Brutus81 4 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 He's lost to the top 8 ranked wrestlers he's wrestled -- most recently, Kokesh, Evans, and now, Heflin. They were all close losses, two of them in the last seconds. Not saying he couldn't take one or more of those at Nationals. But he does have some work to do. Can he close the gap? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grapplefan 2 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 Sounds like mental issue. He obviously has the talent. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rodneydeeeee 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 He's good enough but thus far not the least but clutch. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mvattivo 47 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 The effort is always there for Matt. He needs to learn to control his aggression and to improve in scrambles. If he does both of those things, he can beat anyone at this weight class. This weight will be tough to predict for nationals, and Matt's finish is equally tough to predict. I believe he has a ceiling of being a champ and a floor of not placing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LemonPie 1,368 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 The 1-8 order will be tough to predict, but I'm not sure I see this weight having many upsets. I think it'll play out like most expect. That means he will AA. Probably 4-8 range Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Hammerlock3 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 he certainly doesn't when you construct the PSU losing NCAA's scenario Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OtisCampbell 94 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 If AA and Brown wrestle like they have the last month, the team race will be wide open. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mvattivo 47 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 If AA and Brown wrestle like they have the last month, the team race will be wide open. Logical PSU fans don't think they have anything locked up by any means. A lot has to go right to win a national championship, and though PSU is the favorite, there are teams just waiting for PSU to make a mistake and open the door for them. I expect the team race to be very competitive. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Voice_of_the_Quakers 133 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 He's very short for his weight class, which doesn't help in this era of scrambling. He's also old for his "grade", which makes me wonder how high his ceiling is. Nothing against the guy - wish him all the best. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Hammerlock3 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 I want to register a complaint with the insinuation short people have a disadvantage scrambling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jstock 125 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 I would hope that short wrestlers should have to scramble, they finish better with out leaving long extremities to funk with. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Voice_of_the_Quakers 133 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 I want to register a complaint with the insinuation short people have a disadvantage scrambling. Height / length = leverage, so yes, I believe it is an advantage in scrambling. Heflin, Evans, Kokesh are all significantly taller than Brown and should have the advantage in these situations. Brown is going to have to finish cleaner against these guys. One thing he can do to correct this, IMO, is to get his weight off of his heels before he shoots. A split second improvement may be all he needs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jstock 125 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 As a PSU fan, I am now concerned that the NCAA race will be closer than I would have hoped at this point of the season. Real concerns with Brown and Alton's problems with gas tank and not beating or dominating some opponents. Q is a concern because he can get caught with his all out style which is a bit more risky up weight. He does step it up in march though. Mega is a stud but there isn't much of a gap between him and the others in the top 4 so he could end up in the 3rd-4th match. I was high on Brown going into S.Scuffle but not as confident now. I think he should AA, but very well could be 3 to 6 or 7. Same for both Alton's. PSU's saving grace will likely be their ability to accumulate bonus points in numbers that no other team can match, even if some weights do not meet their max hoped potential at NCAA's. I hope to see Cael work some magic and get the entire team to reach their potential at the big show. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vaisforlovers 3 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 All body types have advantages and disadvantages. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tec87 349 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 His wife unloaded on one guy on the penn state wrestling facebook page story about the win against tOSU. All the guy said was that Andrew Alton and Brown needed to step it up by B1G's and she went off. It was pretty funny seeing as his comment was pretty harmless. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OtisCampbell 94 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 Add that to the long long long list of reason not to get married while you are still in college. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tech_fall 3 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 he will AA PSU has not been as dominate the last few weeks but wil rebound nicely when it comes tournament time! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LordNelson 552 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 I believe he has a ceiling of being a champ and a floor of not placing. At least you've covered a precise range of scenarios. He has shown nothing to indicate he could become an NCAA Champion. If he can't put together 2-3 matches in a row against top guys then winning a title is no wheres near the ceiling. Big 10's will be his chance to turn the tables as there will be plenty of opportunity there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mvattivo 47 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 I believe he has a ceiling of being a champ and a floor of not placing. At least you've covered a precise range of scenarios. He has shown nothing to indicate he could become an NCAA Champion. If he can't put together 2-3 matches in a row against top guys then winning a title is no wheres near the ceiling. Big 10's will be his chance to turn the tables as there will be plenty of opportunity there. I pointed out his ceiling / floor, as I think it is somewhat unique in it's space between each level. Though he has lost 3 of them, all his matches are close enough to believe that he COULD turn them around, so, yes, I stand by his ceiling of being a champ. That is obviously the best case scenario, and not one I would predict. If asked to predict where he would finish, I'd have Brown 4th if the tournament were to happen this weekend. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LordNelson 552 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 At this point, I see him no worse than Round of 12, 6-8 range. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silver-medal 670 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 Key for Brown and all Big Ten 174's will be surviving the conference tourney without suffering major injury. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OtisCampbell 94 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 I get a kick out of trying to guarantee someone will AA or for sure no worse than round of 12. It only takes a high seed losing an early match and then making a run back through the consolations to throw everyone's predictions out the window. You can bank on a handful of guys that you thought were for sure going to AA running into a high seed in the consi. Guys in the 7-12 seed range are ripe for this type of thing. Since the selection committee starting trying their best to get the best 33 guys into the tournament, you have seen even more early round upsets. The one thing that Brown has in his favor is that he is a brawler and they usually fair well in the consi brackets. But it is usually the brawlers who win close matches that fair well so nevermind. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LordNelson 552 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 I get a kick out of trying to guarantee someone will AA or for sure no worse than round of 12. Point is even though he has shown lesser performance results against top 8 caliber guys, he hasn't shown anything that indicates he can take a "bad loss" either. Steady at this point like Steinhaus is for Minny. Similar wrestlers as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OtisCampbell 94 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 I get a kick out of trying to guarantee someone will AA or for sure no worse than round of 12. Point is even though he has shown lesser performance results against top 8 caliber guys, he hasn't shown anything that indicates he can take a "bad loss" either. Steady at this point like Steinhaus is for Minny. Similar wrestlers as well. Well point being many times it does not take a "bad loss" to not All American even though you are a 7 or 8 seed, especially when you seem to lose all your close matches. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Old_Marine_Wrestler 245 Report post Posted February 11, 2013 I get a kick out of trying to guarantee someone will AA or for sure no worse than round of 12. It only takes a high seed losing an early match and then making a run back through the consolations to throw everyone's predictions out the window. You can bank on a handful of guys that you thought were for sure going to AA running into a high seed in the consi. To further Otis' point, we Penn Staters need only look a few years back to more than understand this. His Sr. year, I thought Brad Pataky was going to AA. 1st round he beat the 9 seed. 2nd round he beat the 8 seed. Quarters he has returning champ and 1 seed Escobedo. Loses there and drops into his R12 match against: Troy Nickerson, the 2 seed. Nicerkson goes on to place 4th, Escobedo 3rd. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
