Elevator

"broke his femur and had some breaks in and around his knee" yikes - that is rough. I am no physician, but some broken femurs cannot be casted and need a rod implanted. Hoping this is not as bad as it sounds and he can make a quick recovery.

I met him once - he was not very gracious. Maybe I caught him on a bad day.

A story about Dick DiBatista. One of his NCAA titles came against a wrestler who was a heavy favorite and years older (I believe had come back from WWII). Might have been an AAU champ back when that was a big credential. He took the loss badly and came into the locker room looking for a fight. Dick was in the shower and a peace-loving man. No fight occurred. Not sure if there was a rematch - but Dick was undefeated.

let's stop the misogyny and don't feed the trolls On a more substantive point, Dick DiBatista deserves mention. Never lost a match in high school, college, or freestyle (137-0). 2x champ because frosh could not compete and WWII cancelled NCAA's. Also played college football. Long-time referee and one of the most gracious ambassadors for the sport. https://www.eiwawrestling.org/HOF/Hall_of_Fame/dibatista-dick?view=bio

Yikes - hoping he is ok and makes a good recovery

I don not begrudge Starocci whatever NIL $$ he can pull down. Just hope he spends some of it on a media consultant (not the one used by the Ferraris or Bo N) so he can stop stepping on his own dick on social media with fake tough guy posts. Hard to reconcile the grave pissing and face spitting character with the humble "all glory to god" disciple.

I have enjoyed Starrocci and generally root for him. Liked most of his interview at NCAA's. But on social media he keeps stepping on his own dick thinking he looks like a tough guy. He does not. Seems to me much of his unfortunate posturing is out of weakness rather than strength. Might make sense to have some training for athletes on social media communications strategies and brand building. Shorter: it is best take your head out of your ass before you post on social media.

I take your point and hoping to have this thread pivot back to wrestling? Should be some info flying around w the trials at PSU this week - let's share any non-confidential information we learn.

Starocci up is pretty interesting both in freestyle and if he goes one more year in NCAA wrestling. Hope he has a long freestyle career like JB!

last years Penn v Columbia dual #24 Penn 25 | Columbia 9 125: #30 Ryan Miller (PENN) dec. #26 Nick Babin (COL), 4-3 (3-0) 133: #9 Michael Colaiocco (PENN) def. #26 Angelo Rini (COL), F, 2:23 (9-0) 141: #24 Matt Kazmir (COL) dec. Carmen Ferrante (PENN), 1-0 (9-3) 149: #11 Doug Zapf (PENN) dec. Danny Fongaro (COL), 5-1 (12-3) 157: #21 Cesar Alvan (COL) dec. #12 Anthony Artalona (PENN), 7-5 SV-1 (12-6) 165: #17 Joshua Ogunsanya (COL) dec. Lucas Revano (PENN), 3-1 SV-1 (12-9) 174: #17 Nick Incontrera (PENN) maj. dec. #26 Lennox Wolak (COL), 10-2 (16-9) 184: Maximus Hale (PENN) dec. Aaron Ayzerov (COL), 7-2 (19-9) 197: #33 Cole Urbas (PENN) dec. Jack Wehmeyer (COL), 4-2 (22-9) 285: #32 Ben Goldin (PENN) dec. Billy McChesney (COL), 6-0 (25-9)

Results from Penn v. Columiba this year 125 – Nick Babin (C) def. #29 Max Gallager (P), 4-0 DEC – Columbia leads 3-0 133 – #10 Michael Colaiocco (P) def. Yanni Vines (C), 19-4 TF – Penn leads 5-3 141 - #16 CJ Composto (P) def. Kai Owen (C), 9-3 DEC – Penn leads 8-3 149 –Andy Troczynski (P) def. Richard Fedalen (C), 11-2 MD – Penn leads 12-3 157 - #23 Lucas Revano (P) def. David Berkovich (C) 18 – 5 MD – Penn leads 16-3 165 – Kaya Sement (P) def. Kyle Mosher (C), 8-2 DEC – Penn leads 19-3 174 - #7 Nick Incontrera (P) def. #7 Lennox Wolak (C), 5-3 DEC – Penn leads 22-3 184 - #17 Maximus Hale (P) def. #19 Aaron Ayzerov (C), 9-4 DEC – Penn leads 25-3 197 – #24 Cole Urbas (P) def. #27 Jack Wehmeyer (C), 7-1 DEC – Penn leads 28-3 285 – John Stout (P) def. Billy McChesney (C), 10-6 DEC – Penn wins 31-3 125 match above was closer than the score might indicate.

