Early Season Assessment
My early season assesment from this weeks action - Not a ton of results to work off of just yet, but heres where i'm at. Enjoy and share some thoughts!
1. Danbury is the team to beat this year, but they are a bit more vonerable then many may have thought. They are solid from top to bottom, if you are going to beat them in a dual, you have to limit bonus point wins were they are strong. I think Warde/Danbury is a real thing this year and will be a very exciting dual. DHS is deep in the middle wieghts, allowing them to move their line up around to macth up better with other top teams. Shook and Co. are going to need to play their cards right to stay at the top.
2. Warde is the #2 team in the state, both dual and tournament. They have the studs to match Simsbury who i have sitting at #3 but more more depth in the line up.
3. Staples is a very solid dual team, they are getting maximum results from a young and green team. They are hands down a top 5 dual team, not quiet there in the tournament scene yet, but i would still have them in the top 8, just not ready to break into the top 5.
4. 5-10 teams in tournaments/duals is a crapshoot, Good luck ranking these spots as a i see it changing week to week. I just do not see any real depth on most teams, seems to me that these lower top 10 teams have a few studs, and a major fall of in talent after that.
My top 5 Dual Team Currently:
Danbury,Warde,Xavier, Simsbury, Staples
My Top 5 Tournament Team Currenty:
Danbury, Warde, Simsbury, Xavier, Southington
Solid weekend for Warde,Simsbury, and Danbury. Warde cleaned up a very watered down field at their invitational. , simsbury wrestled tough in NJ, there sub par down in the lower weights, really solid 132-52 and tough at 220/HWt. 160-195 will make or break this team. I think I like Simsbury over Warde at this time. They have more depth than i thought coming into the season. looking ahead I think Danbury matches up better with Warde than simsbury. Danbury can really move their line up around to put warde in a pinch. simsbury/Danbury is very interesting.
my top 5 teams for ct open would be:
dhs
sims
Warde
X
BE
staples is solid, they will be good for fciac and class but they don’t have the depth to push at opens I don’t think.
2/3 placers can get you top 5 in the opens this year. Barlow could sneak in there with a few soilid guys.
Over all I think it’s clear that there is the top 4, Dan,sims,warde,X and then a major drop off in team depth throughout the state.