Congratulations tonVincenzomJoseph on winning the 165 NCAA Wrestling Championship!!! Here is a Central Catholic ki who goes tomPenn State instead of Pitt, Another example of a local kid who chose Penn State fo whatever reason over Pitt,, W have got to hold our own in recruiting WPIAL kids or ou wrestling program will NEVER reach elite status!!!!!
Congratulations to Vincenzo Joseph!
- Thread starter Pantherguy4
- Start date
Pantherguy, did you see the interview with David Taylor? They made a reference to the fact that Taylor works out with the Penn State team. This is the unseen side of why other schools are taking kids away from Pitt. It's not just the coaches although that is a big draw. It's the wrestling clubs that are funded by boosters. What I understand is that schools like PSU and Ohio State have as many as 6-7 former wrestlers that are paid a salary by boosters to work with the current team. So a guy like Joseph who has national aspirations looks at a combination of Cael Sanderson, his assistants, the facilities, and the chance to learn from guys like David Taylor and then looks at Pitt. We have no shot. That's why it's important for us to build up the whole structure if we want to compete with the big boys. So, we rely on Pitt to put together a competitive compensation package and a commitment to upgrade the facilities. We can pledge donations to help them do that. But then it's incumbent upon US to help the Pitt Wrestling Club pay for 4-5 former nationally recognized wrestlers to be part of their staff and work with the Pitt team. Again, that's on US, not Pitt. That's the ante.
Well stated, look forward to getting started regardless of who the new coach & staff are #H2P
I stated the same thing last year. Taylor and Varner are both at Penn St. The NLWC has a tourney every year, that raises a ton of money.
They have a clinic (2 different sessions) the day before, that cost $40, and basically it's a meet and greet with autographs. They have about 100 kids in each session. The kids do a few drills, but it's all about meeting Taylor, Varner, Molinaro, etc.
The tourney draws over a 1000 kids and each winner gets their trophy presented to them by Taylor or Varner.
My family is a Pitt family and I steer my kid that way for all sports, but it's hard to compete with PSU wrestling...especially when kids get to experience that kind of environment.
My son (9 yrs old) wants all PSU wrestling stuff, because of this. We even go to a couple of Pitt matches each year and he likes Pitt, but he sees the success PSU has.
They have a clinic (2 different sessions) the day before, that cost $40, and basically it's a meet and greet with autographs. They have about 100 kids in each session. The kids do a few drills, but it's all about meeting Taylor, Varner, Molinaro, etc.
The tourney draws over a 1000 kids and each winner gets their trophy presented to them by Taylor or Varner.
My family is a Pitt family and I steer my kid that way for all sports, but it's hard to compete with PSU wrestling...especially when kids get to experience that kind of environment.
My son (9 yrs old) wants all PSU wrestling stuff, because of this. We even go to a couple of Pitt matches each year and he likes Pitt, but he sees the success PSU has.
All very true, but the most important thing right now to get things started is for Pitt to bring in an outstanding coach and assistants ..... without that, things won't change.
Yeah, I think "bwh05" said interviews would start tomorrow (3/20/17)..... we'll see what happens.
The point about wrestling clubs is a good one. Kids want to go where they will have great training partners. That is why you see so many schools at the NCAAs who have good wrestlers in 3 or 4 weight classes in a row. A perfect example was Cornell. They had 3 semi-finalists -- at 165, 174 and 184. Besides having Dean, the defending champion at 184, they have Kyle Dake, a four-time NCAA champion in 4 different weight classes (149 to 174) as an assistant. So guys in those weights go there so they can workout with Dake and Dean. Last year, Edinboro had the same thing with their three top wrestlers being in consecutive low weight classes.
With returning NCAA champs at 149, 157, 165, 174 and 184, plus David Taylor, a former champion at 174, do you think Sanderson has any trouble getting top wrestlers in those weight classes to commit to PSU? His only problem now is that Nolf, Joseph, Hall and Nickels all are frosh or sophs. So he likely won't be recruiting in those weight classes for two years.
