Where to begin.... Easy answer here... I want the real life edition of groundhog day!! Just wanna re-live these past 24 hours, again and again!!! Had to work a 10 hr day yesterday..get home and get ready for friends coming over to watch history in the making!! Yet after it all.. I just couldn't sleep!! Was such a great feeling!!! RutgersNation NEEDED this in the worst way!!! And boy did those young men deliver!!!! Delivered not just for RU wrestling... But for ALL Rutgers fans everywhere!!! Where L'Ville '06 gave this fanbase one night to puff out our chests and say we were finally winners... Last night gave this fanbase a chance to say.. "We are CHAMPIONS!!!" CHAMPIONS!!! There is no Cincy or WV to take the air out of this!!! Suriano and Ashnault proved over 3 days an nights that they R#1... Not just winners... Not just All Americans.. But NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!! In a sport where Rutgers had NEVER had ONE!! In one magical night.. We crowned TWO!!!
133... Suriano… I don't think I have ever seen anything like it... If you look at the regular season Suriano, compared to the post season Suriano… You have two totally different wrestlers... If you look at the dual season.. Most of the riding pts that NS earned were the result of accumulating TD's against inferior opponents... Now goto B1G and NCAA tournies… NS scored riding pts vs. 4 AA opponents!! By being able to keep them down!! What I originally felt he needed a season to work on... NS practically perfected in just a few weeks!!! Really just an amazing transformation!!! He didn't just win by being better on his feet!! He won by being better than his opponents in all phases!! I take back what I said about him needing to redshirt... He has shown the past 2 weeks that he can beat you in all phases of a match!! He won the deepest weightclass in this tourney by becoming a complete wrestler!!!
149... Ashnault… R prodigal son returned... He saw... He CONQUERED!!! He left ZERO doubt as to who owned this weight class… Defeating 5 of the other 7 AA's in his weight class.. Including 3 wins vs the #2 guy!! Yes Suriano became the first... But Ashnault became the first UNDEFEATED CHAMPION in Rutgers history!!! And it was only fitting that he won the way he did... Making the third period a focus of celebration for RutgersNation, and not a nail-biter!! And the icing on the cake is knowing that he will still be in the wrestling room next year helping prepare R next group of CHAMPIONS!!
133... Suriano… I don't think I have ever seen anything like it... If you look at the regular season Suriano, compared to the post season Suriano… You have two totally different wrestlers... If you look at the dual season.. Most of the riding pts that NS earned were the result of accumulating TD's against inferior opponents... Now goto B1G and NCAA tournies… NS scored riding pts vs. 4 AA opponents!! By being able to keep them down!! What I originally felt he needed a season to work on... NS practically perfected in just a few weeks!!! Really just an amazing transformation!!! He didn't just win by being better on his feet!! He won by being better than his opponents in all phases!! I take back what I said about him needing to redshirt... He has shown the past 2 weeks that he can beat you in all phases of a match!! He won the deepest weightclass in this tourney by becoming a complete wrestler!!!
149... Ashnault… R prodigal son returned... He saw... He CONQUERED!!! He left ZERO doubt as to who owned this weight class… Defeating 5 of the other 7 AA's in his weight class.. Including 3 wins vs the #2 guy!! Yes Suriano became the first... But Ashnault became the first UNDEFEATED CHAMPION in Rutgers history!!! And it was only fitting that he won the way he did... Making the third period a focus of celebration for RutgersNation, and not a nail-biter!! And the icing on the cake is knowing that he will still be in the wrestling room next year helping prepare R next group of CHAMPIONS!!
