Lehigh at Northwestern

[lu_alum 918]

125:  Parker (L) dec White, 9-7.  Lehigh, 3-0.

133:  #6 Beckman (L) dec Malone, 6-1.  Lehigh, 6-0.

141:  R. Cruz WBF #19 Oster, 5:37.  Lehigh, 12-0.

149:  #1 Tsirtsis (N) dec Longo, 7-4.  Lehigh, 12-3.

Tsirtsis up 6-3 after 1st.  Seemed to be suffering from lung disease.  How big is his cut?

157:  Switzer (L) win by Forfeit.  Lehigh, 18-3.

165:  #8 Harger (N) dec Martinez, 3-1 SV1.  Lehigh, 18-6.

174:  Peppelman (L) win by Forfeit.  Lehigh, 24-6.

184:  #4 Brown (L) dec Sliga, 7-2.  Lehigh, 27-6.

197:  #18 Riddick (L) dec #9 Polizzi, 7-5 SV2.  Lehigh, 30-6.

1st:  Riddick T2, Polizzi E1, Riddick T2, Polizzi E1 (Riddick cut w ~30 sec left), 4-2 Riddick

2nd: Polizzi E1.  4-3 Riddick

3rd:  Polizzi rideout.  4-4 end of regulation.

TB1:  traded escapes, 5-5.  Polizzi about 15s RT adv

SV2:  Riddick T2

285:  #1 McMullen (N) MAJ Vollaro, 9-1.  Lehigh, 30-10

 

Rankings via Intermat.

Edited November 30, 2014 by lu_alum

[TBar1977 4,481]

Nice cradle by Cruz.

T Shirt definitely gassed. He was being propped up by one of the NW asst. coaches as he left the arena for intermission.

And what is up with NW not sending anyone out at 157? 

Edited November 30, 2014 by TBar1977

[HenDog 1]

Tsirtsis was winded at the end of the first.  He was up 6-2 and could not even ride Longo out for 20 seconds.  After that he was lucky to win.  He had nothing in the third or second.

Edited November 30, 2014 by HenDog

[scribe 1,824]

Northwestern should have just tossed in the towel and saved Lehigh some travel money.

[TBar1977 4,481]

Another forfeit, this one at 174. A HOME dual and they are forfeiting to unranked wrestlers for Lehigh. I have to give a big thumbs down for that. 

[TBar1977 4,481]

I just figured out how to get my 15 seconds of fame. Attend a wrestling match at Northwestern. Guaranteed to get on TV. 

[carp 58]

I just figured out how to get my 15 seconds of fame. Attend a wrestling match at Northwestern. Guaranteed to get on TV. 

The kids jumping up and down were the best part of this match.  Most energetic, too.

[jammen 336]

Any wonder why there are 50 people in the stands.  The headline "Wildcats Make Home Debut vs. No. 10 Lehigh Sunday" didn't mention two forfeits. 

[LoStNuMbEr 320]

Brill and Sebastian both forfeit, and they don't even have someone else to throw out there?  Pretty disgusting...

[tirapell 34]

Just looked it up and Northwestern has 18 total wrestlers listed on the roster.  That is REALLY SMALL.  I have no idea why but that's not even 2 per weight.  I'd guess average roster size around the country is around 30.

 

Regarding forfeits, best idea I've heard to force wrestling and eliminate forfeits is to eliminate redshirts at the college level.  Too many coaches are oblivious as to how important dual meets are and the perception surrounding them.  If you eliminate redshirting, you take the decision out of the hands of the coach.  Plus, you now don't need all these unattached guys at tournaments.  Every tournament can be official with people wearing proper team uniform.  Makes the whole sport look more professional.

 

I think it's something wrestling needs to consider.

[CTMopar 17]

Schedules are tentative I would cancel the Minnesota live event as well as Midlands coverage...No excuse for what happened today!!!

 

P.S. Congrats to Lehigh!!!

[Tofurky 611]

The kids jumping up and down were the best part of this match.  Most energetic, too.

Ha! The little ham sandwich in the pink shirt who didn't miss an opportunity to be on screen is my daughter. One large sugared up lemonade later and she was ready to pull a Kool-Aid Man at a moment's notice. Her brother, on the other hand, wasn't as daring.

 

Johnny Sebastian isn't starting this year. Ben Sullivan was slated as today's starter. That was a match time call by Pariano. 

 

As for Brill not going out there for 157, that also was a match time decision for the coaching staff.

 

I was speaking with Mark Massery during the dual and the subject of Tsirtsis and his weight came up after today's performance, and his semifinal and finals matches at the Keystone. He wasn't sure if his weight this season is an issue for Jason or not and seems to think it's just early season cob web dusting. Time will tell.

 

I don't know how Randy Cruz sits outside of the top 20 in the rankings. The kid was an EIWA champion and NCAA qualifier with 31 wins two years ago as a true freshman. Hell, he even racked up 22 wins last year in his redshirt season. He pinned Rodrigues from Illinois yesterday and then Oster today. The kid is bonafide and should be rocketing through the rankings in no time at all. 

