Definitely disappointing to hear. He was so talented in HS and it's crazy that he isn't even getting any mat times at open tournaments, etc. but i guess if his heart/head aren't into it nothing will change that.
Beast of the East and Senior Nationals An Exciting Weekend of Wrestling
- Thread starter bluemountain1967
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His transfer from Delbarton was discussed on here(plenty of red flags). He was told to leave Delbarton and prior to that Lehigh said they were no longer interested. He has not wrestled a single match since last seasons Princeton open. At this point can’t see him ever competing for the team
He was hyped for being one of Jim Mullens best friends and doing well in that international competition or something… damn thought he coulda had some hidden upside on the next level… guess not.. lame
He won a NJ state championship as a Sophomore at Delbarton and then skipped the NJ state tournament his Junior year to wrestle for Team USA at the Pan-American games where he won a silver medal. His senior year at PV he only lost 1 match and it was in the state finals against Martin Cosgrove who was a big time recruit/prospect as well so he was plenty accomplished in HS.
He also won gold medals in freestyle and greco at the junior Pan-America Games previously as well.
Not what sure what happened from then until he enrolled at RU, but its been all downhill from there. Still think he should have made the cut down to 197 rather than going up to 285 but that's a moot point now.
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I wrote this about Casale following a weird exchange with his coach in the 3rd period of his final high school match. Casale was in a tight match and on top in the final 90 second and his coach wanted him to cut his opponent. Casale refused, ended up conceding an escape anyway and had significantly less time to win the match on his feet.
IMO, the transition from HS to college is brutal for the heavier weights because there is a higher concentration of upperclassmen that are stronger and more mature. I’m not super bullish on Casale but it’s a much harder climb than some frosh/soph trying to compete at 125. I wouldn’t count him out until he stops grinding. The higher the weight the bigger the challenge. Same reason you rarely see freshman state champs at weights like 190. Harvey Ludington is a freak of nature and he lost at 175 to older more seasoned Ruiz.
DeJesus is a nice kid - hard to say what’s really going on with three HS in three years. Hopefully he settles in at SJR and his pops let’s go of the reigns. Definitely talented although I think he needs to close the gap with Knox if he really wants to prove his potential.
Ford def looked stronger and mature. Will be interesting to see if he ever cracks the RU line-up. Monticello has always been a man-child. Right now he relies too much on strength and defense. If he can learn to put up points in bunches against better competition he will have a ton of upside.
I wouldn’t write off any kid for developmental purposes this early in their career, but there’s a glaring problem if the kid is getting lapped by way lesser recruits because he isn’t even on the mat.
Cosgrove was a very high recruit, he won states as a sophomore, broken hand as a junior so could not wrestle at states(huge favorite to win) and won over Casale as a senior. He did the Ivy redshirt last season and this season is 7-3. Started year as the backup to 3 year starter and two time ncaa qualifier Cole Urbas. Cosgrove beat Urbas at Keystone Classic and has been starter since.
I get that 100% but the fact is Goodale (nor anyone close to program for that matter) never mentions him nor is he competing at all which is a red flag. That isn't typically a talent/success issue, that's a drive/desire issue. There are guys like Sam Nini or Epperly who will never crack the starting lineup but they are out there working/training hard and competing in open tournaments whenever they get a chance but that's on the individual wrestler.
If RU wants to get serious about recruiting they should stick a wrestling billboard outside Faith Christian Academy. In basically one year, Fred Bachmann (Joey/Freddy Dad) has built that program into one of the best in the country. Fred was the mastermind behind the youth super teams and has reach across the country. He’s picked off some key recruits that would otherwise have gone to Malvern and is already loading up for next year. FCA strikes me as a program with more blue-collar hard working grinders that probably aren’t interested in the Ivies like Delby or Blair kids. Plus, it’s probably within an hour or two of RU.
They've been cultivating that relationship and have trained at SKWC wrestling with Kenny and others at times. Mendoza was there as well but he seems like a long shot at best.
Only problem is Paul/Sean Kenny are basically same weights at Joey/Freddy Bachmann. But there are so many other young kids at FCA like Nick Singer that RU should be looking at.
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