Match day in Las Vegas!
- Thread starter HOF Coach
- Start date
Fenton got Teched in the 1st round
Bentley lost his opening match to the #11 seed 2-0
Robert Lee wins his opening match 5-1 and faces a tough Brock Zacherl in the round of 32
Nino beat Schaney of Virginia 10-7 moves into the round of 32
Meech lost in the 1st round 8-6
I'll try to post results as they come in but work is crazy today
Bentley lost his opening match to the #11 seed 2-0
Robert Lee wins his opening match 5-1 and faces a tough Brock Zacherl in the round of 32
Nino beat Schaney of Virginia 10-7 moves into the round of 32
Meech lost in the 1st round 8-6
I'll try to post results as they come in but work is crazy today
I just wish we had a stand alone wrestling facility to allow us to compete with the big boys. We have such a built in advantage with recruiting but just dont take the sport serious enough to make the upgrades necessary to be a real player
Mickey and Talib won their quarters and are in the semis. Mickey will face Luke Pletcher in an All-WPIAL semi.
Lee and Harvey wrestled hard, both winning one match. Wentzel wrestled the best I have seen him but lost his second match 3-2. He just has a really limited offense. Nino got pinned in his second match.
Pitt is in 6th place right now, .5 points behind Michigan. UNC is right behind us by 1 point. Both Pitt and UNC have 2 wrestlers in the semis and 4 alive in consolations. Duke has one Finesilver in the semis and the other Finesilver in the consolations. VT has been disappointing with only Talib’s nemesis at 157 making it to the semis and only 3 alive in the consolations. UVA is still UVA. N.C. State is the only ACC team not here. TOSU has a big lead among the teams. They have over twice as many points as Pitt.
I didn’t see all of the consolations so I’m not sure which 4 Pitt wrestlers are still alive, but someone told me we have 4. I can’t swear to that though.
Fenton is really bad. I can’t imagine him wrestling next year after Sullivan arrives. Stout has wrestled much better this year, but in his second match he reverted to 2017 Stout. I don’t think he took a halfway decent shot and when he was on the bottom he got ridden for the entire 2 minutes. The final score was only 2-0 because the guy he wrestled had no offense either. IMO both should have been disqualified for stalling.
Lee and Harvey wrestled hard, both winning one match. Wentzel wrestled the best I have seen him but lost his second match 3-2. He just has a really limited offense. Nino got pinned in his second match.
Pitt is in 6th place right now, .5 points behind Michigan. UNC is right behind us by 1 point. Both Pitt and UNC have 2 wrestlers in the semis and 4 alive in consolations. Duke has one Finesilver in the semis and the other Finesilver in the consolations. VT has been disappointing with only Talib’s nemesis at 157 making it to the semis and only 3 alive in the consolations. UVA is still UVA. N.C. State is the only ACC team not here. TOSU has a big lead among the teams. They have over twice as many points as Pitt.
I didn’t see all of the consolations so I’m not sure which 4 Pitt wrestlers are still alive, but someone told me we have 4. I can’t swear to that though.
Fenton is really bad. I can’t imagine him wrestling next year after Sullivan arrives. Stout has wrestled much better this year, but in his second match he reverted to 2017 Stout. I don’t think he took a halfway decent shot and when he was on the bottom he got ridden for the entire 2 minutes. The final score was only 2-0 because the guy he wrestled had no offense either. IMO both should have been disqualified for stalling.
Everyone looked very good yesterday- if not a little inexperienced. Gavin and Co are having an impressive influence on the young guys. They are confident and aggressive. They go out expecting to score points and win and not hoping to win.
Micki Philipi was the most polished. He apeared relaxed, confident while staying relentless and really pressuring his oponents through the entirty of all of his matches. Mentally tough and very focused, he wrestling three technically sound pmatches. Although Lizak has not been as dominant since moving up to 133, Micki controlled the match against the returning NCAA finalist more than the 4-0 score suggests. He may be demonstrating the blue print of what Pitt Wrestling is becoming.
Micki wrestles #5 ranked Luke Pletchwer this morning.