 

The kid who impressed me most was Santiago Martinez. He's the kid who was a three-time NCWA (college club league) finalist and two-time champ. He took #8 Harger into overtime, only to lose 3-1. He wasn't flashy and his set-ups need more work, based on this one dual alone, but he wasn't being out classed by Harger. Yesterday he lost 7-5 to 13th ranked Jackson Morse. It's a shame that this year is his one and only shot at NCAA competition. I think his ceiling is pretty high and would have loved to see him grow at this level.

 

In all, Lehigh seems to be a lot tougher than maybe most people saw them being coming into the season. They handled the Fighting Illini 24-15 just last night and came into today's dual with a full head of steam. Major respect to the Mountain Hawks. Imagine Darian Cruz in that line-up... they'd be hovering around the #8 spot right now as a team, and it's not like Scott Parker is chopped liver either.

[Tofurky 611]

PS - GREAT job by Pat Santoro during the 197 match to choose to use video replay during overtime. That gave Riddick a good two minute breather while Terry Giardini (who is an EXCELLENT ref) watched the video on a takedown attempt that wasn't very close to begin with. It seemed to make all the difference in that last one minute stanza.

Edited November 30, 2014 by Tofurky

[tommygun 52]

When I lived in Chicago I went to a Northwestern match against MN and there were fewer people in attendance than we used to have for our high school matches. The MN parents/friends that made the trip accounted for half the crowd.

[AnklePicker 643]

We've gotten to a place as fans where when your team loses your immediate response is...doesn't matter because we all know had so and so wrestled we'd have easily won.  It basically renders duals meaningless.  Sad because duals are my favorite part of high school wrestling where they mean something.  

[IronChef 1,071]

Northwestern is probably a tough place to build up a large fan base for dual meets. 75% of the students are from out of state, and many of them don't stick around after graduation. Plus, it's an expensive, exclusive private school that a lot of fans in the area don't identify with the same way they would with a flagship public university. For today, you can add in the fact that many people (students included) are traveling back after the holiday weekend and are unable to attend even if they ordinarily would.

[scribe 1,824]

Season being so long lends itself to these less than ideal lineups.

[Pinnum 836]

Just looked it up and Northwestern has 18 total wrestlers listed on the roster.  That is REALLY SMALL.  I have no idea why but that's not even 2 per weight.  I'd guess average roster size around the country is around 30.

 

Regarding forfeits, best idea I've heard to force wrestling and eliminate forfeits is to eliminate redshirts at the college level.  Too many coaches are oblivious as to how important dual meets are and the perception surrounding them.  If you eliminate redshirting, you take the decision out of the hands of the coach.  Plus, you now don't need all these unattached guys at tournaments.  Every tournament can be official with people wearing proper team uniform.  Makes the whole sport look more professional.

 

I think it's something wrestling needs to consider.

 

I thought I had heard a few years back that Northwestern had the lowest roster cap in the country. I want to say their roster had to be under 20 athletes but I could be remembering incorrectly. Anyways, with their limited number of guys, there is a lot of time for personal attention from the coaches. But it always amazed me how many guys get redshirted with so little options in reserve.

 

I completely agree with your point about redshirting and closing collegiate competitions so athlete compete for their team. Kids can redshirt if they want but it would mean training all year without any matches against outside competition. This would be just like the kids that redshirt in basketball and football have to do.

 

One thing I think it will do is create parity. You see it a lot in basketball and we see it in wrestling though it doesn't get attention because it has no significance. How many times does a solid senior beat a top ten recruit in his freshman redshirt season? It happens a lot. This is the same thing that happens in college basketball where you have a team of freshman stars with guys projecting to go to the NBA get beat by a mid major team filled with seniors who have had years to develop. You see this happen all the time. Lehigh beating Duke, Norfolk State beating Missouri, Florida Gulf Coast beating Georgetown, Vermont beating Syracuse, Mercer beating Duke. All of these have happened at the NCAA tournament. The list could go on and on. Why don't we see more shakeups in wrestling?

 

A lot of people like to say that recruits need to redshirt and get a year under their belt but this whole notion is, often, a fallacy. What are are saying is something to the effect that with an extra year the athlete could be four time All-Americans rather than three time All-American. But what if that top recruit was put into the lineup at Oklahoma State and suffered a loss in a dual to South Dakota State? Wouldn't that be better for South Dakota State? Wouldn't it be better for the sport? What if a kid, without the ability to get 30 matches against outside competition at all the Pennsylvania Open tournaments, decided he didn't want to spend a year training without the chance to compete? Might he decide to turn down the invitation to Penn State and go to Virginia Tech or Rider instead to fill a hole in their lineup?

 

To me, this would make a much better sport. I really get annoyed when I hear people say things like 'Well, yeah, they lost the dual but only because they forfeited.' No, they failed to win matches and that is why they lost. Or when their team losses a match they comment on how their best wrestler at that weight is wrestling in an open while redshirting. Why aren't you putting your best team on the mat?

 

Nothing worse than an administrator, who constantly has basketball and football boosters demanding more resources, seeing that a team they are putting resources into isn't even able to fill a lineup in a dual meet.

