Jax would solidify the team greatly. Could possibly be the difference in 5th place and 2nd place.
I actually beat that up some.
With current rankings, we are projected to finish in 5th with 70.5 points.
I gave us some bonus activity and placed us better in a few spots that moved us up to 86 and still in 5th.
Troy - moved from 7th to 3rd.
RR - added 2 points
Vega - left it alone
49 - added 1.5 due to wildcard status
57 - added 1 for bonus
65 - added 1 for bonus
74 - added .5 for placement
84 - I’m not sure where to put him. So I homered in .5
97 - .5 because I’m a homer (10, but I’ve got him as an AA.
285 - plus 7…yes, I think he does significantly better than 8th with no bonus points.
That brings us to 86 points, which is barely edging out ISU for 4th.
So here is the rub…I truly believe RR can at least BR. Even with that, Troy will do some heavy lifting as well as Robi and Dee. If either of the 3 hiccup, it’s a significant point drop.
So, IF, IF we throw Jax in there. We add 10-12 points in difference if RR underperforms. That point total still leaves us a few points behind Iowa for 3rd.
*caveat* Iowa has begun a history of poor performances from too many guys in March. I don’t think their 106 point total comes to fruition. So yes, Jax would push us into 3rd (if RR seems to need more time.)
*caveat2* Ohio State is on fire right now. Can that hold up? I think so? They’ve also underperformed in recent tourneys, but they look different this year. I don’t see them sending 5 or 6 guys to the finals. But I also think Paddy performs better than his current ranking and I think Geog does noticeably better than 0 points. The most I can find to take away from them is huge, around 15 points. But really, it’s probably more like 8-10 points…which isn’t enough for us to catch them.
*caveat3* I’m a big fan of throwing out the best you can. In a perfect storm, we can, or another team can unseat PSU. They have some questions at 3 weights and upsets/untimely losses happen. So we can sneak one if Troy, Jax, Vega, Robi and Dee makes the finals, while we Wrestle above current production at 49, 84, 97 and Doucet gets bonus to the semis and upsets a guy to make it to the Finals…that happens, we can return 35 to Stillwater. Seems pipe dream’ish, but that’s all possible.
*caveat4* We become the first program in history to send 10 to the finals and bring home 35 with a 200+ point tourney!