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Ohio State Wrestling (2015/2017/2018 B1G Champs, 2015 National Champs, 2019 National Runners-up)

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I hope you’re right on where we stand among the ranks. I’m not seeing it to be honest.

Next year’s lineup:
125: Kilkeary or McCrone
133: Bouzakis or Davino
141: Mendez or Davino
149: Mendez or ???
157: Cannon or ???
165: Birden or ???
174: Welsh or ???
184: Rogotzke or Welsh
197: Geog or Shumate
HWT: Feldman or Neves

Not sure where Gallagher or Hepner will fall. Even Geog has been dealing with injuries. Maybe Bouzakis transfers to Pitt. I hate to throw out the “development” excuse, but it’s the elephant in the room question. Mendez is a bonafide stud and has gotten better, Welsh (praying he stays) came in and is a block of granite that moves and articulates, and Cannon has shown promise. I’m not seeing it with some of our other wrestlers though. Feldman is always going to have a tough time at this weight class for the reasons above. There is definite talent on this team. It needs to be extracted. This may be unpopular, but I’m not sure we have the staff to do it. There is a lot of new blood out there that have recently left their shoes on the mat and want to get into coaching.
 
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Romanowski said:
I hope you’re right on where we stand among the ranks. I’m not seeing it to be honest.

Next year’s lineup:
125: Kilkeary or McCrone
133: Bouzakis or Davino
141: Mendez or Davino
149: Mendez or ???
157: Cannon or ???
165: Birden or ???
174: Welsh or ???
184: Rogotzke or Welsh
197: Geog or Shumate
HWT: Feldman or Neves

Not sure where Gallagher or Hepner will fall. Even Geog has been dealing with injuries. Maybe Bouzakis transfers to Pitt. I hate to throw out the “development” excuse, but it’s the elephant in the room question. Mendez is a bonafide stud and has gotten better, Welsh (praying he stays) came in and is a block of granite that moves and articulates, and Cannon has shown promise. I’m not seeing it with some of our other wrestlers though. Feldman is always going to have a tough time at this weight class for the reasons above. There is definite talent on this team. It needs to be extracted. This may be unpopular, but I’m not sure we have the staff to do it. There is a lot of new blood out there that have recently left their shoes on the mat and want to get into coaching.
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If Bouzakis stays, I see him bumping up to 141 and Mendez to 149 to make room for Davino at 133, or Davino can bump up. At 157, Cannon has shown some real promise. Welsh is a stud that should be primed to make a title run whatever weight he wrestles at. Outside of Mendez and Welsh though, I don't see anyone that can win it all, though there are several guys that could get on the podium. Reality is we will be wrestling for 2nd at best along with some other good teams.
 
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RB07OSU said:
If Bouzakis stays, I see him bumping up to 141 and Mendez to 149 to make room for Davino at 133, or Davino can bump up. At 157, Cannon has shown some real promise. Welsh is a stud that should be primed to make a title run whatever weight he wrestles at. Outside of Mendez and Welsh though, I don't see anyone that can win it all, though there are several guys that could get on the podium. Reality is we will be wrestling for 2nd at best along with some other good teams.
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157 was pretty wild this year - there are some studs coming back with Kasak and Blaze, but if next year is anything like this year, I wouldn't put it past Cannon. I'm also still in the honeymoon phase with him so that could be clouding my hope :lol:
 
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Great thoughts, Johnny. Probably, but who knows? Anyway, good season, but not great. And there's some nice points for the Director's Cup. Need to look up to see where the Buckeyes stand. Thought WBB would contribute some more than they are/will.
 
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Just sayin': NCAA wrestling got a whole lot of positive publicity over the weekend when Air Force 2nd Lt. Wyatt Hendrickson won the Heavyweight (285 lbs) Championship in a huge upset against Gabe Steveson (i.e. an Olympic Gold Medalist) with President Trump in attendance. It doesn't matter if you like President Trump or not; it was just great for the sport of college wrestling.

www.flowrestling.org

NCAA Wrestling Championships 2025 Finals Results. Here's Every Champion - FloWrestling

Wyatt Hendrickson upset Gable Steveson at NCAA Wrestling Championships 2025. Here's a recap with results, team scores, brackets and every 2025 champion.
www.flowrestling.org www.flowrestling.org

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  • 285lbs: Wyatt Hendrickson (Oklahoma State) vs Gable Steveson (Minnesota): Hendrickson wins by decision 5-4


Wikipedia

As a freshman at Air Force in 2020–21, Hendrickson compiled a record of 16–5 and qualified for the NCAA Championships. He then was the national pins leader as a sophomore and won the Big 12 Conference championship, compiling a record of 26–2 while returning to the NCAA Championships. He won another Big 12 title in the 2022–23 season and finished third at the NCAA Championships, having compiled a record of 31–2 during the season. He was an All-American, the first from Air Force in 20 years. As a senior in 2023–24, he repeated as the third-place finisher at the NCAA Championships. In his career with the Air Force Falcons, Hendrickson went 103–11 while being a two-time All-American.

With an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hendrickson was selected for the World Class Athlete Program at Air Force, allowing him to delay his military service to continue his career. He transferred to the Oklahoma State Cowboys for his final season of collegiate wrestling since military academics do not allow graduate students to compete. He compiled an undefeated record of 27–0 during the 2024–25 season, qualifying for the NCAA Championships. There, he advanced to the finals and defeated Gable Steveson, an Olympic gold medalist who had won 70-consecutive matches, with a takedown in the final seconds. The commentators for the match described Hendrickson's win as the "biggest upset in NCAA history". He celebrated his win with President Donald Trump, who was in attendance.
 
