James Hackney
After a longer than expected break the Tigers took a long road trip east. They got a solid conference win over West Virginia but took their first loss of the season to Cornell. Keegan O’Toole managed to stay undefeated against brutal competition, but not without a scare. Kade Moore almost shocked the nation by putting Arujau on his back early, but couldn’t slow the World champ down in the third period. An injury put Gioffre out for Cornell, in a match that could have swung the dual. The Tigers did not look their best this weekend, and have a massive conference dual over an Oklahoma State team that just beat Iowa State 21-12 this weekend.
- The 1-2 punch of Noah Surtin and Kade Moore is becoming a big factor.
While fans have gotten more used to a dominant or quick win by Surtin over the years, Moore is starting to get into that territory as well. Surtin started against WVU with a dominant tech and followed it up with his trademark mixer to pin ranked Brett Ungar. Kade Moore was right behind him, pinning his WVU opponent and putting returning champ Vito Arujau on his back. While he didn’t get the win, Moore can be a shot in the arm for the team and give them a ton of momentum in duals. Surtin looks like an All-American contender if not more in a wild weight class, and Moore is looking like a potential wildcard in a weight class that gets volatile past the top three.
- Josh Edmond is on the precipice of a huge jump, but has been most of the season.
Edmond went 0-2 this weekend against top 14 opponents, but was within a takedown in each match. Edmond has five losses this season that are all within a takedown with three overtime losses. It’s not for lack of trying, as Edmond is often the aggressor. Against Titus he couldn’t finish due to Titus’ unique and efficient defense of a lot of grandby’s, while against Cornella there were some interesting calls with reaction time. A takedown was given to Cornella off a quick touch early in the match, while an almost exact same situation was not given as a takedown for Edmond late in the third. 141 is a meat grinder of a weight, but it feels like if Edmond can get over whatever this hump is he could become a podium contender quickly…
