It's true that you typically don't see late career guys make huge jumps, but there are exceptions. Nate Jackson went from a couple time AA (5th/8th) to being one of the top 92kg wrestlers in the world. Mike Macc went from not being able to crack the lineup, to a R12 as a Jr, to an NCAA champ. There are surely other examples. This new transfer portal era will be interesting to follow from a wrestler development standpoint. We certainly saw a huge jump from Lugo and Desanto when they came to Iowa.
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- Thread starter Sdwrestler_20
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They're still trying to reattach Jesse Vasquez's arm after that WNO match.
I don't think he disagrees. think his point/concern is that their ceiling does not appear to be very high. Best case, likely competing for a spot at the bottom of the podium in either case.
I'd like to believe this is a truism but I'm just not sure that it is. The logic is there, but it isn't like a kid like Rathjen wasn't putting a lot of time into wrestling in the offseason. He totally was.
Mason Parris could be a solid blueprint to follow. Rathjen is athletic as heck, if he dedicated himself (quits the extra curricular activities) I honestly believe good things are in store for him. Anytime an athlete steps on a wrestling mat and decides they want to be good, they usually are.
I agree he’s spent time on wrestling in the past. Time and dedication are two different things. The spot is there for the taking. Would you be surprised if he gets it? I wouldn’t.
This. I absolutely expected Woods to be a champ last year by mid season if he stayed healthy.
There's "good athlete" (which maybe Rathjen is) and then there's "could be a D1 starter in two sports" like Mason Parris.
The football thing is overblown. We've never seen overwhelming athletic ability display itself on the mat for Rathjen. He's not particularly fast or quick. He looks exactly like every other Sebolt kid. Strong fundamentals and can't scramble.
And he should have been. He was better than Alirez. Just made a brutal mistake when the match was basically in hand. Alirez would have had to take him down twice to win if he had just let go of the body lock.
With that said, if he can figure out how to finish his high crotch, Rathjen can be pretty good. He does a lot of things really well.
I agree. Real was a very questionable call away from be a NCAA Champ - I think he did OK in the room.
That’s Rathjen beating Cody Chittum. I’d say his re-attacks are pretty damn quick. He got bullied a bit in the front head pinch position by Chittum but everyone does. There’s also some decent scrambling. I will admit that Caleb needs to get better at scrambling to score, but he’s okay at scrambling to a stalemate. He’s a better athlete than we’ve had at 149 for the past 5 years. Imo.
The main difference is that Mason Parris was 6’2 220 his senior year of highschool and Rathjen will attempt to be a 149lber for Iowa this year. Let’s be honest here about Mason Paris’s football prospects. He had two offers, mild interest from both schools and the school that was the highest on him was Ball st. That’s certainly nothing to laugh at, but I think the comparison I was attempting to make is closer than you’d think.
I think Caleb has a decently high ceiling. It’s up to him to get there.
He is going to be a bonus point machine this year for the Hawks. I don't think he loses another college match.
There is nothing in this video that screams elite athlete.
If you seriously think Rathjen is the same level athlete as Mason Parris, you're delusional.
Not elite but he is athletic. My point was that Mason isn’t elite either athletically. He’s certainly athletic but he and kerk and Hendrickson are all around the same level. Gable….he’s elite.
Mason Paris just won a world bronze medal and is an NCAA champ multi time AA and had D1 offers Rathjen is trying to beat out an NCAA qualifier. These two things are not the same.
And all three of those guys are significantly more athletic than anybody else at their weight. Rathjen is within the normal range of athleticism for his weight.
Parris is from my neck of the woods. He came into college EXTREMELY raw. He was heavily reliant on a fireman's dump. At heavyweight. After a few months in the Michigan room he was making huge jumps. After a couple years, he was a different guy.
Rathjen is pretty polished. He wrestled a ton out of season in high school. He trained at one of the top clubs in the country. It's just not a comparable situation.
And tell me where I compared their wrestling accolades?
I’m saying Rathjen is athletic, and that he was a multisport athlete…just like, wait for it, Mason Parris. In my original post I said that it wouldn’t surprise me to see a jump from him and win the 149 spot.
It seems as though I may be higher on him than most of this board. That’s okay.
Agree to disagree. I say Caleb wins the 149 spot and shows improvement. I’ll go as far as to say I can see him being a low AA to an r12 guy. What say you?
Paris was only the example I used to say Rathjen might have a jump in him. I didn’t compare their wrestling achievements, because that is not a comparison.
Well…I’d say his wrestling accolades would suggest he’s a better……Atholete. He was also a track runner and I believe was not slow. Which some might say suggest a high level of athleticism and more so for a large human.
I'm in agreement with you. I too think Rathjen is athletic enough to be called "athletic." Unfortunately, all it takes is for one comment to be taken out of context and you spend time trying to defend your original opinion.
