sweetsweep22
03-06-2006, 02:03 AM
125-Ott (2nd)- ott looked really good in his first two matches. he dominated magnani and controlled the match with dubuque. after seeing his performance, i was excited thinking he may have a shot at beating simmons. simmons was just too tough though. simmons is the best 125lber in the country and should win the NCAAs. on a side note, does anyone else think simmons got shafted not getting the outstanding wrestler of the year award? the kid is undefeated, won the midlands without surrendering a point, and won one of the toughest weights at the big tens in a convincing fashion. i thought he shouldve gotten the award.
133-Flores (5th)- flores wrestled well overall all, handling hernandez pretty well. flores should continue to get better and will be a real competitor in a couple years, especially if he drops to 125. 5th was a good finish for him (how bad is his leg hurt?). side note, the clum/reiter match was the best match of the tournament, very exciting!
141-Pero (8th)- i just dont understand pero. last year i would have said he was the most improved, this year i think he is the most declined. sophomore pero would beat junior pero. i was hoping he would rekindle some spark and remind us why he was an AA last year, but he went 0-3 this weekend. hopefully he pulls it together and has a good showing senior year.
149-T. Tirapelle (2nd)- wow! man this kid is fun to watch! some would say it was bogus, because he did win all three matches without scoring a takedown i believe, but give the kid some credit, he came in unseeded and beat tannenbaum(#3), turner(#6), and eustice(#2). i didnt think he had much of a chance with schlatter, but i wasnt ruling him out! i really wanted to see troy wrap up a cradle and put the freshman phenom on his back. didnt happen though, and troys charge was cut short, hard. schlatter is just a monster. congrats to troy, he wrestled a hell of a tournament, and has a bright future.
157-A. Tirappele (2nd)- ive said it all along, if you can take him down, you can beat him. alex needs OFFENSE!!! why doesnt he get agressive and score? i know he can do it! if alex wants to AA this year, perhaps even have a shot at the title, he is gonna have to wrestle with more offense. if you can take him down you can beat him, cuz he wont try to take you down. i was impressed with how schlatter rode him though. ive always known alex to be a tough guy to ride. alex is a great wrestler, capable of being the best. i just hope he doesnt leave anything on the mat at his last NCAA tournament.
165-Poeta (3rd)- poeta looked to me to be a little flat on saturday, even in the match he won over durkee. he lost what i thought was a very winable match to nagel. but poeta bounced back strong and was his old self again on sunday, and looked real good coming back with a strong third place finish. poeta is very solid, and is going to be a big gun for illinois in the coming years. im looking for a high AA finish from him, hes capable of it.
174-Reynolds (6th)- reynolds had a really good win against boudro in a pretty exciting match. other than that, reynolds wrestled true to his seed. not great, not bad. if he wrestles tough at NCAAs i think he has an outside shot at AA. it will all depends on which reynolds steps on the mat. also- how bad is he hurt?
184-Friedl (2nd)- same story as a. tirapelle, OFFENSE!! i didnt see him take a shot until there was 12 seconds left in the match. he wrestled a defensive match even when he was losing. i dont understand why he doesnt shoot. from what ive seen, when he shoots he usually scores! he has a good shot, why doesnt he use it more often? that championship match was his to lose. he wrestled good in the semis against bradley, but again, i think if he had gotten his offense going he would have won that match easier as well. same with tirapelle, i hope he leaves it all on the mat at his last NCAA. he could win it all.
197- Byrd (2nd)- same story, OFFENSE!! again, that was byrds match to lose. i think he was the better wrestler. byrd could also have a very good NCAA tournament if he wrestles his best. when hes at his best, he is very hard to beat.
HW- Weight (4th)- weight had a good tournament. he ran into a bombshell first match against konrad, but then came through the consolation. he sort of lucked out, not having to wrestle another seeded opponent till the third place match, but ill take it. fourth place from the eigth seed, good tournament for him. how much does he weigh? he looked real small out there.
overall, i think illinois needs to be more aggressive. too many of these guys seem like they arent wrestling to win, rather wrestling not to lose. in my opinion, only three wrestlers performed to their potential this weekend (ott, flores, t. tirapelle). and they still took second as a team, barely missing first! imagine what this squad could do when theyre on fire! if everyone wrestles their best, illinois could have a very good showing at NCAAs. on a side note, how do you think illinois will recover next year? by losing ott, a. tirapelle, friedl and byrd, thats a lot of their firepower. who is gonna step up and replace these guys? is next year going to be a rebuilding year for illinois?