What does Pitt offer? In the lower weight classes, a chance to workout with Headlee, Bentley, Forys and Nick Zanetta. Not much of a draw. In the middle weight classes, a chance to workout with Kocher and two NCAA qualifiers. Kocher was an All-American, but he is no Dake or Taylor.
That's why it is going to take not only hiring the right head coach, but giving him the money to hire top assistants who will be draws to recruits and giving him a commitment to upgrade the facilities.
As for the wrestling club, as was pointed out, the funding for that has to come from alumni and boosters. My sense is that if the program made a commitment, that money would be forthcoming. I have heard Taylor gets $2,000 a month, but that is only for 9 months. Even if it is for a year, that's not a huge amount to match. But with Taylor it's not just going to be the money. He still wants an Olympic Gold and a world title. There have to be guys around he thinks can help him get it. At PSU, he has Sanderson and all of the great current wrestlers from 157 to 184. We can't match that.
With returning NCAA champs at 149, 157, 165, 174 and 184, plus David Taylor, a former champion at 174, do you think Sanderson has any trouble getting top wrestlers in those weight classes to commit to PSU? His only problem now is that Nolf, Joseph, Hall and Nickels all are frosh or sophs. So he likely won't be recruiting in those weight classes for two years.
What does Pitt offer? In the lower weight classes, a chance to workout with Headlee, Bentley, Forys and Nick Zanetta. Not much of a draw. In the middle weight classes, a chance to workout with Kocher and two NCAA qualifiers. Kocher was an All-American, but he is no Dake or Taylor.
That's why it is going to take not only hiring the right head coach, but giving him the money to hire top assistants who will be draws to recruits and giving him a commitment to upgrade the facilities.
As for the wrestling club, as was pointed out, the funding for that has to come from alumni and boosters. My sense is that if the program made a commitment, that money would be forthcoming. I have heard Taylor gets $2,000 a month, but that is only for 9 months. Even if it is for a year, that's not a huge amount to match. But with Taylor it's not just going to be the money. He still wants an Olympic Gold and a world title. There have to be guys around he thinks can help him get it. At PSU, he has Sanderson and all of the great current wrestlers from 157 to 184. We can't match that.
My kid - now 11 - has always refused the PSU stuff. His favorite wrestler now is Zain Train, but he despises PSU and their fans. We were at a clinic with Taylor when my son was 8 and hey did an end of clinic team pic and then individual pics and autographs. As they were getting together, by son walks over and starts taking his shoes off. I say - aren't you getting in the team pic? He looks at me like i just kicked our Doug and says - dead straight faced - Dad - WHY would you think that I want to get my picture take with a penn state guy?! He was sort of pissed..remind you - he's 8. He refused to be the pic or autoragh, We live in central PA so all of his buddies are trying to get him the picture, but he refuses, He than said to me - I have autographs from Baumgartner, Gable, Jake Herbert, and Josh Smith - why would I even want one from anyone from PissU.
I say go experience the pure wrestling education, but hope your kids "get it" enough to walk away from tha JoPa football-is-god loving cult.
Thom67 don't you think that is terrible. With all th wrestling talent in WPIAL, Pitt should have one of th best wrestling teams in th country!!!! HOW SAD!!!
I agree with that. I do not think we can compete with PSU at this time. They are at a different level in recent years. They had 2 top wrestlers injured and out for Nationals and still won going away. We should be able to compete with any other school in the nation. There is no reason that Pitt could not be in the top 5 on a regular basis as long as W PA wrestling continues to put out such top recruits.
Iowa fans are going crazy because they can not compete with PSU. They began recruiting in PA over the past couple years and it is paying off. Within 2 years, they will have 5 starters that come from PA. Iowa has had a problem because Iowa HS wrestling has really fallen off in recent years which has affected their recruiting. Thus, they came to PA.
Iowa fans are going crazy because they can not compete with PSU. They began recruiting in PA over the past couple years and it is paying off. Within 2 years, they will have 5 starters that come from PA. Iowa has had a problem because Iowa HS wrestling has really fallen off in recent years which has affected their recruiting. Thus, they came to PA.
