I didn’t end up going, however, the times I did attend were great.
I always love hearing of the meet ups and experiences. Highs and lows. Thanks.
I always love hearing of the meet ups and experiences. Highs and lows. Thanks.
Stories from Nationals
- Thread starter Pointingdogsrule
- Start date
@dicemen99 - any post-nationals thoughts this year? Last year your post was pretty awesome.
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Sitting in the terminal waiting for my last flight to get home, I figured it would be a good time for reflection. My son and I made the trip from Arkansas to Cleveland for our 3rd Nationals. Cleveland was a great host city. Everything was walkable, food options were plenty, got lunch with @amattaro and the weather was reasonably better than expected.
The wrestling, like usual, didn't disappoint! For me, this is the greatest 3 days of the year! Some of the moments that will stick with me was the excitement of our guys winning Nationals, Gabe Arnold and Christian Carroll's reaction to earing All-American, and being on the floor for the Finals. In the first 5 sessions, I was fortunate to sit by a PSU fan who was bearing retirement after 31 years in the military. If you're on here, congratulations again! I also had the displeasure of having an old anOSU dude in pajama pants with long stringy hair Sitting behind me in the semis. In the Blaze/Davino match, he started yelling obscenities for probably 5 straight minutes. I didn't care about that so much as the guy spit on us about every other word. If THAT guy is in here, F that guy!
The Finals were awesome! I feel terrible for SVN and Rocco, but with 4 Champs and a new scoring record, there was definitely some silver linings! Sat close enough to JB and Rock that we could actually hear some of their commentary. Met Ono, Nick Lee, Messenbrink, Luke, and others after the Finals. Shook hands with the majority of the starters and congratulated them on an awesome season. I could probably go on and on. It was an incredible time amd I can't wait til St. Louis. It'll be a much shorter travel!
The wrestling, like usual, didn't disappoint! For me, this is the greatest 3 days of the year! Some of the moments that will stick with me was the excitement of our guys winning Nationals, Gabe Arnold and Christian Carroll's reaction to earing All-American, and being on the floor for the Finals. In the first 5 sessions, I was fortunate to sit by a PSU fan who was bearing retirement after 31 years in the military. If you're on here, congratulations again! I also had the displeasure of having an old anOSU dude in pajama pants with long stringy hair Sitting behind me in the semis. In the Blaze/Davino match, he started yelling obscenities for probably 5 straight minutes. I didn't care about that so much as the guy spit on us about every other word. If THAT guy is in here, F that guy!
The Finals were awesome! I feel terrible for SVN and Rocco, but with 4 Champs and a new scoring record, there was definitely some silver linings! Sat close enough to JB and Rock that we could actually hear some of their commentary. Met Ono, Nick Lee, Messenbrink, Luke, and others after the Finals. Shook hands with the majority of the starters and congratulated them on an awesome season. I could probably go on and on. It was an incredible time amd I can't wait til St. Louis. It'll be a much shorter travel!
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It was an amazing event. Lots of Penn St’ers Fans from all schools seem to get along. Iowa by far most obnoxious and hyper-jealous of Penn State, but if you just let them blither and dreambuild, they can be OK. CLE - good host city.
Spoke to KD, PJ’s youth coach, Shakur Rasheed, Masanoske Ono, Yanni D - really great people w/ good interests at heart. Saw the entire team going into hotel before Fri eve sessions- focused. The wrestling was incredible; tournament was very organized. Need to work on speed of reviews. Big talk was the hose job on PJ Duke on both the takedown and stopping him from completing the control he had - was really, really bad reff’ing and unfortunate.
A couple of anecdotes from the PSWC post finals social.
- The only starters I didn't see at the social were Blaze and Rocco. People can correct me if I'm wrong.
- Messenbrink in person off the mat is very similar to on the mat and likes to move around and can't sit still too long.
- Cael made a reference that everybody cheered in that he said, we are the only team whose wrestlers move forward at the whistle. I got the sense he was not a fan of some of the wrestling in the tournament. He also made a snide remark about the reff'ing, but can't remember the reference.
- All the wrestlers were gracious when talking to them. SVN even stood in the lobby when most people were leaving to shake hands. Such a class guy.
- Levi spoke for his team and mostly thank everyone for their support and seemed to indicate his time at Penn State was not over.
- The only starters I didn't see at the social were Blaze and Rocco. People can correct me if I'm wrong.
- Messenbrink in person off the mat is very similar to on the mat and likes to move around and can't sit still too long.
- Cael made a reference that everybody cheered in that he said, we are the only team whose wrestlers move forward at the whistle. I got the sense he was not a fan of some of the wrestling in the tournament. He also made a snide remark about the reff'ing, but can't remember the reference.
- All the wrestlers were gracious when talking to them. SVN even stood in the lobby when most people were leaving to shake hands. Such a class guy.
- Levi spoke for his team and mostly thank everyone for their support and seemed to indicate his time at Penn State was not over.
PSU fans weren't very vocal. oSu and Neb were and OSU dressed for the occasion and mostly sat together. It was noticeable.
AJ spent considerable time with different kids when everything was over. It stood out.
Didn't see anyone turn down a pic or autograph request and the wrestlers certainly aren't hard to find. They wander and just sit in the stands...it was awesome.
Finally, Silas Alfred's Mom.is smoke. At least I think it was her.
AJ spent considerable time with different kids when everything was over. It stood out.
Didn't see anyone turn down a pic or autograph request and the wrestlers certainly aren't hard to find. They wander and just sit in the stands...it was awesome.
Finally, Silas Alfred's Mom.is smoke. At least I think it was her.
I’ve got nothing for you good or bad this year, right now. All quiet, which is probably good. There were a couple of things bubbling last year.
Although I will say that I spent more time with my Brown crew this year than with my PSU guys, so I may just not have heard anything because I wasn’t talking PSU as much as I was talking Brown wrestling.
If you want my thoughts on Brown, I’ll be happy to provide them.
I will say though, it was pretty satisfying to see the tOSU fans with as much vitriol towards us as our football board seem to have for them in football. We had a bunch of tOSU guys in our section and they were pretty insane in how much they hated PSU.
A little more subdued but even the large contingent of Penn supporters we were in (WBIN tickets) were pretty anti-PSU. It is clear that we have reached evil empire status and Iowa is now a program that people are fairly sympathetic towards. Those shirts just reek of desperation to me.
A little more subdued but even the large contingent of Penn supporters we were in (WBIN tickets) were pretty anti-PSU. It is clear that we have reached evil empire status and Iowa is now a program that people are fairly sympathetic towards. Those shirts just reek of desperation to me.
What is Brown wrestling? Is that a UPS sponsored team?
Penn hates PSU in everything, and has for decades. Even basketball for crying out loud, as if PSU hoops has been something worth hating. Serious little brother vibes.
Iowa sympathy is pretty funny though.
Absolutely, share.I’ve got nothing for you good or bad this year, right now. All quiet, which is probably good. There were a couple of things bubbling last year.
Although I will say that I spent more time with my Brown crew this year than with my PSU guys, so I may just not have heard anything because I wasn’t talking PSU as much as I was talking Brown wrestling.
If you want my thoughts on Brown, I’ll be happy to provide them.
lotta homeless in CLE; one morning there were more ppl sleeping on the RTA than riders... 