I have mixed emotions about the Erie tourny... Erie is kind of a week tourny when looking at the entire field of competitors, but when looking at the finalist its impressive...
Team Wise...
Going into the thing, I knew Alleman was the favorite by alot and boy did they come through, not just in the first round, but they had a compete tourny as a team! From the start to the finish
Then their was Newman who I knew was the only team capable of keeping things close with the Pioneers, and after the first round, I was kinda shocked how far out of it they were... Then in the second round they made their dash towards the top, and boy do them Comets finish strong!
Erie was pretty steady throughout the tourny, and it was pretty much what I expected from them after seeing them in person on Friday night!
Individual wise...
103... Clark, one of those wrestlers when you look at it, your like not bad, had to be a pretty decent tourny... The problem.. He cruised through it wrestling no big names, even though he most likely would have won... But if we were to throw in a kid like Rush of Aledo, boy do things get more exciting, rather than watching him wrestle the Moline JV kid...
112.... Zurcher wins... This was a great final... with 2 Great wrestlers, this weight did not let me down at all, it to bad that Lawton bumped up, but I am glad that he did... This match up has the potential to be a state match... But once again, neither had to wrestle anyone to earn their spot to the finals...
119... Another great finals between Lawton the champ and Latta of Newman... I dont think Lawton will spend the whole year here... but he looked good at 119.. I think if he cuts down at the right time it wont be to hard on him...
125... This weight class kinda represented the rest of the field... No real big names... This is why this tourny is good for kids that arent the big names....
130... Meyers beat Warlop pretty heavily.... Why?? Because Meyers is huge compared to Warlop... I dont understand why Warlop is at 130, he is undersized, but when looking at the sectional field, he has a better shot at making it out at 130... Meyers will do just fine whatever weight he goes...
135... Lahman was the best wrestler at the weight by far.. but once again it gives wrestler that arennt the Gosas and Milks of the weight class a chance to do something at a tourny...
140... Hinzman dominated Carlson here, and proved that he is the real deal... Hinzman has a great shot at making it to state this year... I dont know if he is placer yet, cause this weight is loaded... but he should make it down, and dont be suprised if he wins some matches....
145... Lind won this weight class, and did it pretty convincing, however once again he really didnt have any competition till the finals... He sure did look healthy to me... Very Very Quick... Speed is his game...
152... Pieritz is has more technique than I ever thought... I didnt realize this till the finals when he wrestled a stronger wrestler... He just hit any move he wanted with easy... This kid should be tough to stop..
160.... Troye was the same old Troye, but this year he will get a title... this kid is huge and stronger than ever... I have a feeling once he is in wrestling form he wont be stopped... I wonder if that Newman coach gave him some of Chucks water... With the bottle that had the mono germs????
171... Cox didnt look bad at all.. I think Troye would have beat him if he went up, and thats what I was thinking about during this finals match, because it wasnt very entertaining....to be honest...
189... Norberg is huge!! I know Young was sick, but still its no excuse to get glued... Norberg was the better wrestler of the two... This weight class wasnt that bad... Burkhead gave Young all he could handle.. Oh yea.. I hated the way the score table was facing the side wall, the fans had no idea of the score!!
215... Barlow got caught... He should have won the thing, but he flat out got caught.. It happens to all wrestlers... The kid wrestled back tough, and I intend on leaving him ranked because of beating he was giving the kid when he was caught and pinned....
275... I didnt really pay attention to this finals match, because I was thinking about who desereved O.W. awards... Overall I think the HWT division is weak this year compared to the last 2 years....
The OW's... They went to the right wrestlers, the only one I can argue with would be at 112 Zurcher beating Andrukitas... I would have gave it to Zurcher....
So when you look at the names of the Champs.. ur like wow.. this tourny could be tough, but honestly its not as tough as you would think... I was bored untill the finals...But thats alright... I look forward to next year and maybe they will add another team like Rockford Lutheran to spice things up a lil bit...
|