Iowa Wrestler most excited to see this season..?

[andegre]

I am always most excited to see the true freshmen with their first college competition and then first time varsity starters to see what they've got. Number one on the list is Kemmerer. And of course, Marinelli after that.

Gonna have to wait another year for Marinelli...

 

[JBJRFL]

Gonna have to wait another year for Marinelli...

Yes, that's why I said "after that".

 

[gdoggy1976]

Stealing topic idea from PSU's forum, but which Iowa wrestler/Wrestlers are you most looking forward to watching this upcoming season? A few interesting storylines and new faces to the lineup, plus our returning studs.

125 - Thomas Gilman JR - 4th Place AA last year as a Sophomore, excited to see how much better he has gotten and if he can put himself into the finals this season.

133- Cory Clark JR - 2x AA, 5th as a frosh and Runner up last season. Word is Brewer will be staying at 133, so I will be highly anticipating that rematch in the finals. I think Clark can beat him, in their match Clark was taking a lot of bad shots without setups and Brewer made him pay for about 3-4 of them with counter TD's. When Clark actually set up his shot he scored. Plus he dominates people from the top position.. and the scoreboard doesn't always show it, but man is he a beast on top.

141- Brody Grothus SR - NCAA qualifier as a SO with some big wins over big names. Didn't win the starting spot last year at 149, lost it to FR AA Sorensen. Now willing to make the cut down to 141 for his SR campaign and to fill a big hole on the team. How will his body handle the cut? Will he be ready to go 100% by the start of the season? - As we all saw the pictures with his arm in a sling/brace. If Brody can hold the weight and stay healthy, I predict anywhere from Low-High AA finish for him, really need to see him wrestle at 141 first, but I feel pretty confident in picking him to AA here. Could be a much needed boost to our NCAA title hopes.

149- Brandon Sorensen SO - 4th Place AA as a Frosh. Looked pretty damned impressive last year, showed spurts of offensive prowess, but also grinded out a few low scoring affairs. Hope to see him open it up a bit more this year, and the sky is the limit. I predict a top 3 finish for Sorensen, but really hope for a finals appearance.

157- I expect we will see Cooper or Rhoads here, but there is HR talk of St. John challenging (I haven't been in the room at all, so I have no info on this). Honestly will be happy with an NCAA qualifier here, someone who will be competitive all season, and can score maybe 2.5-3 points at Nationals with maybe a win and 1 or 2 on the backside.

165- Burke Paddock FR- Interesting to see how the Frosh does down at a weight, as he competed at 174 all last season. He has some diverse offense with an arsenal of Greco throws, and hope to see a qualifier and similar contribution from him as 157. If he can get a few pins on the backside might contribute some much needed points, we need them wherever we can get them.

174- Alex Meyer JR- Really looking forward to Alex Meyer's official debut as a full time starter. He has the mentality we all love and think he will be right in the top 5 mix right away to start the season. I honestly think Meyer will score more pts than Evans ever did at NCAA's, although he couldn't beat him out for the spot.

184- Sammy Brooks JR- Rd of 12 last year in his first season as a full time starter. Hoping we get to have a full season of healthy offensive Sammy. I think the sky is the limit for him and he could easily find himself in the finals opposite Gabe Dean if all the cards fall right. My prediction is Top 5 for Sammy, I think he was a top 5 wrestler last season, but the way the bracket shook out, he lost to #1 and #4 place finisher while injured.

197- Nathan Burak SR- 2x AA, R12 as Freshman, 8th as SO, 7th as JR. Nathan has been steadily improving throughout his time here, and he looks like he took another step after this season when he blew his way through university nationals in impressive fashion. I think he is realistically a top 3 guy here this season, Snyder RSing, Gadson, Schiller Graduates. His only losses last year were to Gadson and McIntosh at NCAAs. I see a Cox-McIntosh final, but don't be surprised if Burak gets in there on sheer will power.

285- Sammy Stoll- Excited to see what the Frosh HWT can bring to the table. We all know he is an excellent Greco guy, and will likely score more than a few falls for us, his folkstyle results left a little to be desired last season, but there is always a learning curve with Hwt. I expect Sammy to qualify for NCAAs and score a few points for us, will be avidly watching as he progresses throughout the season, and could see him in AA contention. But for now temper my expectations and predict similar finish for him as 157/165, except maybe a few more points from falls. Between 157/165/285 I hope we can put together about 10 team pts.

As for who i am personally most excited to watch, it would have to be Gilman, Clark, Meyer, and Brooks. LOVE this JR class and they will still do great things. Also hoping to see Grothus and Burak go out on high notes to end their careers.

 

[gdoggy1976]

Spencer Lee

 

[SansSouci]

I don't understand how everyone says how great it would be to see Spencer or Hall wrestle for Iowa, but they can't wait to watch the second tier wrestlers for Iowa.

