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Returning Champs

9Hawks

Team MVP
Jan 18, 2013
247
112
43
There are 7 returning NCAA champs from last year. I'm curious how you would rank them in terms of confidence to repeat:

125: Spencer Lee (IOWA)
133: Seth Gross (SDSU)
141: Yianni Diakomihalis (CORN)
157: Jason Nolf (PSU)
165: Vincenzo Joseph (PSU)
174: Zahid Valencia (ASU)
184/197: Bo Nickal (PSU)

Here is my order:

1. Nolf
2. Nickal
3. Lee
4. Valencia
5. Gross
6. Diakomihalis
7. Joseph
 
I like your excitement and realize this is a Hawk board but any list that doesn't put Nolf at #1 is just wrong. Spencer is a machine and next year I'm sure he'll lay claim to best wrestler in the NCAA. But this year, it's Nolf.

You can certainly make you case for Nolf. He may very well tear up his competition. I will go on record as saying LEE will put up more bonus points!
 
You can certainly make you case for Nolf. He may very well tear up his competition. I will go on record as saying LEE will put up more bonus points!

Man, that is a tough call. I would argue that a healthy Nolf has a solid chance to win EVERY match he wrestles this season by a Major or more. This is especially true with Kemerer moving up.

Lee could still have Fix in his weight class. Even though I would definitely favor Lee in Folk, I have a very hard time seeing that match end up with bonus points.
 
Man, that is a tough call. I would argue that a healthy Nolf has a solid chance to win EVERY match he wrestles this season by a Major or more. This is especially true with Kemerer moving up.

Lee could still have Fix in his weight class. Even though I would definitely favor Lee in Folk, I have a very hard time seeing that match end up with bonus points.

Again you can certainly make your argument for Nolf. What everyone seems to be basing it on is some FIXation with a possible 125 pounder who has not wrestled an official college match yet for his team; being able to slow down the MONSTER aka LEE!!!

1) I would argue that LEE went through a tougher weigh class last year as a TRUE freshman coming off a serious Knee injury.

2) Once he took that Knee Brace off, he was a completely different ANIMAL!

3) All indications are he has "ramped it up" a good deal! (No I do not have any idea how that is possible???)

4) No one anywhere will have the workout partners he has. Every day he will face better competition in the room, then he will see under the lights.

5) while everyone is saying LEE's biggest test will be this guy they are transFIXed on. I would argue that Nolf has maybe better competition at 157 that he will have to go though.

In the end both wrestlers are unreal talents and will be fun to watch! can not wait for the season to start!!!!
 
I’m going with this
1A- LEE he has gotten better we have not seen anything yet think about it.
1B- Nolf
Reason I believe guys like Hidlay,Deakin,Pantelo,Berger,Monday are all capable of an almost impossible upset.
2- Zahid
After the top 2 I think there are no locks but Z is close.
3- Bo
4- Yanni
5- Gross
6- VJ
 
I like your excitement and realize this is a Hawk board but any list that doesn't put Nolf at #1 is just wrong. Spencer is a machine and next year I'm sure he'll lay claim to best wrestler in the NCAA. But this year, it's Nolf.
Nolf easily won NCAAs on one foot. But he has Deakin this year. Deakin didn't give up any back points last year. I have Deakin vs Nolf in the finals with Lee and Rivera in the finals at 25!
 
Man, that is a tough call. I would argue that a healthy Nolf has a solid chance to win EVERY match he wrestles this season by a Major or more. This is especially true with Kemerer moving up.

Lee could still have Fix in his weight class. Even though I would definitely favor Lee in Folk, I have a very hard time seeing that match end up with bonus points.
I will bet 25 bucks that Nolf doesn't major Deakin in the dual meet!
 
Man, that is a tough call. I would argue that a healthy Nolf has a solid chance to win EVERY match he wrestles this season by a Major or more. This is especially true with Kemerer moving up.

Lee could still have Fix in his weight class. Even though I would definitely favor Lee in Folk, I have a very hard time seeing that match end up with bonus points.
I will bet 25 bucks that Nolf doesn't major Deakin in the dual meet!

LOL...none of us believe you actually have $25.
 
