Mphillips 1,667 Report post Posted May 17 7 hours ago, EM_1996 said: What's the back story on this? It seems quite odd that a guy who some claim was a generational talent just decides to give it up after high school and not even attempt to take advantage of the educational opportunities his talent could unlock. I echo what schute wrote. We all were waiting on him to go to OSU and it didn't happen and then he just never wrestled... Phillips was a 171lb freshman at Ironman that wrestled nationally ranked Corey Peltier ( Beast of the East champ, Cadet Nationals champ, and FILA Cadet Nationals champ), the #1 ranked wrestler in DII in OH, Zac Thomusseit, and the nation's #1 171lber, Brian Roddy from STED. Phillips had 10 takedowns to zero in those three matches and was never scored on. That was his freshman year. Seems, "generational" enough to me. 2 Jim L and Schuteandscore reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
juniorvarsity 15 Report post Posted May 17 10 hours ago, Mphillips said: I echo what schute wrote. We all were waiting on him to go to OSU and it didn't happen and then he just never wrestled... Phillips was a 171lb freshman at Ironman that wrestled nationally ranked Corey Peltier ( Beast of the East champ, Cadet Nationals champ, and FILA Cadet Nationals champ), the #1 ranked wrestler in DII in OH, Zac Thomusseit, and the nation's #1 171lber, Brian Roddy from STED. Phillips had 10 takedowns to zero in those three matches and was never scored on. That was his freshman year. Seems, "generational" enough to me. He went to NC State and redshirted. I had a good friend in his recruiting class. I know that Phillips thought that NC State was his most fun recruiting trip. It made no sense that he chose NC State. NC State was absolutely horrible before Popolizio and Phillips could have probably gone to any school he wanted. I do recall my friend saying that Phillips did not enjoy wrestling, but that is hearsay and I am not certain. I recall some unfortunate events occurred over spring break or maybe summer break that changed everything for him. NC State then cleaned house the following his redshirt year when Pop took over. Not sure exactly how it all went down and if Popolizio was the reason he was off the roster or if he did not have a team prior to his arrival to NC State. Any kid that had any issues with getting in trouble was off the team with Popolizio got there. Basically only Tommy Gantt stayed. 1 Mphillips reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Schuteandscore 167 Report post Posted May 17 1 hour ago, juniorvarsity said: He went to NC State and redshirted. I had a good friend in his recruiting class. I know that Phillips thought that NC State was his most fun recruiting trip. It made no sense that he chose NC State. NC State was absolutely horrible before Popolizio and Phillips could have probably gone to any school he wanted. I do recall my friend saying that Phillips did not enjoy wrestling, but that is hearsay and I am not certain. I recall some unfortunate events occurred over spring break or maybe summer break that changed everything for him. NC State then cleaned house the following his redshirt year when Pop took over. Not sure exactly how it all went down and if Popolizio was the reason he was off the roster or if he did not have a team prior to his arrival to NC State. Any kid that had any issues with getting in trouble was off the team with Popolizio got there. Basically only Tommy Gantt stayed. I somewhat remember that, and I believe after this, the rumor was he was joining the other 3 at Oh State, but it never happened. Sad to see Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gwoodburn133 0 Report post Posted May 17 On 3/27/2020 at 2:29 PM, TobusRex said: Tony Cook from Perry, Oklahoma. He was a 3 time state HS champ in Oklahoma in the 80's, and was a FS World Champ (Cadet or Junior, can't remember which). I guarantee John Smith knows Tony Cook (at least by reputation). Don't know what happened to Tony, if he got HEW or something else, I never heard of him accepting any wrestling scholarships or saw any results for him after he graduated from HS. Tony Cook is my neighbor in the hallway. He tells me he went to NC State right out of HS. Not sure what happened there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Idaho 1,325 Report post Posted May 17 43 minutes ago, gwoodburn133 said: Tony Cook is my neighbor in the hallway. He tells me he went to NC State right out of HS. Not sure what happened there. Is he still involved in wrestling? BTW your dad and Baze coached me in several camps back in the day. Great guy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mphillips 1,667 Report post Posted May 17 3 hours ago, Schuteandscore said: I somewhat remember that, and I believe after this, the rumor was he was joining the other 3 at Oh State, but it never happened. Sad to see He was the #3 overall recruit that year I believe... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jp157 481 Report post Posted May 17 11 hours ago, juniorvarsity said: He went to NC State and redshirted. I had a good friend in his recruiting class. I know that Phillips thought that NC State was his most fun recruiting trip. It made no sense that he chose NC State. NC State was absolutely horrible before Popolizio and Phillips could have probably gone to any school he wanted. I do recall my friend saying that Phillips did not enjoy wrestling, but that is hearsay and I am not certain. I recall some unfortunate events occurred over spring break or maybe summer break that changed everything for him. NC State then cleaned house the following his redshirt year when Pop took over. Not sure exactly how it all went down and if Popolizio was the reason he was off the roster or if he did not have a team prior to his arrival to NC State. Any kid that had any issues with getting in trouble was off the team with Popolizio got there. Basically only Tommy Gantt stayed. Phillips was a known HEW and every coach I knew said he wouldn’t make it in college before he ever stepped on the mat Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lu_alum 920 Report post Posted May 18 On 5/13/2022 at 5:48 PM, ResiliteMarine said: Tim Darling, Garrett Scott (RIP), Nathan Galloway all 3X PA Champs. Throw in a Alton. All went to PSU. Thomas Haines, 4X PA champ went to Lock Haven couple time NQ, but no hardware. Haines committed to PSU, but Carl reneged. 1 ResiliteMarine reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snapspinscore 44 Report post Posted Wednesday at 03:27 PM 9 hours ago, lu_alum said: Haines committed to PSU, but Carl reneged. Haines committed himself to PSU, and was not heavily recruited by Cael to begin with. It wasn't some reneged situation, Haines just thought he belonged there. 1 ResiliteMarine reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Idaho 1,325 Report post Posted Wednesday at 04:31 PM 1 hour ago, snapspinscore said: Haines committed himself to PSU, and was not heavily recruited by Cael to begin with. It wasn't some reneged situation, Haines just thought he belonged there. True... he was heavily recruited by Cunningham. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steamboat_charlie v2 1,119 Report post Posted Wednesday at 07:41 PM 20 hours ago, jp157 said: Phillips was a known HEW and every coach I knew said he wouldn’t make it in college before he ever stepped on the mat It wasn't exactly hard to figure that one out. There was a little bit more going on than HEW. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jp157 481 Report post Posted Wednesday at 08:32 PM 51 minutes ago, steamboat_charlie v2 said: It wasn't exactly hard to figure that one out. There was a little bit more going on than HEW. I was being nice 1 steamboat_charlie v2 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
