The Monster NCSU Preview
Gonna write this early again as i dont know what the end of my week will be like. If youre following along, i dont need to remind you what this one counts for, but just in case, the winner wins the ACC and likely gets the championship/1st consolation Bowl matchup (likely to be iowa). With that in mind this is going to be very close. Lets break it down:
Rankings are Flowrestling/Intermat
- 125 #3/3 Joey Dance vs. Sean Fausz -
- 133 Dennis Gustafson vs. Jamal Morris-
- 141 #8/8 Solomon Chishko vs. #3/3 Kevin Jack -
- 149 Sal Mastriani vs. Beau Donahue -
- 157 #6/4 Nick Brascetta vs. #4/5 Tommy Gantt -
- 165 #13/12 David McFadden vs. #6/4 Max Roskopf -
- 174 #5/3 Zach Epperly vs. Nicky Hall -
- 184 #5/7 Zack Zavatsky vs #15/18 Pete Renda -
- 197 #12/7 Jared Haught vs. #18/15 Michael Boykin -
- 285 #3/3 Ty Walz vs. #1/1 Nick Gwiazdowski -
This is one the hokies have to mark down as a gimme and prior to Fausz upset of lambert, i felt a lot better about it. Since mid season, Fausz has steadily improved, a SV loss to Klimara then a win over jeske. Dance should be the winner here, the big question is, do we need bonus points? If so, you have to like this match as one of the better chances to earn them, and its still a tough call. For the prediction I'm saying Dance by decision. This match also tells us a bit where joeys at mentally. If we see a loose wrestler, ready to rock and roll, im going to feel even better about march.
Tech 3-0
So i put dennis on upset watch and he goes out, shuts out his opponent from edinboro en route to a TF. Shows what i know. Morris is a middle of the road guy that i think Dennis has to beat if he wants that 3 seed (may already be out of reach). Total toss up here and really dependent on the form we see from gustafson. Also think he must take the first good committed shot, because he has not wrestled well from behind. To win the dual, the hokies have to get the decision here. I'll say gus by decision, but its tenuous at best
Tech 6-0
The first Monster matchup of the night. Solomon will tote a fresh new ranking into Raleigh and will have to defend it against national finalist contender Kevin Jack. Last we saw jack, he was dashing the championship dreams of devin carter in the NCAA quarterfinals. I'm actually taking that loss a little better now as carter has rolled with jack and can provide a little feel feedback to Sully. Sully is scorching hot right now and even though on paper its an upset, I wont bet against him (Jack is just as red hot,since his unexpected loss to Bleise). Their common opponents from wrestlestats are super close too. Gonna be a homer here, Chishko by decision with the upset.
Tech 9-0.
Swing match where I've got no idea what to expect. Like gus, im gonna put this one on sals mental game. Skills wise, Sal can win this thing, and he could even push it close to a major if he's sharp. But his focus and conditioning have been all over the map (mostly out of his control with the ankle) In consecutive weeks, he took steps forward with WVU UVA and Pitt, then stepped back against lugo (who to his credit could be a phenom freshman). Having done the entire preview, i circled back to this and predicted, a loss for sal, but i think this could flip.
Tech 9-3
So ive flipflopped on this match back and fourth about 80 times in the last 8 weeks. Its so darn lose. Ultimately what i'm afraid of is nick's gas tank may be lacking. I have no idea what shape he's in come the end of the third or in SV. Hard to do like wrestler comparisons with nick having so few matches. In non-homer fashion, I'm calling Gantt by decision here, but i think its real tight and could easily be flipped in March at ACCs.
Tech 9-6
Well we're starting to see a pattern emerge with David McFadden. Slow starts leading to breakneck third period comebacks. A win is a win but thats a tendency that comes back to bite you some days. and its awful to match up with Roskopf who loves to ride in a variety of ways (he's also strong as an ox). I was very impressed with Roskopf at the All Star match, before he started climbing the rankings, and i continue to see growth from him. Roskopf is going to want to slow this match down and drag it out while McFadden wants pedal to the floor action. Interesting style clash. Ultimately i have to pick Roskopf as i think he rides away about 3 mins of the match
Tech 9-9
Another Gotta have it match, and the other decent chance at bonus points should we need them. Gone from last year is Renda, who's up at 184, and Hall takes his place. Theyve essentially done a flip flop at 174 184 from a year ago and it seems to be working better for both wrestlers. Epp is probably about 5 points better on an average day, and i think we see a real scramble in the third for Bonus points here. Ultimately i think the home crowd allows Hall to slow things down, Tech By decision.
