blueandgold Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Who are some guys who didn’t really hit their stride until after high school? A couple that come to mind include Sam Osho of Avon and Jack Servies of Perry Meridian, both were teammates at Marian. Osho was only a semi-state qualifier in high school, but in college he managed to become a five-time national qualifier and All-American in 2022, placing third at 184 lbs. and ahead of former D1 wrestler, two-time state champion, and Super 32 champion Blake Rypel. Servies only qualified for state once as a junior in 2017, but later became a two-time All-American, placing sixth twice and racking up wins over numerous state champions including Blake Rypel in a decision. Who are some other names that realized their true potential after high school? MUSKEEWRESTLER, FCFIGHTER170, Cricket21 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuinnHarris Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 (edited) Kailan Keith was only a Semi State Qualifier, last year as a true sophomore was a National Qualifier at Thomas More and is current ranked in the country at 157 Edited December 21, 2023 by QuinnHarris MUSKEEWRESTLER, blueandgold and Worden 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silence Dogood Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Nick Lee Cricket21, blueandgold, Ahawkeye and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandgold Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 6 minutes ago, QuinnHarris said: Kailan Keith was only a Semi State Qualifier, last year as a true sophomore was a National Qualifier at Thomas More and is current ranked in the country at 157 KK was definitely one I thought would be at the state tournament, but I’m glad to hear he’s making his stride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Dylan Lydy was a state champ for Ben Davis and a really good wrestler all four years, but he got so much better at Purdue. Two time blood rounder and had a great shot to place when NCAAs were cancelled in 2020. And for my Alma mater, Chase Wilson from Maconaquah ended up having a great career wrestling for Manchester, I believe finishing just shy of being an AA. blueandgold, Rugger44, Worden and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandgold Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Silence Dogood said: Nick Lee Nick Lee was a state champion and two-time Fargo champion in high school. He definitely isn’t one I’m thinking of for this group of names as it was pretty clear where he was headed after the announcement of the Penn State commitment his sophomore year. Edited December 21, 2023 by blueandgold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formercollegekid Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 11 minutes ago, QuinnHarris said: Kailan Keith was only a Semi State Qualifier, last year as a true sophomore was a National Qualifier at Thomas More and is current ranked in the country at 157 Dude had to come through 2 semistates in the same year. #Mooresvillesemistate QuinnHarris, Worden and BrodyHardcastle 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandgold Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 I must add Austin Bethel to this discussion. He was a four-time state qualifier who then became an All-American as a true freshman at Wabash. Jstephenson1356, Cricket21 and formercollegekid 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenHeavyHandz Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Nick Primozic Richmond High School 1992. Got third at Heavy his senior year in high school. Finished a 3 time AA at Manchester with two runners up and a third place. Thor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igotcaught Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Riley Lefever Holden, Y2CJ41, piscis1956 and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrodyHardcastle Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 24 minutes ago, Thor said: Dylan Lydy was a state champ for Ben Davis and a really good wrestler all four years, but he got so much better at Purdue. Two time blood rounder and had a great shot to place when NCAAs were cancelled in 2020. And for my Alma mater, Chase Wilson from Maconaquah ended up having a great career wrestling for Manchester, I believe finishing just shy of being an AA. Two good ones right there. I still vividly remember Wilson vs Aldrich in that ticket round match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, igotcaught said: Riley Lefever Pretty sure this answer should be the standard bearer for all other responses. He was a quality wrestler in HS but found a whole new level after that. Not just a 4x D3 champions, Riley was right there with the top guys for a world team position at one point. I’d even take this category out to high school senior that had a major break out year. Going from barely a SS qualifier as a junior to a high state placer definitely fits the idea here. Sure they may not have got the career accolades to get a decent offer to wrestle in college but a solid late bloomers none the less. Edited December 21, 2023 by MattM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandgold Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 6 minutes ago, MattM said: Pretty sure this answer should be the test to have all other responses. He was definitely a quality wrestler in HS but found a whole new level after. Was wrestling some of the top guys for a world team position at one point. I’d even take this category out to high school senior that had a major break out year. Going from barely a SS qualifier as a junior to a high state placer definitely fits the idea here. Sure they may not have got the career accolades to get a decent offer to wrestle in college but a solid late bloomers none the less. Thomas Penola HornetSloan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattyb Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 1 hour ago, formercollegekid said: