Desmond is another kid likely negatively impacted this year. He was the presumed starter at 141, with Ono doing his stint at 133. I think it's pretty reasonable to assume Blaze (or Ono) now beats Desmond for the 141 spot this year,
This also means instead of redshirting while staying close to 133 weight wise for the following year, Blaze may have to gain good weight for 141, which might make it pretty challenging to get back to 133 the following, so Luke probably moves up in two years. Maybe he would have anyway.
Could Ono target 141 instead now, and Blaze goes again at 133? Ono made the most sense at 133 before 5 for 5, but after, maybe not. What a mess.
Back to Desmond, his only path might be to burn a year this year, and grow into a 149 to replace SVN, and only get 3 years. If he doesn't wrestle this year, portal or not, that is what he is stuck with everywhere.
Maybe Cael can pull his Zen magic and get complete hammers like PJ, Marcus, and James to be satisfied with wrestling only 4 years. That's a tough ask, but it's the path that keeps team harmony somewhat intact. Who knows, if Cael were to say , 'we sit all kids 1 year no matter what', maybe that would work, but then any injury lurks like goblin waiting to knock a kid down to a 3 year career.
There is no doubt the OSU, tOSU, VT, Iowa vultures will be circling the portal next cycle with a keen eye on our squad. Wouldn't it suck, if some day in the future we lose a team championship by a point or two and the team that beats us had a few of our cast offs to fill gaps on their roster. Kids that only left because of the negative impact of 5 for 5. Indirectly our recruiting becomes a crutch for other teams. I expect not as much, but from time to time it will work in the other direction.
Sorry, 5 for 4 is much better.
