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Illinois (2/7) and @Rider (2/9) - Previews, Predictions, & Discussions

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Potential Matchups vs. Illinois:

125: #25 Aguilar vs. #21 Cardani
133: #10 Alvarez vs. #7 Piotrowski
141: Aragona vs. #12 Duncan
149: Angelo vs. Jodeh
157: MVB vs. Barone
165: Donner/Turley vs. #14 D. Braunagel
174: Scott/ vs. #23 Gunther
184: #12 Janzer vs. #15 Z. Braunagel
197: #19 Pagano vs. Wroblewski
285: Correnti/Esposito vs. Luffman

While Illinois doesn't have any truly elite wrestlers, they are very solid at most weights. Piotrowski (133) is probably their best wrestler as he is a 3x NQ followed by Duncan (141) who is a 2x NQ.

On paper they are definitely heavily favored in 3 match-ups (141, 165, and 174) while RU is only heavily favored in 1 (197). RU should also be favored at 149 since Jodeh is 2-12 on the year and hasn't won a match since November 2nd, 2019. The remaining 5 matches are toss ups, which includes 3 ranked match-ups. Would be huge to see Aguilar get back on track in this one as his opponent isn't a physically dominating 125 but he his aggressive.

It would be huge for RU if Pagano/Angelo can get a fall or at least some bonus points, or else RU will need to win at least 3 of the tossups at (125, 133, 157, 184, and 285). Pagano's opponent has been pinned twice in his last 4 matches so it's a possibility. Either way it certainly won't be an easy task and guys like Aragona, Donner/Turley, and Scott need to wrestle tough & smart to keep those match-ups to decisions for us to even have a chance. None of their opponents aren't high bonus % (30%, 22%, and 11% respectively) guys so any big slip ups could be costly.
 
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1 more win for a winning season! Got to scrap for Goodale to keep that streak alive
 
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RU vs Rider
Going to be a very close and hotly contested dual meet. This is Rider's Super Bowl....to knock off big bad Rutgers. A bunch of toss up matches and RU is going to have to really bring it to win this dual.

125-Aguilar vs Tropea
My gut says Aguilar wins a tight decision, but Tropea is the type of 125lber that gives Aguilar trouble--big and physical.
RU-3-0
133-Alvarez vs Cefalo
The Bull gets it done, but Cefalo is a cagey veteran who has tossed plenty of guys to their backs.....Sammy cannot tie up or go over unders with the Greco specialist
RU-6-0
141-Aragona vs Lipari
Wow, this match alone is worth the dual. JoJo knows he can take Lipari down, so I think he pulls the trigger more than he normally does and wins on the strength of 3 takedowns.
RU-9-0
149-Angelo vs Fluri
Fluiri beat Angelo in SV at the SS on New Years day. Think Angelo gets the victory
RU-12-0
157-MVB vs Dellavecchia
Della majored MVB at the SS, MVB knows that he cannot give up bonus....Della with a dec
RU-12-3
165-Donner/Turley vs Casey
Big swing match, for some reason think Rider pulls this weight class out. Does Rider insert another wrestler here?
RU-12-6
174-Scott vs Sherry
Two former HS teammates.....Sherry took top in the 3rd to beat Sherry last meeting.....think Sherry has been better this season. Sherry with a dec.
RU-12-9
184-Janzer vs Walton
Janzer to strong and physical for Walton. Walton is dangerous with the cradle. Janzer with a solid dec win
RU-15-9
197-Pagano vs Laird
Huge match here. Laird has better wins against common opponents. This will be super tight, but Laird pulls out the dec
15-12
Hwt-Espo/Correnti vs Cloud
Ok, it comes down to Hwt.....I would go with Correnti. And with older brother in the stands wearing his Rider wrestling shirt.....younger brother gets the W to clinch the match.
RU-18-12.
 
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Potential Match-ups vs. Rider:

125: #25 Aguilar vs. Tropea
133: #10 Alvarez vs. Cefolo
141: Aragona vs. #25 Lipari
149: Angelo vs. Fluri
157: MVB vs. #7 Dellavecchia
165: Donner/Turley vs. Casey
174: Scott vs. #18 Sherry
184: #12 Janzer vs. Walton
197: #19 Pagano vs. #7 Laird
285: Correnti/Esposito vs. Cloud

Regardless of the rankings, the most anticipated and biggest match-up of the dual will certainly be Aragona vs. Lipari at 141. This one will be talked about for a long time, especially if Lipari is able to best JoJo when it counts. As we know Lipari isn't a dominating & overpowering offensive threat which makes this a great match-up for Aragona. This one could ultimately decide the dual, so I'm excited to see what happens here.

