Ncaa championships

[Letsgooo]

Peyton Hall goes 2-0 and faces the clear number one seed in Evan Wick. He’s looked great so far tho.

Killian Cardinale goes 2-0 and faces last years finalist Brandon Courtney. Killian had a huge come from behind win against Lamont after fighting off his back. It was awesome to see.

Wolfgram went 0-2. Was hoping he’d get a win at NCAA’s and he was right there with both big just couldn’t get it done.

Robin went 0-2. Faced national champ Mekhi Lewis in the first round. So he had a tough draw. Both him and Wolfgram represented themselves well tho.

About as good a day as WVU could of asked for. Other than it’d of been nice if Wolfgram could have gotten one today.

Josh Humphreys went 2-0. Big win over Peyton Robb. Humphrey will have Ryan Deakin tomorrow. Two big 157’s. Should be a great match. Number 1 seed Carr was upset. Shame Humphreys wasn’t on the top side of the bracket he’d have a great chance at the finals.

Amos dropped a tough one to Bastida. Crazy exchange on the edge where Amos has Bastida’s leg but Bastida does some next level ninja &*^&(, gets his leg back, and right to a trip on Amos. Amos did come back to get a win in his first NCAA’s in the consolidation round. So he’s still wrestling. Not sure who he faces tomorrow yet.

Crazy day. Tons of upsets. The big 10 totally laid an egg at 125 lol. Carr being one of the biggest favorites and couldn’t even score a takedown.

[aacoach61]

Let’s go! I saw a post that Killian Cardinale was down 6-1 end of the first and came back to win 10-8 in OT. Wow.

Hall is going to get it done, too. He’s really wrestling well.

[brentsams]

Amos has (9) Cameron Caffey of Michigan State, 28-9

[Doyablameme?]

Hall lost vs Wick
Humph lost vs Deakin

[Doyablameme?]

Braxton lost by 1 point to Caffey .. leading most of the way. Gave up 2 late. He has lost a couple of tough ones.. to Bastida and now Caffey

[FBISURVALINCEVAN1]

Blood round will be interesting that’s for sure.

Cardinale WVU VS McKee Minn

Hall WVU VS McCoy UVA

Humphreys LEH vs O’Connor UNC

Tough loss for Amos, but he’ll bounce back.

This has probably been one of the most wild tournaments in a while. Excited to see how the Semi’s go. Will Penn State run away with such an even greater lead after next round? Only time will tell.

[Doyablameme?]

Blood round will be interesting that’s for sure.

Cardinale WVU VS McKee Minn

Hall WVU VS McCoy UVA

Humphreys LEH vs O’Connor UNC

Tough loss for Amos, but he’ll bounce back.

This has probably been one of the most wild tournaments in a while. Excited to see how the Semi’s go. Will Penn State run away with such an even greater lead after next round? Only time will tell.

Survalince ?

[Doyablameme?]

1st: Penn State 73
2nd: Mich 62.5
40th: WVU 4
Trust the Climb

[aacoach61]

165 Peyton Hall , (West Virginia) MD Justin Mccoy , (Virginia), 11-3

[armyscot0873]

WVU finishes 32 which isn't terrible. If we had Sullivan and Adams we are probably a top 25 team.

[JohnK73]

Think will definitely see some improvement next year with Titus, Sullivan, and Cooley in the starting lineup. Assuming Titus goes at 133 and Sullivan at 141, but not sure how well Sullivan does up a weight class from before. Hopefully he’s putting on some muscle. Although 197 in the Big 12 is stacked, capturing 3-5th this weekend, without Ferrari, will have to see how Cooley fairs after a full recovery.

[Bearhugger]

Peyton Hall was the real deal before he set foot on WVU's campus.

NCAA qualifier as a true freshman.

Places 8th in NCAA as a sophomore.

[P.H.D.]

Peyton Hall was the real deal before he set foot on WVU's campus.

NCAA qualifier as a true freshman.

Places 8th in NCAA as a sophomore.

Very much appreciated!!!

[Doyablameme?]

WVU finishes 32 which isn't terrible. If we had Sullivan and Adams we are probably a top 25 team.

I think placing 32nd is fairly terrible

[P.H.D.]

