Best Delaware Wrestler in last 15-20 years

[ravensrooster2]

Yes Cathell was unorthodox with how he wrestled. He would stand straight up in neutral and do the most funky moves I've ever seen. I never had the privledge of wrestling him but I did have the privledge watching him. You would have had to watch him wrestle to understand what I mean when I say unorthodox. And believe me I do not mean that word negatively at all: it is just the type of wrestler he was which was not the traditional style.

I didn't take it that way.. when I wrestled that's what they called me..I never took it as an insult..Being tall and long you use what you have ..leverage and geometrical strength.. I won most matches with a head and arm throw..if I couldn't finish and it went to the ground I would likely lose.. I tried to teach my son the move but he didn't take to it lol

That does bring up a question .. why don't the coaches in DE of the bigger guys teach more upper body throws? I watch the big boy matches and they seem to all be trying to get a lower body move like a single leg or something and they end up with a score like 1-0 or OT? Just asking because where I grew up in the Midwest all the bigger guys threw the upper body moves

 

[PickleEveryEndNow]

I didn't take it that way.. when I wrestled that's what they called me..I never took it as an insult..Being tall and long you use what you have ..leverage and geometrical strength.. I won most matches with a head and arm throw..if I couldn't finish and it went to the ground I would likely lose.. I tried to teach my son the move but he didn't take to it lol

That does bring up a question .. why don't the coaches in DE of the bigger guys teach more upper body throws? I watch the big boy matches and they seem to all be trying to get a lower body move like a single leg or something and they end up with a score like 1-0 or OT? Just asking because where I grew up in the Midwest all the bigger guys threw the upper body moves

Why don't they also teach more sleeper holds? Like the million dollar dream or something. Good move when executed properly.

 

[AllHeart28]

@Threedogs3 Thomas Ott was good but he didn't have much competition within the state during his time. There were a lot of guys before him that I think would have beat him. Brian Willis from St. Marks, Josh Cherriman from Smyrna, and Corey Olsen from St Marks all wrestled 215 or 220 and IMO were better than him. But as stated this is just my opinion

 

[AllHeart28]

@ravensrooster2 I agree with you. As a head coach we do our best to show the bigger men the "big men" moves: under hooks to a snatch single, double legs, Greco throws, etc. If you look at today's coaches, most of us wrestled light to middleweight growing up. Therefore we teach what we know and what we experiences on the mat. It is definitely necessary to have your big men almost work in the corner and work different moves than the rest of the group.

 

[ExYCP]

For what it is worth, here is my list:
1- Damian
2- Alex Meade
3- Cody Combs
4- Bradley
5- Connor
6- Pat Atkinson
7- Mike Welch
8- Vincenzo Ranauto
9- Sean Dolan
10- Brett Fleetwood
11- Tommy Abbott
12- Jarrod
13- Ian Moser
14- Brian Welch
15- Kyle Skinner
16- Matt Cathell
17- Chris Diaz
18- Ian Moser
19- Telford
20- John Testa

Naturally there are gaps here, Bobby Shaw, Jr. should be somewhere near here, as well as the bevy of kids like Snook that St. M brought into states with 12-24 records that wound up placing and knocking off former placers and champions.

Overall the state reached its peak in 2007, there was consensus within the state and a good system set up with the AAU program feeding the USAW program. Had a few more kids stayed in DE to train to build the team concept we would have done better.

We were also hampered by the rise of folkstyle events that took kids from wrestling FS/GR. Our FS/GR program was solid for the size of the state.

So back to the original question. And this is very hard to do as all of you understand ;
1. Alex Meade
2. Jordan Sianni
3. Andrew Donofrio
4. Bobby Telford
5. Pat Atkinson
6. Codey Combs
7 Janelle Jones
8. Nick Schenk
9. Luke Rebertus
10. Brett Fleetwood
11. Conor McDonald
12. Tommy Abbott
13.Ian Moser
14. Sean Dolan
15. Mike Welch
16. Matt Cathell
17. Brian Willis
18. Andrew Bradley
19. Chris Diaz
20. Mike Miller

I did from 2000 and after so if they graduated before 2000 then they were not included on the list. I know there are many others that can be considered on this list. I did my best ranking them! And this is JUST based off what they did and accomplished in high school. The list would he totally different if we included college.

