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Penn State Invasion and Nick Lee Return to Indiana (Long Weekend Preview)


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Penn State will visit the state of Indiana this weekend, wrestling at Purdue Friday night and at IU Sunday afternoon.  Nick Lee will make his first appearance in our state since HS.  With the matches avoiding Saturday and HS Sectionals, this will be a great opportunity to see Nick wrestle again and see one of the most powerful college lineups in a long time.  The Nittany Lions have won 7 out of the last 8 National Championships and are currently on a 52 meet dual winning streak and feature a combined 7 National Titles

The Nittany Lions lineup (with likely opponents) will likely look like this:

@125 Devin Schnupp - Schnupp is a place filler in the lineup for PSU.  He stepped in last year after Nick Suriano transferred to Rutgers and before grad transfer Carson Kuhn was eligible and ready.  This year, he has been seen as holding the weight for either Brody Teske, 4x Iowa State Champ or Gavin Teasdale.  Teasdale, has had issues and left school for a bit, came back and today it was announced he is transferring.  Teske has only wrestled in one open tournament has battled some injury issues.  So it looks as if Schnupp will hold 125.  He has really improved after being undersized and not strong enough last year.  He's battled much tougher this year and is 5-9 on the season.  Both Purdue and IU should be favored at this weight.
vs. Purdue - Devin Schroder - Grand Rapids MI
vs. Indiana - Liam Cronin - Orange, CA or Elijah Oliver - Washington, IL (Cronin has been getting most of the starts recently)

@133 #13 Roman Bravo-Young - A true freshman, Bravo-Young was a heralded star coming out of HS in Arizona where he went 182-0 and was a 4x State Champion and was Flo's #1 ranked wrestler at 132.  He is 15-1 on the year and has lived up to expectations thus far. Konrath seems to be IU’s best option and has bounced between 133 and 141 this year and wasn’t in the lineup against Purdue. I’d give Bravo-Young the nod here against in both meets.  Thornton is a veteran who could give him some issues.  But RBY is explosive and extremely quick.  I think he’ll be too much this weekend. 
vs. Purdue – Ben Thornton - Stoddard, WI
vs. Indiana – Paul Konrath – Mt. Vernon, IN or Garrett Pepple – East Noble HS, IN

@141 #7 Nick Lee from Mater Dei in Evansville.  Lee finished 5th at the NCAA last year earning All-American status as a true freshman.  He’s 17-1 on the year and has scored bonus points in all but 3 matches. Lee is coming off a win over Indiana HS 4x’er Chad Red in Sunday’s dual against Nebraska.  An interesting twist to this weekend could have Lee facing off against former teammate, IU’s Kyle Luigs.  Luigs has filled in, along with Konrath, for Cole Weaver.  Lee was 2-0 against both Limmex and Weaver last year. Expect to come out of the weekend unscathed, however a match up against either Luigs or Konrath would certainly be fun.
vs. Purdue – Nate Limmex – Ada, MI
vs. Indiana – Kyle Luigs – Mater Dei HS, IN or Cole Weaver – Hudson, MI or Paul Konrath

 @149 #10 Brady Berge – A RS Freshman from Minnesota, Berge was a 3x Minnesota State Champion and his only HS loss was an injury default in the State Semifinals of the year he didn’t win.  He is 14-2 on the year.  Expect wins by Berge in both matches.
vs. Purdue – Parker Fillius – Havre, MT
vs. Indiana – Fernie Silva – Rockton, IL

@157 #1 Jason Nolf – Nolf 16-0, is as dominant as anyone in the NCAA in a long time.  He is the Penn State career leader for most falls and is a 1 point loss to Isaiah Martinez in the NCAA Final his freshman year from being a 3x National Champ.  Expect more domination from Nolf this weekend as he marches to his 3rd NCAA Title.  Nolf easily defeated #2 & #3 recently.
vs, Purdue – #8 Griffin Parriott New Prague, MN
vs. Indiana – Jake Danishek – Lebanon, OH

@165 #1 Vincente Joseph – Joseph, a junior is a 2x NCAA Champ taking out Isaiah Martinez both times.  He is 15-0 on the year.  I expect Joseph to make quick work of both, winning by at least a major decision.
vs. Purdue – Cole Wysocki – Edwardsville, IL
vs. Indiana – Bryce Martin – Bakersfield, CA

