Can Heflin win it all?

[wrestlingnerd 3,003]

I thought he was not going to AA this year when I heard he was bumping up not one but two weight classes. This sometimes happens at the lower weights, but 174-197 is 23 friggin' pounds in seven or eight months for a fully grown man in his fifth year of college. That's a lot of weight to move up.

 

Frankly, I thought it was one of those cases where he was so burned out that he was either going to cut zero weight and try to have fun since it was bound to be a down year for tOSU... or just quit altogether. After all, he has AA'ed twice and more than done his duty to God, country and tOSU throughout his career.

 

He looked better than I've ever seen him beating Schiller today. He looked like a full-sized 197 lber, in shape (has been an issue in the past), and took it to Schiller from the get-go, never putting himself in serious danger.

 

I feel he matches up well with McIntosh, a shorter 197 lber who is small for the weight.

 

Cox might give him problems because he is not only the largest 197 lber but also arguably the most powerful and explosive.

 

I have no idea how a match against Gadson would go, but if Helfin can beat Schiller so handily...

 

I have not been impressed with Rutt lately. Cornell's Jace Bennett was in the match all tied up until deep into the third period when OU really needed major bonus points form Rutt. Based on today, my money would be on Helflin over Rutt.

[The_MO_Godfather 52]

I thought he was not going to AA this year when I heard he was bumping up not one but two weight classes. This sometimes happens at the lower weights, but 174-197 is 23 friggin' pounds in seven or eight months for a fully grown man in his fifth year of college. That's a lot of weight to move up.

 

Frankly, I thought it was one of those cases where he was so burned out that he was either going to cut zero weight and try to have fun since it was bound to be a down year for tOSU... or just quit altogether. After all, he has AA'ed twice and more than done his duty to God, country and tOSU throughout his career.

 

He looked better than I've ever seen him beating Schiller today. He looked like a full-sized 197 lber, in shape (has been an issue in the past), and took it to Schiller from the get-go, never putting himself in serious danger.

 

I feel he matches up well with McIntosh, a shorter 197 lber who is small for the weight.

 

Cox might give him problems because he is not only the largest 197 lber but also arguably the most powerful and explosive.

 

I have no idea how a match against Gadson would go, but if Helfin can beat Schiller so handily...

 

I have not been impressed with Rutt lately. Cornell's Jace Bennett was in the match all tied up until deep into the third period when OU really needed major bonus points form Rutt. Based on today, my money would be on Helflin over Rutt.

 

Good analysis.

 

197 is going to be VERY hard to predict until we actually see the NCAA brackets. Seeding is going to be the major factor and whoever has the easiest draw will be the favorite. It's easy to say that Cox is the favorite now, but if he runs into a slew of these top guys (Schiller, Gadson, Heflin, etc.) in consecutive matches, it's going to be hard to make the finals. Whoever wins this weight will have definitely earned it.

 

If the season ended today (with Cox as the #2 seed per Intermat), Cox would see Gonzalez, Rutt and McIntosh all before the finals. That may be the better draw, but still a tough go. Gadsen would see Perry, Heflin and Schiller before the finals. And you can throw Meeks in the mix, too.

 

Definitely going to be fun to watch come March.

[LemonPie 1,368]

He deserves a ton of credit. I was wrong about him at 197

[superold 34]

Heflin was my championship pick before the season started. I think he can win it all.

[JohnnyThompsonnum1 102]

Save a fall, all of Heflin's matches this year have been extremely close. He's only lost once, and that was to Wisconsin's Timmy McCall in overtime. McCall is 11-10 this season, for whatever that's worth.

 

Heflin's most impressive wins this year are two over Braden Atwood of Purdue. Other than that, he has yet to really wrestle any of the top contenders (for an NCAA title or AA spot).

 

Do I believe Heflin will win this year's NCAA's? No, I don't think he has the size or the strength for it. Do I think he'll AA? Maybe. He is an extremely smart wrestler and as long as he can keep guys from scoring on him, he should be just fine.

 

My prediction is either low AA or R12.

[eagle321 6]

Save a fall, all of Heflin's matches this year have been extremely close. He's only lost once, and that was to Wisconsin's Timmy McCall in overtime. McCall is 11-10 this season, for whatever that's worth.

 

Heflin's most impressive wins this year are two over Braden Atwood of Purdue. Other than that, he has yet to really wrestle any of the top contenders (for an NCAA title or AA spot).

 

Do I believe Heflin will win this year's NCAA's? No, I don't think he has the size or the strength for it. Do I think he'll AA? Maybe. He is an extremely smart wrestler and as long as he can keep guys from scoring on him, he should be just fine.