[tirapell 34]

I thought I had heard a few years back that Northwestern had the lowest roster cap in the country. I want to say their roster had to be under 20 athletes but I could be remembering incorrectly. Anyways, with their limited number of guys, there is a lot of time for personal attention from the coaches. But it always amazed me how many guys get redshirted with so little options in reserve.

 

I completely agree with your point about redshirting and closing collegiate competitions so athlete compete for their team. Kids can redshirt if they want but it would mean training all year without any matches against outside competition. This would be just like the kids that redshirt in basketball and football have to do.

 

One thing I think it will do is create parity. You see it a lot in basketball and we see it in wrestling though it doesn't get attention because it has no significance. How many times does a solid senior beat a top ten recruit in his freshman redshirt season? It happens a lot. This is the same thing that happens in college basketball where you have a team of freshman stars with guys projecting to go to the NBA get beat by a mid major team filled with seniors who have had years to develop. You see this happen all the time. Lehigh beating Duke, Norfolk State beating Missouri, Florida Gulf Coast beating Georgetown, Vermont beating Syracuse, Mercer beating Duke. All of these have happened at the NCAA tournament. The list could go on and on. Why don't we see more shakeups in wrestling?

 

A lot of people like to say that recruits need to redshirt and get a year under their belt but this whole notion is, often, a fallacy. What are are saying is something to the effect that with an extra year the athlete could be four time All-Americans rather than three time All-American. But what if that top recruit was put into the lineup at Oklahoma State and suffered a loss in a dual to South Dakota State? Wouldn't that be better for South Dakota State? Wouldn't it be better for the sport? What if a kid, without the ability to get 30 matches against outside competition at all the Pennsylvania Open tournaments, decided he didn't want to spend a year training without the chance to compete? Might he decide to turn down the invitation to Penn State and go to Virginia Tech or Rider instead to fill a hole in their lineup?

 

To me, this would make a much better sport. I really get annoyed when I hear people say things like 'Well, yeah, they lost the dual but only because they forfeited.' No, they failed to win matches and that is why they lost. Or when their team losses a match they comment on how their best wrestler at that weight is wrestling in an open while redshirting. Why aren't you putting your best team on the mat?

 

Nothing worse than an administrator, who constantly has basketball and football boosters demanding more resources, seeing that a team they are putting resources into isn't even able to fill a lineup in a dual meet.

 

This.  I know there are limitations for some of these programs, but we have to figure out how to solve the forfeit issue while wrestling is still an NCAA sanctioned sport.

[wrestlingnerd 2,996]

This dual was an embarassment to the sport. I couldn't care less what Northwestern's excuses are for not fielding a line-up. You are a Big 10, D1 program that is fully funded. Figure it out. 

 

Two forfeits, at home no less, is a travesty. The coaches should be ashamed and the fans rightfully indignant. What a joke.

[Needles 1]

Is there a limit to the number of wrestlers who can weigh in and dress for a college dual? Why not weigh in and dress the entire team? Everyone warms up, everyone sits on the bench and gets ready to wrestle as if they were going on the mat. Surely NW could of put a wrestler on the mat at 157 if the whole team was dressed. I know that some are red-shirting so maybe they cant weigh in. Its absurd to come from Eastern PA and wrestle 8 matches against a nationally ranked team. Put someone on the mat even of they are undersized put them on the mat. I don't know the inside scoop on NW's guys but I dont think there is any reason to forfeit a match at the D1 level. Can you imagine if the baseball team at NW decided to play only 8 guys in the field? The basketball teams dresses all their eligible guys and some time they play out of position, wrestling should do the same. Shame on you Pariano, hopefuly you can coach and run a program as well as you recruit.

[hammerlockthree 2,581]

NW isn't much of a program from what i can tell. 

[wrestlingnerd 2,996]

Put someone on the mat even of they are undersized put them on the mat. I don't know the inside scoop on NW's guys but I dont think there is any reason to forfeit a match at the D1 level. 

 

I am reminded of Cory Stasenko of Rutgers wrestling as high as two weights up last year to plug a hole in the line-up and turning in awesome performances as an undersized kid with a huge heart. No matter the outcome, it gave fans a lot to cheer about and gave a guy who would not normally get that kind of mat time a chance to compete.

[TBar1977 4,481]

I am reminded of Cory Stasenko of Rutgers wrestling as high as two weights up last year to plug a hole in the line-up and turning in awesome performances as an undersized kid with a huge heart. No matter the outcome, it gave fans a lot to cheer about and gave a guy who would not normally get that kind of mat time a chance to compete.

 

 

 

Matt Brown wrestled 174, 184 and 97 for Penn State his first year. He'd go out and take on whomever Sanderson needed him to wrestle. If my memory is correct he beat a top ten or close to it 197 from Nebraska. 

 

That display yesterday AT HOME was emba\rrassing. As someone else stated, figure it out. 

[LordNelson 552]

Pure further evidence that the people driving the sport are not changing with the times.

Refusal to consider the DUALS as an NCAA Championship Event and focus only on the NCAA Tournament keeps the mentality of our sport in the era of failure when it comes to building a real and consistent fan base in every wrestling college community.