WVU finishes 32 which isn't terrible. If we had Sullivan and Adams we are probably a top 25 team.

I think placing 32nd is fairly terrible

There are 76 Div 1 wrestling teams. I’m not sure how many didn’t qualify any but WVU took 4. Unfortunately 2 did not advance. The sum of 2 wrestlers put WVU at better than 50%. Sure we aren’t Penn State or even Iowa State. So you’re more of a team guy? Hard to guess where you’re from.

[armyscot0873]

WVU finishes 32 which isn't terrible. If we had Sullivan and Adams we are probably a top 25 team.

I think placing 32nd is fairly terrible

There are 76 Div 1 wrestling teams. I’m not sure how many didn’t qualify any but WVU took 4. Unfortunately 2 did not advance. The sum of 2 wrestlers put WVU at better than 50%. Sure we aren’t Penn State or even Iowa State. So you’re more of a team guy? Hard to guess where you’re from.

I'm from WV born and raised. Do I want WVU to do better, of course! There were 61 schools who had qualifiers so we were exactly 50%. We placed 7th out of all the big 12 teams. We were 2 spots below Oklahoma. If Cardinale wins that last match we tie with Oklahoma. We are still a pretty young team and have some talent coming plus redshirts. Sullivan coming back next year. Are we going to be a top 15 team every year, not a chance. Should we be a top 25 team every year, yes but we aren't far off. You can't expect the world! We have only had 3 NCAA champions! Have only placed in the top 10, 3 times since 1922. We have only placed in the top 25, 16 times in 100 years!

[Doyablameme?]

I think placing 32nd is fairly terrible

There are 76 Div 1 wrestling teams. I’m not sure how many didn’t qualify any but WVU took 4. Unfortunately 2 did not advance. The sum of 2 wrestlers put WVU at better than 50%. Sure we aren’t Penn State or even Iowa State. So you’re more of a team guy? Hard to guess where you’re from.

I'm from WV born and raised. Do I want WVU to do better, of course! There were 61 schools who had qualifiers so we were exactly 50%. We placed 7th out of all the big 12 teams. We were 2 spots below Oklahoma. If Cardinale wins that last match we tie with Oklahoma. We are still a pretty young team and have some talent coming plus redshirts. Sullivan coming back next year. Are we going to be a top 15 team every year, not a chance. Should we be a top 25 team every year, yes but we aren't far off. You can't expect the world! We have only had 3 NCAA champions! Have only placed in the top 10, 3 times since 1922. We have only placed in the top 25, 16 times in 100 years!

I too am from WV “ born and raised”…. And the stats at the bottom of your paragraph simply proves my assertion.

[Coachcookie]

When was WVU ever known for their wrestling program?

What would draw "the blue" chip wrestler to go to WVU?

There is a lot of talk about the in state guys Flynn didn't get, would any of those improved the teams results this year?

Rick Ohl

[aacoach61]

There’s no sugar coating it. The WVU dual meet record was poor and the Big 12 and NCAA team tournament results were no better. Very, very happy that Peyton Hall stepped up, but one 8th place AA is not nearly enough team success at this point. It’s very disappointing.

Coach Flynn will be entering his 5th year at WVU and the bloom is off the rose. He was a solid hire and had an incredible record at Edinboro at the NCAA tournament. Not sure why the PA recruiting pipeline he had at Edinboro has not translated into WVU recruiting success. WVU has better facilities than schools like Pitt that are out-recruiting us every year.

I like Coach Flynn and certainly am not bashing him, but I doubt even he is satisfied with the program results so far (at least I hope he isn’t). If this was WVU football, I’m sure the fans would be restless. Hiring Parkersburg native Kyle Bratke from FloWrestling as the new director of operations was brilliant and gave me hope that Coach Flynn is thinking out of the box to right the ship. But as the football saying goes, Coach Flynn might have the X’s and the O’s in place, but now he has to improve on the Jimmy’s and the Joe’s.

[armyscot0873]

I dont think that with wrestlers the facilities are as important as it is for say football players. Wrestlers are tough and gritty, most dont need fancy bells and whistles. They need a good weight room, nutrition, and recovery. I think the real issue with WVU is the wrestling partners. It all goes back to having an RTC or at least a program where you have former wrestlers still training in the area. Look at all the great kids such as Peyton and Braxton who having driven lots of hours multiple times a week to take them to practice with top notch partners who are going to make them better. Maybe the reason Pitt has a better program is they have an RTC.