 

My prediction is either low AA or R12.

Really? I thought his most impressive win occurred today over Schiller.

[lunatcifringe 2]

I am a Gopher fan and Heflin was much larger than Schiller IMO, he is probably 2 inches taller and way more muscular in his upper body, core and has a thicker lower body. I dont think Schiller has to watch his weight, Heflin must be cutting down from 220ish. I was very impressed.

[SetonHallPirate 990]

Heflin's been opening things up much more lately. I think his loss to McCall really rang a bell within him.

 

He keeps wrestling like this, and yes, a National title is not out of the question for him...

 

Edit: Thanks to Sockubow, he lost to McCall and not Atwood...not sure why I was thinking Atwood.

[sockobuw 49]

Heflin's been opening things up much more lately. I think his loss to Atwood really rang a bell within him.

 

He keeps wrestling like this, and yes, a National title is not out of the question for him...

 

he didn't lose to atwood

[wrestlingnerd 3,003]

JT1, remove left foot from mouth. Now remove right foot.

 

His most impressive wins happened today. He beat Schiller handily, throwing him to his back and holding him for a 5-pointer. He looked more impressive than I've ever seen him, and I've seen almost all his televised matches as well as a bunch of non-televised matches. Not only did he look huge up two weights, he also seems to be in the best shape of his life, keeping a high pace the whole match without gassing.

 

This win was so impressive that I felt compelled to start this thread.

 

Shortly thereafter, he beats Rutt.

 

Are those wins impressive enough for you?

 

As for size and strength, he is taller than Rutt, Cox, and McIntosh and is certainly not giving up much size to anyone other than maybe Cox, as I noted. He looked plenty strong to me when he was tossing both Schiller and Rutt to their backs.

[SetonHallPirate 990]

Heflin's been opening things up much more lately. I think his loss to Atwood really rang a bell within him.

 

He keeps wrestling like this, and yes, a National title is not out of the question for him...

 

he didn't lose to atwood

You're right...a loss to Atwood would have been excusable. He lost to McCall.

[tommygun 52]

He will never beat Schiller again. That was a fluke.

[madcat11 436]

He will never beat Schiller again. That was a fluke.

 

It truly wasn't.

[silver-medal 670]

I thought Heflin's problem this year would be his penchant for managing matches. I figured that his style of eking out 1 pt wins would not work against bigger opponents. And I think I was right....until Atwood tossed heflin to his back in the Purdue dual. All of a sudden, he began using his quickness to get to body locks. And that started setting up shots. And he's in shape. Suddenly, he's scoring and wrestling with confidence.

 

It will be interesting to see how he does at Big Tens. Wouldn't shock me to see him lose a few but come back strong at Nationals.

[Old_Marine_Wrestler 245]

He will never beat Schiller again. That was a fluke.

I won't go that far, but I don't think he gets past Schiller in the BIG semis.

[BigApple 86]

The double overhook lateral wasn't a fluke to Heflin, you could tell he was looking for thatvtieup. Now Schiller will be a lot more careful if they meet again. The 5 point move was the difference. I was really upset when Hefkin went parallel. I've got a high school senior 3rd year wrestler with 5 falls off that move. He went parallell trying to hook legs like Hefkin did and got rolled to his back. Fortunately he came back and got a pin. Heflin should have just been patient and stayed "T-d" out, schiller's elbows would have really been hurting, he'd have given in.

[JohnnyThompsonnum1 102]

JT1, remove left foot from mouth. Now remove right foot.

 

His most impressive wins happened today. He beat Schiller handily, throwing him to his back and holding him for a 5-pointer. He looked more impressive than I've ever seen him, and I've seen almost all his televised matches as well as a bunch of non-televised matches. Not only did he look huge up two weights, he also seems to be in the best shape of his life, keeping a high pace the whole match without gassing.

 

This win was so impressive that I felt compelled to start this thread.

 

Shortly thereafter, he beats Rutt.

 

Are those wins impressive enough for you?

 

As for size and strength, he is taller than Rutt, Cox, and McIntosh and is certainly not giving up much size to anyone other than maybe Cox, as I noted. He looked plenty strong to me when he was tossing both Schiller and Rutt to their backs.

 

I spoke too soon. ;) Come BIG 10 and NCAA time, we'll see if you did too.

[wrestlingnerd 3,003]

I spoke too soon. ;) Come BIG 10 and NCAA time, we'll see if you did too.

 

Really? Because I asked a question? I never said he would win it all, I simply asked the question. I want to wait for the seeds to come out before making any predictions, but so far, Heflin is looking better than I've ever seen him and should be right in the hunt for the title.

