[Gabe]

This matchup has been speculated for quite some time and it’s finally upon us! Let’s hear your final picks. Mine are below.


125: McDonough MD Nico Megaludis 4-0. McDonough’s got his groove back and puts together a solid workmanlike victory over the true freshman and steps up big for the team with bonus points. 4-0


133: Ramos DEC Martellotti. Tony is wrestling with a blazing fire under his tail and I think he gets a solid victory but Martellotti slows him down just enough to keep it to a decision. 7-0


141: Marion MD Pearsall. If the Hawks want to win this dual, their leaders need to rise to the occasion and get some bonus points. I think Marion gets rolling early and keeps it going for a Major. 11-0



149: Molinaro MD Kelly. As much as I would like to see the Tank lose, he’s been wrestling great and I expect him to be too much for Kelly to handle right now. 11-4


157: St. John DEC Dylan Alton. Great to have St. John back (assuming he returns as been predicted) and I expect him to grind out a victory against a very talented wrestler. 14-4


165: David Taylor DEC Mike Evans. I hate picking Cael’s golden boy and would love Evans to pull the upset here but I think Taylor is too solid in all positions to get beat unless he gets caught. If Evans can snag an early takedown and put a solid ride on, he’s got a chance. I think he’ll need some back points in order to win to make up for Taylor’s advantage on their feet. 14-7


174: Ruth DEC Lofthouse. We’ve seen this match up a few times and I think it’s a similar outcome. Ruth is one of the most prolific wrestlers in the country if he decides to wrestle and I think he just has too much for Lofthouse to handle right now. 14-10


184: Wright MD Wagner. I love Vinnie’s fight but think Wright is just too dangerous for him and really hope he can stay out of big moves and avoids a fall here. 14-14


197: McIntosh DEC Gambrall. 14-16. The Homer in me keeps thinking that Gambrall will flip the switch and finally start wrestling to his potential (or just wrestling at all) but what he has shown thus far won’t be enough to beat the extremely gifted true freshman. 14-17


HWY: Telford DEC Wade. Bobby’s had to wrestle some studs as of late and couldn’t quite pull out the victory. I think the coaches light the fire he had at the beginning of the season and he responds big by winning a key match. 17-17 Leaving the winner to be decided by criteria which is a little unsettling.

[forcheyhawk]

I agree I don't think you are too far off on your prediction. One note. You forgot to add major decision points to PSU's score. So you are predicting a tie if you add that point in for Molinaro. We are going to need to find another bonus point somewhere. I don't want to see another match go to the tie breaker.

[Gabe]

Thanks for catching that forcheyhawk. Original post has been edited.

[HerkeyHawk]

McD MD, 4-0
Ramos MD, 8-0
Marion Fall, 14-0
Molinaro Dec, 14-3
St. John Dec, 17-3
Taylor Tech (I LOVE Evans, but not quite there yet) 17-8
Ruth Dec, 17-11
Wright MD, 17-15
McIntosh Dec, 17-18
Wade Dec, 17-21

Hope I'm wrong...

[fuldose]

McD md-4-0
ramos fall-10-0
MM-md-14-0
Molinaro md-14-4
Alton upset dec. 14-7
taylor dec -14-10
ruth dec- 14-13
wright dec 14-16
Mcintosh dec 14-19
telford dec 17-19

Hope i am wrong as well, i am just afraid DSJ will not have conditioning after long layoff.

[CRlightweight]

If we want to win this dual we need two things. Major bonus points at 125-141 and St. John to wrestle. If DSJ doesn't wrestle, we could easily get beat 149-HWT giving up bonus at multiple weights. especially the way GG and Telford are wrestling.

[Dominate]

McD MD, 4-0
Ramos MD, 8-0
Marion Dec, 11-0
Molinaro MD, 11-4
St. John Dec, 14-4 (Alton by Decision if DSJ does not wrestle)
Taylor MD 14-8 (Hopefully not a Pin)
Ruth MD, 14-12 (Ruth has been a beast the past month)
Wright PIN, 14-18 (Hopefully Vinnie can keep it to a MD)
McIntosh Dec, 14-21
Wade Dec, 14-24 (Will be interesting to see if Raising gets the nod for this meet)

[smoot27]

I'm a little worried about DSJ even if he is back in the lineup. Last year he had some conditioning problems early in the year and struggled in a few matches. I'm not sure if he'll be 100% for this match against a solid opponent.

[CRwrestling]

Originally Posted by Gabe

165: David Taylor DEC Mike Evans. I hate picking Cael’s golden boy and would love Evans to pull the upset here but I think Taylor is too solid in all positions to get beat unless he gets caught. If Evans can snag an early takedown and put a solid ride on, he’s got a chance. I think he’ll need some back points in order to win to make up for Taylor’s advantage on their feet. 14-7

This match is going to tell us a lot about Evans. I have no expectation of him winning, but i can't wait to see him against the best there is to get a guage on where he is at.

Honestly, I can't help but love watching David Taylor anytime he isn't wrestling a hawk. He is the perfect mix of Okie St. slick and hawks push the pace and dominate. He's cocky arrogant confident... man I wish he was hawkeye.

[AFHawk86]

Originally Posted by CRwrestling

Honestly, I can't help but love watching David Taylor anytime he isn't wrestling a hawk. He is the perfect mix of Okie St. slick and hawks push the pace and dominate. He's cocky arrogant confident... man I wish he was hawkeye.

CR - I'd say Taylor is 85% OSU slick. He's an awesome wrestler but I can't in my wildest dreams imagine him in a Hawkeye singlet. Maybe it's must my gold-n-black bias.