Schools with an RTC
Pitt
Bucknell
Campbell
Stanford
Ok St
Penn St
Maryland
Minnesota
Iowa
Lehigh
Cornell
ASU
Army

Or maybe it is the fans. When our stands are bare during home matches, maybe recruits are watching that and saying why would I want to go there.

I agree that 1 8th place AA is disappointing. Our big 12 duel meet and tournament was disappointing. Our team was built around 3 really good guys this year and really we need about 5-6 guys that we can depend on to win. Hopefully we have that talent in the program and can continue to get better.

[Jon Perkins]

I can't disagree with too much that is being said here except for the part that 1 All American and a 32nd place finish is "fairly terrible", that was just a dumb comment. Is it great, no but it is the second year in a row WVU has had an All American and a second wrestler in the Round of 12 and it is the third year in row of having an All American. That is definitely progression in my opinion. The progress has been slow and some results just aren't good but it is hard to win dual meets when you only have 2 guys that wrestle with consistency like Peyton and Killian. The team is coming along slowly but surely.

As far as recruiting goes, I have said it on here before and I stand by the assertion that Morgantown is a hard place to recruit because it just is not a very desirable city and it has a toxic party environment that a lot a top level athletes would want to avoid.

I also believe one of the biggest reasons for the slow progression is the lack of practice partners. A good RTC can absolutely provide the desire for higher level athletes and provide the ability for a team to have high level training partners. However, I think the problem is deeper than that and it is not the only answer to the problem. All D1 programs want to recruit as much Tier 1 talent as they can because these are the guys that will consistently qualify for the national tournament and typically place. But everyone on the roster can't be a Tier 1 athlete, the training partners more often than not are Tier 2 athletes that are a step behind talent wise. These are the guys that don't wrestle with as much consistency and if they would qualify for the national tournament probably won't gain you too many points. The Tier 1 athletes are naturally recruited from all over the country which costs a lot more money than recruiting someone from in state. So, if you can recruit the Tier 2 athletes from in state at a lesser cost, you can naturally have more training partners than what you can if you have to recruit the majority of your athletes from out of state at a higher cost. This is where WVU is as opposed to say Oklahoma, Northen Iowa, and even Pitt. Those teams save a lot money because they can recruit a lot of in state talent and they have more money left over to go grab more Tier 1 individuals.

So after all that crap here is my theory: if you want to vastly improve the state of WVU's wrestling team then we must vastly improve the state of high school wrestling first. This will provide for larger recruiting classes that can compete at a D1 level giving WVU a lot more bang for its buck and more chances to grab those Tier 1 and Tier 2 athletes from right in here in WV. Which in turn will lead to more support because the fans will know more of the athletes competing. And before long with the added support from the larger fan base the RTC will begin to get bigger and stronger.

[aacoach61]

To use the false stereotype that Morgantown is party central as a reason for lackluster wrestling recruiting is beyond ridiculous. Every college town has its temptations and quality athletes know how to avoid them. Morgantown has undergone a tremendous facelift and seen extraordinary growth since I was a student at WVU in the late 1970s. Compared to the Oakland neighborhood where Pitt is located, housing in Morgantown is like the Ritz. Unfortunately there are no medals for making it to the Round of 12. West Virginia wrestling fans have a right to expect more.

I attended the OVAC v. MAC (PA) conference all-star match tonight at West Liberty. An unheralded wrestler from Chartiers Valley high school in the WPIAL beat last week’s Ohio D-II state champion. Yes, you read that correctly. In another match a WPIAL champ (4th place in PA states) beat a 2X WV state champ. The WPIAL champ is going to Clarion, I believe. Morgantown > Clarion. This Friday night at the big Dapper Dan event, the PA state team will give the USA all star team from the other 49 states a run for its money.

The point is: Pennsylvania wrote the book on wrestling. A few states may have read it, but Pennsylvania wrote it. Period. If you want to win at the D-1 college level in wrestling, fill your roster with Pennsylvania wrestlers. WVU needs to recruit better in the nearby WPIAL if it wants to be competitive.

