There is no doubt he's "capable" of winning it all again. My point is that it's probably pragmatic to temper expectations right out of the gate. I would be shocked if he beats Brooks at all this season, especially in the dual match which will be more or less a month after he's back in competition after a two year layoff. We'll have to see how close he can get to peak competition shape by the time the B1Gs and NCAAs roll around, but it's much more likely that he will be a title contender in future years (and not just because Brooks will be gone).
No opinion on pre Cass heavies but Cass is fairly short for a Heavy compared to Kerk Paris Hendrickson and even Steveson.
Penn State fans fans struggled with the same thing with Robbie Howard (although obviously at a different level since he didn't win a championship right out of the gate), but we've seen in him that 2 years off isn't easy to jump right back in at the same level you were.
Not even a remotely reasonable analogy. I am not sure Robbie was EVERY fully DI ready to be more than a fringe AA at best. I would equate him to Teske. It would be fair to keep "hoping" for AA production from either based on how well they did in High School, but "expecting" it, when we NEVER saw it at the DI level, is completely different, altogether...
I said it’s a different level, but the analogy holds. He came in as a true freshman with one semester of experience and got to the R16. I don’t think expecting him to develop into a consistent AA based on that plus his HS record is unreasonable, but after two years away, his level isn’t even close as he’s not in competition shape.
One guy is 29-1 and convincingly won a NCAA Championship where 4 of his 5 wins were over NCAA Finalists(Sloan, Warner, Amine and Bonaccorsi). The other is 10-10 and 1 of his 2 wins at NCAA's was over Fabian Gutierrez and the other was Heinselman(to whom he has also lost to multiple times) who is now a combined 3-6 at NCAA's........
That's not even bringing up the fact that AJ has been training hard this entire time whereas Robbie has been plagued with injuries which would obviously stunt his progression.
Yep, not even a close comparison. Howard has had horrible shoulder problems.
In one year he turned all his soft weight into ripped muscle with significant strength and quickness gains, regardless of the actual weight gain.
Well the good news is we should definitely know one way or the other in 2/3 weeks after months of speculation 😄
Concur. I think he’s going to make the finals and give Kerk all he wants plus some. He’s equally athletic if not a bit better but will be giving up some size as it appears on my computer screen and looked on ESPN.
The Cuban has looked good but he’s still suspect from bottom. I think he reaches the podium but I’d wager it’s on the bottom 1/2.
Agree he is looking downright exceptional from neutral, but I think it will come down to the status of his mat game. It has been a relative weak point for him but he definitely seems to be improving in that regard for someone with no folk background before college. He will need all three phases to challenge for a title vs Kerk, Hendrickson, and probably Schultz too.
Now I'm really intrigued. I'm thinking just the opposite; I don't think he finishes outside the top 4 and is a serious finalist contender depending on the brackets.
How can it be reasonable to believe he can win it all if there are legit reasons to temper expectations?
I guess in the same way a naughty child reasonably believes Santa will not leave their spot under the tree barren on Christmas morning.
This reads like PSU hopium to me. If he does indeed come back, he will be Brooks’ biggest competition come March.