[Gabe]

Taylor is a special wrestler for sure. I am very excited to see Evans match up with him though. Evans has a great mat sense and if Taylor starts getting overly confident and tries to put on a take down clinic on him, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Evans catch him and get the fall. On paper it doesn’t seem like Evans has much of a chance to win, but Evans just seems to have that mean controlled rage that could be unleashed at anytime and not the type of guy I’d ever want to bet against. I’m glad he’s on our side and look forward to some great battles between Taylor and Evans for years to come.

[ih8olives]

125 McDonough FALL Megalaudis - Being from Pennsylvania I watched Nicco all through high school and despite being such a top recruit hes vulnerable on the mat and in a big match where the hawks have to have points McD will get the job done, it might be a tech but I think McD does what he does best and gets six
6-0 HAWKS

133 Ramos MAJ Martelotti- Ramos isn't a pinner but he will definately run up the score, Martelotti doesnt have the size and Ramos won't be denied
10-0 HAWKS

141 Marion FALL Pearsall- Pearsall is a small 33 who should be off the team for his arrest (furnishing alcohol to minors) Marion shows against NW that he can turn it on, and I think this is the match he comes out
16-0 HAWKS

149 Molinaro MAJ Evans - Martelotti wont tire in the 4th like Parks, plus he is better on the mat, Evans may be able to slow him down but only enough to avoid the tech
16-4 HAWKS

157 DSJ DEC Alton- Alton is solid but both altons got by in high school on muscle and if you look at Andrews impressive fall record, watch the matches its alot of Neck wrenches and what we (in PA) call Cement Jobs. Dylan isn't much different accept hes stronger than Andrew. That said, DSJ is the biggest 157 in the country, Fulssasfan said DSJ is fine just being rested so I am assuming this is the match hes being rested for, and I have no doubt he'll be ready. I think the greatest testament to DSJ's ability (behind the wins of course) is how well he wrestles taylor so I think if he can get up for those matches I think he will be able to get up for a far more beatable PSU oppoent
20-4 HAWKS

165 Taylor MAJ Evans - I would not be surprised to see this be a regular decision, mat skills is the running game of wrestling, you eat the clock and keep the other guys offense off the mat (field) and Evans can ride, he won't ride out taylor, but he will be able to slow him down and like i mentioned above, I am sure DSJ has been going over this bout with Evans and offering tips. Taylor reminds me of dustin schlatter when he was younger, each time he wrestled an oppoent it got closer (this is why I feel DSJ would/will eventually beat him) and I think Evans will do the same over the course of this season. 20-8 HAWKS

174 Ruth DEC Lofthouse - This match was close last year and Lofthouse has really only wrestled one bad match this year (midlands finals) he was right there with Perry and I would not be surprised to see him surprise Ruth, he just has to finish on the (admittedly few) shot(s) he'll get in on. 20-11 HAWKS

184 Wright FALL Wagner -Wright is an animal and he'll get up for this match, Wagner is a great kid and a great example but this is one of the few matches where I'd rather GG stay up at 197 cause it doesnt matter who wrestle Wright in this dual, he'll bring his A game. 20-17 HAWKS

197 McIntosh DEC Gambrall - I keep waiting for GG to turn it on (I think we all do) one of his best matches last year was in this dual and maybe this will be the match he comes out of his shell, Its doable, McIntosh has alot of hype but hes certainly beatable, However, I can only base my faith in GG on last year to a point, at some point you have to accept this year as part of who he is, and thus
20-20 TIE

285 Raising DEC Wade- I know, Telford won the wrestle-off (so did Clark BTW) and I think head to head Telford is better than Blake, and is obviously the future, but he is mired in a funk and what better way to light a fire on him then to go with the Senior in the biggest match of the year, I think Telford showed he can be skittish in big matches, and while Telford offers a good shot at a win, he also offers a chance for Wade to get up early and but it in slo-mo. Blake will keep it close enough to give himself a chance to win late and I think given the oppurtunity on the big stage he will relish the oppurtunity to be the hero... Now, none of it matters if Telford goes out on the mat. But with Blake I go with:

23-20 HAWKS

Side Note: I would have Wade dec Telford in the event that is the match.

[fulsaasfan]

125 - McDonough major 4-0
133 - Ramos major 8-0
141 - Marion major 12-0
149 - Molinaro major 12-4
157 - St John dec 15-4
165 - Taylor major 15-8
174 - Ruth dec Lofthouse 15-11
184 - Wright major 15-15
197 - Gambrall dec 18-15
HWT - Wade dec 18-18

Down to criteria again.
I know that I'm in the minority but I really think that Gambrall gets the best of McIntosh.

[Dominate]

Originally Posted by fulsaasfan

125 - McDonough major 4-0
133 - Ramos major 8-0
141 - Marion major 12-0
149 - Molinaro major 12-4
157 - St John dec 15-4
165 - Taylor major 15-8
174 - Ruth dec Lofthouse 15-11
184 - Wright major 15-15
197 - Gambrall dec 18-15
HWT - Wade dec 18-18

Down to criteria again.
I know that I'm in the minority but I really think that Gambrall gets the best of McIntosh.

Hope Vinny can keep his match to a major decision.
How do you think Friday Nights match against Ohio St will turn out?
I think the final score is going to be very close. Can't wait to see Ramos and Marion take on the Stieber brothers!!

[CRlightweight]

Originally Posted by AFHawk86

CR - I'd say Taylor is 85% OSU slick. He's an awesome wrestler but I can't in my wildest dreams imagine him in a Hawkeye singlet. Maybe it's must my gold-n-black bias.

In my wildest dreams he IS in an iowa singlet!