Unfortunately there is no guarantee if a freshman will improve and to what degree.. we seen plenty regress and we seen a few really skyrocket, but those are usually outliers... from what I seen How a wrestlers does his freshman year is usually a projection for how his career goes/expectation .. that’s for the majority.. I think to really change lvl something gotta click in their head where they really want it bad.
Wrestling MATCH THREAD: Rutgers vs. Northwestern
- Thread starter Richie O
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He needs to get stronger and that will ultimately get his confidence back to the level it needs to be. He has ton of talent and skill, but he's giving up a ton physically. For example, he got up and close to escaping last night, but then he got slammed back to the mat and ended up flat. That's a death sentence for him, especially against upperclassmen or a redshirt senior last night. That guy was probably 5 years older than him. That makes a difference for some guys as he is no where as skilled or accomplished as JoJo.
You know he wants nothing more than be able to get out from bottom and get back to wreslting in neutral. Getting stuck down there the majority of the time is demoralizing and gives your opponent a huge boost. Most of his matches are close, low scoring affairs because his opponents can just get very defensive in the 3rd after that, which is why there is rarely any offense in his matches.
A whole year of college level strength & conditioning and training will serve him well. Look at what it did for Janzer or Aguilar.
You know he wants nothing more than be able to get out from bottom and get back to wreslting in neutral. Getting stuck down there the majority of the time is demoralizing and gives your opponent a huge boost. Most of his matches are close, low scoring affairs because his opponents can just get very defensive in the 3rd after that, which is why there is rarely any offense in his matches.
A whole year of college level strength & conditioning and training will serve him well. Look at what it did for Janzer or Aguilar.
Aragona looks like a career 141 lber, with his frame. And I wonder how long Alvarez will be able to stay at 133. Will there eventually be an Alvarez vs Aragona competition at 141?
How many years of eligibility does Yianni at Cornell have left? That may determine when Alvarez makes the move up to 141 as he already is showing signs of being a big 133 even as a TF.
JoJo has a lot of things to work on to get into the conversation for AA in the future. Far from polished and bottom by far his biggest weakness.
Awful. Get someone who knows wrestling. We are such a good wrestling state u can’t get someone who knows the sport. The analyst is great. Lou is clueless.
Yianni has 2 more but it would be foolish to base what Alvarez does on Yianni. 133 might be the deepest weight class in the country, certainly the big 10. I’d argue he’d have a better chance at AA status as a 141 if his skill set and strength were to immediately translate which obviously is no guarantee.
No clue about his cut but it looks to me like he is nervous/lacks confidence. He looks tentative to me rather than tired. He outworked people in hs and can do the same in college. Assuming he really loves the sport, a prerequisite for college improvement, as his hand fighting and set ups improve he will get in on more shots and have the opportunity to refine his finishes in a real match situation. Once he gets back to dominating on his feet, his opponent will break a bit/have to take more risk and that will help his bottom game. He’s pretty good on top and, like Ash, will start getting turns as he matures/develops. The key will be how he reacts to this challenging year. Does it motivate him to work even harder to improve or does it make him start to question whether he wants to make these sacrifices? He has one of the best top position wrestlers in the country to work with in Ashnault and Graff is no slouch either. Donny’s hand fighting skills are second to none. The resources are there. I’m thinking he figures it out and jumps levels next year.
If he’s cutting much weight I really hope he goes 149 next year... so many times we seen people bump up and not cut as much and they end up performing their best.. I.e: pletcher, Ashnault etc
Assuming he beats out the two returning at the weight Angelo & Santos.No guarantee moving up makes a difference.Let him redshirt next season developing and getting stronger.
We as a team over the last five or so years look small in comparison to other big ten teams. Theo was an enormous 49lber other than him a couple other guys we don’t look like we’re sucking much weight.
JoJo has done nothing on his feet in his last 4 or 5 matches. That has been his problem. If he was dominant there getting out from the bottom would not matter.
I think most people agree that his confidence is shot, which most likely stems from his trouble getting out from bottom/getting absolutely manhandled physically. He looks very hesitant at times, watching the clock, etc. That's hasn't been his game in the past so something has got him off his game.
I didn't say he wouldn't be fine but he's definitely gun shy from his feet since the injury. 0 offense on his feet is concerning. Is he still hurt or worried about reinjuring?
Strength wasn't why he couldn't escape. Technique was the problem. Didn't you hear the coaches yelling lower your hips when he was on his feet? He was standing straight up instead of sinking those hips.
My opinion is that his finishes aren't there which discourages him from shooting.In high school high level guys don't have to do much to finish.In college even the 5-8 kids are hard to finish on.On bottom he's just bad his knees are straight once he's on his feet knees need to be bent.He doesn't knee slide up from the quad pod or seal off well.You just have to continue to get to your feet worry about the hands once you get there.Once a guy mat returns you twice and you come up again he's gonna just cut you mat returns are tiring
If JoJo is outmuscled by 141 pounders what would he do about 249 pounders. He belongs at 141. Did you just see DeSanto just wrestle Minny. No sign of any limp or favoring that “injured” right leg. It had a “Marinelli” type sleeve on the leg
Only thing he injured was his ego when cradled twice by RBY
Looks like the Princeton match confirms that JoJo is having trouble making 141, & most likely has a major impact on his lack of a gas tank
He needs to go 149... taking a big cut where it impacts your wrestling negatively like this is not worth the “strength” you give up wrestling a bigger weight. how many time do we see a wrestler wrestle up a weight class and do so much more better ??? Ash@149? Pletcher @141?
I don’t think either of those guys are good examples. Pletcher wrestled 141 as a freshman and actually made a major jump in his development by cutting to 133 for two years and being AA both times. His #1 ranking earlier this year was more based on who else is in his weight class than less of a cut. 133 is simply a stacked weight class.
Ashnault was an AA for three years at 141 and became a national champ because of his age and experience more than a weight class jump, in my opinion.
Also that
If Yianni and Eirmann weren’t redshirting this year Pletcher would be ranked 5th right now, lower than his 4th place finish last year.
When a wrestler gotta make such a cut where he misses weight and negatively impacts his wrestling and focus then it simply is not worth it to make that cut..
You make good points. My point was when a wrestler considers a move up weight I think people overreact thinking they might not be strong Or big enough but imo it’s more important to focus on technique and having fun... over making such a cut where it impairs u.. weren’t people afraid of Ash going to 149 at first?? He goes up and has his best year. Kemerer goes all the way up to 174 and people were worried about him such a jump and he’s doing his best ever as well..
Regardless if they were at 141 this year or not it’s clear pletcher has jumped lvl since last year when you see how he is wrestling and his bonus rate... nick lee also jumped lvl in this weight class...
now pletcher might have jumped lvl if he stayed 133 but my point is he did it at 141 where he doesn’t have to make as much of a cut and focus on wrestling and people prolly speculated he had too small a frame to go 141 effectively
He would be ranked 3rd or fourth. I’m not sure Eierman would beat him in folkstyle this year: He is currently ranked 2nd.
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