Cool, dude. How did Blaze do at NCAA's this year and why is that?
'26 Final X, 6/19, thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Round one results so far:
125 kg – Wyatt Hendrickson (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Air Force WCAP) vs. Mason Parris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Hendrickson d. Parris, 9-5
R2:
70 kg – Ridge Lovett (Post Falls, Idaho/Nebraska WTC/Training Mercury WC) vs. Zain Retherford (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Retherford d. Lovett, 2-1
R2:
79 kg – Levi Haines (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Chance Marsteller (Reading, Pa./New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Haines d. Marstellar, 6-1
R2:
74 kg – James Green (Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska WTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. David Carr (Ames, Iowa/Cyclone RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Green d. Carr, 6-3
R2:
97 kg – Kyle Snyder (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Stephen Buchanan (Coralville, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Snyder d. Buchanan, 5-2
R2:
61 kg – Marcus Blaze (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Jax Forrest (Johnstown, Pa./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Blaze d. Forrest, 2-2
R2:
57 kg – Luke Lilledahl (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Spencer Lee (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Lee d. Lilledahl, 7-1
R2:
125 kg – Wyatt Hendrickson (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Air Force WCAP) vs. Mason Parris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Hendrickson d. Parris, 9-5
R2:
70 kg – Ridge Lovett (Post Falls, Idaho/Nebraska WTC/Training Mercury WC) vs. Zain Retherford (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Retherford d. Lovett, 2-1
R2:
79 kg – Levi Haines (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Chance Marsteller (Reading, Pa./New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Haines d. Marstellar, 6-1
R2:
74 kg – James Green (Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska WTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. David Carr (Ames, Iowa/Cyclone RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Green d. Carr, 6-3
R2:
97 kg – Kyle Snyder (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Stephen Buchanan (Coralville, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Snyder d. Buchanan, 5-2
R2:
61 kg – Marcus Blaze (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Jax Forrest (Johnstown, Pa./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Blaze d. Forrest, 2-2
R2:
57 kg – Luke Lilledahl (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Spencer Lee (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Lee d. Lilledahl, 7-1
R2:
Go root for Okie State.
Marcus had 4 pins, 9 techs, and 7 majors in 25 wins. Comparing him to Lewan is beyond laughable.
He came in 4th as a Freshman because he lost to two other really good Freshman.
86 kilogram round one: Kyle Dake vs. Zahid Valencia
We are underway. Dake warned for passivity at 5:04. Pretty physical match early on. Valencia drops in on a single and Dake gets a chest wrap as Valencia keeps working the position but Dake ends up rolling out and gets a stalemate at 4:21. Dake is put on the clock quickly off the restart. Dake does not score. Valencia takes a 1-0 lead at 3:44. Stalemate at 3:31. Valencia shots but Dake fends it off. Valencia then warned for passivity. That's it for the first.
Valencia 1-0 over Dake after three minutes.
We are underway. Dake warned for passivity at 5:04. Pretty physical match early on. Valencia drops in on a single and Dake gets a chest wrap as Valencia keeps working the position but Dake ends up rolling out and gets a stalemate at 4:21. Dake is put on the clock quickly off the restart. Dake does not score. Valencia takes a 1-0 lead at 3:44. Stalemate at 3:31. Valencia shots but Dake fends it off. Valencia then warned for passivity. That's it for the first.
Valencia 1-0 over Dake after three minutes.
And he had the flu
86 kilogram round one: Kyle Dake vs. Zahid Valencia
We are underway. Dake warned for passivity at 5:04. Pretty physical match early on. Valencia drops in on a single and Dake gets a chest wrap as Valencia keeps working the position but Dake ends up rolling out and gets a stalemate at 4:21. Dake is put on the clock quickly off the restart. Dake does not score. Valencia takes a 1-0 lead at 3:44. Stalemate at 3:31. Valencia shots but Dake fends it off. Valencia then warned for passivity. That's it for the first.
Valencia 1-0 over Dake after three minutes.
BREAK ENDS
We're back underway. Valencia quickly drives forward and drops in on a shot and finishes it easily for a 3-0 lead. Stalemate at 2:34. Shot attempt for Dake but can't get anything going. Both wrestlers are trying to get something going but neither can. And now Valencia is going on the clock at 1:00 leading 3-0 but first there is blood time for Valencia.
We're now back to work. Valencia does not score. It's 3-1 in his favor at :30. Dake shoots and is driving forward with a body lock and he brings Valencia flying off the edge with control for a takedown to tie it at 3-3 with :11 left. Valencia corner is challenging this one. Upon review, it is only a step out for Dake. So now it's 3-2 Valencia. Ruling is that Dake stepped out before Valencia started falling. Dake is firing late here on the restart but cannot score.
Valencia d. Dake 3-2
We are underway. Dake warned for passivity at 5:04. Pretty physical match early on. Valencia drops in on a single and Dake gets a chest wrap as Valencia keeps working the position but Dake ends up rolling out and gets a stalemate at 4:21. Dake is put on the clock quickly off the restart. Dake does not score. Valencia takes a 1-0 lead at 3:44. Stalemate at 3:31. Valencia shots but Dake fends it off. Valencia then warned for passivity. That's it for the first.
Valencia 1-0 over Dake after three minutes.
BREAK ENDS
We're back underway. Valencia quickly drives forward and drops in on a shot and finishes it easily for a 3-0 lead. Stalemate at 2:34. Shot attempt for Dake but can't get anything going. Both wrestlers are trying to get something going but neither can. And now Valencia is going on the clock at 1:00 leading 3-0 but first there is blood time for Valencia.