[Jon Perkins]

To use the false stereotype that Morgantown is party central as a reason for lackluster wrestling recruiting is beyond ridiculous. Every college town has its temptations and quality athletes know how to avoid them. Morgantown has undergone a tremendous facelift and seen extraordinary growth since I was a student at WVU in the late 1970s. Compared to the Oakland neighborhood where Pitt is located, housing in Morgantown is like the Ritz. Unfortunately there are no medals for making it to the Round of 12. West Virginia wrestling fans have a right to expect more.

I attended the OVAC v. MAC (PA) conference all-star match tonight at West Liberty. An unheralded wrestler from Chartiers Valley high school in the WPIAL beat last week’s Ohio D-II state champion. Yes, you read that correctly. In another match a WPIAL champ (4th place in PA states) beat a 2X WV state champ. The WPIAL champ is going to Clarion, I believe. Morgantown > Clarion. This Friday night at the big Dapper Dan event, the PA state team will give the USA all star team from the other 49 states a run for its money.

The point is: Pennsylvania wrote the book on wrestling. A few states may have read it, but Pennsylvania wrote it. Period. If you want to win at the D-1 college level in wrestling, fill your roster with Pennsylvania wrestlers. WVU needs to recruit better in the nearby WPIAL if it wants to be competitive.

To say that WVU is party central is a false stereotype is crazy, do a quick google search on the top partying universities. And to say that being a reason as to why kids don't want to go there is a stereotype within itself, along with saying that Morgantown is better than Clarion. Some people prefer a smaller atmosphere. I for one think that Glenville, WV is better than Morgantown, because I prefer small towns with minimal stop lights and besides the fact that is where I went to college. Just because you went there and hold the WVU near and dear to your heart does not mean that everyone does and should. Trust me, I am not running the place the down, I am looking at it from someone that has no emotional ties to the town and it is not for everyone.

As far as your comments on the wrestlers from western PA, you are correct, there are a lot good wrestlers that come from that area and many teams try to recruit as many of those kids as possible. And yes I agree that WVU needs to reach out and recruit the best kids they can find, no matter what state they from. The thought behind my idea was why would anyone pay the same price for 3 recruits from PA when they could get 5 recruits with as much talent from right here in WV and makes it better for your brand along with gaining fans and revenue from the local community. The answer to that is because right now in the state WV it is hard to find wrestlers with the talent level as the best kids from PA.

[P.H.D.]

I can literally see Pennsylvania and Ohio out my living room window. No BS. It’s been a fortunate location.

[Letsgooo]

WVU finishes 32 which isn't terrible. If we had Sullivan and Adams we are probably a top 25 team.

Agreed. Adams could of won this entire thing. As long as he didn’t have to face Buchannon since he obviously has his number lol.

[Letsgooo]

To use the false stereotype that Morgantown is party central as a reason for lackluster wrestling recruiting is beyond ridiculous. Every college town has its temptations and quality athletes know how to avoid them. Morgantown has undergone a tremendous facelift and seen extraordinary growth since I was a student at WVU in the late 1970s. Compared to the Oakland neighborhood where Pitt is located, housing in Morgantown is like the Ritz. Unfortunately there are no medals for making it to the Round of 12. West Virginia wrestling fans have a right to expect more.

I attended the OVAC v. MAC (PA) conference all-star match tonight at West Liberty. An unheralded wrestler from Chartiers Valley high school in the WPIAL beat last week’s Ohio D-II state champion. Yes, you read that correctly. In another match a WPIAL champ (4th place in PA states) beat a 2X WV state champ. The WPIAL champ is going to Clarion, I believe. Morgantown > Clarion. This Friday night at the big Dapper Dan event, the PA state team will give the USA all star team from the other 49 states a run for its money.

The point is: Pennsylvania wrote the book on wrestling. A few states may have read it, but Pennsylvania wrote it. Period. If you want to win at the D-1 college level in wrestling, fill your roster with Pennsylvania wrestlers. WVU needs to recruit better in the nearby WPIAL if it wants to be competitive.

