All 2000s All-Star Team

[Obelix 13]

 

I am guessing that this has been done before, but here goes anyway.

I'm meeting online with some coaching buddies tonight, and the challenge was for each of us to pick an All-Star team from 2000 and later. There are a few caveats, however. You can't pick the same guy for multiple weights and it isn't necessarily the best guy in each weight, as you might pick one guy--Dake, most likely--at a different weight to fit other guys in. 

Here's what I have, and I would love to hear your thoughts:

125- Abas, with Spencer Lee a close second.

133- Probably the toughest one. I went with Travis Lee, but Oliver, Scott, Nahshon, Valenti, and Gomez are obviously in the mix, too. 

141- Stieber or Yianni? This is sure a tough one. I'm picking Yianni, but it's a very close call. 

149- Larkin, Metcalf, Caldwell, Retherford....but I'm going with Dake.

157- While Burroughs was probably best at this weight--and his weight class was incredible--I want to put him at 165 so I put Nolf here.

165- I'm going with Burroughs over Hendricks, Perry, and Taylor. 

174- Askren, Pendleton, Ruth, or Zahid? You could go with any of these guys reasonably. A very slight lean to Askren, but I could be convinced otherwise.

184- Cael was halfway decent, so I'm going with him here. 

197- Rosholt, Varner, Quentin, Bo, or J'Den? I'm going with J'Den. 

285- While these other guys were obviously incredible, I think we have to go with Snyder here. It would sure be interesting to see him against monsters like Mocco, Konrad, and Rowlands, though. 

[VakAttack 2,509]

125:  Spencer Lee/Anthony Robles

133:  Travis Lee/Jordan Oliver

141:  Logan Stieber/Yianni D

149:  Brent Metcalf/Zain Retherford

157:  Jordan Burroughs/Jason Nolf

165:  Kyle Dake/David Taylor

174:  Ben Askren/Chris Pendleton

184:  Ed Ruth/Bo Nickal

197:  Cael Sanderson/J'Den Cox

HW:  Kyle Snyder/Cole Konrad

[Schuteandscore 53]

125  Abas

133 Stieber

141 Yianni

149 Schlatter

157 Nolf

165 Burroughs

174 Ruth

184 Nickal

197 Cael

285 Rowlands

[Mokoma 264]

1 hour ago, Obelix said:

 

I am guessing that this has been done before, but here goes anyway.

I'm meeting online with some coaching buddies tonight, and the challenge was for each of us to pick an All-Star team from 2000 and later. There are a few caveats, however. You can't pick the same guy for multiple weights and it isn't necessarily the best guy in each weight, as you might pick one guy--Dake, most likely--at a different weight to fit other guys in. 

Here's what I have, and I would love to hear your thoughts:

125- Abas, with Spencer Lee a close second.

133- Probably the toughest one. I went with Travis Lee, but Oliver, Scott, Nahshon, Valenti, and Gomez are obviously in the mix, too. 

141- Stieber or Yianni? This is sure a tough one. I'm picking Yianni, but it's a very close call. 

149- Larkin, Metcalf, Caldwell, Retherford....but I'm going with Dake.

157- While Burroughs was probably best at this weight--and his weight class was incredible--I want to put him at 165 so I put Nolf here.

165- I'm going with Burroughs over Hendricks, Perry, and Taylor. 

174- Askren, Pendleton, Ruth, or Zahid? You could go with any of these guys reasonably. A very slight lean to Askren, but I could be convinced otherwise.

184- Cael was halfway decent, so I'm going with him here. 

197- Rosholt, Varner, Quentin, Bo, or J'Den? I'm going with J'Den. 

285- While these other guys were obviously incredible, I think we have to go with Snyder here. It would sure be interesting to see him against monsters like Mocco, Konrad, and Rowlands, though. 

So this is a 20 year team?

[Chrissn2001 79]

I'm going to take a different perspective maybe.  I looked on Wikipedia to see the Hodge winners since 2000 based on weight class.

Here's what I have:

125: Lee

133: Ness

141: Steiber

149: Retherford (twice)

157: No Hodge winner, so Nolf vs. Burroughs maybe?  I want to choose JB because of later contributions, but Nolf probably had better college stats.  

165: Dieringer/Taylor/Dake...nod to Dake based on most champs, but wow tough group.  Edit:  maybe the nod should go to DT, who won it twice at this weight.

174: Askren

184: Sanderson (2X at the weight)

197: Nickal/Wilson...nod to Nickal for most championships

285: Mocco

Edited April 3 by Chrissn2001

[PSUSMC 134]

125 - Abas

133 - JThompson

141 - Jaggers

149 - Zain

157 - Nolf

165 - Dake

174 - Pendleton

184 - Nickal

197 - Cael

285 - King Cole

[GockeS 382]

125 Abas

133 Thompson

141 Stieber

149 Retherford

157 Dake

165 JB

174 Askren 

184 Sanderson

197 Rosholt

Hwt Konrad

Edited April 3 by GockeS

[ionel 1,146]

How could any possibly have Askren over Pendelton?  Pendelton owned Askren!

[tec87 349]

21 minutes ago, ionel said:

How could any possibly have Askren over Pendelton?  Pendelton owned Askren!

Easy. Pendleton led the series as Ben was a Frosh/Soph. Senior year Ben was another level from where he was then.

[ionel 1,146]

36 minutes ago, tec87 said:

Easy. Pendleton led the series as Ben was a Frosh/Soph. Senior year Ben was another level from where he was then.

