Lehigh Sports Forum

Agree. Well stated.

I agree with Oracle that recruiting at Lehigh is pretty cyclical but what makes this recruiting year different IMO is the extra year granted for athletes. I have no idea how financial aid works in the world of wrestling but I'm guessing the coaching staff was well aware of JW and BP's intent to stay another year and adjusted their recruiting accordingly.

With that being said, other than Garcia, I suspect the rest of this class with redshirt and begin to acclimate to life on the D-1 level. Their growth will heavily depend on how badly they want to succeed and their willingness to put in the additional time and effort. Again, just my opinion.

I will being looking at a couple of things. 285 will be wide open after this season. There are plenty of bodies there already but they mostly fall under the category of late bloomer in HS or lighter weights moving up. Nathan Taylor may be the most pedigreed, full size option and we may see him in the lineup as a redshirt freshman. Time will tell.

I would be interested in seeing how guys like Rodriguez and Bailey compete against let's say Munch who did his HS wrestling at Wyoming Seminary and has a year (although abbreviated) in the room. Their progression may tell a lot about the future of the lightweights.

drd5748 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:54 pm Bunch of Debbie Downers? What's the point? To protect yourself from 'your' disappointment?

The beauty of getting 'prospects' is their futures -- ones that none of us can accurately predict. Denny Reed became an NCAA 7th, didn't he?

Bailey was ranked #2 at his wt; could have finished CA 7,2 -- which would have projected him as our best-ever CA recruit (1x NCAA 5 Toth-Fejel was 1x CA 3, I think).

Edmonton's HS credentials in PA are virtually identical to Brad Dillon's - whose 5th, 3rd were at 106 and 141. Nobody but Dillon had a clue he'd become that good.

Garcia was Michigan's best recruit 1 yr ago and was OW as PA senior, 96-0 last 2 yrs; 1 of our top 2 recruits at 197 in several decades (3?) and 1 of a handful of Top 20 recruits in that time period since 2002.

Nathan Taylor is already 1 of our biggest hwt recruits -- ever -- and 1 of 5 PA state champs.

Given all that potential, I see no reason to put pressure on Rodriguez but his moves on his feet + pinning ability, at least "for now," are spectacular. For now is all I've got .... but if I agreed with some of these posts I'd either retire now, or shoot myself, at least in the leg. Thank God our athletes are more upbeat.

Closson and Wood. Just cannot think of our 2 other Pa St Hwt Champs

Werner Seel was one, but he won at 185 when that was the highest weight class in 1949. Maybe Howell Scobey?

Bernie Brown and Don McCorkel were both PA champs (prob at 185) who later won EIWAs at HWT.

Scobey was long before the PIAA tourney.

I'll buy Seel was at the heaviest then HS Weight, But not McCorkel and B Brown

Although not the answer, my very first thought was George Barkanic but when I looked it up, it said he was 50-2 over his last 2 years going 25-1 each season. He finished 2nd a junior and DNP as a senior. I'll assume that in the early 70s, if you lost in an early round of the PIAA you couldn't wrestle back much like college.

Oracle wrote: ↑Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:38 pm Werner Seel was one, but he won at 185 when that was the highest weight class in 1949. Maybe Howell Scobey?

Scobey was NJ.

>>They all have about 3 years to develop. Don't expect any to crack lineup in next 2 years.

... Glad you think unlimited patience is a virtue. Would bet you $500 as pledge to LVWC that Taylor is good enough to start hwt in '23, with Garcia also starting if Rogers redshirts.
It's hardly unusual to have r-freshmen start for us.

After graduation Scobey partnered with Don Bell to start Bell & Howell.