To say that WVU is party central is a false stereotype is crazy, do a quick google search on the top partying universities. And to say that being a reason as to why kids don't want to go there is a stereotype within itself, along with saying that Morgantown is better than Clarion. Some people prefer a smaller atmosphere. I for one think that Glenville, WV is better than Morgantown, because I prefer small towns with minimal stop lights and besides the fact that is where I went to college. Just because you went there and hold the WVU near and dear to your heart does not mean that everyone does and should. Trust me, I am not running the place the down, I am looking at it from someone that has no emotional ties to the town and it is not for everyone.

As far as your comments on the wrestlers from western PA, you are correct, there are a lot good wrestlers that come from that area and many teams try to recruit as many of those kids as possible. And yes I agree that WVU needs to reach out and recruit the best kids they can find, no matter what state they from. The thought behind my idea was why would anyone pay the same price for 3 recruits from PA when they could get 5 recruits with as much talent from right here in WV and makes it better for your brand along with gaining fans and revenue from the local community. The answer to that is because right now in the state WV it is hard to find wrestlers with the talent level as the best kids from PA.

Pennsylvanian is definitely the Mecca of US wrestling. It’s insane how much talent that state produces. Pitt is loaded with recruit which they should be. Va tech and NC state have done great jobs recruiting PA. I still don’t understand how Tech is so good and we kinda suck lol. Penn is about to be a power house. They signed Crookham and Carroll, the number 1 jr, who put four on Braxton before getting teched in freestyle is committed to Penn. But look at their coaches tho. Brandon Slay, Olympic medalist, plus their RTC is loaded with possibly the goat Jordan Burroughs and Mark Hall.

Without a good RTC you’re way behind.

We can’t even get the best WV kids when there actually are some except Hall. There’s 3 or 4 in the next few years that we have to get.
Most of the Ohio kids we’re getting are from the smaller class and just aren’t as good. Conley will be nice tho. Still no comparison to even the WPIAL in PA.

Might as well start recruiting the real Mecca of wrestling and that’s Dagestan lol. Lets go get some Dagestanis. We’ll have to teach them folk style but Bastida from isu is picking it up pretty quick for someone who never wrestled folk style.

I wish we’d of offered Askren when he was interested in coaching college lol. Sry I’m all over the place.

[aacoach61]

The program for Friday’s Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic (formerly called the Dapper Dan) indicated that 3 members from the WPIAL all star team (which defeated the Indiana all stars) and 3 members of the Pennsylvania all star team (which narrowly lost to the USA team) were committed to Pitt. That’s SIX (6) committed to Pitt in this recruiting class alone. Several others were committed to NC State, Virginia Tech, etc. None were committed to WVU.

Quest School of wrestling, which is run by a former WVU All American wrestler, has put over 50 of its wrestlers in D-1 schools over the past 15 years. That would be a good place to start.

[mscoach57]

There will be people who celebrate this team performance and remind us that we are going in the right direction. I disagree but it is past time to argue. It is to the point that mentioning the direction of the program is like talking about current national/world events to the people who voted in this administration, some people are blind to the obvious and no amount of facts will wake them up. As a long time donor, I personally hoped for better from WVU. A man who took over and preached accountability and cleaning up the party culture has seemingly backed away from his promises.

For those pointing to WVU's party reputation and somehow linking that to Coach Flynn's recruiting and retention woes, Party School Rankings just came out and I tongue in cheek submit the following
#1 Alabama (they seem to do pretty well on the gridiron, as Jon Perkins says, this place is "a toxic party environment that a lot a top level athletes would want to avoid" and it shows on the football field)
#2 WVU (Clearly the high ranking hurts our wrestling program. Who could possibly land recruits with a party school image?)
#6 Penn State (Five champions and a team title, those guys didn't get the memo about it being "a toxic party environment that a lot a top level athletes would want to avoid" Our facilities are as nice as theirs. Has to be the 4 spot difference in the party rankings, #6 must not be as toxic)
#8 Iowa (Their football and wrestling almost always out perform ours. How are they getting blue chips being a party school?)
#17 Ohio University (They destroyed us this year. Their lower ranked but better prepared wrestlers partied all over our guys)
#23 Wisconsin (Probably why Braxton chose a Badger scholarship over a WVU walkon offer, the Cheeseheads are lower ranked as a party school)
#35 MIzzouri (We are nowhere near Mizzouri. O'Toole chose the Tigers over WVU because of the party school rankings)

[Doyablameme?]

