2024 Mat Town II Open, Jan 28th

[Justafan]

I seem to be in the distinct minority in agreeing with Pat's decision to let Luke wrestle Dax.

Much has been made of guys like Forest and Blaze and rightfully so but we tend to forget that Luke is only 1 year out of high school himself with a limited # of college bouts. Luke will learn more from wrestling these really tough bouts then guys he beats easily and hopefully that translates to success at Nationals.

Rankings are more for the fans than anything else, especially at 125. No matter where Luke is seeded, he will likely need to wrestle multiple guys who were ranked #1 in this weight class at some time.

[whiz wit]

Yeah, I'm glad he wrestled. While it might not have turned out to be good for his current ranking and stature, the top ranked D 1 kid appearing to duck a high school sophomore wouldn't have enhanced his reputation among many wrestling fans.

[Oracle]

It will take some time for this to heal, psychologically speaking, but I agree (grudgingly) IMO, these high school kids should be limited to seniors or post-grads to any college tournament. Let them enter freestyle tournaments.

[1/2NELSON]

>>> THANKS to D3 for Stanich video!

Yea,..he out-wrestled him big time, had some EXPOSURES, and a few near-misses on the line.

Very SLICK counter by youngster putting Luke on his back in OT!

Good work-out for the JERSEY-BOY, who has been the most pleasant surprise of the season thus far for Lehigh fans, and a potential AA at NCAA tournament.

[gimpeltf]

It will take some time for this to heal, psychologically speaking, but I agree (grudgingly) IMO, these high school kids should be limited to seniors or post-grads to any college tournament. Let them enter freestyle tournaments.

The issue is with the way NCAA compliance rules are written. If you recall, they banned hs kids from events maybe 15 years ago for several years. I told them the compliance rules didn't agree and after a few year they realized the same thing and relented.
These rules were mainly written to allow kids to enter open track and field / XCountry events. They need to differentiate between contact sports and non-contact.

[Spladle1989]

I seem to be in the distinct minority in agreeing with Pat's decision to let Luke wrestle Dax.

Much has been made of guys like Forest and Blaze and rightfully so but we tend to forget that Luke is only 1 year out of high school himself with a limited # of college bouts. Luke will learn more from wrestling these really tough bouts then guys he beats easily and hopefully that translates to success at Nationals.

Rankings are more for the fans than anything else, especially at 125. No matter where Luke is seeded, he will likely need to wrestle multiple guys who were ranked #1 in this weight class at some time.

I agree now, would have disagreed completely prior to match….. reason , he came out of match healthy……

If he had been injured in that match, one that did nothing for him, all the previous comments post match would not exist….

[HFO]

It will take some time for this to heal, psychologically speaking, but I agree (grudgingly) IMO, these high school kids should be limited to seniors or post-grads to any college tournament. Let them enter freestyle tournaments.

The issue is with the way NCAA compliance rules are written. If you recall, they banned hs kids from events maybe 15 years ago for several years. I told them the compliance rules didn't agree and after a few year they realized the same thing and relented.
These rules were mainly written to allow kids to enter open track and field / XCountry events. They need to differentiate between contact sports and non-contact.

Or just honor that it is an OPEN which means anyone who registers can compete whether pre-college, college, or post college. No need to add even more rules to NCAA binder.

Nothing wrong with high schoolers entering Opens and beating college wrestlers.

[HFO]

Griffin takes 3rd with a 7-0 win over Repos and wins the 149apalooza trophy and now is our man at that weight.

I concur. His body of work now shows he has emerged at the #1.

[HFO]

Probably most important outcome of the dual -- Shapiro is finding his rhythm. He'll be champ, just a matter of when.

He'll win it this year. Bet.

I seem to remember a big Shapiro thread during pre-season wrestling on whether he was or was not All-American potential his first year. He seems to be a tough out at this point.

[whiz wit]

Stanich could have gotten injured in any of the bouts that he wrestled in that tournament. I guess the coaches had their reasons, but I was surprised that he was entered at all. Seemed like a no win situation to me. But having been entered, before the final I was fine with him not dropping out and I'm still ok with him not having done so.