I understand that a lot of people are really high on Fix, and maybe that's justified, but anyone who uses free style to project folk style results, especially for a free style wrestler who scores most of his points from multiple turn on a single take down, i believe you are not taking in to account how different the two style are.

While many have bought in to the new free style point system, I have not. While it's an improvement over the old system and does have some good aspects, the ability to get one take down and then use 1 instance of momentum over balance to possibly award 8 more points is complete silliness compared to scoring points in folk, where it's actually about mat skills and dominance over your opponent. Spencer has proven that he might be the best Freshman ever when it comes to mat control and mat dominance, Suriano, Nato never had that skill set, Fix?? He's good and great at freestyle, but putting him on Spencer's level in folk is unjustified in my opinion.

I think Lee could bonus his way through the year. I know this sounds like fanboy talk, but I stated I didn't think Lee would beat Suriano early last year on HR for their early meet, they didn't wrestle in the dual meet,, but after seeing what Lee can do on the mat, I was blown away, I had no idea just how skilled and strong he was. When the brace came off, he was untouchable. He's not just a really good wrestler, he is unlike anything I have seen on the mat.
 
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I understand that a lot of people are really high on Fix, and maybe that's justified, but anyone who uses free style to project folk style results, especially for a free style wrestler who scores most of his points from multiple turn on a single take down, i believe you are not taking in to account how different the two style are.

While many have bought in to the new free style point system, I have not. While it's an improvement over the old system and does have some good aspects, the ability to get one take down and then use 1 instance of momentum over balance to possibly award 8 more points is complete silliness compared to scoring points in folk, where it's actually about mat skills and dominance over your opponent. Spencer has proven that he might be the best Freshman ever when it comes to mat control and mat dominance, Suriano, Nato never had that skill set, Fix?? He's good and great at freestyle, but putting him on Spencer's level in folk is unjustified in my opinion.

I think Lee could bonus his way through the year. I know this sounds like fanboy talk, but I stated I didn't think Lee would beat Suriano early last year on HR for their early meet, they didn't wrestle in the dual meet,, but after seeing what Lee can do on the mat, I was blown away, I had no idea just how skilled and strong he was. When the brace came off, he was untouchable. He's not just a really good wrestler, he is unlike anything I have seen on the mat.

After seeing Lee in the UNI Open, I was amazed. Yea, I had seen him in the room but you still have to see it live to believe. At Midlands, back down to earth a bit even though I still think he would have won a challenge against Bresser. I think the match I really started to think he was going to win it was against Minne. He dominated Lizak in every position. Yes, there was the loss to NATO at B1Gs but that didn’t worry me too much. This more faith in the staff to make adjustments and they did.

Daton is the complete package with great mat “imagination.” Just look at when he turned the table on Gilman. But so is Lee...he did the same thing to Suriano and Picc when it looked like they had sure TDs. What Fix is on top in free Lee is to folk. Give him a chance or two and he’s gonna score. Best bet is to clamp up and take a stalling call or two...make it look good. One point is better than four.
 
I understand that a lot of people are really high on Fix, and maybe that's justified, but anyone who uses free style to project folk style results, especially for a free style wrestler who scores most of his points from multiple turn on a single take down, i believe you are not taking in to account how different the two style are.

While many have bought in to the new free style point system, I have not. While it's an improvement over the old system and does have some good aspects, the ability to get one take down and then use 1 instance of momentum over balance to possibly award 8 more points is complete silliness compared to scoring points in folk, where it's actually about mat skills and dominance over your opponent. Spencer has proven that he might be the best Freshman ever when it comes to mat control and mat dominance, Suriano, Nato never had that skill set, Fix?? He's good and great at freestyle, but putting him on Spencer's level in folk is unjustified in my opinion.

I think Lee could bonus his way through the year. I know this sounds like fanboy talk, but I stated I didn't think Lee would beat Suriano early last year on HR for their early meet, they didn't wrestle in the dual meet,, but after seeing what Lee can do on the mat, I was blown away, I had no idea just how skilled and strong he was. When the brace came off, he was untouchable. He's not just a really good wrestler, he is unlike anything I have seen on the mat.