There will be people who celebrate this team performance and remind us that we are going in the right direction. I disagree but it is past time to argue. It is to the point that mentioning the direction of the program is like talking about current national/world events to the people who voted in this administration, some people are blind to the obvious and no amount of facts will wake them up. As a long time donor, I personally hoped for better from WVU. A man who took over and preached accountability and cleaning up the party culture has seemingly backed away from his promises.

For those pointing to WVU's party reputation and somehow linking that to Coach Flynn's recruiting and retention woes, Party School Rankings just came out and I tongue in cheek submit the following
#1 Alabama (they seem to do pretty well on the gridiron, as Jon Perkins says, this place is "a toxic party environment that a lot a top level athletes would want to avoid" and it shows on the football field)
#2 WVU (Clearly the high ranking hurts our wrestling program. Who could possibly land recruits with a party school image?)
#6 Penn State (Five champions and a team title, those guys didn't get the memo about it being "a toxic party environment that a lot a top level athletes would want to avoid" Our facilities are as nice as theirs. Has to be the 4 spot difference in the party rankings, #6 must not be as toxic)
#8 Iowa (Their football and wrestling almost always out perform ours. How are they getting blue chips being a party school?)
#17 Ohio University (They destroyed us this year. Their lower ranked but better prepared wrestlers partied all over our guys)
#23 Wisconsin (Probably why Braxton chose a Badger scholarship over a WVU walkon offer, the Cheeseheads are lower ranked as a party school)
#35 MIzzouri (We are nowhere near Mizzouri. O'Toole chose the Tigers over WVU because of the party school rankings)

Good job getting your political jab in there bro… Well played.

[armyscot0873]

There will be people who celebrate this team performance and remind us that we are going in the right direction. I disagree but it is past time to argue. It is to the point that mentioning the direction of the program is like talking about current national/world events to the people who voted in this administration, some people are blind to the obvious and no amount of facts will wake them up. As a long time donor, I personally hoped for better from WVU. A man who took over and preached accountability and cleaning up the party culture has seemingly backed away from his promises.

For those pointing to WVU's party reputation and somehow linking that to Coach Flynn's recruiting and retention woes, Party School Rankings just came out and I tongue in cheek submit the following
#1 Alabama (they seem to do pretty well on the gridiron, as Jon Perkins says, this place is "a toxic party environment that a lot a top level athletes would want to avoid" and it shows on the football field)
#2 WVU (Clearly the high ranking hurts our wrestling program. Who could possibly land recruits with a party school image?)
#6 Penn State (Five champions and a team title, those guys didn't get the memo about it being "a toxic party environment that a lot a top level athletes would want to avoid" Our facilities are as nice as theirs. Has to be the 4 spot difference in the party rankings, #6 must not be as toxic)
#8 Iowa (Their football and wrestling almost always out perform ours. How are they getting blue chips being a party school?)
#17 Ohio University (They destroyed us this year. Their lower ranked but better prepared wrestlers partied all over our guys)
#23 Wisconsin (Probably why Braxton chose a Badger scholarship over a WVU walkon offer, the Cheeseheads are lower ranked as a party school)
#35 MIzzouri (We are nowhere near Mizzouri. O'Toole chose the Tigers over WVU because of the party school rankings)

Glad you said tongue and cheek because it is asinine to compare WVU to any of those schools. Alabama doesn't even have to recruit in football, they take applications and choose who they want, and have you seen their campus? Besides Ohio all the other schools have a huge tradition of winning in wrestling. I don't think the party school atmosphere plays into it as much as others have mentioned (I didn't go to WVU because I knew I wouldn't graduate). It is a combination of many things.

1) Not a traditional winning wrestling program (stats above)
2) No RTC (lack of high quality wrestling partners)
3) Fan support very low (watch a Big 10 or ACC match compared to one of our home matches)
4) Don't have a top level coach
5) Location sucks (I love Motown and there have been lots of improvements lately but it is called Morganhole for a reason)

I agree we need to hit recruiting PA recruiting hard and keep the gas pedal down. PA is where a large majority of the talent is at plus a lot of areas (especially SW PA) have a similar culture, climate, and geography.