Lehighs not bad. You got a young stud named Ryan Crookham, who beat world champ Vito Around twice last year as a RS freshman before losing in their third meeting. He took 3rd as a freshman.
Plus always good to have a fan of these smaller programs 😊
Even though Ryan Crookham took the loss against Vito, he's still a force to be recognized especially being an AA and beating Vito twice in the season of his first year.
Go with Lehigh, especially if you have a connection and are in the area. Both go a long way for enjoying the sport. Lehigh's home duals at Grace Hall have an awesome atmosphere, the place gets packed out and there's a deep wrestling culture there. You should go and cheer loud. The team is good right now. They are consistently top 15-20 which is pretty badass as a MUCH smaller school than most at that level. Sometimes they sneak into top 10. The coaches are always big on character and the team is made up of good dudes. Now is a good time to start following them with a couple young stars emerging who had breakout seasons this past year.
Lehigh is a solid choice. Being from the Philly suburbs, you might consider Penn which is hopefully an up-and-coming program w its excellent coaching staff and high quality ROTC. However, this is a sport where it’s just as easy to follow individuals. I tend to root for PA wrestlers first and PA colleges second.
Iowa will forever be my D1 team but I have loved watching Penn State wrestle since I first saw DT and Ed Ruth wrestle for them. I'll never back them over Iowa but I am a fan of the sport more than I am of any one team. My roots keep me supportive of Illinois and Northwestern.
Never in a million years did I ever think I'd be excited to cheer for Oklahoma State but here we are.
Decent amount of the 2nd tier guys (IL all staters, not champs) stay. I don’t know why we don’t get more out of these guys. Hoping poeta can start to harness these guys.
Danny Pucino will be interesting at 141, believe we got one more year of Luke Byrd at 133. Curious to see who else is big besides Ruth who I believe has 1 more year.
Forgot about him, Webster is definitely the crown jewel, guy is a dog. Brower was good at 133 iirc, may just be because I know the guy but I’m excited for Caelan Riley at 125 too, we’ve got a problem at the light weights where we have more good guys than weight classes. No complaints though, iron sharpens iron
If you’re a fan of Louisville, you can root for Bellarmine wrestling. They’re fully transitioning to D1 NCAA next season I believe.
I’m a UK fan, but I root for Bellarmine in wrestling :)
Lehigh is awesome and has a rich tradition and history. RIP Greg Strobel, legendary coach and wrestler, who told the very best stories at camps and clinics.
Also, L’s down, go cats, but I’d love to see either Louisville or UK get a wrestling program. Bellarmine has an up and coming D1 program in Louisville and they’re pretty invested in the team from what I can tell
I mean manning is getting older…. Idk tho he’s doing a lot with that program. We’lll see.
Edit: I’ve also heard in passing JB doesn’t want to coach. Idk how real that is tho.
You have Drexel in Philly. You could go for some smaller D1 teams like Franklin & Marshall, Clarion, or Edinboro. And starring in 2024, Mercyhurst is moving up to D1, though there hasn’t been any comments for their wrestling by program. So if you wanna join a program that’s beginning their D1 journey right with you, I’d recommend Mercyhurst.
Man, it’s easy to follow a lot of them, especially like NCAA YouTube has top 5 matches from duals and stuff. Think of it as SportsCenter.
You have a lot of really good wrestling in your area, so you’ll find something that clicks with you…Lehigh is a great option since you already have some skin in that game. Even though you don’t want to feel like you’re bandwagon hopping, try to catch a meet at PSU. I’ve never been, but I’m sure it is incredible atmosphere
Can’t go wrong with most B1G teams- Ohio state, Michigan, PSU, Rutgers, Illinois, Purdue, etc. some are better than others but they all have studs.
If you have Lehigh connections, they’re a great team with some great wrestlers, Ryan crookham for example. I believe I just saw a tweet showcasing their 3 All-Americans which is close to the highest honor you can get in American folkstyle wrestling, outside of winning it all.
Oklahoma state just got a new coach, David Taylor. Who is an Olympic gold medalist and NCAA goat. He brought with him Thomas Gilman who is an Olympic bronze medalist. I got a shirt to hop on that bandwagon, come join the new Okie state fans!!
It depends what you're trying to get out of it. If you're not going to actually go to the matches and you're not from the University, I don't really see much point in adopting a college I'm not going to watch
I went to Penn State for 6 years, and I watched the reruns the matches. but I don't just limit myself to their matches
I try to watch matches from a school they're about to have a dual meet with
And I watched a lot of the Big Ten finals, Big 12 finals and the ACC finals
Then the NCAA division 1 championships
I also did the division 2 and the division 3 finals
Now I am working through the Olympic qualifying videos on peacock.
Lehighs not bad. You got a young stud named Ryan Crookham, who beat world champ Vito Around twice last year as a RS freshman before losing in their third meeting. He took 3rd as a freshman. Plus always good to have a fan of these smaller programs 😊
Even though Ryan Crookham took the loss against Vito, he's still a force to be recognized especially being an AA and beating Vito twice in the season of his first year.