With all due respek, this is a stupid comment. The two styles of wrestling are completely different and contrast well with each other. You're right more mat skills are required in Folk than Free but that doesn't make freestyle rules "complete silliness", just completely different.

Do you think after one back exposure the wrestlers should be put back on their feet? What changes would you propose?
 
With all due respek, this is a stupid comment. The two styles of wrestling are completely different and contrast well with each other. You're right more mat skills are required in Folk than Free but that doesn't make freestyle rules "complete silliness", just completely different.

Do you think after one back exposure the wrestlers should be put back on their feet? What changes would you propose?
To each his own I guess. I like a lot of what free is doing, but free style point scoring by rolling your opponent around a mat over an over through limited control is more like competitive "grudge tumbling" than wrestling.

Putting them back on their feet after one exposure would be a good start, or give them more time to get real control and extended exposure. So basically take away the up/down position and riding time from folk and transfer the back points rules in to free and you have a good product.

By the way, you show no "respect" when you then say someones comments are stupid. IMO seeing someone score by continuous roll through is complete silliness, it's a one dimensional skill and does not prove that one guy is better than the other. It's like awarding a boxer the win if he can get 5 jabs to the face in a row.

Let's not forget the free style "clinch" or the guy that wins 2 of 3 periods is the winner even though he scored fewer match points. This was different from folk but didn't mean it was good. It was silly and it was stupid, just like the roll through.
 
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To each his own I guess. I like a lot of what free is doing, but free style point scoring by rolling your opponent around a mat over an over through limited control is more like competitive "grudge tumbling" than wrestling.

Putting them back on their feet after one exposure would be a good start, or give them more time to get real control and extended exposure. So basically take away the up/down position and riding time from folk and transfer the back points rules in to free and you have a good product.

By the way, you show no "respect" when you then say someones comments are stupid. IMO seeing someone score by continuous roll through is complete silliness, it's a one dimensional skill and does not prove that one guy is better than the other. It's like awarding a boxer the win if he can get 5 jabs to the face in a row.

Let's not forget the free style "clinch" or the guy that wins 2 of 3 periods is the winner even though he scored fewer match points. This was different from folk but didn't mean it was good. It was silly and it was stupid, just like the roll through.
The vast majority of my posts qualify as stupid so don't take offense.

You are 100% correct on the 2 out of 3 periods and clinch. But changing the core rules and essence of freestyle would be a mistake.

And don't forget our boy Dan Dennis may not have been an Olympian without his gut sequence against Tony.
 
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The vast majority of my posts qualify as stupid so don't take offense.

You are 100% correct on the 2 out of 3 periods and clinch. But changing the core rules and essence of freestyle would be a mistake.

And don't forget our boy Dan Dennis may not have been an Olympian without his gut sequence against Tony.
I agree that Dan used this skill to get to the Olympics, and his gut was actually an impressive form of control. The thing about a gut wrench is that not only is it a controlled position, it's also risky. Your opponent can slip it and end up on top. That's wrestling. A leg lace or ankle lace is not control, it's "how much pain can I endure" or "can I hold out before my bone breaks" In addition to that, there is no risk to the guy imposing the lace. If he loses grip, he abandons the hold and is free and clear, back on his feet.

I want the winner to be the best wrestler, I don't think that the rules in free enforces that. Just my opinion.
 
1. Nolf nobody to really challenge him. Remember he won last year while he was not even close to 100%.
2. Lee only kid I see challenging him is Fix and that's IF Fix is there
3. Valencia this is where it starts to get interesting if he were to go up to 184 then maybe I would move him to #4 on my list.
4. Gross while 133 might be the deepest weight class out there he is a mismatch for everybody that is a contender.
5. Nickal crazy good but will he be able to rely on his "big moves" up a weight class
6. Yanni very talented wrestler but did get a little lucky to win it last year.
7. Joseph this kid gets no respect nobody thought he would repeat last year. I actually like his chances to make it back to the finals I just think Wick beats him this year.
 
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You can certainly make you case for Nolf. He may very well tear up his competition. I will go on record as saying LEE will put up more bonus points!
Now THIS is probably the easiest bet of the season. Sticking Picc and Nato last year is a tough argument to ignore.
 
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