Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

255 lbs....the wrestling background should help too.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09022/943373-364.stm

Freaking LOVE wrestlers on the DL. That wrestling background gives a lot of good technique for using their hands, a very underrated part of DL play. Size and speed on the DL are great, but if you know how to use your hands you can overcome being a step slow or a touch undersized.

Sounds like Clawson is putting together a decent first class.

Word from western PA is that this young man is potentially a very good player. Quite young for his grade with room to grow. Very athletic as noted in other posts re: wrestling. Tremendous student in the classroom who attracted significant attention later in this recruiting season. But he turned down chances for official visits elsewhere as he verbaled to BG.

One of his HS's claim to fame is its connection to Bill Cowher I believe.

Go Falcons!

falconfan1 wrote:Word from western PA is that this young man is potentially a very good player. Quite young for his grade with room to grow. Very athletic as noted in other posts re: wrestling. Tremendous student in the classroom who attracted significant attention later in this recruiting season. But he turned down chances for official visits elsewhere as he verbaled to BG.

One of his HS's claim to fame is its connection to Bill Cowher I believe.

Go Falcons!

Cowher did go to school there. I agree about wrestlers for the D line. Also had to be solid that BG beat Pitt.

I wrestled from the time I was in diapers (literally) through my senior year of high school, and you guys are absolutely right about the benefits of having a wrestler on your defensive line. To excel in wrestling, particularly at the upper weights, and he has, one must have quick hands, a strong base, and a powerful lower frame to gain leverage over an opponent. I remember Tressel saying he likes to recruit wrestlers to play football for these very reasons. I'll be sure to follow this kid's path to the Pennsylvania state tournament. It's widely accepted that PA and Ohio are the top two wrestling states in the country, so this kid is probably legit.

Also, I am guessing this kid has a strong work ethic. Nothing is more grueling than a two-hour wrestling practice, provided the coach knows what he's doing (mine demanded a lot, but that's how we wanted it). Two-a-days in football are no day at the beach, but wrestling practices are just brutal, especially when your daily energy supply consists of a couple of chicken breasts.

If any of you have sons possibly interested in wrestling, please consider encouraging them to do it. It's a fantastic, incredibly fulfilling sport that truly teaches discipline and hard work. And don't let the weight cutting scare you. If the kid doesn't want to do it, he won't have to.

Ryan Autullo wrote: It's widely accepted that PA and Ohio are the top two wrestling states in the country, so this kid is probably legit.

Are you on crack??? Minnesota and Oklahoma are by far the most recognized as the best for wrestling. Then after those two it is Oregon and New York. Ohio and PA have never come up in the wrestling discussions as far as a talent pool.

moneymaker02 wrote:

Ryan Autullo wrote: It's widely accepted that PA and Ohio are the top two wrestling states in the country, so this kid is probably legit.

Are you on crack??? Minnesota and Oklahoma are by far the most recognized as the best for wrestling. Then after those two it is Oregon and New York. Ohio and PA have never come up in the wrestling discussions as far as a talent pool.

You've been drinking at 3 p.m. on a Sunday. Minnesota and Oregon? Seriously, you're gonna have to do better than that.

I ripped this from a wrestling messageboard. It shows that at last year's NCAA championships, there were more Ohio natives earning All-American honors than any other state. PA was second. Oregon is not listed.

OH - 9 All-Americans and 5 finalists
PA - 8 All-Americans and 3 finalists
Mich - 8 All-Americans and 3 finalists
NJ - 7 All-Americans and 0 finalists
Ill - 6 All-Americans and 2 finalists
Iw - 6 All-Americans and 1 finalist
Cal - 5 All-Americans and 2 finalists
NY - 4 All-Americans and 0 finalists
MN 3 All-Americans and 1 finalist
TN 3 All-Americans and 1 finalist
WI 3 All-Americans and 0 finalists
ID, Neb, MD, UT - 2
Ind, FL, OK, Mass, KS, AZ, Mont, Mizu, NC, VA - 1

I could provide a bunch of other data (over several years) to bolster my argument, but I gotta get back to smoking my crack pipe.

Ryan Autullo wrote:

moneymaker02 wrote:

Ryan Autullo wrote: It's widely accepted that PA and Ohio are the top two wrestling states in the country, so this kid is probably legit.

Are you on crack??? Minnesota and Oklahoma are by far the most recognized as the best for wrestling. Then after those two it is Oregon and New York. Ohio and PA have never come up in the wrestling discussions as far as a talent pool.

You've been drinking at 3 p.m. on a Sunday. Minnesota and Oregon? Seriously, you're gonna have to do better than that.

I ripped this from a wrestling messageboard. It shows that at last year's NCAA championships, there were more Ohio natives earning All-American honors than any other state. PA was second. Oregon is not listed.