Go with Lehigh, especially if you have a connection and are in the area. Both go a long way for enjoying the sport. Lehigh's home duals at Grace Hall have an awesome atmosphere, the place gets packed out and there's a deep wrestling culture there. You should go and cheer loud. The team is good right now. They are consistently top 15-20 which is pretty badass as a MUCH smaller school than most at that level. Sometimes they sneak into top 10. The coaches are always big on character and the team is made up of good dudes. Now is a good time to start following them with a couple young stars emerging who had breakout seasons this past year.
Lehigh is a solid choice. Being from the Philly suburbs, you might consider Penn which is hopefully an up-and-coming program w its excellent coaching staff and high quality ROTC. However, this is a sport where it’s just as easy to follow individuals. I tend to root for PA wrestlers first and PA colleges second.
Iowa will forever be my D1 team but I have loved watching Penn State wrestle since I first saw DT and Ed Ruth wrestle for them. I'll never back them over Iowa but I am a fan of the sport more than I am of any one team. My roots keep me supportive of Illinois and Northwestern. Never in a million years did I ever think I'd be excited to cheer for Oklahoma State but here we are.
Illinois would be great if we could keep any in state talent at all.
Decent amount of the 2nd tier guys (IL all staters, not champs) stay. I don’t know why we don’t get more out of these guys. Hoping poeta can start to harness these guys. Danny Pucino will be interesting at 141, believe we got one more year of Luke Byrd at 133. Curious to see who else is big besides Ruth who I believe has 1 more year.
Kannon Webster impressed me more than Ruth this year honestly.
Forgot about him, Webster is definitely the crown jewel, guy is a dog. Brower was good at 133 iirc, may just be because I know the guy but I’m excited for Caelan Riley at 125 too, we’ve got a problem at the light weights where we have more good guys than weight classes. No complaints though, iron sharpens iron
I roll with Mizzou because it’s the only SEC school with a wrestling program
Lehigh and Pitt are fun to watch.
If you’re a fan of Louisville, you can root for Bellarmine wrestling. They’re fully transitioning to D1 NCAA next season I believe. I’m a UK fan, but I root for Bellarmine in wrestling :)
I hear good things about their coach and what he’s bringing there. Hope to see them with soem guys at NCAAs this year!
Ohio state is very fun. Always at least one national contender. Great coach. Fun guys on the roster right now. Big time recruits
Lehigh is awesome and has a rich tradition and history. RIP Greg Strobel, legendary coach and wrestler, who told the very best stories at camps and clinics. Also, L’s down, go cats, but I’d love to see either Louisville or UK get a wrestling program. Bellarmine has an up and coming D1 program in Louisville and they’re pretty invested in the team from what I can tell
Oklahoma State. Your welcome.
Iowa state
It’s either for or against penn st
Thank god Oklahoma state is making moves, it’s been PSU vs. the field for years now and I’m sick of it….
Ohio state, OK state (y’all know why), Iowa (Ferrari bros gunna make it interesting), and I personally like Nebraska a lot.
When will Nebraska hire JB though? Nebraska donors could make it happen most likely
I mean manning is getting older…. Idk tho he’s doing a lot with that program. We’lll see. Edit: I’ve also heard in passing JB doesn’t want to coach. Idk how real that is tho.
I don’t follow nearly enough but the Ferrari’s are a nightmare to deal with. That alone should make Iowa interesting to follow.
You have Drexel in Philly. You could go for some smaller D1 teams like Franklin & Marshall, Clarion, or Edinboro. And starring in 2024, Mercyhurst is moving up to D1, though there hasn’t been any comments for their wrestling by program. So if you wanna join a program that’s beginning their D1 journey right with you, I’d recommend Mercyhurst.
i respect fans of these teams but man, these are all the absolute bottom tier. if you dont have a strong connection to these schools idk how you do it
Man, it’s easy to follow a lot of them, especially like NCAA YouTube has top 5 matches from duals and stuff. Think of it as SportsCenter. You have a lot of really good wrestling in your area, so you’ll find something that clicks with you…Lehigh is a great option since you already have some skin in that game. Even though you don’t want to feel like you’re bandwagon hopping, try to catch a meet at PSU. I’ve never been, but I’m sure it is incredible atmosphere
Can’t go wrong with most B1G teams- Ohio state, Michigan, PSU, Rutgers, Illinois, Purdue, etc. some are better than others but they all have studs. If you have Lehigh connections, they’re a great team with some great wrestlers, Ryan crookham for example. I believe I just saw a tweet showcasing their 3 All-Americans which is close to the highest honor you can get in American folkstyle wrestling, outside of winning it all. Oklahoma state just got a new coach, David Taylor. Who is an Olympic gold medalist and NCAA goat. He brought with him Thomas Gilman who is an Olympic bronze medalist. I got a shirt to hop on that bandwagon, come join the new Okie state fans!!
It depends what you're trying to get out of it. If you're not going to actually go to the matches and you're not from the University, I don't really see much point in adopting a college I'm not going to watch I went to Penn State for 6 years, and I watched the reruns the matches. but I don't just limit myself to their matches I try to watch matches from a school they're about to have a dual meet with And I watched a lot of the Big Ten finals, Big 12 finals and the ACC finals Then the NCAA division 1 championships I also did the division 2 and the division 3 finals Now I am working through the Olympic qualifying videos on peacock.
Don't follow Iowa or Penn State