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Iowa hs finals

IMO of the guys who wrestled tonight and aren't yet committed to a school, the two biggest gets for Iowa would be Thomsen and Lyon. Thomsen was a beast -- just non-stop action and relentless leg attacks from neutral. He looks like the real deal so get him in the room and figure out where the heck he fits in the lineup from there. Lyon was also non-stop action and lots of great attacks AND he would give Iowa another option at the upper weights, and the future options up there are a little hazy. Getting someone with so much bonus point potential at those weights would be a nice plus, too.

I'd put Teske and Zachary right behind them, as they both looked really impressive, but they also seem to project at weights where Iowa already has some guys committed or young and on the roster. (This assumes that Zachary bulks up to 157 or bigger in college, as suggested. If he can stick at 149, he could be a very interesting option to replace Sorensen in a few years.)

And Wreidt definitely looks like a guy to keep tabs on, too. His match with Anderson was awesome and he looked great in that match. His timeline would also fit pretty well with Stoll's -- he'd be a RS FR when Stoll was a SR. (Obviously Bradley might have something to say about replacing Stoll as well.)

Wreidt also looked like a beast gainst Lombardi in the semis. He got to the legs basically at will, as he did in the finals. I see Lombardi have him all 3 of his losses this year. Seems like he might be on the short side for a HWT though Andersen and Lombardi are tall. He's got some thickness to him but I wonder if he couldn't be 197 in college?
 
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Wreidt also looked like a beast gainst Lombardi in the semis. He got to the legs basically at will, as he did in the finals. I see Lombardi have him all 3 of his losses this year. Seems like he might be on the short side for a HWT though Andersen and Lombardi are tall. He's got some thickness to him but I wonder if he couldn't be 197 in college?


HUDL had Wreidt listed at 6'1" and 255 so not sure 197 would be possible. Andersen is listed at 6'3 230.
 
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And that's coming from someone who knows. What's the matter? No one wants to read your pathetic know it all crap today so you try to get a laugh because of my post? I just consider the source.

No...I meant that you could use Stud without thinking of a horse is all. But feel free to take it however you want to.
 
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But back to the topic...

So the best HS wrestler in Iowa right now is a sophomore who is ranked #13 @ 113 by Intermat with 3 guys from PA ranked ahead of him? Either Teske is vastly underrated by Intermat, or Iowa HS wrestling has some broader issues to deal with, or maybe both.

I'm not bashing Iowa HS wrestling or any of the individual wrestlers, btw. My favorite, Thomsen, is a sophomore who is ranked #12 @ 126 with 3 guys from PA ahead of him as well. (And of course I like Happel.)

It's just sobering that Iowa currently has no HS wrestlers ranked #1 at their weight nationally (highest is #4 on Intermat), and no one ranked among the top 14 P4P on Flo. Is that a temporary situation or a broader trend?

We've done well with Clark, Sorensen, and Gilman, though none has yet won an NCAA title, much less multiple titles. Other in-staters like the Moores and Ballwegs and Carew were ranked high coming out of HS but simply didn't have a commensurate level of success in college.

50% of Iowa's 20 multi-time champs have come from in-state, the other half from out-of-state. Most recent five fit that trend as well: McD (IA), Metcalf (MI), Perry (OK), Jeugens (IA), TJ Williams (IL). It's not like Marinelli, Kemerer, Young, Mejia, Renteria, and Troy are the first studs we've gotten from out of state.

So I'm not sure anything has changed in terms of the overall recruiting landscape or the caliber of Iowa HS wrestling on a broad scale--but it seems like the state has been a bit soft the past couple of years. Any insights?
 
But back to the topic...

So the best HS wrestler in Iowa right now is a sophomore who is ranked #13 @ 113 by Intermat with 3 guys from PA ranked ahead of him? Either Teske is vastly underrated by Intermat, or Iowa HS wrestling has some broader issues to deal with, or maybe both.

I'm not bashing Iowa HS wrestling or any of the individual wrestlers, btw. My favorite, Thomsen, is a sophomore who is ranked #12 @ 126 with 3 guys from PA ahead of him as well. (And of course I like Happel.)

It's just sobering that Iowa currently has no HS wrestlers ranked #1 at their weight nationally (highest is #4 on Intermat), and no one ranked among the top 14 P4P on Flo. Is that a temporary situation or a broader trend?

We've done well with Clark, Sorensen, and Gilman, though none has yet won an NCAA title, much less multiple titles. Other in-staters like the Moores and Ballwegs and Carew were ranked high coming out of HS but simply didn't have a commensurate level of success in college.

50% of Iowa's 20 multi-time champs have come from in-state, the other half from out-of-state. Most recent five fit that trend as well: McD (IA), Metcalf (MI), Perry (OK), Jeugens (IA), TJ Williams (IL). It's not like Marinelli, Kemerer, Young, Mejia, Renteria, and Troy are the first studs we've gotten from out of state.

So I'm not sure anything has changed in terms of the overall recruiting landscape or the caliber of Iowa HS wrestling on a broad scale--but it seems like the state has been a bit soft the past couple of years. Any insights?

We are 1 wrestler away from making PSU chase us. I wouldn't say Iowa HS wrestling is broke yet.
 
Sorry. I was out of line. I apologize. I don't normally act the way I did. Ran out of my medicine.

Happens to me too. Then Mrs. Kwood slaps me upside the head with the empty bottle until I promise never to run out of Meds again. Happens once or twice a week I think. Having trouble remembering things lately. Doc says its concussion symptoms. Can't figure out where that keeps coming from though. o_O

You're good. Didn't seem like you. Your evil twin I'm guessing. :rolleyes:
 
But back to the topic...