Nah ... jr/sr Ben just didn't have Pendelton in his way anymore.  No doubt Askren was very very good but Pendelton was obviously better than Askren.  

[whaletail 197]

7 hours ago, Schuteandscore said:

125  Abas

133 Stieber

141 Yianni

149 Schlatter

157 Nolf

165 Burroughs

174 Ruth

184 Nickal

197 Cael

285 Rowlands

Even a hypothetically healthy (for 4 seasons) Schlatter over Dake seems crazy, and I feel like Taylor needs a spot, but I'm on board with most of the rest.

Tough to pick between Lee, Abas, and 2011 Robles.

[whaletail 197]

3 hours ago, ionel said:

Nah ... jr/sr Ben just didn't have Pendelton in his way anymore.  No doubt Askren was very very good but Pendelton was obviously better than Askren.  

You really don't think Askren improved significantly over his last two years?

Considering how late he developed (IIRC, his redshirt year wasn't even that special), it seems unlikely he stagnated so quickly. 

[Schuteandscore 53]

7 hours ago, whaletail said:

Even a hypothetically healthy (for 4 seasons) Schlatter over Dake seems crazy, and I feel like Taylor needs a spot, but I'm on board with most of the rest.

Tough to pick between Lee, Abas, and 2011 Robles.

Yeah, I’d like Taylor in there too.  Love Dake too and wanted him in, but not at 149.  As crazy as it may seem, I do think a healthy Schlatter was every bit as good as Dake.

[headache 123]

125 Abas

133 Stieber

141 Yianni

149 Dake

157 Burroughs

165 Taylor

174 Pendleton

184 Sanderson

197 Cox

Hwt Snyder

 

[Obelix 13]

 

We had a fun debate on this last night. 

A couple of the essential questions:

- 133 is a tough one. Some of you guys put Stieber there, which is a good call in order to fit Yianni at 141. Thompson was sure fun to watch, too. 

- Since you can move Dake and Burroughs around a bit, who is the next best guy: Taylor, Metcalf, Nolf, Retherford, Schlatter.......?

- Since you can move Cael around, who is the next best guy: Cox, Bo, Ruth, Rosholt....?

- This doesn't need to be said, but it's sure amazing what Penn State has done. Their champs seem to maintain their dominance, which is obviously incredibly hard to do in this day and age. 

Thanks for all the replies. This is fun to do anyway, but especially since most of us have a little more time on our hands these days. 

[vsnej 190]

6 hours ago, Schuteandscore said:

Yeah, I’d like Taylor in there too.  Love Dake too and wanted him in, but not at 149.  As crazy as it may seem, I do think a healthy Schlatter was every bit as good as Dake.

Yeah, going with Taylor at 165 with 2 Hodges and Gorriaran 

[GockeS 382]

20 hours ago, ionel said:

How could any possibly have Askren over Pendelton?  Pendelton owned Askren!

when askren was younger 

askren is a 4 time finalist

pendelton twice. and a third place.

i love them both

askren beat herbert 14-2

Edited April 4 by GockeS

[hotspur 12]

5 hours ago, vsnej said:

Yeah, going with Taylor at 165 with 2 Hodges and Gorriaran 

And a "perfect" record against Dake.  Dake is the outstanding college wrestler of the century, wiping out not one, not two, but four weight classes...including that two-time Hodge winner to cap it off.

[jchapman 1,004]

7 hours ago, GockeS said:

when askren was younger 

askren is a 4 time finalist

pendelton twice. and a third place.

i love them both

askren beat herbert 14-2

Also Askren won two Hodges!

[red blades 232]

On 4/4/2020 at 7:19 AM, Schuteandscore said:

Yeah, I’d like Taylor in there too.  Love Dake too and wanted him in, but not at 149.  As crazy as it may seem, I do think a healthy Schlatter was every bit as good as Dake.

Yeah, Dake sucks at fantasy matchups.

[vsnej 190]

17 hours ago, hotspur said:

And a "perfect" record against Dake.  Dake is the outstanding college wrestler of the century, wiping out not one, not two, but four weight classes...including that two-time Hodge winner to cap it off.

I would rather have Dake at 141 so I can put Taylor at 165 - he did outscore the champ in 2013 NCAA's as well as winning Gorriaran

[hotspur 12]

14 minutes ago, vsnej said:

I would rather have Dake at 141 so I can put Taylor at 165 - he did outscore the champ in 2013 NCAA's as well as winning Gorriaran

This is funny.  Gorriaran?  Outscoring the champ?  Who gives a rat's behind?  Who outscored whom in the match that mattered?  What matters is having your hand raised on Saturday night.  In the match everyone was waiting to see.

[vsnej 190]

12 minutes ago, hotspur said:

This is funny.  Gorriaran?  Outscoring the champ?  Who gives a rat's behind?  Who outscored whom in the match that mattered?  What matters is having your hand raised on Saturday night.  In the match everyone was waiting to see.

Maybe you should re-read the proposed criteria of this post - I just think the all star team would be better with Taylor at 165 and Dake at 141

[MSU158 1,466]

On 4/3/2020 at 11:52 PM, whaletail said:

You really don't think Askren improved significantly over his last two years?

Considering how late he developed (IIRC, his redshirt year wasn't even that special), it seems unlikely he stagnated so quickly. 

There is no doubt he improved considerably. The Askren documentary on FLO did a great job showing how Askren went from being so frustrated as a true freshman getting pounded in the room, to the “grandmaster of funk”. 

Pendleton was a beast his last 2 seasons and had the offensive skill set to finish cleanly on Askren early on. But, Askren was on a different level his last 2 seasons.