 197. No matter what, I'll be there cheering the team on and buying Blood Round from West O to support them.

I was going to write almost exactly this, but you saved me the time. 125 keeps making freshman mistakes as a 5th year senior. I also hope Dresser is right that MJ just needs more reps. I don't know what to do about 165/174 but it would be nice to solidify ONE of those weights. Euton's injury might hurt most of all team-wise.

 

[jcordova8]

Not disputing that at all. Idk how many people were there last night but it didn’t look like over a thousand people. That’s why I just feel bad for these wrestlers last night because they are to good not to have more people watching.

I remember I had this exact feeling when watching the stream for an ASU dual!

 

[Mead For My Horses]

I remember I had this exact feeling when watching the stream for an ASU dual!

We had the 23-24 numbers on on the board here when they came out and I think ISU was #3 in attendance and we'd still like more fans at Hilton. Some of the bigger programs have shockingly low live attendance. Wrestling truly is a niche sport but I love our fanbase's interest & passion in our team.

 

[Mead For My Horses]

Grades:
125- C. Strickenberger is a good wrestler, but that is a match Kysen has to win. I thought he wrestled hard for 6:58 of the match and was in on some good shots, just couldn't finish. The last 10 seconds of the match were just frustrating and Kysen trying to do too much and then giving up with 2 seconds left. Kysen will qualify for nationals, but is probably a 1-2 or 2-2 best case in Philly.

133- A. Competition wasn't great, but it was extremely encouraging to see Evan wrestle like he did first match right off the scale. I thought the movement and energy from Evan might have been the best I've seen from him this year. I thought I read or heard from Dresser that he was dealing with an illness the first half of the year that might've been impacting his energy, and as he gets healthier, he will be dangerous in March. AA contender in Philly.

141- B. I thought Jacob wrestled a solid match and was the aggressor most of the match. Got JO'd for a takedown in the 1st, but battled back for a couple of his own. Needs to wrestle smarter the last 20 seconds, but I thought he was clearly the better wrestler than Titus (who was ranked top 15 for most of the year last year). If Ech can get healthy and go 141, he has a higher ceiling than Jacob, but I am fine if we roll with Jacob the rest of the year. I think Jacob's ceiling is low AA to BR in Philly.

149- A+. Might be the best Paniro has looked as an Iowa State wrestler as far as being the aggressor the entire match and not sitting back waiting to counter the other guys moves or wait for a last second takedown to win the match. Hillegas was a pretty highly ranked recruit out of high school and is a solid wrestler and Paniro dominated the entire match. This version of Paniro can wrestle on Saturday night in Philly, it just comes down to consistency with him.

157- B. I know Cody got the pin, but that was a really sloppy 1st period. He will always wrestle hard, now we need to have him wrestle smarter. I think as he gets more matches this year, he will continue to improve. To me, Cody's ceiling in March is probably 3rd place, but I expect him to improve on last years performance and at least be wrestling Friday Night in the BR.

165- C+. The 2nd period was promising from Riggins as he got in on Hall's legs multiple times. I am still not expecting much here, but hoping Aiden proves me wrong with the weight change. He still makes dumb mistakes during the match, but he will always give you 100%.

174- D. Conley is a fine wrestler, but that was a disappointing match from MJ. He looked small and got horsed around a bit, and if you are going to just try to launch the guy, being small will not work. I hope MJ bounces back this weekend and attacks the legs- look for that high-C, get in on single legs, just get something going from neutral. Weight mismanagement for MJ is probably my biggest frustration from this season, but we will see how he finishes the season. Ceiling is probably low AA in March (MJ is still a very talented wrestler), floor is not even qualifying and being in Philly. This weight could end up being the difference between being top 10 at NCAAs and struggling to crack top 15.

184- A-. Really solid match from Evan against a pretty good wrestler from WVU. Evan always seems to be in solid position and he's opening up more than his UVU days. I think there is still another gear there and he can separate himself further to put him squarely in the AA conversation. 184 is tough this year, but I think Evan's ceiling is a 5-6th place finish, floor is R16. Need him to be on the attack and get bonus for us in March.

