As the street poet O'Shea Jackson once said, "Today was a good day." What did we learn?
1. Don't think we can go wrong at 149/157. Kemerer had a close one against Oliver Pierce. Got caught in a headlock but the ref blew the whistle, I thought it was game over. He came back to win but looked a bit sluggish. Went on to dominate an AA in Anthony Collica. Got into his legs whenever he wanted...was able to easily counter Collica's deep shots somehow. Sorensen doing Sorensen like things. Really excited about these guys. Bonus-Logan Ryan got to the quarters before getting quickly teched by a Senior level guy in Adam Hall. Great day for Logan. Goes to show we have a serviceable guy at 149 just in case and maybe someone to step up in two years when Brandon graduates to let a new guy shirt.
2.Holy hell...how is Alex Meyer not weighing more than Brooks? Dude is diesel. True to form, he gave up some leads only to come back and dominate. I like him to win his weight. But a very nice surprise is Burke Paddock, our very own riverboat gambler making the semi's. He beat a tough guy in X. Montalvo...something I wouldn't have seen happening a few years ago. If anybody saw the match, I'd like a short synopsis. He has Morelli tomorrow in the semis so should be a good test. I only got to see one of his matches but he has done well today.
3. Sammy Brooks looked in midseason form. He has a tough guy in Renda tomorrow and I hope he gets some revenge on him. I like his chances in freestyle. The real prize would be to see him and Morgan Mc go at it. Last time they wrestled, Mc had some pounds on him and won pretty easily. A win over someone like that would be great confidence-wise.
4. JRent had a good day as well wrestling up a weight. He was supposed to go at 58kg but wasn't going to make weight so he went up and made the semis. He hit the Hee Haw double by beating both a Texas and Oklahoma state champ. He changed up his style today (more slick, less grind) because of having to wrestle bigger dudes. Worked well. Perhaps most impressive, JRent forfeited the match to his teammate Jaime Hernandez because in his words, "Jaime did everything right (in terms of weight) so he deserved the shot more than me." I think had they planned to go the same weight, we would have seen the match. That's some serious accountability and shows the type of kid we are getting. By the time he gets past his redshirt year in the Iowa room, his opponents better pack a lunch.
5. Biguns-A mixed bag...Cash Wilcke made it to the second day at 86 and wrestled well. Got teched by Mc. Holloway got beat in a close one against a wily vet in Nikko Reyes and got TF'd by Iowa Stateslugger Marcus Harrington. Holloway is built like a house but has trouble moving his feet and is a step slow.
6. Iowa kids-Once again, a mixed bag. Eric Faught is the only Iowa kid in the finals. Brands looked good but got beat 8-4 by David Carr...one of the top kids in his class in the battle of the legendary Dads. Upside is big. Both kids look real good. A couple of Iowa phenoms got beat out in Schreiver (0-2) and Thomsen. Coleman as well. Still in it: Faught, Brands, Geerts.
Great day for our guys...Go Hawks!
1. Don't think we can go wrong at 149/157. Kemerer had a close one against Oliver Pierce. Got caught in a headlock but the ref blew the whistle, I thought it was game over. He came back to win but looked a bit sluggish. Went on to dominate an AA in Anthony Collica. Got into his legs whenever he wanted...was able to easily counter Collica's deep shots somehow. Sorensen doing Sorensen like things. Really excited about these guys. Bonus-Logan Ryan got to the quarters before getting quickly teched by a Senior level guy in Adam Hall. Great day for Logan. Goes to show we have a serviceable guy at 149 just in case and maybe someone to step up in two years when Brandon graduates to let a new guy shirt.
2.Holy hell...how is Alex Meyer not weighing more than Brooks? Dude is diesel. True to form, he gave up some leads only to come back and dominate. I like him to win his weight. But a very nice surprise is Burke Paddock, our very own riverboat gambler making the semi's. He beat a tough guy in X. Montalvo...something I wouldn't have seen happening a few years ago. If anybody saw the match, I'd like a short synopsis. He has Morelli tomorrow in the semis so should be a good test. I only got to see one of his matches but he has done well today.
3. Sammy Brooks looked in midseason form. He has a tough guy in Renda tomorrow and I hope he gets some revenge on him. I like his chances in freestyle. The real prize would be to see him and Morgan Mc go at it. Last time they wrestled, Mc had some pounds on him and won pretty easily. A win over someone like that would be great confidence-wise.
4. JRent had a good day as well wrestling up a weight. He was supposed to go at 58kg but wasn't going to make weight so he went up and made the semis. He hit the Hee Haw double by beating both a Texas and Oklahoma state champ. He changed up his style today (more slick, less grind) because of having to wrestle bigger dudes. Worked well. Perhaps most impressive, JRent forfeited the match to his teammate Jaime Hernandez because in his words, "Jaime did everything right (in terms of weight) so he deserved the shot more than me." I think had they planned to go the same weight, we would have seen the match. That's some serious accountability and shows the type of kid we are getting. By the time he gets past his redshirt year in the Iowa room, his opponents better pack a lunch.
5. Biguns-A mixed bag...Cash Wilcke made it to the second day at 86 and wrestled well. Got teched by Mc. Holloway got beat in a close one against a wily vet in Nikko Reyes and got TF'd by Iowa State
6. Iowa kids-Once again, a mixed bag. Eric Faught is the only Iowa kid in the finals. Brands looked good but got beat 8-4 by David Carr...one of the top kids in his class in the battle of the legendary Dads. Upside is big. Both kids look real good. A couple of Iowa phenoms got beat out in Schreiver (0-2) and Thomsen. Coleman as well. Still in it: Faught, Brands, Geerts.
Great day for our guys...Go Hawks!