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Ohio State Wrestling (2015/2017/2018 B1G Champs, 2015 National Champs, 2019 National Runners-up)

Poster on the Bucknuts site says 4 time NCAA qualifier Taylor Lamont is in the portal and is visiting Ohio State. He has wrestled 4 seasons at 125 for Utah Valley St. which is where Tate Orndorff also wrestled. You may remember him as the guy who beat Heinselman in this year's NCAAs. If he signs with the Buckeyes he's expected to fill the 133 slot if Bouzakis and Mendez are redshirted.

Lamont is a stud, if that comes to fruition I would love to see it happen. 125 or 133, he would probably be an upgrade or at least compete at either weight.
 
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Looks like Cody Chittum had a good visit last week. Mendez already doing some recruiting! (Picture courtesy of Pat Mineo)
 
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Speaking of Mendez, he damn near beat Seth Gross last weekend which is incredible from a recent HS grad against a veteran in his prime like Gross. Was up something like 12-4 and got caught in a trap late in the match and lost by 1 point. Mendez is going to be chasing a title this year at 133, he's that good.
 
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Speaking of Mendez, he damn near beat Seth Gross last weekend which is incredible from a recent HS grad against a veteran in his prime like Gross. Was up something like 12-4 and got caught in a trap late in the match and lost by 1 point. Mendez is going to be chasing a title this year at 133, he's that good.

I think you're right about Mendez. He'll probably have a pre-season "start or redshirt" match with Bouzakis for 133#. And since Orndorff decided to take his free year I believe Feldman will redshirt too. Saves him from facing Stevenson which no rookie should have to do.
 
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I think you're right about Mendez. He'll probably have a pre-season "start or redshirt" match with Bouzakis for 133#. And since Orndorff decided to take his free year I believe Feldman will redshirt too. Saves him from facing Stevenson which no rookie should have to do.

Yeah he could start off not in the starting lineup and then decide mid-season if they are going to burn it. I am wondering if Bouzakis and Mendez are both going 133, or if one bumps up to 141 to wrestle off with D'Emilio. Based on weights in HS, Mendez would be more likely at 141 but he might make the cut if he thinks there is a better opportunity at 133. I see Mendez as the guy from the big 3 most ready to start right away at the college level and selfishly kind of hoping he does because I can't wait to watch him.

Same goes for Feldman in wanting to see him right away, though I agree Orndorff coming back (and the staff taking him) signals a likely RS for Feldman. Plus we know he is undersized currently and a year to put on some more good weight would be helpful, though I think he would probably AA no matter what weight he is at, the undersized heavies that can attack are doing well right now. On Stevenson, he retired from wrestling and left his shoes on the mat after winning his last title, so the HWT class is pretty wide open. Not saying there aren't some really good ones coming back like Schultz, Kerkvliet and Cassiopi, but I'm not convinced Feldman couldn't beat those guys.
 
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Found a post about next season's lineup at Ohiowrestling.net. These guys seem pretty knowledgeable about the team. Here are a couple salient observations ...
1.Loser of Bouzakis/Mendez likely a redshirt, partially because D'Emilio has a pre-season ranking of #12 and Decatur now that he's
going at 141 only is looking much better. (my thought..I think Mendez can easily get down to 133 as he wrestled only a few pounds
higher than that this summer).
2. Orndorff is also rated around #12 and is returning. Stevenson now says he's likely returning for the Covid year. That plus the reasons you mentioned above would indicate a Feldman redshirt.
3. They also mention Ryan really is impressed with Luke Geog, saying he was the best guy he saw at that weight this spring.(up to 182 from 170 a big factor). Reminds him of Nick Heflin.
4. Finally he says Ryan is very excited about Paddy's off-season. Reminds him of Kolin Moore who did OK his redshirt year then blossomed into a top wrestler. Says Paddy is doing "everything right".
 
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Found a post about next season's lineup at Ohiowrestling.net. These guys seem pretty knowledgeable about the team. Here are a couple salient observations ...
1.Loser of Bouzakis/Mendez likely a redshirt, partially because D'Emilio has a pre-season ranking of #12 and Decatur now that he's
going at 141 only is looking much better. (my thought..I think Mendez can easily get down to 133 as he wrestled only a few pounds
higher than that this summer).
2. Orndorff is also rated around #12 and is returning. Stevenson now says he's likely returning for the Covid year. That plus the reasons you mentioned above would indicate a Feldman redshirt.
3. They also mention Ryan really is impressed with Luke Geog, saying he was the best guy he saw at that weight this spring.(up to 182 from 170 a big factor). Reminds him of Nick Heflin.
4. Finally he says Ryan is very excited about Paddy's off-season. Reminds him of Kolin Moore who did OK his redshirt year then blossomed into a top wrestler. Says Paddy is doing "everything right".