OH - 9 All-Americans and 5 finalists
PA - 8 All-Americans and 3 finalists
Mich - 8 All-Americans and 3 finalists
NJ - 7 All-Americans and 0 finalists
Ill - 6 All-Americans and 2 finalists
Iw - 6 All-Americans and 1 finalist
Cal - 5 All-Americans and 2 finalists
NY - 4 All-Americans and 0 finalists
MN 3 All-Americans and 1 finalist
TN 3 All-Americans and 1 finalist
WI 3 All-Americans and 0 finalists
ID, Neb, MD, UT - 2
Ind, FL, OK, Mass, KS, AZ, Mont, Mizu, NC, VA - 1

I could provide a bunch of other data (over several years) to bolster my argument, but I gotta get back to smoking my crack pipe.

Nice one Ryan. Arguments aside , this kid looks like he could be a beast for us in the future.

moneymaker02 wrote:

Ryan Autullo wrote: It's widely accepted that PA and Ohio are the top two wrestling states in the country, so this kid is probably legit.

Are you on crack??? Minnesota and Oklahoma are by far the most recognized as the best for wrestling. Then after those two it is Oregon and New York. Ohio and PA have never come up in the wrestling discussions as far as a talent pool.

I think you are thinking of college programs. Ohio has been a force in HS wrestling for along time

Post on our board about the huge talents in Ohio wrestling- St. Ed's is traditionally one of the top or THE top program in the country.

I remember the wrestlers in HS talking about how tough X-country was because we ran 6 or 8 miles per practice. They would tell us how tough we were after finishing their grueling two hour workout followed by a half hour of doing pushups and situps in the school boiler-room while wearing plastic suits. NOBODY is better conditioned than wrestlers. We let them think we were tough though.

I haven't been in St. Ed's gym since the early 90's but the ceiling use to be covered in wrestling national and state championship banners. They have only added 15 or so state championships since then.

Ryan Autullo wrote:

moneymaker02 wrote:

Ryan Autullo wrote: It's widely accepted that PA and Ohio are the top two wrestling states in the country, so this kid is probably legit.

Are you on crack??? Minnesota and Oklahoma are by far the most recognized as the best for wrestling. Then after those two it is Oregon and New York. Ohio and PA have never come up in the wrestling discussions as far as a talent pool.

You've been drinking at 3 p.m. on a Sunday. Minnesota and Oregon? Seriously, you're gonna have to do better than that.

I ripped this from a wrestling messageboard. It shows that at last year's NCAA championships, there were more Ohio natives earning All-American honors than any other state. PA was second. Oregon is not listed.

OH - 9 All-Americans and 5 finalists
PA - 8 All-Americans and 3 finalists
Mich - 8 All-Americans and 3 finalists
NJ - 7 All-Americans and 0 finalists
Ill - 6 All-Americans and 2 finalists
Iw - 6 All-Americans and 1 finalist
Cal - 5 All-Americans and 2 finalists
NY - 4 All-Americans and 0 finalists
MN 3 All-Americans and 1 finalist
TN 3 All-Americans and 1 finalist
WI 3 All-Americans and 0 finalists
ID, Neb, MD, UT - 2
Ind, FL, OK, Mass, KS, AZ, Mont, Mizu, NC, VA - 1

I could provide a bunch of other data (over several years) to bolster my argument, but I gotta get back to smoking my crack pipe.

Oof. That's going to leave some visible scarring.

As far as I can tell, it is unclear whether this kid committed during the Brandon regime or since then. If I recall, BG had 21 commitments at the time of Brandon's firing. Rivals/Scout only showed 15 or so. Given that, there were several verbals that we didn't know about, and this kid could be one of them.

Ryan Autullo wrote:I wrestled from the time I was in diapers (literally) through my senior year of high school, and you guys are absolutely right about the benefits of having a wrestler on your defensive line. To excel in wrestling, particularly at the upper weights, and he has, one must have quick hands, a strong base, and a powerful lower frame to gain leverage over an opponent. I remember Tressel saying he likes to recruit wrestlers to play football for these very reasons. I'll be sure to follow this kid's path to the Pennsylvania state tournament. It's widely accepted that PA and Ohio are the top two wrestling states in the country, so this kid is probably legit.

Also, I am guessing this kid has a strong work ethic. Nothing is more grueling than a two-hour wrestling practice, provided the coach knows what he's doing (mine demanded a lot, but that's how we wanted it). Two-a-days in football are no day at the beach, but wrestling practices are just brutal, especially when your daily energy supply consists of a couple of chicken breasts.

If any of you have sons possibly interested in wrestling, please consider encouraging them to do it. It's a fantastic, incredibly fulfilling sport that truly teaches discipline and hard work. And don't let the weight cutting scare you. If the kid doesn't want to do it, he won't have to.

And you wear singlets and mount eachother

moneymaker02 wrote:

Ryan Autullo wrote: It's widely accepted that PA and Ohio are the top two wrestling states in the country, so this kid is probably legit.

Are you on crack??? Minnesota and Oklahoma are by far the most recognized as the best for wrestling. Then after those two it is Oregon and New York. Ohio and PA have never come up in the wrestling discussions as far as a talent pool.

You have serious state confusion issues. Are you sure North Carolina isn't a wrestling hotbed?