Tech 12-9
This ones got trap match written all over it. Depending on how high ZZ climbs, he'll have that big ranking and target on his back. Renda was underranked last year due to that meat grinder at 174 in the ACC. This year he's really improved and has some very solid wins under his belt against pretty much the middle of the top 20 in 184. ZZ is the better wrestler, but i get that uneasy feeling like i did when he dropped that gimme to Utley from UNC at the hokie open. Ill predict a win here, but this one could get flipped. Upset watch for sure.
Tech 15-9
Jared Haughts got his groove back and thats fantastic for the hokies. Last year Ness and Boykin were the two conference opponents Haught could regularly beat and i dont see nay reason to change that. Boykin did have a moster win over smith 2 weekends ago in SV 3, a marathon match, so his conditioning is on point, but i just like my boy, Jared Haught in this one, Haught by decision
Tech 18-9
So this is the one ty has worked all offseason for. I hope he doesnt go in extra tight, but im not feeling so hot for this one. I will cheer my brains out for Ty, but Gwiaz is a once in a generation type HWT. He has killed Ty in the past on counter offense either on broken holds on Ty's shot attempts, or defense and re-attacks. For walz to win, he wil need to cleanly and quickly finish every shot. He will also need to get out quickly, as Gwiaz is super heavy and exhausting on top. Ultimately i think Ty falls by a 5-3 score, but its tantilizingly close, with ACCs just around the corner.
Tech 18-12
So there you have it, tech by a 6-4 match advantage. Based on my preview, we are most likely to "throw one back" at 133, 141, 184 and 197 (and probably not favored at 133 or 141). A bonus point will be a big deal in this one, as both teams are so closely matched. And a pin blows this thing wide open, cause i dont see that much separation. If dance hits that pancake or bundle late, ill be ecstatic.
Still i think the Hokies knock off NCSU in dramatic fashion. Having said that, this is the type of dual where the preview is meaningless, just like PSU.
The Match Can be viewed Free through NCSU's version of Hokiesports:
http://gopack.com/watch/?Live=162
Go Hokies!
Comments
And for those in the Raleigh area wanting to attend the match, the site is the Holshouser Building. Its essentially a conference center and ill be surprised if they have room for more than 500 people.
If you are going in person, i strongly suggest you show up when doors open. Remember, VT PSU drew 5000 people earlier this year. I expect the few bleacher seats to be filled quickly:
I read it will seat approximately 1,300 people for Friday's match.
So the entire convention center is zoned to house 1200 people. Whether 1200 people standing will be able to see the match, i doubt it. I really think the bleackers will fit about 300-500 with another 100-200 having a decent view standing on the corners
Just passing on the info I read on the NWCA article. Either way it is terribly limited seating for the biggest ACC match of the year.
thanks for the preview; looking forward to watching it this friday!
For those of us not quite familiar with all the wrestling lingo, SV=Sudden Victory/Overtime?
Yep SV is sudden victory, essentially first TD wins
Follow-up question: Not sure if you covered this in your "Wrestling for Dummies" post last week, and too lazy to look, so I'll just ask. Does the SV period always start in the neutral position, or do they do something else, like flip a coin to give one wrestler the option of starting position?
Think i hit it but im too lazy as well. The first sudden victory period starts on their feet in neutral. If neither wrestler scores, they go to what are referred to as "Rideouts". Basically each wrestler gets to choose their preferred position (99.9% of the time its bottom) and they have 30 seconds to escape. Each wrestler gets a turn on bottom.
If neither wrestler has built a lead after rideouts, they go to SV2, then rideouts 2, repeating the whole process.
That seems like an awfully small venue for a dual of national importance. You'd think they'd at least consider moving it to the basketball arena like we usually do. It doesn't look like either basketball team is playing on Friday. In a non-revenue sport, you'd hate to have to turn away fans who actually want to come watch.
Pack Pride having that debate as we speak:
http://www.scout.com/college/north-carolina-state/forums/4305-olympic-sp...
Interesting discussion over there. Really liked that the guy who came and watched the duals in the Moss Arts Center last year was really impressed. More than a first class experience were his words.
What exactly does this mean? I tried looking up how the post season works but am still a little confused
Brand spanking new process, The NWCA has created a Bowl-like system, where Conference champions and the top at large bid wrestle the top teams in the B1G. Tech will clinch the ACC with a win. If they lose, its a toss up between VT and Oklahoma as the at large bid.