 

[AllHeart28]

Good list! Some of those guys were mid to late 90s like testa and Creighton. I like how you added Brian Welch (both the Welch bros were damn good) and Jarrod. It is hard making a top 20 list! A lot of guys deserving and it is hard to put them in order!

 

[AllHeart28]

It is hard for me to put some guys on the list you had because I beat some of those guys and lost in Double OT to another. It is hard for me to put them on my list because of beating them or barely losing because I do not consider myself a top 20.

 

[PickleEveryEndNow]

For what it is worth, here is my list:
1- Damian
2- Alex Meade
3- Cody Combs
4- Bradley
5- Connor
6- Pat Atkinson
7- Mike Welch
8- Vincenzo Ranauto
9- Sean Dolan
10- Brett Fleetwood
11- Tommy Abbott
12- Jarrod
13- Ian Moser
14- Brian Welch
15- Kyle Skinner
16- Matt Cathell
17- Chris Diaz
18- Ian Moser
19- Telford
20- John Testa

Naturally there are gaps here, Bobby Shaw, Jr. should be somewhere near here, as well as the bevy of kids like Snook that St. M brought into states with 12-24 records that wound up placing and knocking off former placers and champions.

Overall the state reached its peak in 2007, there was consensus within the state and a good system set up with the AAU program feeding the USAW program. Had a few more kids stayed in DE to train to build the team concept we would have done better.

We were also hampered by the rise of folkstyle events that took kids from wrestling FS/GR. Our FS/GR program was solid for the size of the state.

Were there two Ian Moser wrestlers? If i recall, there was an Ian moser at smyrna and then at CR. which one do you have ranked 13 vs 18?

 

[AllHeart28]

@ExYCP I do like your list, but for friendly debate I think Jordan Sianni and Andrew Donofrio must be on the list (they are in my top 5). Jordan placed in beast every year 5th three times and 2nd once and ended his career with 172 wins which is most all time in a four year span. He also beat two eventual NCAA champs. While at Pitt he wrested 125 as a true freshman and was ranked 6th in the country. After freshmen year never wrestled again. And Andrew Donofrio was one of the beat neutral wrestlers I have ever seen from Delaware. He also placed in beast every year taking 2nd three times. Also, with Bobby Shaw Jr., he was damn good, but if you are thinking of puttingnhim on the list, you'd have to put Chris Parker from CR. He beat Bobby in the state championship twice.

 

[PickleEveryEndNow]

@ExYCP I do like your list, but for friendly debate I think Jordan Sianni and Andrew Donofrio must be on the list (they are in my top 5). Jordan placed in beast every year 5th three times and 2nd once and ended his career with 172 wins which is most all time in a four year span. He also beat two eventual NCAA champs. While at Pitt he wrested 125 as a true freshman and was ranked 6th in the country. After freshmen year never wrestled again. And Andrew Donofrio was one of the beat neutral wrestlers I have ever seen from Delaware. He also placed in beast every year taking 2nd three times. Also, with Bobby Shaw Jr., he was damn good, but if you are thinking of puttingnhim on the list, you'd have to put Chris Parker from CR. He beat Bobby in the state championship twice.

Yeah, Parker was good. Did he ever do anything in college? And why did Sianni stop after his freshman year?

I'm seeing a pattern on this thread where all these top wrestlers quit the sport in college. It's intriguing. Years of having to cut weight and all that's associated with it probably takes its toll, maybe?

 

[Threedogs3]

@Threedogs3 Thomas Ott was good but he didn't have much competition within the state during his time. There were a lot of guys before him that I think would have beat him. Brian Willis from St. Marks, Josh Cherriman from Smyrna, and Corey Olsen from St Marks all wrestled 215 or 220 and IMO were better than him. But as stated this is just my opinion

Brian Willis wouldn't beat him Corey Olsen maybe.He was good.

 

[AllHeart28]

IMO I think Brian Willis was the best of all mentioned (Ott, Cherriman, Olsen). He earned All American honors his senior year in 2004, ranked top 10 in nation as a senior (I believe 9th), was a two time state champ, always All Americaned in Greco at Fargo, was ranked #1 in nation in Greco in 2003, and wrestled Varsity at 197 for Bloomsburg but was plagued with injuries (ACL).