Rider Heavily Favored (2): 157 & 197
- Dellavecchia has been as good as anyone in the country thus far with his only 2 loses coming to #2 Hidlay (NCSU) & #5 Monday (PU). He already beat MVB by MD (14-5) at the Southern Scuffle so that's the baseline for the rematch. If MVB can keep this to a decision or better, it would be huge win for RU but even a MD isn't the end of the world.
- Laird has been very good this year with his only loses being to #2 Adams (WVU), #3 Brucki (PU), #6 Aiello (UVA), and Cardenas (FLWC) early in the season. He has wins over Beard (PSU) and #8 Greer (OkSt) both of which Pagano had lots of trouble with this year. This will be a tough match-up for Jordan so hopefully he is ready to roll and can limit the bonus points.

Rider Slightly Favored (1): 174
- Though Sherry is a favorite on paper, Scott beat Sherry back in 2018 and Sherry isn't a big bonus point guy. He is sitting at only 18% this year so this is a great opportunity for Scott to wrestle tough and pull a potential upset or keep it to a decision at worst.

Rutgers Heavily Favored (2): 133 & 184
- As long as Sammy comes out aggressive and looking to score, he should be able to win against the senior. He hasn't faced anyone near Alvarez's caliber and is still only 7-6 on the year. With that being said, he was a NQ last year at 133 so he isn't an absolute pushover. Bonus points would go a long way here.
- Janzer is red hot right now and I don't expect that to change. Like the majority of the Rider squad, Walton isn't a pushover by any means but he is 1-2 vs common opponents and has zero ranked wins, while Janzer is 4-0 and has 3 ranked wins this season. Janzer hasn't opened up offensively this year, so that limits any bonus point potential here.

Rutgers Slightly Favored (1): 125
- Putting it bluntly, this is a match that Aguilar needs to win. While he is still ranked, he is a on 3 match losing streak but they have all been to ranked opponents (#23 Cronin, #6 Schroder, #22 Medley). He previously lost 6-4 to Tropea back in 2018 but this a match RU needs in order to win the dual. Tropea does have an early season win vs #10 McKee (Minn) so while inconsistent throughout the year, he is certainly capable of winning.

Tossups (4): 141, 149, 165, 285
- RU needs to win 149 and 165 against .500 and below wrestlers with much easier schedules to date in order to keep pace since Rider will ultimately be favored at 285 since Cloud pinned Esposito in 1:15 at the Princeton Open in November. I didn't see the match so I have no idea what happened and it could be Correnti going, but either way this could easily go Riders way for up to 6 points which means RU needs cleanup in the earlier swing matches to have a chance. Fluri beat Angelo earlier in the year but I think he gets redemption this weekend.
 
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We'll get an update on Lipari as he wrestles #17 Shoop from Lock Haven Friday night. $$$$
 
I wouldn’t say we’re heavy fav at 33. Sammy should be slight fav if he stays away from cefalos throws and wrestles smart ( no tieups)
 
RU Diesel07110 said:
I wouldn’t say we’re heavy fav at 33. Sammy should be slight fav if he stays away from cefalos throws and wrestles smart ( no tieups)
Click to expand...

While that's certainly true, I don't think it should be that close. He might not be the best match-up given Sammy's style, but he is 7-6 on the year and 2 of those wins are against Shane Metzler (4-3 dec) and Malcolm Robinson (3-1 dec) during the Patriot Open. Nothing against those guys but Sammy is significantly more talented than them. Since January 1st he is 2-4 in duals and I don't think any of those wins were against someone with a winning record during that stretch. It's not like he's been lighting it up, but like I mentioned he was a NQ last year and a RS Senior so he can't be taken lightly. Obviously anything can happen during a match but on paper Sammy should be a heavy favorite and shouldn't find himself in any real position to lose.
 
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Don’t see the Rider match on Sunday listed on Flo. How do I watch this match?
 
Between Flo, BTN, Track, and ESPN, it’s crazy to me that wrestling is so behind the 8 ball with how to stream the sport. Can’t possibly be good for growing the sport outside of the hotbed regions that already exist.
 
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Assuming it starts at 125 tonight, RU needs to be leading at least 3-2 at the break to stay in the running. That means it more than likely needs to split 125 and 133 at the very worst.
 
The $5 gets you both the Rider and Princeton Matches, it's good for 30 days (I think, LOL)
 
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For roughly five bucks a month ESPN plus is actually pretty good because you get ACC, some Big 12, and the Ivy schools with a very professional looking stream. Don't forget, the ESPN app on the newer Apple TV is the only one that let's you put up four screens at once so come tournament time you can do four mats on one TV and the other four on different devices and you don't have to miss any action. The dream would be for them to get the rights to all college wrestling so it's in one place for a cheap price but that's never happening.
 
