125 EXPECTATION - Paetzell. Probably nationals, but he's not an elite, so at best maybe 1-2 or 2-2 at nationals.
125 REALITY - Suriano came and Paetzell left for Lehigh
GRADE: Incomplete, or A+++ depending on how you look at things.
125 NEW EXPECTATION - (Suriano was able to get the transfer in.) Nothing short of a championship was the expectation.
125 NEW REALITY - Suriano made it to the finals despite battling the infection, but Spencer Lee fought off all the shots and was too strong for him on this day. Still, our first finalist ever, I believe.
GRADE: A. I mean, for Rutgers fans it's an A, but in the end for Suriano, it's title or no title. For Rutgers fans it's seeing what a dominant wrestler looks like outside of maybe Ash (he's a bit better than Ash because he's a lot less passive at times). Those guys (Suriano and Lee) are better in my mind than Tomasello and Cruz, even if the previous guys have the titles and Suriano doesn't. And seeing Metzler come in and beat people up was nice. He didn't place high in states last year.
133 EXPECTATION - DelVecchio made blood round last year, so he has a great chance to AA.
133 REALITY - Dude was unranked going into NCAAs, and despite being a top 12 talent in my mind, he had an up and down season. I was ticked when he lost his first match, but he battled back and won the matches he had to to put his stamp on Rutgers wrestling history.
GRADE: A. I mean, a couple more wins during the season could have affected our dual record, but you couldn't be more happier the way this kid has battled over his career here. Also, I was hoping some depth would show up behind 133, but I'm not sure going forward if anybody is more than a fill-in
141 EXPECTATION - Another Ash AA year. Probably somewhere in the 5-8 range.
141 REALITY - Ash out for the year, so we hope for a 6th year.
GRADE: A. It was better if he could miss the year anyway and wait until some guys graduated before going after another title, maybe at 149.
141 NEW EXPECTATION - MVB hopefully makes NCAAs
141 NEW REALITY - One match away, sadly.
GRADE: C+. We're at the point as a program where we either make NCAAs or we don't. C+ doesn't reflect MVB's ability level or way he wrestled, just that we should be 10/10 (or closer).
149 EXPECTATIONS - DeLuca hopefully makes NCAAs. Didn't he beat Lewis out in NJCAAs for the title and have a good RS year?
149 REALITY - He made it. He had some very memorable matches. It was a relatively forgettable year other than when his throws worked.
GRADE = B.
157 EXPECTATIONS - Richie would roll to NCAAs and make an impression. Hoping maybe a semis run.
157 REALITY - Richie was Richie and decided making weight wasn't for him and he switched to 165.
GRADE - D. Really screwed things up a bit.
157 NEW EXPECTIONS - Could he make noise in the NCAAs with how weak the class was?
157 NEW REALITY - 19 seconds away from an AA. But why oh why did we suffer with that 19 seconds? With the stopping time, why doesn't the mic pick up Goodale saying "Remember what DeSanto just did to DelVecchio? Do something like that and run!!!!"
GRADE = A-
165 EXPECTATIONS - Glasgow could make blood rounds and possibly AA.
165 REALITY - Post-grad school because of a grade mixup.
GRADE = B-. I didn't really mind waiting another year because JVB isn't a slouch.
165 NEW EXPECTATIONS - Hoping JVB gets to NCAAs wrestling a bit up.
165 NEW REALITY - Richie can't make weight and JVB goes to 157.
GRADE = B. Good for JVB, bad for RU.
165 NEWER EXPECTATIONS - Richie makes blood rounds and hopefully AAs.
165 NEWER REALITY - Lots of close matches. He was a point away from beating Joseph, Martinez, etc. Had a pretty good B1G. And then disappointed in the NCAAs against kids who were just bigger and he had beaten in those close matches.
GRADE = B/B-.
174 EXPECTATIONS - Grello or Pagano would make NCAAs.
174 REALTY - They didn't. Grello wasn't bad. Pagano disappointed. Just not ready yet.
GRADE = C. I'm hoping Grello gets better. I had higher expectations for him.
184 EXPECTATIONS - Gravina AAs if healthy.
184 REALITY - Gravina gets hurt, has rough NCAAs (despite one great late comeback).
GRADE = B. Can't hate on Gravina, but I need him to get healthy.
197 EXPECTATIONS - Correnti goes to HWT, Mulligan to 197.
197 REALITY - Mulligan gets injured multiple times and quits multiple times. We don't have good upper weight backups.
GRADE = D-. Giant clusterF at this weight this year (no offense to the effort of those that did wrestle). I refuse to give an F for that reason.
285 EXPECTATIONS - Correnti bulks up on a redshirt season. Gross remembers how to wrestle and breaks into NCAAs.
285 REALITY - Correnti can't bulk up (or chooses to quit trying after Mulligan leaves). Gross is worse than last year by a bunch.