Gilman is the best wrestler on the team and it's just me and one other fellow that is excited to watch him wrestle. Enjoy watching Stoll...wtf.

And don't tell me Clark or Brandon are better than Gilman...they're not.

 

[sloehawk]

I don't understand how everyone says how great it would be to see Spencer or Hall wrestle for Iowa, but they can't wait to watch the second tier wrestlers for Iowa.

Gilman is the best wrestler on the team and it's just me and one other fellow that is excited to watch him wrestle. Enjoy watching Stoll...wtf.

And don't tell me Clark or Brandon are better than Gilman...they're not.

Are too! (I don't really care, just looked like you were looking for some kind of response.........)

 

[Sandor45]

It's gotta be Grothus right? Especially with him going down to 41. This has been a year and a half build up for Hawk fans.
My prediction for the year if Grothus stays healthy at 41?.......pain.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

I don't understand how everyone says how great it would be to see Spencer or Hall wrestle for Iowa, but they can't wait to watch the second tier wrestlers for Iowa.

Gilman is the best wrestler on the team and it's just me and one other fellow that is excited to watch him wrestle. Enjoy watching Stoll...wtf.

And don't tell me Clark or Brandon are better than Gilman...they're not.

Not sure if serious, but you'd be hard-pressed to find objective evidence that Gilman's "better" than Clark. I'm not interested in saying which guy's better, because they're both excellent wrestlers and they start for Iowa at different weights, but not sure how you're so certain.

As for guys we're looking forward to seeing, of course Hawk fans are excited to see our returning studs in action, but it seems pretty self-evident that many are curious to see how the newer guys pan out. After all, those are the guys who are going to have the most say about whether the team wins Nationals. The big guns are expected to score their points; it's the rest of the lineup that will need to produce for us to have a shot. Hence, the interest in those guys.

 

[Gobblin]

I don't understand how everyone says how great it would be to see Spencer or Hall wrestle for Iowa, but they can't wait to watch the second tier wrestlers for Iowa.

Gilman is the best wrestler on the team and it's just me and one other fellow that is excited to watch him wrestle. Enjoy watching Stoll...wtf.

And don't tell me Clark or Brandon are better than Gilman...they're not.

I'd love to hear your judging criteria on this assessment...

 

[Azchief32]

I don't understand how everyone says how great it would be to see Spencer or Hall wrestle for Iowa, but they can't wait to watch the second tier wrestlers for Iowa.

Gilman is the best wrestler on the team and it's just me and one other fellow that is excited to watch him wrestle. Enjoy watching Stoll...wtf.

And don't tell me Clark or Brandon are better than Gilman...they're not.

TG is one of my fav guys but he is a known entity...I based my answer off of the unknown. I think quite a few others did as well.

 

[wasdt21]

I am excited to see gilman take out megaman and tomoseller at nattys

 

[Hawkirish]

I don't understand how everyone says how great it would be to see Spencer or Hall wrestle for Iowa, but they can't wait to watch the second tier wrestlers for Iowa.

Gilman is the best wrestler on the team and it's just me and one other fellow that is excited to watch him wrestle. Enjoy watching Stoll...wtf.

And don't tell me Clark or Brandon are better than Gilman...they're not.

You do remember who wrestled 125 2 seasons ago correct? That's not me telling you Clark is better that's coach Brands telling you. Either way I'm excited to watch them both wrestle.

 

[pumpdog20]

Of course TG is better than Clark. That's why he sat the bench 2 years ago.

 

[artradley]

I don't understand how everyone says how great it would be to see Spencer or Hall wrestle for Iowa, but they can't wait to watch the second tier wrestlers for Iowa.

Gilman is the best wrestler on the team and it's just me and one other fellow that is excited to watch him wrestle. Enjoy watching Stoll...wtf.

And don't tell me Clark or Brandon are better than Gilman...they're not.

It's not "who is the best wrestler", it's "who are you most excited to see?"

There's more excitement in anticipating the unknown.

 

[TarpHawk]

I'm only excited about winning an NCAA team title, and I already know what we've got at 125, 133, 149, and 190...and collectively that's only enough for 4th. Which means the key to a title will be over-performing at the other six weights. The biggest point swing is definitely Grothus--he's scored 1 NCAA team point in his career. Will he make the weight? Will he go 1-2 or 5-0? He's the guy I'm most excited to see, because he holds the key to a team title in an otherwise unlikely year. Second is Kemerer (hey, there's a gaping hole at 157, you know).

 

[DonHawkeye]

True freshman have contributed points to the last 4 of 5 team titles
2015 - Snyder 2nd
2014 - Rutherford 5th
2012 - Mega 2nd, McIntosh DNP
2011 - A Alton DNP(Scored 5 points)

If Kemerer is by far the best guy at 157 put in in there.

 

[HIWILLE]

By FAR is the key word here.