Thanks for the response, I love talking potential lineups in the off-season (and raslin in general), especially with so many talented wrestlers coming in. And I'll have to start following that site, I just get bits and pieces from my wrestling buddies here and there. My thoughts:

1. That's probably the biggest question mark for me. I agree that at least one of Mendez and Bouzakis will probably redshirt because they are right in the same area, and we (we also being Coach Ryan) know a title isn't probably happening with PSU. There could be a scenario where the frosh are the best back to back at 133/141 over Decatur and D'Emilio. I honestly think the two frosh could beat them out and would bet on it with a gun to my head. But even if that's the case, we're not pulling that trigger unless Ryan thinks we can make a run, we've seen that a lot. I love D'Emilio, but his ceiling is likely just pushing AA status. Hope I'm wrong there though because he might be my favorite wrestler on the team with the way he scraps. Decatur...unless he had a come to Jesus moment, he won't be a viable starter anywhere on the lineup, that train has passed awhile ago imo. I think we're looking at some combo of Mendez/Bouzakis/D'Emilio in the 133-141 range, but it'll be fun to see how it sorts out.
2. I had no idea Steveson was even considering coming back, thought that was final. Also thought he signed some deals that didn't allow him to come back, but I have no idea with the NIL landscape nowadays. If Steveson does come back, I think you shelf Feldman because he could be a legit contender for a 4x champ. In any event, Tate coming back means he probably has the spot.
3. Interesting on Geog. Seems like a solid wrestler, but nobody I thought was going to be a world beater. Then again, Heflin and while we're at it Kollin Moore were in that same category, so I'd love to see a similar outcome...other than for the love of God, don't be as boring as Heflin was until his last year haha.
4. Heck to the yeah on Paddy. Kid reminded me of Nolf when I watched him, incredibly athletic and talented, but just so damn physical. And also smart in situational wrestling. If Paddy is anything like what he looked like in HS, he should be a beast in our lineup for the next 4 years.

The interesting thing though about all this is that we do have wrestle offs before the season. If any of the frosh smoke some upper classmen, does that press the hand even if we know we're not winning the title? I've heard we've had some transfers/decommits under Ryan because of redshirting guys who were the better wrestler. Ryan has been pretty damn good with it thus far from what I can tell, but just saying that might be an issue if we have a top kid who wants to go right away and wins a wrestle off. If it comes down to it, I say go with the John Cooper approach of "if they bite, they'll bite as a pup" approach. We've stacked up talent with recruiting and you have guys for 4 years, so I don't see much benefit (to the team or wrestler) in a redshirt if you think he can make a run or be an AA. This might be one of the more fun years to watch the initial wrestle offs.
 
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Thanks for the response, I love talking potential lineups in the off-season (and raslin in general), especially with so many talented wrestlers coming in. And I'll have to start following that site, I just get bits and pieces from my wrestling buddies here and there. My thoughts:

3. Interesting on Geog. Seems like a solid wrestler, but nobody I thought was going to be a world beater. Then again, Heflin and while we're at it Kollin Moore were in that same category, so I'd love to see a similar outcome...other than for the love of God, don't be as boring as Heflin was until his last year haha. And also smart in situational wrestling. If Paddy is anything like what he looked like in HS, he should be a beast in our lineup for the next 4 years.

If it comes down to it, I say go with the John Cooper approach of "if they bite, they'll bite as a pup" approach. QUOTE]

Geog saved his best for last by showing out at this year's state tournament. But i think he's been a favorite of Coach for awhile. Will be interesting to follow his progress through the probable redshirt and then compete for a spot at 184 or 197 with Rocco Welsh.
LOL at your Coop quote!
 
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Geog definitely seemed to be coming into his own in the back half of his HS career, never a bad thing. Would love to see an underrated Ohio kid turn into a star like Kollin did. And that's my favorite Coop quote, I use it all the time haha.
 
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Geog definitely seemed to be coming into his own in the back half of his HS career, never a bad thing. Would love to see an underrated Ohio kid turn into a star like Kollin did. And that's my favorite Coop quote, I use it all the time haha.

Speaking of Geog I found this on a Bucknuts post.." Geog has been putting in the work this off season training/lifting and dedicating himself to a strict regime to be a full size 184 pound beast next year and has sat out competing in tournaments but he's an awesome elite freestyler ..... and I think will have a great redshirt year." ( guy posts a lot and seems to know his stuff).
 
