Another year of no WVU All Americans

[aacoach61]

Very disappointing. I have a lot of faith in Coach Flynn, but it appears the program he inherited was much weaker than most of us realized. I mean, Lock Haven had two NCAA D1 All Americans this year...

We need to focus recruiting on the WPIAL and the state of Pennsylvania. There are not enough of those PIAA kids on the WVU roster for some reason. Pennsylvania wrote the book on high school wrestling. We need to take advantage of our geographical location bordering PA and get the kids Cael doesn’t sign.

[csmith11]

following their season i thought the team was moving in the right direction. wvu had 5 wrestlers win a match at ncaa. when was the last time that happened? he has some good recruits coming in and has alot of young kids on the team. i think in about 5 years he will have us consistently in the top 20. which will be alot better than what we have been since zeke jones left wvu.

[lefty]

They might want to look at the all Americans from the d2 program at wheeling Jesuit. The could use them.

[RealGreco]

Flynn is a very good coach from what my friends in Vista (Flynn’s hometown) are telling me ... we will see. The name of the game is recruiting and I disagree with just recruiting from PA and negative! They did not write the book on wrestling! Are they strong .. yes .. but what about Ohio? NJ? Oklahoma is one of the pioneers in wrestling if any! WVU will have to start looking all over the NATION! Looking forward to seeing them do better!

[dunbar76]

With Flynn's record, he should be able to recruit some of the Cael recruited kids. No doubt in my mind Flynn is improving the program.

[Bearhugger]

Many good points made here.

1. 2019: WVU qualified half their team for the NCAAs. How many did they qualify in 2018?

2. 2019: Of the five WVU qualifiers, how many won a match at the NCAA? In 2018, how many qualifiers won a match?

3. 2019: How many starters were also starters for WVU in 2018?

4. What happened to the 2018 starters that didn't start/wrestle in 2019?

5. 2019: How did WVU finish in the Big 12? 2018: How did WVU finish?

In addition, the word on the street is at least three team members were suspended/dismissed for various reasons. That is three wrestlers from the previous season's team that left.

[russling]

At the NCAA championships in Pittsburgh I met with several WVU wrestling alumni (few were past AAs) at a party. Everyone was in agreement regarding Flynn being capable of turning the team around. They also liked the current recruits coming in.

[matthewbaron]

I believed in this coach, however, it seems the program he inherited was much weaker than many of us realized.

[csmith11]

the people saying the program is worst than you realize must not have been following the team over the past years. he made strides all year long and it was obvious the kids were improving. last years team had 3 qualifiers in sr jake smith fr Matthew Schmitt and transfer zeke moisey. so he took over a team that returned one qualifier and turned it into having 5 qualifiers that all won a match. if im right there is only 2 seniors on the team and only one was a qualifier. so along with almost everyone coming back he also gains a few wv natives that all-american at nhsca along with one of the top hwts in the country. Im waiting to see what his next few recruiting classes look like.

WVU fans need to quit having unrealistic expectations like thinking the football team should be right with alabama and thinking the wrestling team should be right there with penn state.

[Bearhugger]

the people saying the program is worst than you realize must not have been following the team over the past years. he made strides all year long and it was obvious the kids were improving. last years team had 3 qualifiers in sr jake smith fr Matthew Schmitt and transfer zeke moisey. so he took over a team that returned one qualifier and turned it into having 5 qualifiers that all won a match. if im right there is only 2 seniors on the team and only one was a qualifier. so along with almost everyone coming back he also gains a few wv natives that all-american at nhsca along with one of the top hwts in the country. Im waiting to see what his next few recruiting classes look like.

WVU fans need to quit having unrealistic expectations like thinking the football team should be right with alabama and thinking the wrestling team should be right there with penn state.

Well said!!

[Coachcookie]

Caleb Dowling from Saint Joseph's Catholic academy in PA, has just committed to WVU.
He is a 3x PA state placer entering his Senior year 4th 2nd and 3rd. I expect him to be 149/157 in College. ( 3x saz's champ)

I predict 3-4x AA.

[aacoach61]

Is it an “unrealistic expectation” that a Big 12 wrestling program that has outstanding facilities and borders the State of Pennsylvania have at least one or more All Americans EVERY year? Man, I hope not.

This only happens when you sign PA high school state champions and not just state qualifiers. We have the exact same amount of D-1 scholarships to divide up as does Penn State, Oklahoma State and Ohio State. But our recruiting has been underwhelming.

So yeah, the expectations of WVU wrestling fans should be that we demand and expect excellence every single year, and multiple All Americans, not just NCAA qualifiers.

[csmith11]

Your right we have the same amount of scholarships but you can’t compare wvu to the top 3 schools. I agree 1-2 aa a year would be a good goal for wvu. Which would put us closer to teams like nc state who finished 17th with 1 aa. lock haven finished 18th with 2 aa. Wisconsin finished 21st with 2 aa. .......................................................................... Flynn got hired late which makes it hard to recruit his first year. since most good kids already have their list of schools narrowed down. Flynn is doing great things and changes don’t happen over night............................................ To me it is unrealistic to even compare wvu to osu,penn state, and ok st when wvu has never been on par with them.

[Studcradle]

Caleb Dowling from Saint Joseph's Catholic academy in PA, has just committed to WVU.
He is a 3x PA state placer entering his Senior year 4th 2nd and 3rd. I expect him to be 149/157 in College. ( 3x saz's champ)

I predict 3-4x AA.

WVU got a good one by signing Caleb. 3-4x AA would be super. He would have an entire state cheering him on every March. If Cookie is right and Caleb achieves these kinds of accomplishments then some other wv high school wrestlers are destined for great college careers too

Caleb beat Liam Lusher by 2 at WSAZ
John Best beat Caleb at Powerade
Brayden Roberts beat John Best and Cabanillas both of whom beat Caleb at Powerade.

WVU will have Caleb and Liam and a guy named Peyton Hall. If we get Best and Roberts Coach Flynn could sell tickets to wrestle offs.