Iowa

125: Matt McDonough, Tony Ramos, Tyler Clark
133: Matt McDonough, Nate Moore
141: Montell Marion
149: Dylan Carew, Matt Ballweg
157: Derek St. John, Aaron Jansen, Jake Kerr, Mysterious New Guy
165: Derek St. John, Aaron Jansen, Jake Kerr
174: Ethen Lofthouse, Jake Kerr
184: Grant Gambrall
197: Luke Lofthouse, Brodie Ambrosie

---

285: Blake Raising, Jordan Johnson

With seven seniors leaving the team it is hard to predict who will be in each spot next year. Will Ballweg be better now that he is at 149? Will Ethen Lofthouse leave the team for two years to take a mission? Will DSJ go to 165 or 157? What weight will McDonough wrestle?

Wish I knew the answer to all of these questions and the season started tomorrow!

I agree with your assessment of next year's Gopher line-up. The line-up looks talented but pretty raw. A guy like Mason is going to have to step up and impose himself at 149 as the weight has cleared out a little bit. If McDonough moves up I don't see why Sanders shouldn't be a finalist in the Big 10 conference but I have said that before and had to eat my words. Little Thorn has his work cut out for him at 133 next year as it should be a tough weight class but he will improve throughout the year and I think stands a decent shot at qualifying for Nationals if he is peaking at that point. I look for Mike Thorn to have a similar year next year but improve on his NCAA finish. Deitchler should have a nice year and I am assuming an NCAA qualifier. I have so little information on him the last two years, I couldn't tell you where he belongs in the AA conversation. Should be a great battle at 165 with Yohn and Ortiz. I think Yohn improved quite a bit at the end of last year and both of these guys should qualify for nationals whomever wins the spot. I may be wrong but it sounds like Ortiz initially had the better upside of the two but not sure where that stands anymore. Glasser as a senior should be a mid to low AA contender. I would like to see him get a quick start to the year and stay healthy. I know very little of Steinhaus. I am still missing Geiger as this could be Sonny Yohn here at 184 and a very bad-ass line-up. As its not, then I would think 184 is most likely our biggest opportunity along with 133. Sonny Yohn would be someone I wouldn't want to wrestle next year. The top tier guys that were at 197 last year have cleared out and I think its really anyone's to win. I see Sonny Yohn in the mix for a mid AA finish. Berhow DID have a great finish to the year. I think he has it in him to be one of the top 2-3 heavies in the Big Ten and a low level AA finish at NCAA's. With a big summer of lifting and conditioning, I could see him moving that to a mid AA finish. I don't know alot about Tony Nelson yet but I think this is Berhow's to lose.

125 Sanders (high AA)
133 David Thorn (NCAA Qualifier)
141 Mike Thorn (high AA)
149 Mario Mason (NCAA Qualifier)
157 Jake Deitchler (NCAA Qualifier, Rd 12)
165 Cody Yohn/Alec Ortiz (NCAA Qualifier)
174 Scott Glasser (mid AA)
184 Kevin Steinhaus (DNQ)
197 Sonny Yohn (mid AA)
Hwt Berhow (low to mid AA)

I think those are all pretty realistic. I could see Sanders with a chance to be an NC, little Thorn possibly NOT qualifying, big Thorn with a possible chance as NC, Mason with an outside shot at an AA, Deitchler with an outside shot of an AA, Glasser could finish top 5, Yohn with a possible top 5 finish and Berhow with an outside shot of mid AA. Most everything I wrote down should happen or could even be better.

Originally Posted by Herkey#1

Iowa

125: Matt McDonough, Tony Ramos, Tyler Clark
133: Matt McDonough, Nate Moore
141: Montell Marion
149: Dylan Carew, Matt Ballweg
157: Derek St. John, Aaron Jansen, Jake Kerr, Mysterious New Guy
165: Derek St. John, Aaron Jansen, Jake Kerr
174: Ethen Lofthouse, Jake Kerr
184: Grant Gambrall
197: Luke Lofthouse, Brodie Ambrosie
285: Blake Raising, Jordan Johnson

With seven seniors leaving the team it is hard to predict who will be in each spot next year. Will Ballweg be better now that he is at 149? Will Ethen Lofthouse leave the team for two years to take a mission? Will DSJ go to 165 or 157? What weight will McDonough wrestle?