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I hear ya with the 4 screens.
I have OCD, i can't concentrate on more than 1 screen :)
I will have 2 screens up on my computer during tourney time.
 
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Toss up matches have not been kind to us. While opponents turn the intensity up a notch Rutgers has sat back and watched the clock. Sorry to say but I think that trend continues and we lose both matches. Hopefully one day they'll learn from these losing experiences but I don't see it happening this year. I'll be there again tonight as usual praying for a pleasant surprise.
 
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61RayStreet said:
I don't think we see Nic or Correnti this weekend.
Click to expand...
Any coherent reason for this speculation or just a gut feeling? I'm leaving for this thing in about two and a half hours, so any disappointment would be appreciated now rather than sitting in my seat. Cause without these two it has a good potential to be a blowout.
 
61RayStreet said:
I don't think we see Nic or Correnti this weekend.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure in last post match interview Coach Goodale said Esposito is the guy at 285. I would expect to see him the rest of the way. Also said Aguilar was the only option at 125, I assume Robinson can’t make 125 any longer.
 
obrats said:
Pretty sure in last post match interview Coach Goodale said Esposito is the guy at 285. I would expect to see him the rest of the way. Also said Aguilar was the only option at 125, I assume Robinson can’t make 125 any longer.
Click to expand...
Y did esposito win the wrestle off vs Correntti ? I thought Correntti looked good at hwt.. taking two ranked hwt into OT.. I personally think Correntti is the better option at hwt.. is he hurt or something ?
 
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KidDagger said:
Y did esposito win the wrestle off vs Correntti ? I thought Correntti looked good at hwt.. taking two ranked hwt into OT.. I personally think Correntti is the better option at hwt.. is he hurt or something ?
Click to expand...
Don’t have the answers to your questions, just going off what I am pretty sure I heard in the interview.
 
KidDagger said:
Y did esposito win the wrestle off vs Correntti ? I thought Correntti looked good at hwt.. taking two ranked hwt into OT.. I personally think Correntti is the better option at hwt.. is he hurt or something ?
Click to expand...
I agree, save the last match as anyone would have been absolutely dismantled, Correnti has looked much better than Esposito at heavyweight.
 
Is everyone healthy?
Hopefully the flu bug is gone from the team.
Maybe we should have sent Aragona to train with NJRTC while he was sick...
Roll around with some PU wrestlers
:)
 
ScarletGrapfan said:
RU vs Rider
Going to be a very close and hotly contested dual meet. This is Rider's Super Bowl....to knock off big bad Rutgers. A bunch of toss up matches and RU is going to have to really bring it to win this dual.

125-Aguilar vs Tropea
My gut says Aguilar wins a tight decision, but Tropea is the type of 125lber that gives Aguilar trouble--big and physical.
RU-3-0
133-Alvarez vs Cefalo
The Bull gets it done, but Cefalo is a cagey veteran who has tossed plenty of guys to their backs.....Sammy cannot tie up or go over unders with the Greco specialist
RU-6-0
141-Aragona vs Lipari
Wow, this match alone is worth the dual. JoJo knows he can take Lipari down, so I think he pulls the trigger more than he normally does and wins on the strength of 3 takedowns.
RU-9-0
149-Angelo vs Fluri
Fluiri beat Angelo in SV at the SS on New Years day. Think Angelo gets the victory
RU-12-0
157-MVB vs Dellavecchia
Della majored MVB at the SS, MVB knows that he cannot give up bonus....Della with a dec
RU-12-3
165-Donner/Turley vs Casey
Big swing match, for some reason think Rider pulls this weight class out. Does Rider insert another wrestler here?
RU-12-6
174-Scott vs Sherry
Two former HS teammates.....Sherry took top in the 3rd to beat Sherry last meeting.....think Sherry has been better this season. Sherry with a dec.
RU-12-9
184-Janzer vs Walton
Janzer to strong and physical for Walton. Walton is dangerous with the cradle. Janzer with a solid dec win
RU-15-9
197-Pagano vs Laird
Huge match here. Laird has better wins against common opponents. This will be super tight, but Laird pulls out the dec
15-12
Hwt-Espo/Correnti vs Cloud
Ok, it comes down to Hwt.....I would go with Correnti. And with older brother in the stands wearing his Rider wrestling shirt.....younger brother gets the W to clinch the match.
RU-18-12.
Click to expand...
3 TD's 4 RU @41.. interesting....
 
I think JoJo beats Lipari and I don’t think it’s close. Maybe scorewise it’ll be a low scoring bout but I expect JoJo to dominate control
 
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