It’s all good. Life in the Cesspool moves on. I’m just happy to be talking wrestling. Apparently the comparison wasn’t a good one. Haha.
And I and others are pointing out that there are tons of "athletic" wrestlers who don't make jumps and that using a clear elite athlete in Parris as a model doesn't work. That is applicable to someone like Kueter.
I don't think he will be the starter. I'd go:
1a/1b) VV/Siebrecht
2) Rathjen
Wildcard: If Ferrari gets into school, is in shape, and at 149.
We'll see.
Biggest separation was one of them was training to make a Serbian world team in the off season and the other was getting an OWI and partying. How many alcohol related arrests does that make for him? 2 or 3?
I thought Rathjen finished 3rd at the U23’s this summer, only loss to Ed Scott? Wasn’t his trouble, public intox and fake Id at a teammates bachelor party?
They are both 3rd year guys now. I didn't mention him because the original poster didn't.
Yeah I’m sure he was so busy being drunk during every waking hour he didn’t wrestle at all.
BTW, I don’t think anyone mentioned that Parris was the #3 recruit in the entire class his senior year. Not a good comparison.
It always blew my mind that they wrestled him as a true freshman. It was blatantly obvious he was going to be a force, just needed more time.
He'd probably have ended up a 2x champ if they did.
His father played football at Ball St and I think that was the interest there. He was civil engineering major where Michigan has a good program.
I’d like to know what Ferrari weighs right now. He barely has any body fat.
The question nobody is asking is; Can Brody Grothus make 149? If so, the spot is his, no doubt.
I should have read more of this thread before responding, but here goes. Seems like a lot of folks on here are pretty high on Victor Voinovich, which led me to believe that Cobe was on the outside looking in, especially with both VV and the NDSU boys coming to Iowa. That said, while I love Cobe's funk (it's amazing), his defense was very suspect at times and he also had a tough time scoring against some top 20 guys, let alone top 8. So while I love watching Cobe, unless he's really made up some ground in the room WRT his overall offense and his TD defense, I just don't see him as a starter who can make it beyond the blood round, if that far. And again, I'm a huge fan of his and love his funk, but just don't see many if any points if he's our guy...unless wrestling up at 157 made that much of a difference? I'm pulling for him just the same!!
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I would be more than happy if Rathjen is the man at 49. The match against Cody was about as good as I have seen him wrestle, hopefully he uses his athleticism and becomes very aggressive with a high finish rate. Either way we have a very solid 149 lber that needs to level up to become a mid tear AA.
As far what has been said about transfers getting better in a better room. This is exactly what is and should be happening. All of these guys are extremely good wrestlers, who has the abilities to become the best? Sometimes it is physical and sometimes it is mental, but sometimes guys just a peek and cannot get any better than they are.
As far what has been said about transfers getting better in a better room. This is exactly what is and should be happening. All of these guys are extremely good wrestlers, who has the abilities to become the best? Sometimes it is physical and sometimes it is mental, but sometimes guys just a peek and cannot get any better than they are.
I should more of this thread before responding, but here goes. Seems like a lot of folks on here are pretty high on Victor Voinovich, which led me to believe that Cobe was on the outside looking in, especially with both VV and the NDSU boys coming to Iowa. That said, while I love Cobe's funk (it's amazing), his defense was very suspect at times and he also had a tough time scoring against some top 20 guys, let alone top 8. So while I love watching Cobe, unless he's really made up some ground in the room WRT his overall offense and his TD defense, I just don't see him as a starter who can make it beyond the blood round, if that far. And again, I'm a huge fan of his and love his funk, but just don't see many if any points if he's our guy...unless wrestling up at 157 made that much of a difference? I'm pulling for him just the same!!
Using college results as a measuring stick, Cobe's results are superior to the other two guys. So if he's as effective at 149 as he is at 157, by that measure the spot is his regardless of the above.
VV is limited offensively on his feet. He has a left-handed high crotch and that's about it.
What he does have is a gas tank that doesn't end and will continue to push the pace and attack. That's why I always thought it was odd he was at Okie State.
Agree and he can get to that shot and get his hands locked . He's not good at hiding his ankles and often ends up posting the guy up and looking for an Iranian finish. My opinion is those are small fixes and Iowa guys finish well so I expect the staff to fix it
You may be right, but what I have seen from him has been promising and I believe he will thrive in the Iowa room. I am going to go back and watch some of his matches again, someone needs to take the 149 spot cleary or we are not going to get any point out of that weight in march
He gave Max all he could handle in their match last year, and he will have tough partners in the room. Maybe Iowa will get him putting that gas tank to work like Desantos. Unlike AD, he was always tough on top also.