Talib might be the best athletically of the bunch but as I have stated before, this is also his achilies heal. He is quick, has great balance and mat awareness, and as Kieth Gavin puts it "he likes the limelight" of big matches. He still has a tendency to lose focus however, and lets his oponents take the initiative while he tries to counterpunches his way out of trouble. When he decides he needs to pin somone, odds are good he been able to do just that. For example, against an unranked kid from Hofstra, looking rather lethargic with the score 4-2 in the third period, Talib decided to pin him - so he did.
Talib wrestles the #18 ranked kid from Purdue this morning and if he wins (as he should), will liklely wrestle Kennedy Monday/UNC in the finals. That is an intriging match-up as Mondays style similar to Talib's style.
Nino started a little slowly but looked dominant in his last two matches - even the one he got pinned in. You have to love a guy that wrestles at the Pace Nino maintains. These big guys dont know how to handle the constant movement.
He beat Jelani Embree from Michigan 18-9 in the quarter finals. Embre is also a redshirt freshman but was a two time michigan state champion and flonations champion and was coming off a very successful redshirt year. Nino was beating Taylor Venze of Nebraska who placed 4th last year at NCAA's as a freshamn, and is ranked 3rd right now, 9-4 with almost two minutes of riding time and then got pinned.
I have stated in the past I dont like how Nino finishes everything on his knees, even though he feel very comfortable there (it isnt Cale Sandersons heal pick) . I just finishes saying out loud, "well it looks like Nino is making a liar out of me" after his fourth take down...and then he got body locked and dumped from his knees.
Demetrious Thomas lost to the 285 from Nebraska - Kearney (who had a 9-0 record bye the way) but it was due to a conflict of styles. The guy looks like he wrestles a lot of Greco and has a wide, low center of gravity. He kepppt the match upper body and his wide stance was hard to double leg. Dametrius probably learned, you have to pick one side to attack on those guys and/or attack an ankle and keep turning the corner to keep them from putting their weight on you. His double leg attack did work but he often ran out of enough room on the mat to get the points. The loss will make him a better strategist.
He also looked dominant in all his other matches.
This tournament is going to be a confidence builder for this team. With so many young guys...you just know those other coaches around the nation are mumbling about that damn sleeping giant thing.
Micki Philipi was the most polished. He apeared relaxed, confident while staying relentless and really pressuring his oponents through the entirty of all of his matches. Mentally tough and very focused, he wrestling three technically sound pmatches. Although Lizak has not been as dominant since moving up to 133, Micki controlled the match against the returning NCAA finalist more than the 4-0 score suggests. He may be demonstrating the blue print of what Pitt Wrestling is becoming.
Micki wrestles #5 ranked Luke Pletchwer this morning.
Talib might be the best athletically of the bunch but as I have stated before, this is also his achilies heal. He is quick, has great balance and mat awareness, and as Kieth Gavin puts it "he likes the limelight" of big matches. He still has a tendency to lose focus however, and lets his oponents take the initiative while he tries to counterpunches his way out of trouble. When he decides he needs to pin somone, odds are good he been able to do just that. For example, against an unranked kid from Hofstra, looking rather lethargic with the score 4-2 in the third period, Talib decided to pin him - so he did.
Talib wrestles the #18 ranked kid from Purdue this morning and if he wins (as he should), will liklely wrestle Kennedy Monday/UNC in the finals. That is an intriging match-up as Mondays style similar to Talib's style.
Nino started a little slowly but looked dominant in his last two matches - even the one he got pinned in. You have to love a guy that wrestles at the Pace Nino maintains. These big guys dont know how to handle the constant movement.
He beat Jelani Embree from Michigan 18-9 in the quarter finals. Embre is also a redshirt freshman but was a two time michigan state champion and flonations champion and was coming off a very successful redshirt year. Nino was beating Taylor Venze of Nebraska who placed 4th last year at NCAA's as a freshamn, and is ranked 3rd right now, 9-4 with almost two minutes of riding time and then got pinned.
