Big Ten Observations

[Drooke]

  Would anyone that attended the Big Tens care to share there .2 cents?

 

It would be awesome to hear first hand account observations of performances by wrestlers, coaches, and the overall atmosphere.

[KarlHungus]

Still was recovering from the long drive back yesterday.

 

1. State College PA is a great looking town and campus. Everything on campus including the athletic facilities looked first class. Kind of reminded me of Bloomington with a more concentrated campus. Lively off campus scene even during spring break with many restaurants, shops, taverns, shirt shacks, etc. And some of the best ice cream I have had in a long time.

 

2. Venue - Bryce Jordan arena was very nice. Only about 10 years old so I would expect it to be but nice nonetheless it was a good place for wrestling. The attendance wasn't great, 4-5000 per session but they were vocal during Penn State matches. The high school state finals and two other D1 college tournaments were going on in state so that might have hurt attendance as well as PSU being the most isolated of the big ten schools. The big tens are at Michigan next year and Purdue the following year so Indiana fan have a better opportunity to go.

 

3. Best value in sports. For 30 bucks you get to see two days of the best college wrestling in the country. Compare to aticket to a single college football game at Notre Dame or any pro sport and you will know what I mean. This was my 10th big tens in a row so next year I will complete cycle number 1 through the 11 schools.

 

4. Wrestling:

 

125 - Angel far exceeded my expectations. I thought he might gut out a title but felt he was very dominant both days and has posistioned himself well for the the NCAAs. Purdue's Matt Fields had a big upset over Triggas from OSU but couldn't sustain that momentum. He looked a little small for 125 compared to the heavy hitters.

 

133 - Hump was even more dominant early than Angel but ran into a buzz saw in MSU's Gomez in the finals. Gomez was focused and sharp especially in TD defense. The whole weight class was very exciting to watch.

 

141 - Tsirtsis looked good but his old problems of getting out from bottom seem to creeping up again. Hernandez' loss in the his first match after he had a lead must have mentally zapped him as he did not look good in the wrestle back.

 

149 - Metcalf, Metcalf, Metcalf. A speacial athlete mentally and physically better then the rest by a wide margin. Impressive to see him break elite wrestlers' will to compete. P-tax is fun to watch on top with his variety of cradles and tilts but has no offense on his feet and little defense.  Walpole is close to breaking out but not there yet.

 

157 - Poeta is good on his feet as I have seen in years following the big ten. Kinser is right there but looked to let up for just a moment when Welch hit that inside trip to win in semis. Welch is going to be awfully fun to watch the next 3 years.

 

165 - Howe's offense was not that impressive but his great posistioning and mental focus kept all matches close. He is similar to Metcalf in that he tries to keep the pressure on to break his opponents, but is unable to pull the trigger on his feet to score a lot right now. As his confidence grows, I see him opening up more and if he continues on his present path there is no reason he can't be one of the very best in the country at any weight.

 

174 - Luke from Michigan was impressive and more active then I had seen him in years past.  I thought Perry from IU might have a breakout season this year but he remains in the middle of the pack.  Hinton looked good in his first match but lost to the same guy the next day.  He has had a solid freshman season and should get better.  Corpe is an enigma to me.  He has all the tools to compete with the best at this weight class but is not.  Did not wrestle with much confidence.

 

184 - Herbert is nearly as dominant as Metcalf.  Dominated all matches and should be a NCAA titlest.  Kissel had a horrible weekend for Purdue and Cameron went from unseeded to 6th place for the Hoosiers.

 

197 - Todd from Michigan was untested until the finals and won a good match over Herbst from Wisconsin.  Logan Brown from Purdue was solid and will continue to rise through the Big Ten ranks in years to come.  Powless appears undersized at 97 but wrestles with lots of heart and toughness.  His future looks bright as well.

 

HWT - Weak overall weight class relatively speaking.  Erekson from Iowa had a pretty easy tournament.  Kasten is kind of like Walpole, he can keep it close with the best but has not broken through yet.  Everhart from IU might be another Pat DeGain type heavy in a couple of years.

[Drooke]

Thanks Karl.

 

I love to read eyewitness accounts of events like this.

 

Did you stay for all of the awards? 

[KarlHungus]

 

 

No...with an 8 hr drive and the quality of HWT class we decided to get on the road after the Todd/Herbst finals.

[Y2CJ41]

 

No...with an 8 hr drive and the quality of HWT class we decided to get on the road after the Todd/Herbst finals.

Actually we wanted to beat the rush to the creamery!

[Y2CJ41]

Here are my observations:

1. My bald spot is getting bigger and looks worse on TV. 

2. Mike Mena probably spends 75% of his money on his suits.

3. Michigan State has super high def movie quality video cameras to tape their matches.

4. It was really cool to see the PA state finals on TV at the local establishments.

5. It was even cooler to be sitting at one drinking a root beer and seeing a kid I coached on the Big 10 network

6. Quaker Steak and Lube has some VERY good wings.

7. Hills are cool, maybe Indiana should invest in a few.

8. The Brands brothers look alike

9. Humphrey has a sweet duckunder

10. Ci Ci's Pizza has some very good cinnamon thingies

 

Some wrestling observations

Indiana overall is very close to getting over the top...yet it seems so far away

Purdue overall is young, but I really didn't see much improvement from last year.  They do however seem to have one guy come out of nowhere every year to do well.  This year it was Colton Salazar.

Other Indiana kids

Howe has had many close matches but comes out on top in all of them.  Wrestling close matches can come bite you in the butt sometimes, but he is usually the one in control in all of them.

Tsirtsis can wrestle with and beat anyone in the nation.  He just needs to wrestle a consistent 7 minute match and not make any little mistakes.  I hope he puts together four great matches for nationals to end with a title.

Humphrey is absolutely a joy to watch.  He is sickeningly quick and can hit that duckunder from anywhere.  He is a contender for a title at a stacked 133lb weight class.

[AJ]

 

6. Quaker Steak and Lube has some VERY good wings.

 

 

Did you take the 6 wing challenge???