For those that don't follow the college board....

[SWINfan 679]

There is a nice appetizer for wrestling fans tonight to prepare you for tomorrow's Regionals.

On the Big Ten Network (free) Michigan wrestles at Penn State tonight at 7:00 ET. 

The matchup with feature 3 of Indiana's best studs in recent years:

 - Stevan Micic going at 133 for Michigan.  Micic is ranked #1 in the country coming off his National Runner-Up finish last year. Stevan is 9-0 on the year after nursing an early season injury.
- Nick Lee will go at 141 for Penn State.  Lee is ranked #7 in the country and will face #5 Kanen Storr.  Lee is 19-1 on the year while Storr is 17-3.  
- Mason Parris will go at 285 for Michigan.  Parris is ranked #7 and 23-3 and will face Anthony Cassar who is ranked #3 and 16-1.

Big matchups for both Lee and Parris.  Micic will likely get a Penn State backup after Roman Bravo-Young tweaked his knee last weekend at Purdue.

Check it out and head over to the College Board for updates on this match and updates on many other former IN HS wrestlers.

[A2Boiler 1]

I met Mason Parris in Whole Foods in Ann Arbor right before the team departed for Happy Valley.  Great young man. 

[XCard 170]

I don't think the Big Ten Network is FREE...last time I checked you had to have the sports package to have it on Comcast.  Maybe other providers are different.

Definitely a good watch tonight though!

[1prouddad 490]

I’ll be tuned in. Should be a fun one

[SWINfan 679]

54 minutes ago, XCard said:

I don't think the Big Ten Network is FREE...last time I checked you had to have the sports package to have it on Comcast.  Maybe other providers are different.

Definitely a good watch tonight though!

Can't speak about Comcast.  I thought it was included anywhere within the Big Ten footprint.  Guess that's another reason to have Directv!  But it is not on BTN+, which requires a separate subscription even with BTN.

Edited February 1 by SWINfan

[piscis1956 89]

It’s free for me.

[Mattyb 1,374]

This is awesome!!! If you are not watching shame on you. It’s a great dual. And Ohio state vs Illinois next. Better than Xmas! 

Looks like lee over storr maybe the big difference in this one. Huge win for lee even bigger for the team 

Edited February 2 by Mattyb

[bigballerb 103]

Wow cassar is a beast 

[Bigtoe19 37]

Have to say Micic and Lee both Looked great. Not able to see Parris' match but great job to Indiana men!!

[MattM 864]

1 minute ago, Bigtoe19 said:

Have to say Micic and Lee both Looked great. Not able to see Parris' match but great job to Indiana men!!

Parris mostly got ran over.  Cassar came in fast and hard right at the start. Then keep the pedal down most of the match.  Hopefully as Mason develops into a college level HWT we can see the same overwhelming approach out of him in a couple years. He’s off to a good start but still needs a little more time in the wrestling and weight room to  get to where Cassar currently is. 

[backtothemat 296]

4 hours ago, MattM said:

Parris mostly got ran over.  Cassar came in fast and hard right at the start. Then keep the pedal down most of the match.  Hopefully as Mason develops into a college level HWT we can see the same overwhelming approach out of him in a couple years. He’s off to a good start but still needs a little more time in the wrestling and weight room to  get to where Cassar currently is. 

Fifth year Sr vs true Fr and it showed......

[Disco 33]

On a side note, Indiana U. has a couple of more home meets this year before the big tournament. This Friday the 8th, Rutgers comes to Wilikinson hall, then the 9th Saturday Stanford shows up. Both 7 pm start times.. I think Tennessee Chattanooga comes in also. The new hall has been big crowds and The wrestlers are really responding to the fans. This is a fun time of the year in Indiana with the school boys tournament getting revved up, with semi state action. I would like to get our Indiana kids to stay in state so we can keep a closer watch. Sure would of loved to be watching Lee, Micic and Pariis, Red also. in a Purdue or Indiana singlet.

[piscis1956 89]

21 hours ago, bigballerb said:

Wow cassar is a beast 

I think it’s pretty amazing that I guy can put on 35 pounds (or more?) of muscle in less than a year’s time.

[bigballerb 103]

17 minutes ago, piscis1956 said:

I think it’s pretty amazing that I guy can put on 35 pounds (or more?) of muscle in less than a year’s time.

Yeah they were saying that cassar was eating a outrageous amount of calories a day and working out 24/7.

[piscis1956 89]

Just now, bigballerb said:

Yeah they were saying that cassar was eating a outrageous amount of calories a day and working out 24/7.

 I think working out 24/7 would actually be counter-productive to quickly adding large amounts of muscle mass. But whatever his eating and workout regimen was/is, it’s certainly seems to have worked for him.

[SWINfan 679]

47 minutes ago, piscis1956 said:

 I think working out 24/7 would actually be counter-productive to quickly adding large amounts of muscle mass. But whatever his eating and workout regimen was/is, it’s certainly seems to have worked for him.

I didn't catch it all, but it includes a pound of ground beef at night before bed

[stewy 0]

Mason Parris is quicker than most HVY.  Cassar has the quickest  explosive strength I have seen.  Mason has already beat many seniors this year and will win many more.... Just likely not against Cassar.