I have stated in the past I dont like how Nino finishes everything on his knees, even though he feel very comfortable there (it isnt Cale Sandersons heal pick) . I just finishes saying out loud, "well it looks like Nino is making a liar out of me" after his fourth take down...and then he got body locked and dumped from his knees.
Demetrious Thomas lost to the 285 from Nebraska - Kearney (who had a 9-0 record bye the way) but it was due to a conflict of styles. The guy looks like he wrestles a lot of Greco and has a wide, low center of gravity. He kepppt the match upper body and his wide stance was hard to double leg. Dametrius probably learned, you have to pick one side to attack on those guys and/or attack an ankle and keep turning the corner to keep them from putting their weight on you. His double leg attack did work but he often ran out of enough room on the mat to get the points. The loss will make him a better strategist.
He also looked dominant in all his other matches.
This tournament is going to be a confidence builder for this team. With so many young guys...you just know those other coaches around the nation are mumbling about that damn sleeping giant thing.
Great post!! Micky just beat Pletcher. Huge win against quality opponent and now in finals. This is how you build a wrestling program through results and local talent. Pa kids see that Pitt can be elite. I love having Nico around this program. Training partners make the difference and thats how teams become elite.
Micki looked fantastic. Pletcher is another WPIAL product. He is a junior out of latrobe, PA. He was a three-time Pennsylvania state champion and four-time finalist, Two-time Super 32 champion, and FloNational champ at Latrobe. He placed 4th at NCAA's and runner-up at the Big Ten tournament last year. He was the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Champion last year. He is no stranger to Micki.
Micki is a very focused , smart wrestler and controlled the match against a guy that has been rannked in the top five for about two years. I think he really frustrated Pletcher. He will wrestle Sirianno in the finals. Sirriano beat 10th ranked John Erneste/missouri 3-2 in the semi's.
Talib lost 5-3 to 18th ranked Griffin Parriott, a sophomore from Purdue. Parriott was fairly fundamentally sound and was hard to score on. Talib didnt do anything to pressure him out of position and couldnt get any of the crazy stuff he throws at people. Talib is certainly the more talented athlete, but was not the better technician. As talented as Talib is, he needs to learn he cant "trick" his way to winning a national championship.
Nino lost 6-2 to Latrobe graduate Zack Zavatsky. Zavatsky is redshirt senior ranked ranked 4th. He lost in the semi-finals at NCAA last year but ended up placing 6th. He is also a two-time ACC Champion (2016-17), and Three-time NCAA Qualifier. He beat Myles Martin of Ohio State 6-4 in Las Vegas last year.
Interestingly he won his Pennsylvania AAA state title, using a second-period takedown to defeat Mt. Lebanon’s Kellan Stout 3-1 in the finals.
Zavatsky also put a highlight on Nino's weakness. He just kept his hands down in good position and since Nino doesnt do any hand fighting or have any real set-up for his leg attack, nino just dove into his underhooks. Nino is going to have to learn an arm drags , duck-under, front head lock...something that will set up his double or anyone that watches film will do exactly what Zavatsky did.
Of note: The guy that beat Nino from NIU, Drew Foster beat Zavatsky 9-6 in the championship round.
Meech wore out Brian Andrews from Wyoming. The guy had a similar build to the guy from Nebraska-Kearney that beat him earlier but I dont think had the experience. He was down a going into the third period but got two take downs and pinned him from a take down iwith 8 seconds left.
Last season, before transferring to Wyoming, Andrews was a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American after placing third at 285 pounds. He was also a three-time National High School Coaches Association All-American and All-American honor at the USA Wrestling Junior Freestyles.
Micki is a very focused , smart wrestler and controlled the match against a guy that has been rannked in the top five for about two years. I think he really frustrated Pletcher. He will wrestle Sirianno in the finals. Sirriano beat 10th ranked John Erneste/missouri 3-2 in the semi's.
Talib lost 5-3 to 18th ranked Griffin Parriott, a sophomore from Purdue. Parriott was fairly fundamentally sound and was hard to score on. Talib didnt do anything to pressure him out of position and couldnt get any of the crazy stuff he throws at people. Talib is certainly the more talented athlete, but was not the better technician. As talented as Talib is, he needs to learn he cant "trick" his way to winning a national championship.
