2013-14 Pound for Pound

CRlightweight

CRlightweight

Well-Known Member
So I thought it’d be fun to come up w/ a pound for pound top ten for going into next season. Figured it’d give us something to talk about in the offseason. I didn’t have any real system for the rankings, just basically went off a mixture of resumes and what my eyeballs told me when I watch them wrestle. It was splitting hairs with a lot. For example I think the top 3 or 4 you could pick one out of a bag randomly and make a case that he’s the top P4P guy. So anyways, here goes.


  1. Steiber. I’m sure most people will disagree with me here but the reason I went with him is because all things point to him having the best career resume of the group when all said and done. Probable 4 time champ w/ only 2 losses and beating guys in the finals like Oliver, Ramos, etc. Plus his soph season this year was just as dominant at Taylor’s last year when he won the Hodge. I could see him having the best international career as well. He still has two years left so I may be putting the cart in front of the horse a little. But that’s who I picked.
  2. Taylor- won’t have as many titles as the others, but his dominance can not be over looked. The kid is unreal. He won’t, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he pinned or teched everyone he wrestles next year.
  3. Ruth- Again totally dominant. Just looks effortless while wrestling. will probably end his career w/ a 3,1,1,1 finish with only 2 losses. Impressive. If he had the same “I’m going to embarrass you†mentality that Taylor does he’d be scary.
  4. Howe- This was probably one of the hardest for me. A case could be made for him to be at the top of this list. 2 time finalist, champ, beat Dake in freestyle 2 years ago. Killed Taylor in freestyle last year at the trials and is closer to burrows than most give him credit for. But injuries have hurt him (hamstring 2 years ago, knee at the trials) and although he wins, doesn’t really dominate people w/ scoring so I put him at 4[SUP]th[/SUP]
  5. Ramos- for here I went on the eyeball test more than resumes. He’s one of the only guys on the list w/o a national title but this year he was about as dominant as anyone in college wrestling. of course I’m a little biased but I think if any of the guys below him had a Logan Steiber type guy in their bracket they’d have 0 titles as well. Ramos went to a new level this year.
  6. Delgado- this kid really really impressed me this year. He constantly attacks and finishes from the mat better than anyone in the country in my opinion. I didn’t think his finals match was very solid. Felt Megaludis shut him down and really out wrestled him, but he’s a tough kid. Going to be a handful for anyone going forward.
  7. DSJ- 3xAA, 2x finalist, champ DSJ is smooth and just good. I really hope next year he takes a ramos type jump to where he’s basically automatic for bonus points. He’s not there yet, but I think he can get there.
  8. Nelson- this one was tough for me. I hate watching him wrestle so much that I wanted to not even put him on the list. But there’s an at least fairly decent chance he’ll end up being a 3x national champ so it’s hard not to have him on the list so I put him 8[SUP]th[/SUP]. But watching him ride makes me want to stick needles in my eye balls.
  9. Perry- not flashy, doesn’t score a lot of point or dominate guys much, but at the end of the day he gets his hand raised. A lot like Storely in that respect. He won what I considered the deepest weight class at nationals. That means something.
  10. Megaludis- went back and forth on this one. Couldn’t pick between he and Maple. Even though he doesn’t have a title yet I went with him cuz he’s a 2x finalist, no redshirt and I just love watching him wrestle. He’s an ornery little son of a gun.
Just missed: Maple and H. Steiber- really wanted to see that match at nationals. I thought Hunter was going to win it, but was wrong. Maple is tough, if he opened up more he could be a real *** kicker. A good argument could be made to put him above Megaludis I suppose, but I didn’t.

So there you go. Feel free to chime in w/ any opinions.
 
Yes, I'm going to include freestyle into my thoughts:

1) L Steiber, he's beaten Oliver and Ramos (who's only a 0 timer because he's had the P4P champ in his bracket. Plus he was runner up to the bronze medal winner at trials. Against everyone else, he's nasty.

2) Howe, this guy is neck and neck with the top wrestler in the world. Plus if he wins 174, he'll go through probably the deepest weight.

3) Ramos, he's just as dominant as Taylor and Ruth but he's in a harder weight class. He has to go through the #2 and #5 ranked freestylers in the country. He's also beaten the #6 (Carter) and #4 (Oliver @ 145.5) This puts him slightly ahead of Taylor. Plus with LS supposedly moving up, the title is his at 133.

4) Taylor, gets the nod over Ruth because he had to go through a 4-timer (and #4 ranked freestyler) and the #7 freestyler. Against everyone else, he dominates.

5) Ruth, also another dominant wrestler. He makes it look easy, but his strength of schedule just doesn't seem all that impressive. Can't knock him for it, but I can't put him over the others either.

6) Nelson, is a 2-timer and just went through a pretty deep bracket (even though Telford got hurt). Plus he's also the #2 ranked US freestyler.

7) Perry, just went through arguebly the toughest bracket at NCAAs (and about to get even more nasty with Howe). I don't see him winning with Howe there, but he's still a special talent.

8) Delgado, could switch him with Perry. He's tough, quick, and has a gas tank. He's seemed to have gotten rid of the bone-head decisions that has cost him (and McD graduated). He looks like he's there to stay at 125, so he should dominate the next two years. However, this is a pretty good weight with Mega, Waters, Garrett, and an Iowa guy here.

9) DSJ, doesn't dominate, but wins. I don't think he'll ever lose to Green again and I think he's figured out his nemesis from tOSU. This weight has cleared out with Welch gone, but there's going to be some good challenges from the ones mentioned and Alton.

10) Ness, by default I guess. The top two guys have graduated, and Ness wins by bonus. He'll have a challenge from HS if he moves up, but other then that, I don't see any problems.
 
he's had trouble in the past but if you watch the Flo videos or follow him on twitter a change in his diet helped him out a ton this year. but after the finals Ryan talked about he, hunter, and Heflin all moving up. which would probably create a domino w/ tessari and demas, etc as well.
 
CRlightweight said:
he's had trouble in the past but if you watch the Flo videos or follow him on twitter a change in his diet helped him out a ton this year. but after the finals Ryan talked about he, hunter, and Heflin all moving up. which would probably create a domino w/ tessari and demas, etc as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks good man!
 
I'll word my list a different way --- here's my list of who I think will be most dominant next year.

1) Taylor
2) Ruth
3) Ramos
4) L. Stieber
5) Howe
6) H. Stieber
7) Maple
8) Brown
9)Dieringer
10) Delgado
Honorable Mention = Garrett, Ness
 
Great topic, I am sure every list will change before next March.

1 Ed Ruth, Penn St
2 Andrew Howe, Oklahoma
3 L Steiber, Ohio St
4 Taylor, Penn St
5 Ramos, Iowa
6 Maple, Oklahoma
7 Nelson, Minnesota
8 St. John, Iowa
9 Brown, Penn St
10 McMullen, Northwestern
 
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