Takedown Wrestling's Big XII preview

[HawkTalk3]

A broad look at the Big XII conference in terms of contenders, and potential NCAA qualifiers

http://takedownwrestle.com/wrestling-news/college/takedown-wrestlings-big-xii-preview/

 

[gsxrace01]

awesome link,thank you.

 

[hOUston...]

Collegiate wrestling is a great sport to watch in person. Too bad OU can not find a coach who can recruit and win a championship or two. It's been a long time since OU has been competitive.

 

[MiccoMacey]

Thanks for the link, HawkTalk3.

Doesn't look to be a banner year for OU. Outside of Cody Brewer looking to repeat his National Championship, we have maybe one or two guys who look like they will challenge for All-American status. Of course, there's always an underdog or someone who comes out of nowhere to be an All-American or out-perform their pre-season predictions.

I'm looking for Glass and Reed to be those guys. And maybe Garcia, who just took second at the OCU Open this weekend at 133 lbs. He beat returning OSU starter Gary Wayne Harding in the semi's.

Cody Brewer just beat Dean Heil of OSU in the NWCA Coaches Dual this weekend. The dual is a classic, and tries to pit the top guys in each weight in a pre-season match. Dean Heil is one of the top-rated guys at 141 this year, and I'm wondering if this signifies that Cody's going up to 141 lbs this year, especially with Garcia moving up to fill his 133 weight class.

 

[Pokefanwpl]

The Heil vs Brewer match was spectacular!! Brewer looked like he had the frame to wrestle at 141. Those guys went at each other shot after shot after shot. If everyone wrestled like that - the sport would be much better off. Those guys are going to have 3-4 great matches this year!

 

[MiccoMacey]

Poke fan,

Is it for sure Cody's moving up to 141?

 

[MiccoMacey]

Whoops!!! I saw Garcia's name and immediately went back in time to the year 2013. He transferred to OSU last year. My bad for the error.

And to partially answer my question, SoonerSports lists Cody at 133. For what it's worth.

 

[Pokefanwpl]

I just took for granted based on his size - I guess it really depends on what the Sooners have at 133 and 141 - where do you think they are better?

 

[MiccoMacey]

That's the million dollar question brother.

I suspect it makes OU better to have Brewer wrestle where he can score the most points in the tournament. And I suspect that's at 133.

If we were OSU, we could gamble and hope/expect whomever replaced Brewer at 133 to make a splash and score points at 133 and have Brewer move to wherever he needs to be. But I don't see that we have that luxury. If we move him to 141, and he doesn't do well (which I still believe he would), we lose out on his points. And his points will be about twice as many as all other team points combined, unfortunately.

 

[Pokefanwpl]

True and with his size he would have more bonus point possibilities at 133 - wherever he goes, I was really impressed with both those guys. I thought Heil got a little gassed late and Brewer had a little better tank.
Brewer took more shots and Heil used his length scramble.
Heil had a chance to be really good -
Concerns me that he gives up the front leg that easily and then using his scrambling ability just because it lends itself to tweaking a knee

The Cowboys have a chance to be really good - need 133 and 197lber to step up though

 

[Pokefanwpl]

True and with his size he would have more bonus point possibilities at 133 - wherever he goes, I was really impressed with both those guys. I thought Heil got a little gassed late and Brewer had a little better tank.
Brewer took more shots and Heil used his length scramble.
Heil has a chance to be really good -
Concerns me that he gives up the front leg that easily and then using his scrambling ability just because it lends itself to tweaking a knee

The Cowboys have a chance to be really good - need 133 and 197lber to step up though

 

[MiccoMacey]

I'll bet Kaid Brock comes out of redshirt, especially if GWH isn't beating some upper level opponents. John's already said this could be a National Championship team, and he'll pull out all the stops.

I'm waiting to see who comes out of your 157 pound quagmire. A lot of good potential, but they're all young.

And I'm hoping Nolan Boyd finally turns the corner at 184 and becomes a consistent upper level guy. Too many mistakes, mostly from being overly aggressive, for a kid who tries as hard as anyone.

 

[Pokefanwpl]

Boyd has a set on him, but it does get him in trouble. That being said, I want to see more attacking wrestling out of the Cowboys, I feel like they have had too many wrestlers lately that don't push the action enough and maybe that is because they haven't been good enough.
I feel like this team has more talent and their style of wrestling should be better.

 

[HawkTalk3]

I will admit to bias being from Iowa, but I am a big fan of OU's Ross Larson, I think he can take a step forward this year.

I also think they have the JUCO 125 champ on their team, and I would be interested to see what he can do on the D1 level for sure.