[JohnnyThompsonnum1 102]

I spoke too soon. ;) Come BIG 10 and NCAA time, we'll see if you did too.

 

Really? Because I asked a question? I never said he would win it all, I simply asked the question. I want to wait for the seeds to come out before making any predictions, but so far, Heflin is looking better than I've ever seen him and should be right in the hunt for the title.

 

Well...I get my results from one source and on that source there was a mistake that read...

 

197-Scott Schiller (Minn) dec Nick Heflin (OSU) 8-4 I didn't realize that it was mistake until now.

 

Anyway, I'm anxious to see what happens.

[madcat11 436]

I would have thought JT1 would be a Heflin fan.

[Ryan 2]

I thought he was not going to AA this year when I heard he was bumping up not one but two weight classes. This sometimes happens at the lower weights, but 174-197 is 23 friggin' pounds in seven or eight months for a fully grown man in his fifth year of college. That's a lot of weight to move up.

 

Frankly, I thought it was one of those cases where he was so burned out that he was either going to cut zero weight and try to have fun since it was bound to be a down year for tOSU... or just quit altogether. After all, he has AA'ed twice and more than done his duty to God, country and tOSU throughout his career.

 

He looked better than I've ever seen him beating Schiller today. He looked like a full-sized 197 lber, in shape (has been an issue in the past), and took it to Schiller from the get-go, never putting himself in serious danger.

 

I feel he matches up well with McIntosh, a shorter 197 lber who is small for the weight.

 

Cox might give him problems because he is not only the largest 197 lber but also arguably the most powerful and explosive.

 

I have no idea how a match against Gadson would go, but if Helfin can beat Schiller so handily...

 

I have not been impressed with Rutt lately. Cornell's Jace Bennett was in the match all tied up until deep into the third period when OU really needed major bonus points form Rutt. Based on today, my money would be on Helflin over Rutt.

 

What is this continuing canard that McIntosh is small for his weight? He's probably the most talented wrestler at 197. If he's healthy (which he now appears to be), I don't see anyone who can match his quickness and technique. That combo may be tough to beat next month.

[wrestlingnerd 3,003]

What is this continuing canard that McIntosh is small for his weight? He's probably the most talented wrestler at 197. If he's healthy (which he now appears to be), I don't see anyone who can match his quickness and technique. That combo may be tough to beat next month.

 

How about the canard that McIntosh himself promulgates in interviews with prominent media such as Flo by saying it took time to bulk up to 197 over a two-year period and he still does not cut much weight?

 

To say he is small for the weight does not mean he is BAD at the weight. It just means he's small relative to others who may cut more, which is a physical disadvantage. That disadvantage can be overcome by some. Kyle Dake was small at 165, weighing all of 170 lbs the day after he won his fourth NCAAs (source: Kyle Dake). I'd say he overcame being lighter than his opponents just fine.

 

In the case of McIntosh, if you can't see that he is at a physical disadvantage against a significantly larger wrestler who has all day to rehydrate up to around 215 or higher by the finals, like, say, Cox, who looked massive next to McIntosh, you are blind.

 

As far as quickness and technique, I would say Cox is as quick and has as good technique. I'd say Heflin is showing pretty good technique too of late.

 

I will agree with you on one thing. As long as he does not have to face Cox, his worst matchup, I do think he will do very well in March. But right now, I am liking the bigger boys such as Helfin and Cox more.

[JohnnyThompsonnum1 102]

I would have thought JT1 would be a Heflin fan.

 

Just because I don't think he'll win it? There a lots of guys I'm fans of that I don't think will win it. Guys that I'm not fans of that I think will win it. Over the years there have been a lot of guys that I have put at 8th place, that I'm bigger fans of than guys I've slotted at 1st.

[SetonHallPirate 990]

I thought Heflin's problem this year would be his penchant for managing matches. I figured that his style of eking out 1 pt wins would not work against bigger opponents. And I think I was right....until Atwood tossed heflin to his back in the Purdue dual. All of a sudden, he began using his quickness to get to body locks. And that started setting up shots. And he's in shape. Suddenly, he's scoring and wrestling with confidence.

 

It will be interesting to see how he does at Big Tens. Wouldn't shock me to see him lose a few but come back strong at Nationals.

Yes...it was at that moment that Heflin turned from a bigger Ryan Morningstar to a bigger Dylan Ness...seriously, it's amazing that I'm say this, but in terms of point scoring at Nationals, Kyle Snyder may well end up being a downgrade from Heflin...

[Flying-Tiger 617]

I would like to know what type of weight lifting program Heflin is on. He moved up two weight classes (23 lbs) in 8 months and is bigger then his competition.