@174 #1 Mark Hall – The first 6x Minnesota HS Champ, Hall won an NCAA Title as a freshman and was runner-up last year to Zahid Valencia.  He avenged that loss to Valencia earlier this year and is 16-0.  Despite facing two former IN HS State Champs, expect more greatness from Hall this weekend.
vs. Purdue - #14 Dylan Lydy – Ben Davis HS, IN
vs. Indiana – Jake Covaciu – Merrilville HS, IN

@184 #3 Shakur Rasheed – Rasheed finished 7th in the NCAA last year at 197 and dropped to 184 after Bo Nickal bumped up a weight for this season.  He is 15-0 and is a legit threat to #1 ranked Myles Martin of Ohio State.  Rasheed sat out PSU’s match Sunday against Nebraska, but is expected to return this weekend. He is a pinning machine and combines strength with excellent quickness.  There is no reason for that to change this weekend.
vs. Purdue - Max Lyon – Dyersville, IA
vs. Indiana – Norman Conley – St. Louis, MO

@197 #1 Bo Nickal – Nickal is often worth the price of admission himself.  Nickal, a 2x NCAA Champ is just 3 falls behind Nolf for most career falls at Penn St.   Nickal can turn a close match into domination in seconds and finds pinning combinations from just about anywhere, as evidenced in last year’s NCAA title match when he hit an elevator to turn a deep blast double from Myles Martin into a fall cementing the Nittany Lions team title.  If for no other reason, this weekend is a great chance for wrestling fans to see Nolf and Nickal in person, both likely 3x Champs.

@285 #3 Anthony Cassar – Cassar has finally gotten his chance to shine at Penn State.  The starter at 197 last year, he was overtaken by Shakur Rasheed despite beating top-tanked Kollin Moore of OSU and sat out the NCAA Tournament.  He came back rather than transfer, gained 30-35 pounds, competed with and beat out 2x All-American Nick Nevills this year.  Cassar is 14-1 on the year and should take care of business this weekend.
vs. Purdue – Jacob Aven – Zionsville HS, IN
vs. Indiana – Fletcher Miller  - Kokomo HS, IN

While this weekend may not provide much success for the Boilermakers or Hoosiers, it is a good chance to see up close what the best of the best looks like and what it will take for these programs to compete at the top.  Not to mention a chance to see a slew of NCAA Champions, a final opportunity to Jason Nolf and  Bo Nickal and to provide a welcome home to Nick Lee.

 

Edited by SWINfan
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1 hour ago, Y2CJ41 said:

Just read that Shakur Rasheed probably won't be in the lineup this weekend.

Rumor was the flu.  Guess that makes sense.   Vincenzo Joseph missed a few matches from it as well 

Last weekend Mason Manville, a 165 lb'er stepped in for him.  

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Here is a great article from the same Centre Daily Times on Nick's return to Indiana.  Looks like there are going to be a lot of Mater Dei red and gold in Bloomington Sunday.

Two other notes:

1. I've seen in two different places that Nick will face Kyle Luigs Sunday (one was MD's Twitter feed)

2.  In two places, I have seen the expected lineups and neither has listed Paul Konrath as a possibility at 133 or 141.  Both of these sources were from the Penn State side, so I'm not sure if they are just going on IU's match against Purdue where Pepple started at 133 or if there is something going on with Paul I don't know.  The last time I saw him he was kicking butt in a major dec win against Maryland.  Anyone have any insight here?

Nick Lee Embracing Challenges Ahead of His Indiana Homecoming

Edited by SWINfan
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2 minutes ago, Disco said:

I'm of the impression , Konrath will go 133 at BIG's but he has been seen alot at 41, with some of big ten heavy weights at this weight. We may see it again in an hour or so, with LEE.

Konrath started the season at 141 filling in for Cole Weaver.  When Weaver came back, Konrath got his weight down to go at 133 and wrestled there.  He's filled in once or twice at 141 since Weaver has been out again, but mostly stayed at 133.  

The expectation is Lee will face former MD teammate Kyle Luigs today.  Konrath or Pepple, whoever goes at 133 will likely get a FF today after Roman Bravo-Young tweaked something in his leg Friday night.  Penn St. is tight-lipped about injuries, but most PSU fans think they'll go the safe route and sit him today.  With the limited travel squad #s, there is no one else to fill in unless they pull the redshirt of Brody Teske, which is unlikely to happen just for this dual.