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It was great to see! I’m glad Hendrickson beat him. It is good for the sport to have parity and balance. While I don’t blame Steveson for lacing his shoes back up because we all have that itch if we leave something we love, but his ego and arrogance was something left to be desired.

He could have been a multiple Olympic gold medalist, world champ, you name it. Left his shoes on the mat because he had nothing left to prove in his eyes and saw dollar signs instead. No shame in that. Admittedly, I know nothing about his WWE stint, nor his Buffalo Bills stunt. Anybody could have seen that being a disaster. Steveson is an incredible athlete, but he’s not the freak of nature Brock Lesnar is, and Brock was laughed out of the Vikings camp.

So, instead of coming back to wrestle senior level freestyle on the world stage, he re-enrolls at Minnesota as a 24 year old for one last go at collegiate stardom arrogantly thinking he would breeze through for another championship. His interviews and body language were trash all year, especially the finals match and it was ironic and satisfying seeing someone so humble beat him.

Listening to Daniel Cormier talk about how the MMA world will be begging for Steveson to join was interesting. Maybe he leaves his shoes on the mat again and does well in MMA. Who knows. Selfishly, I’d like to see him give it another go in freestyle. In any case, so long Gable, best of luck on your next adventure, whatever that may be. [/rant]
 
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Romanowski said:
Admittedly, I know nothing about his WWE stint, nor his Buffalo Bills stunt. Anybody could have seen that being a disaster.
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For those that are interested he "bombed out" of both the WWE and NFL:

en.wikipedia.org

Gable Steveson - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Professional wrestling career​

In late 2020, Steveson said pursuing a career in WWE as a professional wrestler in order to become a superstar is "a dream I've had since I was a kid". Prior to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Steveson signed a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) marketing deal with MMA manager Dave Martin. After winning the Olympic gold medal, Steveson gained massive notoriety on social media, and teased the public on whether he would continue wrestling or pursue a career in mixed martial arts or professional wrestling next.

Steveson then made a brief appearance at WWE's SummerSlam event on August 21, 2021, and then on September 4, it was announced that Steveson had reportedly signed a contract with WWE. Five days later, WWE confirmed they had signed Steveson to an NIL (Next In Line) deal. Steveson was only the second Olympic gold medalist to be signed by the company after Kurt Angle.

As part of the 2021 WWE Draft, a storyline process in which the company assigns the wrestlers to exclusively appear on a certain show, Steveson was drafted to the Raw brand, which became effective October 22, 2021. He made his first appearance in April 2022 at WrestleMania 38 Night 1, being introduced by Stephanie McMahon and, during the second night of the event, he confronted and performed a suplex on Chad Gable. He later appeared on the December 9, 2022, episode of SmackDown for Kurt Angle's birthday celebration. On the June 20, 2023, NXT special, Gold Rush, Steveson appeared in a backstage segment alongside Eddy Thorpe, giving him advice on how to beat Damon Kemp (Steveson's real life older brother). Following this, Steveson was quietly moved to the NXT brand full-time, where he had his first match at NXT The Great American Bash against Baron Corbin. The match ended in a no contest after Corbin and Steveson threw each other over the announcers' desk. The match and its finish received heavy criticism from fans, who booed Steveson while cheering for Corbin, the heel. In September, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Steveson was removed from the NXT roster, leaving his future with the company in question. The following month, Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels mentioned that there had been a scheduling issue and Steveson would be back when it worked for both parties.

Steveson made his return on January 5, 2024, defeating Cedric Alexander in a dark match at SmackDown: New Year's Revolution. However, on May 3, Steveson was among several NXT wrestlers and WWE Performance Center trainees who were released from their contract.

Professional football career​

On May 31, 2024, it was reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter that Steveson had signed a three-year deal with the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League and will play defensive line despite never playing football before. His first time putting on a pair of cleats was during his workout for the Bills. On August 27, 2024, he was released by the Bills.
 
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Brutal…not sure what to say except this was always a possibility. Three guys for sure are leaving based on Flo’s transfer tracker. Hepner, Gonzales, and Welsh. Not sure where Geog lands as he seems like an odd man out if Shumate stays at 197 and Rogotzke stays at 184.

Makes you wonder about Penn State’s room too. They have a log jam up and down that roster and have recruited over guys year after year. Josh Barr was supposed to go at 184 this year. He was a finalist at 197. What does that do for Mirasola? Where does Welsh fit in? Does he take the 184 spot? Good problem to have.

Edit: Quick check on the PSU boards and there are definite mixed feelings. I haven’t combed through all the posts, but there was disbelief at first, to hesitation, to not liking it at all, to iron sharpens iron, and so on.

Edit II: we could be Iowa State. :yow1:
 
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Ryan has two more years on his contract.
Welsh to Oklahoma State makes some sense.
Interesting musings, many of the PSU toons don't think he's good enough to make the lineup and the OSU toons think they are losing their best wrestler...
 
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And this just popped up from the Twit/X:

"BREAKING: Rocco Welsh cancelled his last minute meeting with David Taylor this morning- turn off the jets- there will be no interference or chance to change this commitment.

As reported yesterday, Rocco Welsh be a Penn State Nittany Lion."
 
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Very interesting on the Okie State front. That made way more sense in my opinion. He’d replace Plott with no real competition.

I finished reading Penn State’s thread and they think they’re set with a combination of Haines, Ryder, Barr, and Mirasola. So they don’t quite understand it. Not turning down a runner up in his only season, but nothing is given in their eyes so he’ll have to earn it. In Cael they trust.

They also have some crazies posting about Feldman transferring to Penn State. These guys can’t help themselves sometimes. They all get in the same room and sniff each other’s farts.
 
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