Most Overrated Wrestler
- Thread starter The Pitchfork Rebel
- Start date
Not really. Most People did not even follow recruiting long before Cael.
Football did not even rank recruits until after 2000.
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No and no. AJ won a title as a freshman which puts him ahead of everyone who never won. Desanto didn't have that much hype to begin with. He went to Drexel.
I acknowledged that he won a title as a freshman in my original post, but his NCAA finishes have objectively worsened while his hype and his antics have only grown. All the while he’s been at five different schools (not including HS), got kicked off two teams, denied admission to one school, alienated many teammates, been arrested, and lost to multiple wrestlers he should have beaten.
As for Desanto, he did come in with mountains of hype. He was 188-7 in HS and a 3x AAA PA placer. He beat Spencer by god Lee to prevent him from a fourth state championship when Spencer was still seen as several rungs above everyone in that field. His first college match was headline news on Flo for crying out loud. Again, he’s arguably most remembered for trying to injure Stevan Micic, showboating in the Nebraska dual, and multiple other instances of dirty tactics. The way he’s talked about, however, would lead you to believe he’s a multiple time NC. In reality, he’s a 3x AA who never made the national finals. To put it simply, he’s a Bo Bassett style wrestler who didn’t adjust his game once people adjusted to him. Very good all things considered? Yes. An elite wrestler who beat people way better than him? No.
His finishes worsened after a near fatal car wreck, two years off and he moved up to 285. He still has a title which is one more than all the Nevills and Altons combined.
All of those circumstances were his own doing. He became persona non grata due to his own choices. You could argue the Nevills and Altons were overrated, but that doesn’t absolve Ferrari’s finishes getting worse and his performance declining. With the amount of talent he has, he should be beating the Feldman’s, Mirasola’s, and Keuter’s of the world, but he isn’t despite routinely sitting high in rankings.
He lost to Feldman twice and narrowly beat Mirasola in UTB in the PSU/Nebby dual. Keuter was a 5-1 decision win at B1G then a “Med FFT” at NCAAs for 5/6th. If he’s as dominant and/or good as you’re portraying him, he should smoke those guys considering they’ve all beaten each other otherwise. The point still remains, he underperforms against guys who he should be beating soundly. No amount of self induced issues can bandage that fact.
He has a national championship. One less than David Taylor and he is still wrestling.
Persona non grata + a championship >> anyone without a championship no matter how you spin it.
Your comparison of Ferrari to DT is 1) a reach and 2) laughable. DT was a 4x finalist and 2x champ. Ferrari has gone 1, 3, 6 in five years. I’m no mathematician or data analyst for that matter, but that’s a downward trajectory for a former top recruit if I’ve ever seen one.
Moreover, Ferrari will be very lucky to get another year. Let alone two.
Once again, my point remains: Ferrari is, objectively speaking, overrated.
DeSanto was #42 on the Big Board before beating Lee and #17 after. He was a 1x state champ and never made a cadet team. He was a solid recruit but typically recruits with mountains of hype don’t go to Drexel.
I can admit my phrasing was hyperbole given the context, but it didn’t take much to see he wouldn’t be at Drexel long given his style and potential. In my view it was only after he transferred to Iowa that the hype train went into overdrive.
IMO DeSanto was underrated. He beat NCAA champs and finalists: Micic, Mueller, Lizak, Cruiseliner Nick, RBY, Gomez, Gross, Lovett, Byrd. Some of them multiple times. He just couldn't get past RBY and Fix at NCAAs.
Ford Focus OTOH, clearly overrated. Deserved #1 overall recruit in his class, Cadet World medalist. Won as a true freshman to his credit, and then regressed from year to year, and not just in his NCAA placement. He objectively regressed relative to his competitors -- his results got worse from year to year against Buchanan, Novak, and Bastida at least. College wrestling adjusted to him, and he never re-adjusted. But unlike his development, his hype never stalled.
Max Murin was a pretty high recrudit #44 overall and #10 in Pa that finished blood round four years and finally AAed in the free year. Not really an under performance I guess but I personally was hoping/thought he'd do better.
BTW: Overrated -- the 2020 HS class.
Complete list of national finalists:
- O'Toole (3-1-1-3-2)
- Ford Focus (1-3-6)
- Bartlett (3-2-3)
- Plott (6-6-2-4)
All of them made the finals before their SR years. O'Toole was the only one to repeat as a finalist.
McNeil, Kennedy, and Elam are the only others to place Top 4.
Complete list of national finalists:
- O'Toole (3-1-1-3-2)
- Ford Focus (1-3-6)
- Bartlett (3-2-3)
- Plott (6-6-2-4)
All of them made the finals before their SR years. O'Toole was the only one to repeat as a finalist.
McNeil, Kennedy, and Elam are the only others to place Top 4.
Football recruiting rankings have been around since the late 70's.