133-Flores (5th)- flores wrestled well overall all, handling hernandez pretty well. flores should continue to get better and will be a real competitor in a couple years, especially if he drops to 125. 5th was a good finish for him (how bad is his leg hurt?). side note, the clum/reiter match was the best match of the tournament, very exciting!
141-Pero (8th)- i just dont understand pero. last year i would have said he was the most improved, this year i think he is the most declined. sophomore pero would beat junior pero. i was hoping he would rekindle some spark and remind us why he was an AA last year, but he went 0-3 this weekend. hopefully he pulls it together and has a good showing senior year.
149-T. Tirapelle (2nd)- wow! man this kid is fun to watch! some would say it was bogus, because he did win all three matches without scoring a takedown i believe, but give the kid some credit, he came in unseeded and beat tannenbaum(#3), turner(#6), and eustice(#2). i didnt think he had much of a chance with schlatter, but i wasnt ruling him out! i really wanted to see troy wrap up a cradle and put the freshman phenom on his back. didnt happen though, and troys charge was cut short, hard. schlatter is just a monster. congrats to troy, he wrestled a hell of a tournament, and has a bright future.
157-A. Tirappele (2nd)- ive said it all along, if you can take him down, you can beat him. alex needs OFFENSE!!! why doesnt he get agressive and score? i know he can do it! if alex wants to AA this year, perhaps even have a shot at the title, he is gonna have to wrestle with more offense. if you can take him down you can beat him, cuz he wont try to take you down. i was impressed with how schlatter rode him though. ive always known alex to be a tough guy to ride. alex is a great wrestler, capable of being the best. i just hope he doesnt leave anything on the mat at his last NCAA tournament.
165-Poeta (3rd)- poeta looked to me to be a little flat on saturday, even in the match he won over durkee. he lost what i thought was a very winable match to nagel. but poeta bounced back strong and was his old self again on sunday, and looked real good coming back with a strong third place finish. poeta is very solid, and is going to be a big gun for illinois in the coming years. im looking for a high AA finish from him, hes capable of it.
174-Reynolds (6th)- reynolds had a really good win against boudro in a pretty exciting match. other than that, reynolds wrestled true to his seed. not great, not bad. if he wrestles tough at NCAAs i think he has an outside shot at AA. it will all depends on which reynolds steps on the mat. also- how bad is he hurt?
184-Friedl (2nd)- same story as a. tirapelle, OFFENSE!! i didnt see him take a shot until there was 12 seconds left in the match. he wrestled a defensive match even when he was losing. i dont understand why he doesnt shoot. from what ive seen, when he shoots he usually scores! he has a good shot, why doesnt he use it more often? that championship match was his to lose. he wrestled good in the semis against bradley, but again, i think if he had gotten his offense going he would have won that match easier as well. same with tirapelle, i hope he leaves it all on the mat at his last NCAA. he could win it all.
197- Byrd (2nd)- same story, OFFENSE!! again, that was byrds match to lose. i think he was the better wrestler. byrd could also have a very good NCAA tournament if he wrestles his best. when hes at his best, he is very hard to beat.
HW- Weight (4th)- weight had a good tournament. he ran into a bombshell first match against konrad, but then came through the consolation. he sort of lucked out, not having to wrestle another seeded opponent till the third place match, but ill take it. fourth place from the eigth seed, good tournament for him. how much does he weigh? he looked real small out there.
overall, i think illinois needs to be more aggressive. too many of these guys seem like they arent wrestling to win, rather wrestling not to lose. in my opinion, only three wrestlers performed to their potential this weekend (ott, flores, t. tirapelle). and they still took second as a team, barely missing first! imagine what this squad could do when theyre on fire! if everyone wrestles their best, illinois could have a very good showing at NCAAs. on a side note, how do you think illinois will recover next year? by losing ott, a. tirapelle, friedl and byrd, thats a lot of their firepower. who is gonna step up and replace these guys? is next year going to be a rebuilding year for illinois?