Nino lost 6-2 to Latrobe graduate Zack Zavatsky. Zavatsky is redshirt senior ranked ranked 4th. He lost in the semi-finals at NCAA last year but ended up placing 6th. He is also a two-time ACC Champion (2016-17), and Three-time NCAA Qualifier. He beat Myles Martin of Ohio State 6-4 in Las Vegas last year.
Interestingly he won his Pennsylvania AAA state title, using a second-period takedown to defeat Mt. Lebanon’s Kellan Stout 3-1 in the finals.
Zavatsky also put a highlight on Nino's weakness. He just kept his hands down in good position and since Nino doesnt do any hand fighting or have any real set-up for his leg attack, nino just dove into his underhooks. Nino is going to have to learn an arm drags , duck-under, front head lock...something that will set up his double or anyone that watches film will do exactly what Zavatsky did.
Of note: The guy that beat Nino from NIU, Drew Foster beat Zavatsky 9-6 in the championship round.
Meech wore out Brian Andrews from Wyoming. The guy had a similar build to the guy from Nebraska-Kearney that beat him earlier but I dont think had the experience. He was down a going into the third period but got two take downs and pinned him from a take down iwith 8 seconds left.
Last season, before transferring to Wyoming, Andrews was a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American after placing third at 285 pounds. He was also a three-time National High School Coaches Association All-American and All-American honor at the USA Wrestling Junior Freestyles.
Thank you for these awesome write ups. Please keep them coming.
Pitt finished 7th which is our best finish in awhile here. Mickey was beaten soundly by Suriano in the finals. Thomas, after losing in the preliminary rounds, came all the way back to finish 4th at 285. I think Talib finished 5th and Nino finished 7th. I might have that reversed. One noticeable change was that Pitt wrestled hard in the consolation matches. That has not always been the case for a few years until Gavin arrived. Thomas had 2 or 3 pins and 2 major decisions. He also beat the Hwts from VT and UNC. Wentzel won 2 consolation matches. Stout won one. Bentley won his first 3 matches, then lost to a wrestler from Clarion and lost his consolation match. After losing the match to get into the 3-4 bout, Talib beat Monday, who beat him at the ACCs last year, 9-2. We finished third highest of any team which did not have at least one individual champion and finished ahead of some teams which had one. tOSU won the event pretty handily. Missouri was runnerup.
Northern Iowa had all their wrestlers healthy, and finished 4th I think.
We outscored all of the other ACC teams here. With VT being so disappointing, we have a chance to be 2nd in the ACC behind N.C. State.
Northern Iowa had all their wrestlers healthy, and finished 4th I think.
We outscored all of the other ACC teams here. With VT being so disappointing, we have a chance to be 2nd in the ACC behind N.C. State.
"Mickey was beaten soundly by Suriano in the finals".
No doubt Mickey didn't look as sharp in the finals. Suriano looked very strong. Mickey had a hard time beating his hand fighting and getting him out of position.
Suriano scored all his points with take downs attacking Mickeys right leg (and a garbage hand to the face call). I don't think Mickey knew what was happening so he didn't know how to stop it. I would love to know what the coaches saw but it seems to me, at the very least, next time these guys wrestle, Mickey is going to have to keep his head on the left side of Suriano's head and/or attacking Soriano's left side.
Remember though, this was Mickeys first big stage in his first collegiate season. He still has his whole freshman season and then three more years to go.
No doubt Mickey didn't look as sharp in the finals. Suriano looked very strong. Mickey had a hard time beating his hand fighting and getting him out of position.
Suriano scored all his points with take downs attacking Mickeys right leg (and a garbage hand to the face call). I don't think Mickey knew what was happening so he didn't know how to stop it. I would love to know what the coaches saw but it seems to me, at the very least, next time these guys wrestle, Mickey is going to have to keep his head on the left side of Suriano's head and/or attacking Soriano's left side.
Remember though, this was Mickeys first big stage in his first collegiate season. He still has his whole freshman season and then three more years to go.
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