More here:
http://www.nwcaonline.com/nwcawebsite/Events/national-duals_di_duals_series
Ok I'm confused. Are the national duels the same as the ncaa championships?
Negative, NCAA championship is seperate, this is run my the NWCA, with a potential future goal of a "dual National Champion"
New system seems insane. Pick each conference champion and make the rest at large bids from whatever poll you want. Also am I correct in understanding that it is no longer a tournament similar to Virginia Duels?
Yep single match, couldnt get Cael fromm PSU to commit unless it was a single guaranteed match.
The format does see a little crazy. It is more like the ACC-Big Ten Challenge type format than a true tournament.
My proposal is that they could invite 12 teams (7 conference champs + 5 at large)
#1 overall seed gets to host the event
Top 4 teams get a bye
Have 2 rounds on Saturday
Semifinals & Championship on Sunday
I would think that they could even get some ESPN2/U interest for the championship match.
Teams that don't make the tournament could schedule other teams that did not qualify in order to have a dual match that weekend.
Last years version was very close to this. Had 16 teams instead of 12 and was over 2 weekends not one. Problem was they had to select and confirm teams and matchups ahead of time
Ok so like the coaches poll and ap poll days of football
Somewhat similar, still experimental, trying to find a system that works.
I get that the B1G is the 800-lb elephant in the room of collegiate wrestling, but why do their top 8 teams get auto-bids and get to host all the events? Surely someone had to consider that there might be two conferences whose 2nd place team is more worthy than the 8th place team in the B1G.
Part of it was the limited # of competition dates and the desire of top B1G coaches to know if they have a match that weekend.
Surprised this isn't being held at Dorton Arena like they did with some of their other bigger matches this year.
There was some type of convention going on at Dorton and the Canes have a game at RBC.
Oh friggen DUH... I'm such an idiot.
With the Auto Expo (which I'm hoping to attend) and the Canes game (which I have tickets for) I really should have known they wouldn't be able to use Dorton Arena.
I will sit back and allow you to mock me if you must.
The hype around this match is super high. I hope the wrestlers can tune out the noise and just play loose. We need to win if we want to continue to climb closer to a National Title in Wrestling.
My only connection to any of this besides being a Hokie and from NJ is I went to grad school with Gwiazdowski's older brother.
Good guy. Goofy, but a good guy.
One question I have been wondering is how is the starting weight class determined? Is it random or chosen by one of the coaches? If chosen I would assume there is some strategy as you would want the matches you think you can win easily near the end of the dual.
EDIT: So I went ahead and looked it up and here is the official rule:
1.5 Determining Wrestling Order
Immediately after the weigh-in for a dual meet or multiple dual meets conducted
on the same day, coaches may mutually agree to determine the order
of matches
to be wrestled, allowing for a particular weight class to be featured. Once the first
weight class is established, subsequent matches will continue in the traditional
sequence of increasing weight class.
If coaches cannot agree on the wrestling order, a random draw shall be
conducted to determine which weight class will be wrestled first
Tournaments start at the lowest (125).
Dual meets can be chosen at random. When I was in high school it was just drawn from a hat.
Is there any way to watch this event other than actually being there in person?
The Match Can be viewed Free through NCSU's version of Hokiesports:
http://gopack.com/watch/?Live=162
Literally the last sentence of the OP.
Thank you good sir!
We'll forgive you simply because of how relevant your username is here.
Venue set up photo:
Get there early if youre in the triangle area, its gonna be packed!
Are we going to do a game thread or just use this?
is everybody's feed as crappy as mine? i'm hearing two entirely different play by play announcers happening at the same time, as well as the audio as a whole 'blipping' every three seconds......
NC State is one tall, lanky group. Hokie up 10-3 through 4 matches.
Tech up 10-6 after 5 matches
Stinks to win 2 matches by 7, the bonus points there could have been huge.
I think Chisko can beat Jack in the tournament. He stalled the entire 3rd period.
Great match... Go hokies!
I agree with the Chisko comment. Jack didn't want to wrestle him at all
McFadden gets Tech falled. NCSU up 11-10 with 4 matches left
What was the chippiness in this match? My feed crapped out.
I think McFadden started losing control after that quick take down and near fall, by the time he entered the third period he was a little wild.
16-11 through 8. A win here should clench it. NCS has the #1 ranked heavy weight, so we really need this one.
Hokies up 16-11 with 2 matches left. They can secure the dual with a win by Haught
and the Hokies are undefeated in the ACC!