Dude had to come through 2 semistates in the same year. #Mooresvillesemistate Same with Osho blueandgold and formercollegekid 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC123 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 2 hours ago, blueandgold said: I must add Austin Bethel to this discussion. He was a four-time state qualifier who then became an All-American as a true freshman at Wabash. Austin Bethel and Brayton Lee one of the best matches at Evansville semi state ever. blueandgold and Cricket21 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahawkeye Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 6 hours ago, blueandgold said: Nick Lee was a state champion and two-time Fargo champion in high school. He definitely isn’t one I’m thinking of for this group of names as it was pretty clear where he was headed after the announcement of the Penn State commitment his sophomore year. But if you see how much he improved once he hit college it is easy to see he truly hit a new level. I'm not saying he dominated Red in college but the matches they had at that level you could clearly see he had leap froged Red. That's no small feat considering Red's obvious success on the highschool level. If not for covid we may have seen Lee vs Pletcher 3 in the NCAA finals and seen Lee pick up his first title there instead of the following year against Eierman. Last point to make on this, although I believe 141 was too big for Stevan Micic to wrestle Lee also avenged his loss to Micic. If these wins aren't showing "unlocked potential" I don't know what does, Nick went from "almost there" to "not goona catch him" against these opponents. littlevito, MUSKEEWRESTLER, Cricket21 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldog89 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 11 hours ago, igotcaught said: Riley Lefever Agree on Riley Lefever. My son Owen wrestled with him at Wabash. Owen made it to Nationals his freshman year in (2017 placing 7th All-American) and Riley was going for his 4th Title that year. He was 35-3 and had only lost to D1 wrestlers (but beaten more than he lost to). I have never to this day seen a more dominant wrestler. We just knew he was going to win every match. Coming into the Championship bout we needed Riley to pin his guy for us to get 3rd as a Team. He went out and looked like he wanted to enjoy the moment for a period then he pinned his guy in the second period and Wabash was 3rd ahead of Johnson & Wales 62.5 to 61.5. Just an incredible accomplishment for him and the whole Wabash team and fans. What was even better was at the after party, as the fans and coaches and wrestlers were having the time of our lives and passing the NCAA Team trophy around, I found Riley and my other son Easton, then 11 years old, in the corner of the restaurant talking at a table about wrestling. Riley was asking Easton about his recent tournament and asking him how many take downs he had and how many points he scored. Not just a great wrestler but a great human being!!! Tcarter, Thor, bwoodjc89 and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcarter Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 12 hours ago, igotcaught said: Riley Lefever Could have wrestled D1 and done just fine. He was an absolute machine. Bulldog89 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2CJ41 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 One knock on Riley is that I've pinned him multiple times and so has @Y21AB. Bulldog89 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldog89 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 7 minutes ago, Tcarter said: Could have wrestled D1 and done just fine. He was an absolute machine. There were still D1s trying to get him to transfer before the portal. Coach Anderson kept a very close eye on his phone calls he was getting!!! Tcarter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Sandefer Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Shane Perky Joshua Olsen, MUSKEEWRESTLER, h2ooutofmudpuddles and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldog89 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 1 minute ago, Y2CJ41 said: One knock on Riley is that I've pinned him multiple times and so has @Y21AB. We have all heard the RUMOR!!!! Tcarter and Y2CJ41 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandgold Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 6 hours ago, Ahawkeye said: But if you see how much he improved once he hit college it is easy to see he truly hit a new level. I'm not saying he dominated Red in college but the matches they had at that level you could clearly see he had leap froged Red. That's no small feat considering Red's obvious success on the highschool level. If not for covid we may have seen Lee vs Pletcher 3 in the NCAA finals and seen Lee pick up his first title there instead of the following year against Eierman. Last point to make on this, although I believe 141 was too big for Stevan Micic to wrestle Lee also avenged his loss to Micic. If these wins aren't showing "unlocked potential" I don't know what does, Nick went from "almost there" to "not goona catch him" against these opponents. I’m not disagreeing with any of this, I guess my initial thought was the guys who didn’t do much before or weren’t considered “blue chip recruits” and ended up being undeniable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jstephenson1356 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Alex Barr. Made it to state once and placed 6th as a senior. Ended up being a 2X d3 qualifier one being Covid year and placed 3rd his senior year pinning Kris Rumph in the process bwoodjc89, blueandgold and Bulldog89 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Another one to add is Justin Atkinson. He didn't go to state in high school but was a two time All American at Indiana Tech. Jstephenson1356 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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