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Match looks to be starting at 184.  Franny Bisono (2-6, 0-1) will go for Penn St. in place of Shakur Rasheed.  

Liam Cronin goes at 125 for IU.  
Penn State will forfeit 133 due to Roman Bravo-Young injury
Lee vs. Luigs confirmed
Jared Verkleeren goes for Penn St at 149.  Brady Berge out this weekend with the flu, reportedly.
Breyden Bailey gets "lucky" and moves up to 157 to get slaughtered by Jason Nolf.  Sorry Breyden fans, the truth is what it is.

Prediction Penn St. 34-12

Crowd at close to 3,000

Edited by SWINfan
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@184 Conley gets a 4-1 win over Bisono to give IU a 3-0 lead.
@197 Nickal pins Kleimola in :58.  Turned a scramble off Kleimola getting in on a single leg into bad position for Jake, then a cradle and a pin about 5 seconds after he got him to his back,  PSU 6-3
@285 Cassar wins 11-5 over Fletcher Miller  PSU 9-3
@125 Schnupp wins 5-3 over Cronin. PSU 12-3 - Check my prediction to Penn State 37-9
@133 Penn State forfeits.  PSU 12-9
INTERMISSION

FWIW, the IU student announcer is terrible and has no clue about wrestling...  Some of his gems, so far:
- Bisono a "late lineup change for Penn St" - Bisono wrestled Friday night and it was well known Rasheed wasn't going to wrestle
- Featured Jake Danishek as co-wrestler of the week and experience on IU's team.  Mentioned him twice about going at 157.  Danishek not in the lineup today.  Would think he know his own team's lineup?
- described Conley's second takedown as a reversal
- described a Conley mat return as a takedown
- Cassar's "headset" come loose.  He just borrowed Bo Nickal's "headset"
- Not a fan of Cassar's footwork - in between Cassar's 2nd and 3rd takedown of Miller
- Called Jason Nolf "Jason Dolf - twice when discussing him wrestling Danishek
- "Minor decision" by Cassar
- Nick Lee from Evansville.  Luigs also from Evansville.  Probably some familiarity there.  lol

Back to wrestling.... Nick Lee to the mat

Edited by SWINfan
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15 minutes ago, SWINfan said:

INTERMISSION

FWIW, the IU student announcer is terrible and has no clue about wrestling...  Some of his gems, so far:
- Bisono a "late lineup change for Penn St" - Bisono wrestled Friday night and it was well known Rasheed wasn't going to wrestle
- Featured Jake Danishek as co-wrestler of the week and experience on IU's team.  Mentioned him twice about going at 157.  Danishek not in the lineup today.  Would think he know his own team's lineup?
- described Conley's second takedown as a reversal
- described a Conley mat return as a takedown
- Cassar's "headset" come loose.  He just borrowed Bo Nickal's "headset"
- Not a fan of Cassar's footwork - in between Cassar's 2nd and 3rd takedown of Miller
- Called Jason Nolf "Jason Dolf - twice when discussing him wrestling Danishek
- "Minor decision" by Cassar
- Nick Lee from Evansville.  Luigs also from Evansville.  Probably some familiarity there.  lol

 

This is rough... They can't even look at the bio of what high school they each went to?  "Fellow townsperson"

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@141 Nick Lee with a major decision over Luigs 13-3.  PSU 16-9
@149 Verkleeren with a 6-4 win over Silva.  PSU 19-9
@157 Jason Nolf with the fall over Bailey at 2:47.  PSU 25-9
@165 Vincenzo Joseph with the fall over Martin at 1:23.  PSU 31-9
@174 Mark Hall with a 12-4 major decision over Cavaciu.  PSU 35-9

Joseph got a "one leg takedown" and Hall was to face Covachoo.  Granted he did correct himself quickly, just as he did after he mentioned Jason Rolf in his match.  
 

Edited by SWINfan
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nice article, cgi369. the concensus on the psu board agreed with coach ersland, purdue came to wrestle. in some of the psu duels it seems that the opponent is trying to avoid embarrassment rather than trying to win. both the purdue and the indiana kids were wrestling to win. it bodes well for the future of those two programs.

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