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Congrats to the Buckeye wrestlers who placed in last weekend's USA Freestyle tournament.....
In U23 D'Emilio was 2nd at 65kg and Decatur was 4th.
In U20 Bouzakis won 61kg by beating Mendez in the finals. It went best of 3 and Nic beat Jesse twice to qualify for
the USA World team along with 125kg winner Feldman. Also placing were Rocco Welsh who was 3rd at 79kg and
Seth Shumate who wrestled very well and finished 5th-6th at 92kg.
 
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Congrats to the Buckeye wrestlers who placed in last weekend's USA Freestyle tournament.....
In U23 D'Emilio was 2nd at 65kg and Decatur was 4th.
In U20 Bouzakis won 61kg by beating Mendez in the finals. It went best of 3 and Nic beat Jesse twice to qualify for
the USA World team along with 125kg winner Feldman. Also placing were Rocco Welsh who was 3rd at 79kg and
Seth Shumate who wrestled very well and finished 5th-6th at 92kg.

Bouzakis ain't no joke huh? That's a really interesting matchup moving forward and great competition in the room, you know they will be back to back starters by next year and damn that's a nice tandem. And Feldman is a stud, no doubt about it.
 
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Bouzakis ain't no joke huh? That's a really interesting matchup moving forward and great competition in the room, you know they will be back to back starters by next year and damn that's a nice tandem. And Feldman is a stud, no doubt about it.

Yeah it's my understanding these two are pretty tight but as we know when the whistle blows you gotta go. By fall '23 TR has to get someone ready to win at 125 because then it's Bouz, Mendez, Sasso, Paddy, and Kharchla followed by a couple more young studs until they unleash Feldman. Can't wait!
 
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Is next years team, if they can stay healthy and the freshman get their fair chance, capable of winning the B1G? I know Iowa loses a lot, not sure about PSU.

Penn State wrestling: Preseason individual 2022-23 rankings released, per InterMat

College wrestling is still roughly five months away from kicking into high gear, but it’s never too early for a look ahead. InterMat recently released its preseason rankings across all weight classes ahead of the 2022-23 season. This is a fresh set of rankings that include last year's national champions that returned to school, transfers and newcomers. Penn State wrestling ended up having nine of its 10 weight classes listed in the preseason set.

Penn State has four No. 1 rankings in its projected lineup for next season. They are all returning national champions: Roman Bravo-Young, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks and Max Dean.

Plus, there are some other hammers who will vie for All-American and national champion laurels next season. All in all, it looks like another team-national title is in reach for Cael Sanderson’s crew.

125 - NO. 18 ROBBIE HOWARD
133 - NO. 1 ROMAN BRAVO-YOUNG
141 - NO. 17 BEAU BARTLETT
149 - NO. 29 SHAYNE VAN NESS
157 - NR JOE LEE
165 - NO. 24 ALEX FACUNDO
174 - NO. 1 CARTER STAROCCI
184 - NO. 1 AARON BROOKS
197 - NO. 1 MAX DEAN
HWT - NO. 2 GREG KERKVLIET


Entire article: https://247sports.com/college/ohio-...-released-per-InterMat-189225214/#189225214_2
 
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Penn State wrestling: Preseason individual 2022-23 rankings released, per InterMat

College wrestling is still roughly five months away from kicking into high gear, but it’s never too early for a look ahead. InterMat recently released its preseason rankings across all weight classes ahead of the 2022-23 season. This is a fresh set of rankings that include last year's national champions that returned to school, transfers and newcomers. Penn State wrestling ended up having nine of its 10 weight classes listed in the preseason set.

Penn State has four No. 1 rankings in its projected lineup for next season. They are all returning national champions: Roman Bravo-Young, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks and Max Dean.

Plus, there are some other hammers who will vie for All-American and national champion laurels next season. All in all, it looks like another team-national title is in reach for Cael Sanderson’s crew.

125 - NO. 18 ROBBIE HOWARD
133 - NO. 1 ROMAN BRAVO-YOUNG
141 - NO. 17 BEAU BARTLETT
149 - NO. 29 SHAYNE VAN NESS
157 - NR JOE LEE
165 - NO. 24 ALEX FACUNDO
174 - NO. 1 CARTER STAROCCI
184 - NO. 1 AARON BROOKS
197 - NO. 1 MAX DEAN
HWT - NO. 2 GREG KERKVLIET


Entire article: https://247sports.com/college/ohio-...-released-per-InterMat-189225214/#189225214_2

Yeah, next year is likely all PSU barring injuries and another team like OSU coming along better than expected. But the years after I could see a change in guard. For now I am just trying to enjoy the individual performance of our guys donning the S&G singlets and if things happen to fall in place, that would be a very welcome surprise.
 
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