So the best HS wrestler in Iowa right now is a sophomore who is ranked #13 @ 113 by Intermat with 3 guys from PA ranked ahead of him? Either Teske is vastly underrated by Intermat, or Iowa HS wrestling has some broader issues to deal with, or maybe both.

I'm not bashing Iowa HS wrestling or any of the individual wrestlers, btw. My favorite, Thomsen, is a sophomore who is ranked #12 @ 126 with 3 guys from PA ahead of him as well. (And of course I like Happel.)

It's just sobering that Iowa currently has no HS wrestlers ranked #1 at their weight nationally (highest is #4 on Intermat), and no one ranked among the top 14 P4P on Flo. Is that a temporary situation or a broader trend?

We've done well with Clark, Sorensen, and Gilman, though none has yet won an NCAA title, much less multiple titles. Other in-staters like the Moores and Ballwegs and Carew were ranked high coming out of HS but simply didn't have a commensurate level of success in college.

50% of Iowa's 20 multi-time champs have come from in-state, the other half from out-of-state. Most recent five fit that trend as well: McD (IA), Metcalf (MI), Perry (OK), Jeugens (IA), TJ Williams (IL). It's not like Marinelli, Kemerer, Young, Mejia, Renteria, and Troy are the first studs we've gotten from out of state.

So I'm not sure anything has changed in terms of the overall recruiting landscape or the caliber of Iowa HS wrestling on a broad scale--but it seems like the state has been a bit soft the past couple of years. Any insights?

I think Borschell might be on that most recent list.

State populations??? Iowa -3 Million. PA -What? 8-10 Million.
 
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I think Borschell might be on that most recent list.

State populations??? Iowa -3 Million. PA -What? 8-10 Million.
Borschel did not win multiple NCAA titles so he wasn't included on the list. Nate Moore (staph infection) and Carew (multiple injuries) never really got going so I wouldn't put them squarely in the didn't pan out category. And Nate Moore and Nick won a couple of national high school titles so if they didn't succeed in college it wasn't because they weren't among the best in the country when they wrestled high school in Iowa- the Fargo titles prove they were. I think the talent in Iowa has been steady and probably better than it was in the late 90's-early 2000's- just not where it was in the 80's (Schwab, Knight, Hamilton, the Brands, Chelesvig, on and on). I'm just basing that opinion on results at high school national competitions and from memory (for whatever that's worth!).
 
I see the level of wrestling improving in high school again. Iowa has seen significant growth in number of private clubs outside of urban areas. More kids willingness to travel to multiple clubs, different coaches/partners and national/regional tournaments exposure also contribute to this growth.

There's a lag with all of this of course.....but I see the results with upcoming sophomore and freshmen classes.
 
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I said this last year after state ... ALEX THOMSEN!
As a freshman took it to West in the quarters, returning state champ. Granted, he won by 1 point but was the aggressor and was constantly pushing the action.
Grew up in Iowa. Wrestled, coached, and a fan. I can honestly say I have not seen a young kid like him. After last year, we (father, brother) who go back to Iowa each year for state, he was the most impressive. And that was with the likes of Max Thomsen, Fredy Stroker, etc.
Alex pushes the action, but his chain wrestling is amazing. After his first round match which he only won 4-1, you would have thought he lost by the way he acted walking back to the tunnel. By the way, that kid from Lisbon ended up wrestling all the way back to take 3rd.
Personally, I don't remember such a young talent. At times he reminds me slightly of McGinness in his smoothness. But I think he is stronger and chain wrestles better. To top it off ... he dominated West again this year who was undefeated and can scramble.
Nothing against any other possible recruits, but this kid is special and should be the number one priority!
 
... After his first round match which he only won 4-1, you would have thought he lost by the way he acted walking back to the tunnel. By the way, that kid from Lisbon ended up wrestling all the way back to take 3rd.
...

I don't know why, but usually every year at the State Tournament I am drawn to a wrestler or two that did not realize his dream of becoming a state champion...but still wrestled well and achieved as much as he could, short of winning the championship. This year I was partial to Zernich of Lisbon and Doyle of ICW, who both ended up in 3rd...but both of whom are plenty good enough to have become a champion in other years/brackets.

Zernich came in as a district runner-up, where he lost by only 1 point to West of HRS, who himself is plenty good and was the eventual runner up. Unfortunately, that district 2nd place and luck of the draw put Zernich in a 1st round match up with arguably the best wrestler in the whole tournament, Thomsen, where he lost a tough, close match. Nevertheless, he wrestled all the way back to 3rd in a salty bracket. Congrats to him!!
 
Are the finals archived somewhere to rewatch? I checked the original link, but could not find anything other than the live stream, which is obviously no longer active. TIA.
 
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I don't know why, but usually every year at the State Tournament I am drawn to a wrestler or two that did not realize his dream of becoming a state champion...but still wrestled well and achieved as much as he could, short of winning the championship. This year I was partial to Zernich of Lisbon and Doyle of ICW, who both ended up in 3rd...but both of whom are plenty good enough to have become a champion in other years/brackets.

Zernich came in as a district runner-up, where he lost by only 1 point to West of HRS, who himself is plenty good and was the eventual runner up. Unfortunately, that district 2nd place and luck of the draw put Zernich in a 1st round match up with arguably the best wrestler in the whole tournament, Thomsen, where he lost a tough, close match. Nevertheless, he wrestled all the way back to 3rd in a salty bracket. Congrats to him!!

Great post, old. Couldn't agree more.
 
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