197- D-. No comment on that effort. This weight overall has been the most disappointing this year. Hopefully when Carroll gets back in the lineup, we see a new Christian that is motivated and hungry to dominate. If we don't get that version of Carroll in the lineup, I doubt we see this weight in Philly.

Hwt- D+. Wolfgram is a fine wrestler, but Herrera should not have lost that match. He made a freshman mistake at the end of the 2nd period and completely gassed in the 3rd. This might be a harsh grade for a freshman, but I have high expectations for Daniel and he should not be gassing like that. Weight cutting certainly isn't an excuse. If Yonger is out for the year, ceiling for Daniel is probably 1-2 in March, but not qualifying is also a strong possibility. Hopefully we keep seeing improvements here- Daniel has the talent and skill, need to see smarter wrestling and better conditioning.

Overall, this team is probably going to be a better tournament team than dual team this year. Just massive holes at 165 and 197 right now and disappointing wrestling from 174 and Hwt. I still have very high hopes for the Frost brothers, Paniro, Cody, and Bockman. MJ has time to turn the season around, but I am nervous about how small he looks. Kysen is what he is- a good wrestler, but won't challenge for AA. Herrera is a true freshman and should get invaluable experience this year. Need to see more out of 165 and 197. No matter what, I'll be there cheering the team on and buying Blood Round from West O to support them.

Great analysis. Spot on. Swapping MJ & Riggins seems risky given that MJ looked pretty good his first couple times out at the smaller weight, but I'll give KJ & staff the benefit of the doubt on this. I hope Riggins can get some quality wins between now and Big 12s.

 

[Cyclonewrestlingfan2022]

I remember I had this exact feeling when watching the stream for an ASU dual!

Yep Arizona state is a perfect example!

 

[Cyclonewrestlingfan2022]

We had the 23-24 numbers on on the board here when they came out and I think ISU was #3 in attendance and we'd still like more fans at Hilton. Some of the bigger programs have shockingly low live attendance. Wrestling truly is a niche sport but I love our fanbase's interest & passion in our team.

I think what would be awesome is we start filling the upper deck more! The wrestling in Iowa is just different! KD brought the mojo back and I love it. As someone who’s a young fan who don’t remember any of the glory days

 

[SouthJerseyCy]

Great analysis. Spot on. Swapping MJ & Riggins seems risky given that MJ looked pretty good his first couple times out at the smaller weight, but I'll give KJ & staff the benefit of the doubt on this. I hope Riggins can get some quality wins between now and Big 12s.

KJ? Don't give me flashbacks man! Still recovering...

 

[jkbuff98]

This surprised me

 

[Nolaeer]

WVU is cursed! 2 best players in their sport.

First Tucker Devries, now this:

Big 12 Champion Ty Watters to Miss Rest of WVU Wrestling Season

On the heels of a conference loss, the WVU wrestling team learns they will be without a reigning Big 12 champion for the rest of the season. West Virginia announced sophomore Ty Watters will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to an injury. “We’re really disappointed for Ty,” said WVU...

wvsportsnow.com

 

[CloneLawman]

WVU is cursed! 2 best players in their sport.

First Tucker Devries, now this:

Big 12 Champion Ty Watters to Miss Rest of WVU Wrestling Season

On the heels of a conference loss, the WVU wrestling team learns they will be without a reigning Big 12 champion for the rest of the season. West Virginia announced sophomore Ty Watters will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to an injury. “We’re really disappointed for Ty,” said WVU...

wvsportsnow.com

The Curse of the Huggins.

 

[CyGold]

WVU is cursed! 2 best players in their sport.

First Tucker Devries, now this:

Big 12 Champion Ty Watters to Miss Rest of WVU Wrestling Season

On the heels of a conference loss, the WVU wrestling team learns they will be without a reigning Big 12 champion for the rest of the season. West Virginia announced sophomore Ty Watters will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to an injury. “We’re really disappointed for Ty,” said WVU...

wvsportsnow.com

Congrats on your team and coaches. I'm impressed with the direction your team is trending and think your coach is legit.

 

[matclone]

Congrats on your team and coaches. I'm impressed with the direction your team is trending and think your coach is legit.

I figured once they hired Flynn, that it would be a team to reckon with. He had a lot of success with his prior school (Edinboro).