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Discussion Topic: The Heffernan Era begins as Illinois battles Missouri
Pat Costilow added to this discussion on November 13, 2009
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Couple of interesting results here. We had discussed Conrad Polz (Illinois' redshirt freshman 165) either on here or just Dan and I. Well, he went 3-2 with Nick Marable. Very impressive for a frosh. Max Askren beat John Dergo 9-4. A dropping 197 vs. a bumped 174- had to be a huge size difference but still a promising result for Askren in his first match this low since what had to have been his junior year of HS.
Brent Haynes beat Patrick Bond. What has happened to Bond? This is a kid who won the Ironman 3 times at 189 and placed high as a freshman. He has done virtually nothing in college. It perplexes me.
At 174, Jordan Blanton beat #14 Dorian Henderson- good win for him there. I think this is the year he will make a huge push at a pretty wide open weight.
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Discussion Topic: The Heffernan Era begins as Illinois battles Missouri
Mark Niemann added to this discussion on November 13, 2009
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Love it! Very interesting about the 165 match indeed - in light of OUR hometown hero and stb2x NC. :-)
Tough to make any assumptions on a weight class in November though. Just ask J Jaggers!
Is there a link for full results?
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Discussion Topic: The Heffernan Era begins as Illinois battles Missouri
Pat Costilow added to this discussion on November 13, 2009
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Discussion Topic: The Heffernan Era begins as Illinois battles Missouri
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on November 14, 2009
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I watched Patrick Bond at last year's OSU v Illini dual. He just doesn't look like he's transitioned well to college. Who knows why. It happens.
Askren v Dergo was a back and forth match until Askren scored backs in the third. It would be an interesting match to see on video.
I don't think Max Askren can beat Pucillo. Stylistically, the matchup heavily favors Mike.
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Discussion Topic: The Heffernan Era begins as Illinois battles Missouri
Dan Cosimi added to this discussion on November 15, 2009
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Pat,
As I said when we talked, I think you're being too harsh on Bond. He just matured very early, got to a high level that much quicker, reaping the benefits from that to put together a phenomenal high school career. That caused people expect a ton from him in college. But the rest of the top guys eventually caught up to him. It's not like Bond is a bad college wrestler. He has qualified for the national tournament. Of course you're correct that Bond hasn't had the career that someone with such great credentials would be expected to have but that happens. For every guy like DiSalvo (the highest he took in high school was fourth yet he was a two-time D1 All-American), there's a guy like Bond who is good but doesn't reach the pinnacle like he did in high school.
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Discussion Topic: The Heffernan Era begins as Illinois battles Missouri
Pat Costilow added to this discussion on November 15, 2009
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Well said, but doesn't it just still perplex you to see the instances of it. Bond as a freshman in HS got 4th at the Ironman, losing 6-4 to then junior Jared Villers in the 3rd place bout. Villers had teched in the state finals the year before, IIRC. Bond then won 3 Ironmans in a row- beating Hudson Taylor their senior year. Compare their college careers.
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Discussion Topic: The Heffernan Era begins as Illinois battles Missouri
Dan Cosimi added to this discussion on November 15, 2009
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Everyone expects great things from guys who have uber-high credentials for such a long time. Bond was no exception to that. He has qualified for the national tournament twice in three years and still has his senior year in front of him.
Going back in the time machine...
Bond was already two-time Fargo champion, a three-time state champion (on his way to four) and regarded as virtually untouchable going into the Beast of the East as a senior, just a week or two after winning his third Ironman. It was his fourth year at 189 pounds.
Enter Mike Pucillo. Pucillo, not yet a state champion, bumped up from his junior weigth of 152 pounds all the way to 189. Many speculated (then) that it was going to be difficult to overcome that big of a weight/strength difference.
Naturally, the Bond was the #1 seed at the Beast of the East and advanced to the semifinals with a pin, a technical fall and two major decisions. Pucillo was the #4 seed and, after a forty-four second pin and two major decisions, he also reached the semifinal round.
Not only did Pucillo take Bond into overtime, he shocked the wrestling world by pinning him with a cement mixer. The Beast of the East website has the fall time listed as 7:30.
Pucillo went on to beat Blair's Hudson Taylor 8-4 in the final, a measure of revenge for Taylor beating him at the Ironman.
The end of the year saw Pucillo defeat Jake Varner for the NHSCA Senior National Tournament title while Bond and Taylor did not place.
End of time machine trip.
So what was my point with the Bond/Pucillo comparison? Both reached the highest level of the sport at a certain point in their careers, Bond just did it earlier because he matured sooner. Pucillo was still very good when Bond was the best; now that Pucillo is the best, Bond is still very good.
He's no Pucillo now, though, just as Pucillo was no Bond in high school.
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Discussion Topic: The Heffernan Era begins as Illinois battles Missouri
Pat Costilow added to this discussion on November 16, 2009
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Quote from Dan Cosimi's post:
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"
So what was my point with the Bond/Pucillo comparison? Both reached the highest level of the sport at a certain point in their careers, Bond just did it earlier because he matured sooner. Pucillo was still very good when Bond was the best; now that Pucillo is the best, Bond is still very good.
He's no Pucillo now, though, just as Pucillo was no Bond in high school."
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...well it was a good story anyway....
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