NDSU vs Wyoming 1/31/2016

[BisoninNWMN]

Another very disappointing performance, which is becoming the theme this year.

133- Colunga had his best performance and notched his best career win. He deserved the win and nearly gave it away, but battled back.
141- Went about as I expected. Meredith is just much better than Bengston is.
149- Very disappointing. He's without a doubt on the outside of the NCAA bubble by a good ways now, and will have to have a good B12 tournament and beat someone who has had a much better year than him.
157- Went as expected. The disappointing thing was how he gave up at the end of the match.
165- A very embarrassing performance. Getting teched in just over 2 minutes against an average D1 starter isn't acceptable.
174- A match that Thompson could have, and should have, won. Need to be able to get away on bottom and have to finish a shot. Thompson clearly isn't the long term answer, so why not try Popp or McNutt here?
184- Zillmer was solid, as usual.
197- No offense whatsoever. Eaton may or may not be a .500 wrestler next year, but he will definitely be a massive upgrade.
HWT- Tynan should have won. He controlled most of the match but giving up the reversal in the second hurt him. The 2nd stall call was a joke, as Harms was just pushing, and under the new stalling rules pushing=stalling. The funny thing is the ref called Harms for stalling the very next time he did it. In OT, I thought Harms beat the whistle but it was close. Can't be flat footed there. The most frustrating part of his loss was that it could've got him back into the conversation for getting the B12 another AQ at HWT, which would've made qualifying for NCAAs much easier. Now, he's back on the outside and will likely have to knock off Harms at the B12 tourney to qualify.

Overall, another bad performance. Ream, Thomspon, and Tynan all could have won their respective matches, but didn't. This dual didn't have to get ugly, but in fitting in with the theme of the season, it did.

SDSU has passed NDSU in wrestling now.....sad.

SDSU beat Wyo on Friday, taking 6/10 weighs. Their coach has brought a ton of energy into that program and it shows.

[Big Bird]

SDSU has one huge hole in their lineup and that is at HWT. They're fortunate that you can get buy with a huge hole there and likely only give up 3 every dual, just because of the nature of the HWT class. Gillette is the next closest thing they have to a hole and he's actually serviceable. NDSU has huge holes at 174 and 197, plus guys at 157, 133, and 165 who likely are at best, on the level of a guy like Gillette. Half of the lineup for NDSU isn't very good by D1 standards and 141 and 149 have struggled and not taken steps forward this year either.

[SC_TX]

Zillmer and Rodriquez are head and shoulders the best wrestlers on the team.

.

No question about it. After that it's interesting. Tynan is starting to separate himself as the 3rd best wrestler on the team. Colunga has potential to be the 4th best as the season winds down. Nehrig and Ream in theory should be better but they keep turning in disappointing results. I mean today they both let the team down. A tech fall and a pin vs average wrestlers? The other 4 just aren't at the same level.

[BisoninNWMN]

No question about it. After that it's interesting. Tynan is starting to separate himself as the 3rd best wrestler on the team. Colunga has potential to be the 4th best as the season winds down. Nehrig and Ream in theory should be better but they keep turning in disappointing results. I mean today they both let the team down. A tech fall and a pin vs average wrestlers? The other 4 just aren't at the same level.

NDSU lost every weight from 141 to 174.

Two very good wrestlers but a very poor dual team.

[ElectronDon]

As a journalist I have followed some of these kids for years and I wouldn’t be so quick to give up on them.

133 – Nico Colunga is a very young true freshman with a big upside. As he builds muscle he will be a formidable 141 or 149.

174- Blake Thompson is in his first full season since high school (Clovis is one of California’s toughest programs) due to his church mission and medical red shirt. He shows signs of adjusting to the rigors of D1 wrestling. Additionally he has wrestled nearly the entire season with a nagging knee injury.

197- Logan Paxton was recruited as a 184 and is selflessly filling a hole. Next year as a red shirt 184 and the following year as a senior 184 I wouldn’t be surprised to see excellent results. I was in the room for Thursday’s 7 minute live goes, Paxton pinned Eaton the first go and held him scoreless the second. I’m told this is the norm.

After today's match Coach Kish acknowledged that nearly the entire team needs work from the bottom position.

My fear is the staff has caused “analysis paralyses” with some of these young wrestlers by attempting to change too much at a time.

That said, It’s my humble opinion that the talent and desire are in place and it really isn’t as bleak as it might appear on the surface.