Wish I knew the answer to all of these questions and the season started tomorrow!

DSJ to 165. I believe McD will choose to stay at 125.


Leaving the line-up looking like this.


125 McDonough

133 Moore

141 Marion

149 Dylan Carew

157 Janssen/Kerr/Ballweg or Mytserious New Guy(MNG)

165 Derek St John

174 Lofthouse

184 Gambrall

197 Lofthouse/Ambrose

Hwt Rasing/Johnson/Pendleton

If McD stays at 125, can someone unbiasedly tell me what his walking around weight is? I personally think he can make the jump to 133 and still be the NC and possibly get a chance to eat a little bit once a week. I could be wrong but he is in for a Mack Reiter type junior year if he tries to make that cut again. He already looked a little bit sucked down. I will give him credit though, he never WRESTLED like he was sucked down. Guy initiated everything all year and went 7 minutes.

Ohio State:

125: Logan Stieber*, Pat Harrington
133: Nikko Triggas, Ian Paddock*
141: Collin Palmer
149: Tony Jameson
157: Sean Nemec
165: Colt Sponseller, Derek Garcia*
174: Peter Capone
184: Nick Heflin
197: CJ Magrum
285: John Hiles

*People I hope will redshirt

Originally Posted by ODH

Give us some analysis, Gold. If they redshirt the guys you want, it could be a tough year for tOSU. Maybe 2-3 low AA's?

No matter what, they aren't going to be competing for a team title next year. I'd like to see them eat next year and build for the future. However, Tom Ryan tends to put the best wrestlers out there, which means he hasn't redshirted his best recruits yet (except Collin Palmer). I respect this attitude, but I think it will keep tOSU from competing the way they would like. Maybe he just skipped the redshirts because he saw good opportunities to challenge for the NCAA team title, and now that that window has passed, he will start redshirting.

2010/2011:
125: Pat Harrington (he actually beat Triggas 8-3 in an open tourney this year. Not an AA threat, though.)
133: Nikko Triggas (finishes up his career)
141: Collin Palmer (he redshirted this year, should be good)
149: Tony Jameson (should be more effective at his natural weight)
157: Sean Nemec
165: Colt Sponseller
174: Nick Heflin (had a pretty good redshirt year)
184: Peter Capone (ditto)
197: CJ Magrum (I was pleased with his seasopn this year considering he was a 174 last year)
285: John Hiles (not expecting much here)

Redshirts: Logan Stieber, Derek Garcia (though I'm told he will leave for the OTC if they redshirt him), Josh Demas, Ian Paddock, Max Gladstone (6'5" heavyweight with no fat and a mammoth frame. Never won state, but he seems to have a great attitude)


2011/2012:
125: Logan Stieber (should immediately challenge for an AA spot)
133: Ian Paddock (should be a solid AA contender)
141: Collin Palmer (if he can hold the weight)
149: Tony Jameson (I expect his skills to be much more refined by this point)
157: Sean Nemec
165: Derek Garcia/Josh Demas (Two very dangerous freshmen)
174: Derek Garcia/Josh Demas
184: Nick Heflin/Peter Capone (the 2 sophs battle it out for this spot)
197: CJ Magrum (should be a solid AA candidate by this point)
285: John Hiles (Max Gladstone could push him.)

Redshirts: Hunter Stieber (committed already). I expect this class to have 1 or 2 other high-impact guys as well. People interested in tOSU include Cam Tessari and Andrew Campalattano.


2012/2013:
125: Logan Stieber
133: Ian Paddock/Hunter Stieber
141: Ian Paddock/Hunter Stieber
149: Collin Palmer
157: Tony Jameson
165: Derek Garcia/Josh Demas
174: Derek Garcia/Josh Demas
184: Nick Heflin/Peter Capone
197: CJ Magrum
285: John Hiles/Max Gladstone

That's a young lineup that could make a real push for a team title.

Maryland would be a good location for Bubba. Not too far from home and a better training situation than ODU.