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Midlands 29th and 30th

wrestlingfan22

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Dec 11, 2022
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From the Pitt Release here are the guys coming
125: Colyn Limbert
141: Briar Priest, Anthony Santaniello
149: Kade Brown, Finn Solomon
157: Dylan Evans, Jack Pletcher
165: Jared Keslar
174: Luca Augustine
184: Reece Heller, Chase Kranitz
197: Mac Stout

This will be a short preliminary preview, once seeds are out I will be able to look a little more into matchups
Limbert is probably our 4th string at 125 but he has some solid results this season so hopefully he can string some wins together.
Nobody at 133 is unfortunate
141 we have both our guys in and this should be a good test for both of them. This 141lb bracket looks good but there are no clear top guys so if Ant is at his best he can get a win
Love seeing both Finn and Kade at 149. This weight is stacked with likely two top 10 guys, multiple guys Finn has lost to this year, and some other really talented guys
This is a weight with up to 8 ranked guys, but similar to 141 it is very open so a good day for Evans could see him really do some damage and rise in the rankings
165 has some good wrestlers and some chances for Keslar to get back on track with some ranked wins. Further, it is a weight where nobody jumps out as entirely unbeatable
This is a huge chance for Augustine to make some noise, the number 5 and number 6 guys in the country are at this weight. A win over either or both of these guys would really make a big impact on Luca's long-term NCAA seeding.
184 Glad both guys are going, hope Kranitz looks better than he did at the beginning of the year. Reece has a chance to bounce back from last weekend with a big win. He could see the Rider wrestler he lost to last week and get his revenge
197: Mac is one of 5 guys who all have around the same results this year. If he can put a big win out there today he can cement himself as a real AA candidate. He also has a chance to wrestle his brother Luke, and Poznanksi who knocked him out of NCAAs last season.
Overall I would expect that we have some good performances and hopefully some guys use this opportunity to showcase they are clear top 15 guys in the country and we can get our team out of everyone being in the 15-30 limbo
 
I really wanted to see Marlow wrestle here, but I get why he isnt. Says that Babin is gonna be out for a bit longer but they still trying to hold on to Marlow's RS.

Curious whats up with Vinny. I didnt see his absence coming.

Pitzer either. If he is hurt, then its starting to become a chronic issue. Maybe he is struggling with carry the weight to wrestle 285
 
I really wanted to see Marlow wrestle here, but I get why he isnt. Says that Babin is gonna be out for a bit longer but they still trying to hold on to Marlow's RS.

Curious whats up with Vinny. I didnt see his absence coming.

Pitzer either. If he is hurt, then its starting to become a chronic issue. Maybe he is struggling with carry the weight to wrestle 285
Babin should be back in January based on what I have heard. My only question is if this counts as first or second semester. Because if it counts as second semester Marlow could go unattached and save the date. Obviously it currently is the break period between 1st and 2nd semester
 
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Babin should be back in January based on what I have heard. My only question is if this counts as first or second semester. Because if it counts as second semester Marlow could go unattached and save the date. Obviously it currently is the break period between 1st and 2nd semester
That makes me wonder if he does that. Pitt's announcement wouldnt include unattached guys then. Are brackets out yet?
 
Tough draw for Ant. Princeton starter Rivera in the first round, and Dylan Chappell in the QF if he gets there.
Finn and Dylan should reach the quarters before seeing any very stiff competition.
Keslar gets the 4 seed from Rutgers in the first round.
Luca gets no easy ones. He will be favored in his first two bouts but both are quality opponents who could beat him.
Reece and Mac are the 1 and 2 seeds in their brackets respectively and should at least make the semis if they wrestle well.
 
Mac’s brother Luke from Princeton not entered. However Rune Lawrence in at 197 unattached for WVU. Another WVU unattached is Shawn Taylor 165. I like to follow the WPIAL guys as well.
 
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At 149 I will say Kade Brown has a pretty solid draw in my opinion and that I could see him making the semis from his side.
At 157 Evans has a real shot to make the finals if he can stay off his back against Grigor
Limbert has Ayden Smith from Rutgers. Good test against another PA true freshman.
 
Seven in the quarterfinals: Briar, Kade, Finn, Dylan, Luca, Reece, Mac
Ant (1-1), Jared (2-1) and Chase (2-1) are all alive in consis and need to win two matches to make the podium.
Colyn and Jack went 1-2 and out.
 
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Santaniello with a nice win
Priest loses a close on to Composto
Solomon loses a close one to Clark from Rutgers
Brown with a dominant win over Gilcher from UM
Evans with a great win over Cholakyan in SV 11-8. He was down 7-1 but stormed back for the comeback
Keslar eliminated
 
Do we know Lucas isn’t hurt?

Hated that restart call on Priest with 15 seconds left. Would have been cool to see him medal.
 
Do we know Lucas isn’t hurt?
No, but he didnt look injured after the Turley match.

My comment wasnt necessarily directed at Luca. Just the MFF trend in general. It is my belief that the vast majority arent injury related
 
I would assume that MFF on the front side, he is dealing with some sort of injury. Typically you see the MFFs on the back side that are not injury related, usually higher seeds that get knocked out earlier than expected.
 
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No, but he didnt look injured after the Turley match.

My comment wasnt necessarily directed at Luca. Just the MFF trend in general. It is my belief that the vast majority arent injury related
That got fixed in the last couple years. MFFs count against the forfeiting wrestler's record just like a regular loss now, and the problem pretty much vanished.
 
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I’d guess many guys also view placing higher in consi not as important as staying healthy for end of year run. I’d prefer to see them wrestling but understand the important of nationals being ultimate goal.

Could be why Pitzer decided not to go to this tournament. More important staying healthy for end of year vs winning midlands.
 
I just saw which surprises me that Pitt gave Kade brown the victory by medical forfeit over Finn Solomon. I figured it would’ve been the opposite.
 
It shows brown and priest getting teams points. Assuming team points automatically go to the highest point scorer.
The point scorers were pre determined before the tournament started. Looking at Rutgers team score, the point scorer at 184 (Soldano) has scored less points than Shane Cartagena-Welsh (non-point scorer at 184)
 
That got fixed in the last couple years. MFFs count against the forfeiting wrestler's record just like a regular loss now, and the problem pretty much vanished.
Yeah but now most teams only wrestle partial squads . Has kind of taken the shine off of these tourneys because the top guys mostly dont wrestle.

Does an MFF count as a loss immediately? I thought it was that you get one per season then the second one counts.

Definitely not as bad as they used to be though. But still sucks as a fan when they happen. I was pumped to see Luca vs Incontrera
 
On a more positive note, I couldn't be any more impressed with Kade Brown. His low single is a work of art. No wasted movement and lightning quick. He just needs to go to the Nino Bonaccorsi school of finishing and I see no reason that he wont be an AA at some point.

I loved the oppo finish on that fireman's against Clark too. It caught me off guard and I dont think Clark was expecting it either.

Hell of a job, Kade Brown!
 
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