Originally published at: Four Options for Oklahoma State to Fill the Gap AJ Ferrari Left Behind | Pistols Firing
OSU has options at 197.
Excellent article.
197 is not the problem. Lack of a good, true heavyweight is the missing piece. Regardless of who goes at 197, no one is going to replace the lost points from no more A.J.
I would like to see Haas vs Surber for 197. Get some points there since you won’t get points from Doucet at heavyweight. If Haas does not get to wrestle, then I think he transfers.
I just don’t think Plott has a big enough frame to move up to 184. And Sheets, because of injury struggles at 165.
I think the team is screwed without A.J. Probably a better record in duals, but not a high finish at NCAA. The only hope is that a really good 197 guy at some school that is not a powerhouse, jumps at the chance of becoming a Cowboy and transfers. That is the best outcome. Every college wrestler is aware that there is an opening at 197 at OSU. I think if anyone was going to bite on that, they would already have contacted John Smith. So I would not count on the portal to save the team.
What a pity that A.J. arrived with a head that was not screwed on tightly. If he is healed from his injuries, he probably goes to pro wrestling, unless he is hungry for more NCAA championships.
The longer OSU goes without another NCAA team championship, the lower the results for recruiting top talent outside of the state of Oklahoma.
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Best case scenario would be:
125 Mastro (needs to come in with a dominating mind set - and tougher physically and mentally)
134 Fix
141 Young (same as Mastro)
149 Voinovich
157 Sheets (maybe with his brother coming in he might step it up a notch…for the most part a disappointment - wish we had a replacement)
165 Wittlake (again needs to work on his offense and get tough - mind set is to dominate - didn’t handle injury very well and this is a concern)
174 Plott
184 Haas
197 Surber
HWY No a good transfer (the kid from Airforce was impressive)
But I firmly believe that Surber can become a White and be a top 5 heavy weight.
Tai good response but how can you be a democrat? Wow!!
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What about Taco at 184? Is he healed yet from his injury?
He was the most aggressive wrestler we had and I saw great potential for him. He just needed more coaching and experience. Is he even still on the team?
You are talking about Anthony Montalvo….he was on the team last year but doesn’t appear on this years roster. I agree with you as I liked his fight and aggressiveness. He was a little raw and technique was questionable at times but he wanted to win and hated to lose and that is what Mastro and Wittlake and others on the team need to have more of.
Thanks for that update on Montalvo. I figured that he might have transferred or else his injury might have been career ending.
That online interview with coach Ryan of Ohio State explains how Gable’s training methods were considered to be perfection and resulted in an attitude that these guys could not lose to anyone because their training was so complete and effective. They always expected to win each match and Gable expected to have 10 NCAA champions each season. Ryan said their practices were brutal and violent, and this carried over into how they wrestled in the actual matches. This makes sense because this is how Gable wrestled. He said after the murder of his sister he was filled with so much anger that he took this feeling into his wrestling matches. That’s why the Brand twins are the perfect coaches for Iowa. They are naturally angry and also cannot tolerate losing. Gable said that the twins when rooming together used to beat each other up on a regular basis. This makes me wonder if OSU should be sending their guys to the Brand’s summer wrestling camp to find out how Iowa trains? I realize this might not happen because ego could be involved. We don’t want anything to do with the enemy. Then I would suggest that OSU consider finding a former Iowa superstar who would like to be an assistant coach at OSU. Our guys, with few exceptions, are not aggressive enough. They seem to rely too much on technique instead of going out there to pound on and dominate their opponents. Single leg ankle pick is now being defended better these days.
Update on Anthony Montalvo. After last season he transferred to Arizona State U. at 184 lbs. I will enjoy following his career. I just hope he is fully healed. Speaking of ASU, I hope that we don’t include them in the Big 12. I used to live in Phoenix and followed ASU sports. They were pretty mediocre, so I don’t think they bring anything to the table other than a baseball program that used to be very good in the recent past.
Going back to wrestling, the probable lineup that Mark has proposed looks likely and looks real good for dual meets. But I don’t see even one potential NCAA champion there. With all due respect to Daton Fix, I think he becomes a 4-time runner up. Plott might have been the guy to do it all eventually, but I think his shoulder injury has changed dampened his career. It’s just really strange to see a Cowboy lineup that probably has no NCAA champions on it. It shows how far this once great program has dropped.
OK, my prediction. Would love to hear anyone’s comments as I know nothing.
125 Mastro. He was a stud early in season then go injured and went into nationals at less than full speed. So can the early season Mastro be there all season? If so he is likely an all american, 3rd to 6th place.
133 Fix. Can he beat RBY?
141 Young. Had a disappointing 2021/22 as came in having beaten 2 former national champs at a freestyle event. In his defense, wrestled up a weight, and he often looked overpowered in matches. I don’t think the freestyle to folkstyle was an issue as he was an OK mat wrestler. Who wrestles in 2022/3 for OSU, the stud who beat 2 former national champs and has grown and is now stronger who won’t be overpowered? Or the guy we say in 2021/2. 141mis not that tough a weight class so the former is a clear AA who maybe in finals.
149 Voinovich. Had great redshirt year but still go spanked by Finesilver (Duke) at Southern Scuffle. 149 is a brutal weight class. Finesliver is very good but just outside AA. So Voinovich has to get much better to be an AA. At 141 or 157 I think he is easy AA. At 149, a different story.
157 Sheet or maybe Mechler, big Mastro, or McLane. Sheets was really banged up last year and with his injuries just doesn’t have the foot speed needed to compete with top tier guys. Maybe Sheets is back at 100%, and if so a likely AA. But I doubt Sheets can come back from all his injuries and be 100%. So does someone take his place and can they be an AA. I view 157 as the wildcard in OSU’s lineup. Who starts and how good are they. Add to that the fact 157 looks like a weak weight class.
165 Wittlake. Can he come back 100% from injuries in 2021/2? And 165 is brutal weight class. He is a former 4th place AA, but this is tough weight class and where does he fit in.
174 Plott. Likely 3rd or 4th place. 2 former national champs in weight class, hard to move into finals.
184 Haas I agree they go with Haas . Was stud recruit and 184 not that tough a weight class. So high hopes, but we will see. As to Haas going to 197, I doubt it. Smith does not generally move guys up a weight class unless lower weight class is filled by someone better. And I think they have had Haas earmarked for 184 for a long time (and I think reason Taco transferred to ASU was he knew Haas would beat him out and be starter at 184).
197 Surber This one is interesting. 197 is deep weight class, with lots of good wrestlers, but no great ones. So line between being in finals and not placing is thin. Surber got much better in Feb/March of last season verses early in season. Can that improvement transfer to 197 or did he just learn to wrestle 285. If it transfers over, I think Surber could be a AA at 197.
285 Doucet. 285 is a tough and deep weight class. Doucet as about same chance as Surber did to AA, so OSU really doesn’t lose anything by this switch.
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