[nkraus 184]

1 minute ago, stewy said:

Mason Parris is quicker than most HVY.  Cassar has the quickest  explosive strength I have seen.  Mason has already beat many seniors this year and will win many more.... Just likely not against Cassar.

Talked about this a couple times recently...I think Mason can beat him, or make it much more competitive.  Cassar "old manned" Mason.  Mason got blasted early and that was unexpected.  After that I felt that Mason took some shots that were shots to take shots and weren't as strategic or set up as they could've been.  Cassar capitalized with some nice re shots.  Mason has amazing coaches and great partners and they will make adjustments.  Mason was an anomaly in Indiana as he was probably the best athlete we've had at 220 in this state.  His wrestling has improved so much. Mason was a multi sport athlete and his ceiling is limitless IMHO.  I could see Mason wrestling a slower/more strategic pace and being more intentional and "picking" his shots and not taking the shots to where Cassar can hit a cheap re shot on him.

[MD92 2]

8 hours ago, nkraus said:

Talked about this a couple times recently...I think Mason can beat him, or make it much more competitive.  Cassar "old manned" Mason.  Mason got blasted early and that was unexpected.  After that I felt that Mason took some shots that were shots to take shots and weren't as strategic or set up as they could've been.  Cassar capitalized with some nice re shots.  Mason has amazing coaches and great partners and they will make adjustments.  Mason was an anomaly in Indiana as he was probably the best athlete we've had at 220 in this state.  His wrestling has improved so much. Mason was a multi sport athlete and his ceiling is limitless IMHO.  I could see Mason wrestling a slower/more strategic pace and being more intentional and "picking" his shots and not taking the shots to where Cassar can hit a cheap re shot on him.

Gelen Robinson says hello.

Not saying you are wrong, but Cassar also has tremendous coaches and has two Olympic gold medalists (Cael and Varner) to work out with.  Don't see Mason beating him this season.  They said Cassar was on a 7k calorie diet.  Ate 10 eggs every morning, grilled chicken throughout the day and a pound of ground beef before bed.

[nkraus 184]

9 minutes ago, MD92 said:

Gelen Robinson says hello.

Not saying you are wrong, but Cassar also has tremendous coaches and has two Olympic gold medalists (Cael and Varner) to work out with.  Don't see Mason beating him this season.  They said Cassar was on a 7k calorie diet.  Ate 10 eggs every morning, grilled chicken throughout the day and a pound of ground beef before bed.

Yep, I seen that. That's hard work to eat like that!!! I just think Mason will get exponentially better compared to his opponents who likely have more wrestling.  Man strength vs Boy strength is a big deal though!

[base 343]

14 minutes ago, MD92 said:

They said Cassar was on a 7k calorie diet.  Ate 10 eggs every morning, grilled chicken throughout the day and a pound of ground beef before bed.

I was on a 7k calorie diet in college too, but mostly pizza and Hudepohl Gold 🍕🍺

[MD92 2]

25 minutes ago, nkraus said:

Yep, I seen that. That's hard work to eat like that!!! I just think Mason will get exponentially better compared to his opponents who likely have more wrestling.  Man strength vs Boy strength is a big deal though!

Yes, he will get much better.  Just not soon enough this season to beat the likes of Cassar, Steveson, etc.  If he can AA this year it will be a great accomplishment.  I can see him in the 6-8 range or losing in the round of 12.

[nkraus 184]

1 hour ago, MD92 said:

Yes, he will get much better.  Just not soon enough this season to beat the likes of Cassar, Steveson, etc.  If he can AA this year it will be a great accomplishment.  I can see him in the 6-8 range or losing in the round of 12.

I'm with ya there

[SWINfan 679]

5 hours ago, nkraus said:

Yep, I seen that. That's hard work to eat like that!!! I just think Mason will get exponentially better compared to his opponents who likely have more wrestling.  Man strength vs Boy strength is a big deal though!

I 100% agree with this.  I think Mason is at a point where he felt like he had to put on weight (to compete with the likes of Stoll, Nevills, Hemida, Jennings, etc) and that he's not where he would be optimally especially with several wrestlers that are more similar to him in style (Cassar, Steveson, etc.).  To me, Mason looked more cut than he does now.  Personally, I think he'll be much better if he wrestles in the 230-235 range (about 10 lbs lighter) and gets even stronger at that weight.  It just seems there may be some extra weight that isn't working for him the best right now.  And to be clear, I'm comparing him to Cassar and to what I think Mason will become 2-3 years from now.  I may be making it sound more drastic than I mean it to be, but I wonder if he would have been better off staying lighter this year (225-230)?  I can't answer that.  It's just a feeling I get after seeing him wrestle several times.  I look forward to seeing what he can do the next few years.  It won't be easy with Iowa adding Cassioppi and Ohip State adding Kerklivet.  But my money is MP is right there in the mix with those guys and agree on his upside.

[WrestleMan 39]

5 hours ago, base said:

I was on a 7k calorie diet in college too, but mostly pizza and Hudepohl Gold 🍕🍺

Man, we loved the Hudepohl Gold back in the day. Made me laugh, what great memories.