Foca's volatility is unusual - is he ok from the concussion? Sometimes he does not seem like himself.

not too bad though and I would say better than average - and way better than almost all of the ESPN+ commentators in recent years. I really like Robles, JB, and Ken Chertow.

I like Pyles well enough and think he is pretty good at much of what he does - but ok may sometimes strain to create content. It just so nice to have so much content I am ok if sometimes it is thin in substance.

Hah! This board has had many pot shot posts at the program - there has been no skating. The measure of success at Penn is probably different than for B1G and similar scholarship wrestling programs and their fans. While aspiring to more NCAA success than achieved in recent years, qualifying 8 and 9 for NCAA's, winning Midlands, and regularly stomping Princeton in dual meets are their own highly valued competitive milestone achievements. I expect that even more important to the administration and alumni supporters as a measure of success for the program are achievements away from competition - including serving in the noble goals of the Beat the Streets program and providing those enriching opportunities to the athletes. Rightfully, these achievements and opportunities are highly valued and credited - even if not on this board and its critics.

Probably a typo and just a reference to public info that that the annual costs at Penn (and most similar private schools) is now an unsustainable amount of about $90k per year. Crazy expensive. Of course, the actual amount paid varies and the average/median is far lower w/ a high % of students getting some measure of need-based financial aid. Obviously, NIL may be at issue for some student athletes and NIL deals may have connections with specific schools and programs. I have no direct knowledge of any actual NIL deals. The calculus of a $90 k sticker price is a kind of market harvesting for the families with no financial need who can choose to pay full freight, try to negotiate (no idea if Penn does, have heard other private schools do on occasion), or find a better deal (some great state school programs out there). As to the issue of the value of a wharton degree, sure if a student wants a finance or other similar business career and go chase that life. But not everyone is interested in that or could stand it. My view is that there is value in other areas of study - the world needs doctors, research scientists, engineers, teachers, sales people, and hopefully a few artists and poets! Students can always circle back and get an MBA later if they so choose. I know one guy who got a wharton undergrad degree, MBA from another Ivy, and then went to medical school and had had a career as a physician.

very impressive - but a freestyle tech (10) is not quite the same as folkstyle and it seemed to be there was a little luck involved in these particular matches

always amusing to see trolling/high brow posts about academic superiority on a wrestling board!

I heard this too - not ncessarily impactul in the same way Kerk official return would be. Kasak could get to 141 or Davis and Nagoa slide up? BB return just gives more redshirt flexibility and PSU is one team that may not really benefit much from that in view of recruiting has been on fire (except for Hwt). I Mirasola the larger really big enough and good enough to be a top tem Hwt?

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Many wrestlers who can get athletic aid (often fractional portion of 9.9 NCAA scholarship limit spread across a roster of 25+ and many programs not fully funded w/ 9.9) at other schools may get more and lower net cost from grants and overall financial aid award. Admissions might be as big of a hurdle as economics than the lack of straight athletic aid for recruiting top wrestlers to elite universities. Of course, NIL $ can make quite a difference - but I have not seen any data on how much has been paid. The summer jobs, mentoring, and employment opportunities from elite schools also are part of the overall economic equation were there is an edge - and it can be a big edge. It is a well worn path from Ivy athletics to high paying jobs in NY & Northeast - maybe some to California too.

Just under 60,000 applicants for an incoming class of 2,420 - acceptance rate of 5.8%. Home addresses from 97 nations and 48 states. https://www.thedp.com/article/2024/03/penn-regular-decision-results-class-of-2028 But by all means do your own research as to how hard its been to get students interested in Penn!

I've never heard a bad word about him and think he has been much appreciated - do not think this is any knock on him.

thahnks for posting! Fun to watch that match! Reminds me of a few things. One, Chertow is one of the best announcers ever. Two, Valenti had one of the best mat returns, a long arm short arm that he often used to get a turk and get back points. It was usually more effective but Scott did well to use his height and that judo move to defend better than most. Might be fair to say that Matt's skills were more tuned to folkstyle than freestyle - luckily the PRTC is in that eccosystem and they have some solid freestyle coaches and wrestlers!