GRADE = C-.
125 REALITY - Suriano came and Paetzell left for Lehigh
GRADE: Incomplete, or A+++ depending on how you look at things.
125 NEW EXPECTATION - (Suriano was able to get the transfer in.) Nothing short of a championship was the expectation.
125 NEW REALITY - Suriano made it to the finals despite battling the infection, but Spencer Lee fought off all the shots and was too strong for him on this day. Still, our first finalist ever, I believe.
GRADE: A. I mean, for Rutgers fans it's an A, but in the end for Suriano, it's title or no title. For Rutgers fans it's seeing what a dominant wrestler looks like outside of maybe Ash (he's a bit better than Ash because he's a lot less passive at times). Those guys (Suriano and Lee) are better in my mind than Tomasello and Cruz, even if the previous guys have the titles and Suriano doesn't. And seeing Metzler come in and beat people up was nice. He didn't place high in states last year.
133 EXPECTATION - DelVecchio made blood round last year, so he has a great chance to AA.
133 REALITY - Dude was unranked going into NCAAs, and despite being a top 12 talent in my mind, he had an up and down season. I was ticked when he lost his first match, but he battled back and won the matches he had to to put his stamp on Rutgers wrestling history.
GRADE: A. I mean, a couple more wins during the season could have affected our dual record, but you couldn't be more happier the way this kid has battled over his career here. Also, I was hoping some depth would show up behind 133, but I'm not sure going forward if anybody is more than a fill-in
141 EXPECTATION - Another Ash AA year. Probably somewhere in the 5-8 range.
141 REALITY - Ash out for the year, so we hope for a 6th year.
GRADE: A. It was better if he could miss the year anyway and wait until some guys graduated before going after another title, maybe at 149.
141 NEW EXPECTATION - MVB hopefully makes NCAAs
141 NEW REALITY - One match away, sadly.
GRADE: C+. We're at the point as a program where we either make NCAAs or we don't. C+ doesn't reflect MVB's ability level or way he wrestled, just that we should be 10/10 (or closer).
149 EXPECTATIONS - DeLuca hopefully makes NCAAs. Didn't he beat Lewis out in NJCAAs for the title and have a good RS year?
149 REALITY - He made it. He had some very memorable matches. It was a relatively forgettable year other than when his throws worked.
GRADE = B.
157 EXPECTATIONS - Richie would roll to NCAAs and make an impression. Hoping maybe a semis run.
157 REALITY - Richie was Richie and decided making weight wasn't for him and he switched to 165.
GRADE - D. Really screwed things up a bit.
157 NEW EXPECTIONS - Could he make noise in the NCAAs with how weak the class was?
157 NEW REALITY - 19 seconds away from an AA. But why oh why did we suffer with that 19 seconds? With the stopping time, why doesn't the mic pick up Goodale saying "Remember what DeSanto just did to DelVecchio? Do something like that and run!!!!"
GRADE = A-
165 EXPECTATIONS - Glasgow could make blood rounds and possibly AA.
165 REALITY - Post-grad school because of a grade mixup.
GRADE = B-. I didn't really mind waiting another year because JVB isn't a slouch.
165 NEW EXPECTATIONS - Hoping JVB gets to NCAAs wrestling a bit up.
165 NEW REALITY - Richie can't make weight and JVB goes to 157.
GRADE = B. Good for JVB, bad for RU.
165 NEWER EXPECTATIONS - Richie makes blood rounds and hopefully AAs.
165 NEWER REALITY - Lots of close matches. He was a point away from beating Joseph, Martinez, etc. Had a pretty good B1G. And then disappointed in the NCAAs against kids who were just bigger and he had beaten in those close matches.
GRADE = B/B-.
174 EXPECTATIONS - Grello or Pagano would make NCAAs.
174 REALTY - They didn't. Grello wasn't bad. Pagano disappointed. Just not ready yet.
GRADE = C. I'm hoping Grello gets better. I had higher expectations for him.
184 EXPECTATIONS - Gravina AAs if healthy.
184 REALITY - Gravina gets hurt, has rough NCAAs (despite one great late comeback).
GRADE = B. Can't hate on Gravina, but I need him to get healthy.
197 EXPECTATIONS - Correnti goes to HWT, Mulligan to 197.
197 REALITY - Mulligan gets injured multiple times and quits multiple times. We don't have good upper weight backups.
GRADE = D-. Giant clusterF at this weight this year (no offense to the effort of those that did wrestle). I refuse to give an F for that reason.
285 EXPECTATIONS - Correnti bulks up on a redshirt season. Gross remembers how to wrestle and breaks into NCAAs.
285 REALITY - Correnti can't bulk up (or chooses to quit trying after Mulligan leaves). Gross is worse than last year by a bunch.
GRADE = C-.