We're now back to work. Valencia does not score. It's 3-1 in his favor at :30. Dake shoots and is driving forward with a body lock and he brings Valencia flying off the edge with control for a takedown to tie it at 3-3 with :11 left. Valencia corner is challenging this one. Upon review, it is only a step out for Dake. So now it's 3-2 Valencia. Ruling is that Dake stepped out before Valencia started falling. Dake is firing late here on the restart but cannot score.
Valencia d. Dake 3-2
Dake just can’t generate offense against Zahid
As soon as I say that he finds his best position and scores!
As soon as I say that he finds his best position and scores!
He finished 4th as a true freshman. That has what to do with freestyle. Your advice is play into Jax’s strengths with scrambling etc??? So if a football team has a great defense/ rushing attack and they play a team with a great passing attack. They should also throw the ball all over the field and tire the defense out just because….
Thanks for the suggestion. How about I instead do what I want which is love my team and yet unlike almost everyone here still look at things critically? How about that? I stand by the comparison. Appreciable=being defensive for a whole match and waiting til the last second to make a score happen in big matches. The comparison wouldn't be applicable if Blaze had multiple attacks and got shut down but that's not what happened. Ffs, he got back to back passivities and they even commented how unusual that is.
Not allowed to post scores until it is over.........
2-0 good guysAnd yet he won which is the point. I wish he would open a bit more because he has good attacks but against Jax that would be stupid. He wrestled that match perfectly from a tactical standpoint
sooooo many subjective and puzzling calls, once again demonstrating why folk is so superior to free.
I agree and would like to see him more active in big matches against Davino and Seidel. Jax is a different animal, and you have to wrestle him with a smart strategy.
However, that isn't what my argument is. You compared him to Lewan. Marcus had bonus points in 20 out of 25 of his matches in his Freshman season. Comparing that to Lewan is laughable, like I said before.
Round 1 is in the books
The first round is over at Final X. Penn State connections who have 1-0 leads in their series are Zain Retherford, Levi Haines, Kyle Snyder, and Marcus Blaze. Luke Lilledahl and Kyle Dake both trail their series 1-0 and must win their second round match to force a deciding third bout.Round 2 begins at 5 p.m. ET.
Blaze's win over Jax Forrest at 61 kilograms will be the talk of round one. The Penn State sophomore scored a step out point with 20 seconds left to tie the match at two and take the lead on criteria. He then fended off the Oklahoma State phenom from there.
Here are the full round one results for all eight Final X men's freestyle matches:
125 kg – Wyatt Hendrickson (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Air Force WCAP) vs. Mason Parris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Hendrickson d. Parris, 9-5
R2:
70 kg – Ridge Lovett (Post Falls, Idaho/Nebraska WTC/Training Mercury WC) vs. Zain Retherford (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Retherford d. Lovett, 2-1
R2:
79 kg – Levi Haines (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Chance Marsteller (Reading, Pa./New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Haines d. Marstellar, 6-1
R2:
74 kg – James Green (Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska WTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. David Carr (Ames, Iowa/Cyclone RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Green d. Carr, 6-3
R2:
97 kg – Kyle Snyder (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Stephen Buchanan (Coralville, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Snyder d. Buchanan, 5-2
R2:
61 kg – Marcus Blaze (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Jax Forrest (Johnstown, Pa./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Blaze d. Forrest, 2-2
R2:
57 kg – Luke Lilledahl (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Spencer Lee (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Lee d. Lilledahl, 7-1
R2:
86 kg – Zahid Valencia (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Kyle Dake (Port Matilda, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
R1: Valencia d. Dake 3-2
R2:
Talk to you all in 55 minutes. If you do not want to scroll the thread for full play by play, abbreviated bout recaps for all eight first round matches are at this link (some scrolling required there as well):
t.co
Live updates: Complete Final X results, match scores, as Penn State wrestlers vie for a spot on Team USA
Penn State wrestlers will be on the mat today at Final X with hopes of earning a spot on Team USA for the 2026 Senior World Championships.
To pile on further because you deserve it, Blaze had a 71% bonus rate as a true freshman. Zain had a 40% bonus rate as a true freshman. Lewan's highest bonus was 18% his last season. You should reevaluate your comparisons.
My memory sucks but I don't recall saying he should play into Jax's strengths. What used to set PSU apart was Nolf-style aggression. Your football analogy sucks. It would be more like intentionally throwing it out of bounds on 3rd and long until the final 2 minute of the game.
You compared a guy who had a 71% bonus rate as a true Freshman to a guy who had an 11% bonus rate over his entire career. You might want to sit this one out.
No that isn't the point. The point is when you do that there is inherent risk in losing also in the last couple seconds of the match.
Newly created account and that’s what you come to post. Sure you’re a PSU fan. lol
Is there a way to block a gif so you don’t see it any time it is posted, no matter who posts it?
Not sure why we’re letting a troll take over the thread after a great round. I think Marcus should do what he does best. PSU’s real strength is that they do this better than everyone else: they don’t force guys to be someone they aren’t. Even JB said Marcus had most impressive win of the round. It was a masterclass.
I think Dake wins round two.
I think Dake wins round two.
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Clearly the caliber of wrestlers is monumental between the two. The comparison comes from feeling the exact same way when I watch them...which why aren't they doing anything to give them the best chance to win which will always be
I've been here many times over the years but eventually tire of the group-think and need to take a break.
Yes, your memory sucks. You may want to check how many bonus points Penn State got in the last tournament.
Give it a rest. You were being hyperbolic to a fault.
Blaze doesn’t open up as much as a lot of guys. But he’s active in the hand fight defensively) and has a hell of a sprint.