2017 Season Expectations

[fan4wrestling]

Re: 2017 Season Expectations

It seem like the program is going in the right direction. Record win streaks last year, five wrestlers making to NCAA's.

Projected Lineup:

125 - Gillette - was on the edge of being a NQ, I am sure it won't be much easier this year but hopefully being at 125 the whole year he will be well adjusted to the weight and make some strides.

133 - Gross - Round of 12 last year, seemed to wrestle a lot better second half of the season and has continued this off-season, he did look a little small at 141 against some opponents so 133 may be a better weight for him, it will be a challenging weight with several top wrestlers back but I think anything short of All-American would be disappointing.

141 - Andrade/Pohlmeyer - it looks like we may put out someone undersized at this weight if it is Pohlmeyer hopefully he gains some good experience for the future.

149 - A. Kocer - NQ last year, he had a solid year last year hopefully he can have a great senior year.

157 - Holler/Zilverberg/Peterson - assuming Zilverberg stays up at 165, I would pencil in Holler. A talented wrestler who has struggled to stay healthy in the past. It would be great to see Holler have a breakout season.

165 - Zilverberg/Holler/Peterson - started out the season really well last year after jumping up to 165. Was injured part way through the season, not sure if he was impacted the rest of the season. He moves well compared to other 165's, hopefully he has put on some muscle and stay healthy.

174 - D. Kocer - NQ last year, made some nice strides last year. Hopefully, he continues to develop as a wrestler, he seems pretty athletic but will need to develop to make the podium.

184 - Mueller/Ayers/Carlson - it seems like Mueller is the front-runner for the spot, I think Ayers is red-shirting. Mueller looked pretty athletic at the Dak last year, but still a little raw. Hopefully, he is working hard this off-season. It seems like he has some potential.

197 - Rotert - NQ last year, he should be ranked at the edge of the top 10 going into the season. I think for his season to be considered a success he will need to make the podium.

285 - Macki - battled hard against some good competition. Hopefully, he is developing some offense so he turn some those close losses in to victories.

Am I missing any potential starters?

Dual season:
Expectation: Beat NDSU and Wyoming, lose to top teams
Continued growth: Beat Iowa State or Oklahoma
Huge strides: Beat both Iowa State and Oklahoma or knock off another top 15 team

NCAA:
Expectation: 5 NCAA qualifiers
Continued growth: 1 All-american or 6 or 7 NQ's
Huge strides: 2 or 3 All-americans or 8 NQ's

I think the team should continue to be a solid dual team. In order to make strides at NCAA's, wrestlers will need to make the podium. I think there is a good chance Bono gets his first All-american at SDSU this year, if he get 2 or more that would be huge.

Looking back at expectations coming into the season, this season was a huge success. Picking up dual meet wins again Iowa State and Oklahoma was huge.

More importantly we performed well at NCAA's. Having an NCAA finalist with two more year of eligibility is huge for the exposure of the program and recruiting. Then having A. Kocer be on the podium as a senior is big, letting the team know with hard work they can be on the podium too. Before Rotert's injury, it seemed like he was wrestling the best of his career and had a very good chance to all-american.

Next year should be a great year for the jackrabbits. If everyone stays healthy, the team should improve as a tournament team having four returning NCAA's qualifiers. As a dual team, there are a few question marks with having to fill 125 and 149. Hopefully, we will see big strides in the younger guys as we will have a lot guys graduating next year.

[WestSideRabbit]

Re: 2017 Season Expectations

Looking back at expectations coming into the season, this season was a huge success. Picking up dual meet wins again Iowa State and Oklahoma was huge.

More importantly we performed well at NCAA's. Having an NCAA finalist with two more year of eligibility is huge for the exposure of the program and recruiting. Then having A. Kocer be on the podium as a senior is big, letting the team know with hard work they can be on the podium too. Before Rotert's injury, it seemed like he was wrestling the best of his career and had a very good chance to all-american.

Next year should be a great year for the jackrabbits. If everyone stays healthy, the team should improve as a tournament team having four returning NCAA's qualifiers. As a dual team, there are a few question marks with having to fill 125 and 149. Hopefully, we will see big strides in the younger guys as we will have a lot guys graduating next year.

We'll take our lumps at 125 and 149 with some younger inexperienced wrestlers, but by the end of the season they should be okay. They did GREAT wrestling at the other tournaments this winter. I would also expect great competition for spots at 141, and 157 with the number of wrestlers who red-shirted and who are incoming freshman in that weight range. We certainly have a bit of a log jam at those middle weights. I'm also interested to see how it shakes out between Ayers and Mueller next year at 184. Regardless, its amazing that we have are having this conversation considering that we struggled to field an entire line-up before Bono.