They still have to wrestle Duke tomorrow. I fully expect them to win.
jerseyhokie with some spot on predictions! #hokiesrespect haha
Even with the tec fall on McFadden, tech still wins 19-14! That's impressive! They showed consistency and poise top to bottom in a hostile environment.
This win guarantees us a match in the national duals which will probably be a rematch with Penn State.
Wouldn't the at-large or one of the smaller conference champions face #1 Penn State?
Here is who I think will get the bids... which conference am I leaving out?
#1 Penn State
#2 Iowa
#3 Michigan
#4 Ohio State
#5 Nebraska
#6 Illinois
#7 Rutgers
#8 Minnesota
Oklahoma State (Big 12)
Missouri (MAC)
Virginia Tech (ACC)
Lehigh (EIWA)
CSU Bakersfield (Pac12)
Gardner-Webb (SoCON)
????
NCSU (at-large)
Its not a bracket. It is like the bowl system. The highest ranked conference champion will face Penn State for the Dual Meet National Title while the other matches well be premiere matchups that will help wrestlers improve seeding for NCAAs. Here is a link that has the criteria. Hokies will be matched based on their final rankings and proximity to opponent from the Big Ten.
PSU will get Okie St, thats about the only given. Generally, though they have said otherwise i think theyre going to try to keep matchups even to generate interest.
Really think we get iowa, especially if Mizzou loses to the wolfpack tomorrow. Matches for seed include:
125
174
184
197
285.
Half the dual would help with seeding, especially at 125 and 184
I wish it wasn't B1G vs everybody else, but there are just too many great top programs in that conference. Would love to see three or four nights of a bracket of back to back duals.
The problem is the home venue for the matches. Its B1G vs. everyone because the B1G instructed teams to reserve their home venues for that date. Next year they will try to do the same for all the other conferences and send the B1G on the road
I think Mizzou beats NC State today...it looks like a similar match up to ours with NC State only winning the same 4 weights. I could also see Jack losing his match.
They avoid rematches...and we will probably match up with the 3rd highest ranked Big 10 school, which would be Michigan. Penn St- OK State, Iowa-Mizzou, Michigan-VT, Ohio St-Lehigh. If Mizzou loses to NC State tomorrow...then we would probably match up with Iowa
A little off topic, but does anyone else think a reversal should be worth 3, not 2? If you imagine the sequence: takedown, reversal, escape. I feel like that should result in a 3-3 tie.
The way it is now it awards the initial attacker if they are able to get the escape which is not a given. Your proposal would essentially remove a reversal from scoring, giving an escape in the process of getting control for a takedown.
Well, yeah. If you attack and get a takedown, you get 2 points.
No it wouldn't. It would add a point. My thought is a reversal should equal an escape + takedown.
It would, in effect, remove the reversal from scoring, because it is the same points as an escape and a takedown, and would result in the same outcome. And my first point is valid that the initial attacker should come out ahead in the exchange, not even.
I still don't understand your point.
No, I'm saying the reversal should score more points.
So why would you ever go for reversal? You net less points.
Only net less if you are able to escape then score your own TD. Net more if you cant score a TD. Also with the period choices, if you are forced to go under it gives you a way to score 2
You start and end in the same position with the same points awarded if you have a 3 point reversal or an escape and a TD, that is what I mean.
Its that the intial TD should be worth something. With a 3 pt reversal, this is how the action looks:
2 pt TD red
3 pt reversal green
1 pt escape red
3-3 neutral position.
So in effect red has gained nothing.
FWIW its always debated every year, and nothing gets adjusted. Hot topic in the wrestling community
If this gets debated every year, then I'll gladly end my debate. The rule seems silly, but I'll admit the wrestling community is 1000x more informed on the nuances of this rule than I am.
I appreciate you bringing it up because it made me think about it more. There are benefits and detriments from either side of the debate.
The way I look at it, you get 1 point for going from disadvantage to neutral(escape) and 2 points for going from any position to advantage(takedown or reversal).
With a 3 point reversal you would be awarding 1 point for getting out of a disadvantageous position and 2 points for getting in to an advantageous position. Two steps would make it an escape and a takedown and one step would be a reversal.
The draw back to the two point reversal is that you don't get rewarded for taking advantage from a more difficult position.
Regardless, Hokies win!!!!!
Believe me its a very good and valid question. Glad youre involved and interested!
They looked very focused and ready for this match which is a good sign moving forward, besides at 165. NCST is going to be tough in the ACC tourney as they have some really good wrestlers 4 of which have a shot at winning their classes even if I think 141 will be pretty hotly contested based on tonight.