2018/2019 Season
Well it should be no surprise to the ones that read the 125lb wrestler report, who was last year's starter. If not, it was former Edinboro transfer Korbin Myers (r-SR, Carlisle PA) who compiled a 20-10 record. You can learn more about his Hokie career and wrestling tendencies in the previous 125lb write-up.
2019/2020 Season
With Korbin Myers looking to cut to 125lb weight class, the perceived replacement is Collin Gerardi (r-FR, Powhatan VA). Last year Gerardi wrestled unattached and amassed a record of 17-6. Most notable match was losing in sudden victory, 8-6, to now ranked #6 Roman Bravo-Young (PSU).
A college may send six or less wrestlers to an open tournament, where they will then be deemed unattached. These wrestlers rarely have coach support and must not wear any singlet that associates them with their college. If it is their redshirt year, the wrestlers must fund their own way while getting to participate in tournaments (travel, lodging, sign-up, food, etc).
Collin Gerardi has above average length for a 133lb wrestler. He is known to be heavy on the head and likes to engage in wrist tie-ups. He will feel out opponents by attempting ankle picks or shucking the arm by to set up an outside, single leg shot. For his youth, he already shows a variety of neutral position moves which is impressive. If he is able to combo these, he will be dangerous.
His high powered offense does leave him vulnerable to being countered; as noted by the high point average in his matches. Also, it's typical for young wrestlers to not be as strong in referee positions. This is not the case for Gerardi on top, but true for his bottom position. The thing to note this year is if he can improve his quickness escaping. On top, he is tenacious. He shows a willingness to stay glued to his opponent by crab riding or getting a leg via a move called a turk
My cold take is Gerardi will make the NCAAs this year, but will not make All-American. I see him wrestling to rank/seed in regards to the ACC, probably going 3-2.
Comments
Solid stuff! Keep it coming. Looking forward to the opener against Missouri. BTW, do you know if they're doing the Hokie Open this year? Just didn't see it listed on the schedule and thought it normally is.
It's been renamed to the Southeast Open.
It's now called the southeast open and yes it's November 3rd
Also im blind and i will drink. Water
If this is our baseline, then we are in a great spot.
Does moving down a weight class give a more offensive wrestler an advantage? I would think having lighter opponents may make the defensive side a little easier and be less risk to an aggressive offensive style.
One of these losses is gonna come against either Hayes (UVA) or Trombley (NC St). I definitely don't see Gerardi getting past Phillippi at all (Pitt)
In my opinion, going against lighter competition doesn't really make a significant enough difference for offensive/defensive advantage. There are always lots of factors in play, but I look to how does the wrestler handle the cut (endurance and stamina).
For the lower weight class (125-141lb), I think the X-factor is the length of the wrestler. You can see this watching Tariq Wilson, former 133lb to NC St, and how he gave shorter opponents fits. He is now at 141lb, where I suspect he will to not adjust as well because he lost his reach and sprawl advantage
Phillippi aint as good as everyone thinks he is
That seems to be how NC State recruits. Hidlay is pretty long because he cuts down to 157. I think how the wrestler handles cutting down to the weight is the most important thing. If they have to devote tons of focus to making weight they tend to perform really inconsistently.
I'm glad to see Wilson has moved up a weight class. That dude's length was insane, and incredibly tough to compete against, at 133. He always looked like a daddy longlegs out there on the mat. I'll be interested to see how he wrestles now that he can put a little muscle on those bones. He might, as you suggest, have trouble competing against wrestlers closer to his own height/length, or the added strength could make him terrifying.
He's still going to be lethal on top once he gets a boot in.
And then employs the standard Coach Pop stall techniques....
Is "sudden victory" a thing or a mistake? We always called it sudden death
thanks for the write ups. keep em coming
It's a thing. If you look at wrestling results you'll see it denoted as 'SV'.
not on west coast. it's written as 'SD'. maybe it's a coke v pop regional thing
NCAA goes with SV, so that's what I go with. But i'm also from the east coast.
SV1 TB1 SV2 TB2 and if it's tied after that the match goes to whoever had the most riding time in TB
very interesting... it's probably where I am from that is weird