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Oh Okay. I should have cited my reference. I tend to favor the NWCA/Intermat and AWN rankings. In this case I used intermat. AWN actually has Nate Ranked higher (14) and as you've already pointed out he is apparently ranked even higher by WIN and other sources. I watched Leen wrestle at the Southern Scuffle for the first time and saw his matches with Gulosh and Tommy Owens. I can't tell you how impressed I was with him considering how much pub the other Cornell 141 lbers have had coming out of high school. Coach Koll does a great job year after year picking up great recruits. Where else did Leen think of going to school at?

Walkenvol, Thanks for the civil response. My original post was meant as a "pro" Jordan Leen post. Somehow my post seemed to take on an anti-Patrick flavor but it wasn't meant to. I was merely trying to justify why I see AA in Leen's future but in comparison not so much in the younger Simpson's. I apologize if anyone was offended. But I do agree with you that just because he may not have the inside track right now doesn't mean he can't pull off the upsets. I think the wrestler from Pitt you may be thinking of was Fronhoefer (sp), a 174 lber. He beat Shane Webster from Oregon in the semis with a great body lock throw and then lost to ...was it Rosholt? Any way here is another one perhaps closer to home. The Naval Academy had a 141 lber in 2001, Mark Conley, who was unranked most of the season and came into the NCAA's unseeded. In his first match he faced Iowa's Strittmater (sp) who tech'ed him by something like 23-6. Mark then went on to reel offf a string of wins in the consolations and finished 5th that year as a junior. The next year he also AA'd. So you point is well made and understood, however, if the past is any indicator of future performance (and I think it is) I stand by my posting that at best he is a long shot. I better stop before I offend another close friend or relative. Why the reference to Nate Gulosh? Just curious.

I am a fan of both Simpsons and have a lot of admiration for anyone who attends the service Academies (yes, even West Point). Having watched Both Simpsons wrestle in college, and trying to be objective about it all, I don't think Pat's "up side" is apt to get too much "brighter." First of all he is a junior and it is towards the end of the season so he doesn't have a lot of time left to develop much more. We don't normally talk about college juniors and seniors in terms of their "up side." Admittedly Pat has improved each year he has wrestled and is having an excellent junior campaign with an 18-7 record. He will certainly get twenty wins this year. Anyone who can win 20 times in DI is someone to be reckoned with. He even cracked the top twenty in one of the rankings earlier in the year but to be honest it left a lot of folks scratching their heads and he was removed from the very next rankings. In any case I expect him to post another twenty win season next year as well but it won't be an improvement unless he (as a senior) can beat some ranked guys, get ranked himself, and make it to the NCAAs. This year he is O-5 against ranked wrestlers so far. As far as his New York College States Tournament victory goes, I wouldn't use it as an indicator of potential. It's a minor tournament with a good number of division III schools. In fact here is Patrick's route to the championship: Gerry Fortuna (Merchant Marine Academy) - DIII Dan Ginerich (Buffalo Univ.) - a freshman with a 500 record. Dan Roberts (SUNY Brockport) - DIII Sorry if it sounds like I'm down on Patrick. I'm not. I'm just trying to be objective about it. I think Patrick will have a good senior year and finish with a respectable college career but Jordan Leen has made some noise this year already as a true frosh. If he keeps his weight down and improves as most wrestlers do from year to year, Jordan Leen will contend for EIWA championships and AA before he graduates from Cornell.

Jordan Leen is having a great freshman year at Cornell. So far he has gone 14-11 in tournament and dual matches and has been in with the best in the country. Although he has lost decisions to Teyon Ware (12-4) and Cory Cooperman (8-2) he just upset 16th ranked Doug McGraw (Penn) and earlier this year gave Nate Gulosh (Navy, #17) all he could handle at the Southern Scuffle. He also beat highly regarded Tommy Owen of Minnesota at the same tournament. Of note, he defeated Spencer Manley (3-1) who is currently wrestling at Navy. Manley himself has had a respectable year going somehting like 6-6 although he has not been in with the caliber of wrestlers that Leen has. Manley will have a shot to start at 141 next year for the Mids. Patrick Simpson beat Leen 4-1 in competition earlier this year but Leen looks to have a higher upside than the younger Simpson at this point. If Leens wins out in the Cornell room over Charlie Aggozzino and Mat Easter he will have his chance to make his mark at the EIWA tournament in March.

Congrats to Collierville. Dragon12 may right about them underestimating the Wolfpack earlier on. I am sure they were pumped up for the second meeting. Kudos to coach Thiry for the job he has done this year in keeping the Wolves hungry. On we go!

It's not clear from the post which team forfeited last two weight classes. Did Cordova forfeit the last two weights and still only lost by 3 points?

CSTV airs college wrestling regularly on it's schedule. In fact I just watched the Lehigh Mizzou dual on it. See if your cable company carries it. I get it from Time Warner with one of the digital cable packages.

I am not too familiar with either team being new to the area but I understand they are two of the better teams in the region. I took a stab at the possible lineups and would like to know what folks familiar with teams think about Tuesday's possible outcome. 103 JUSTIN WILSON, (CORDOVA) vs. KENT JOHNSON (COLLIERVILLE) 112 ADAM PIOTROWSKI, (CORDOVA) vs. BLAKE BRITCLIFFE, (COLLIERVILLE) 119 BEN CARR, (CORDOVA) vs. CHRIS TISDALE (COLLIERVILLE) 125 JON HOWINGTON, (CORDOVA) vs. JEFF HUNT (COLLIERVILLE) 130 JOHN HANNAH, (CORDOVA) vs. EVAN WISNER (COLLIERVILLE) 135 CHRIS REYNOLDS, (CORDOVA) vs. DAVID HUNT (COLLIERVILLE) 140 RANDALL MITCHNER, (CORDOVA) vs. JOSH REHDER (COLLIERVILLE) 145 BRENDAN GIPSON, (CORDOVA) vs. SHAWN SPEROFF, (COLLIERVILLE) 152 DUSTIN RING,(CORDOVA) vs. RYAN CULLEN (COLLIERVILLE) 160 MITCH REYNOLDS, (CORDOVA) vs. COLTON KROPP (COLLIERVILLE) 171 ZACH LEE, (CORDOVA) vs. BLAKE BRASHER, (COLLIERVILLE) 189 SCOTT BERRY, (CORDOVA) vs. DANIEL POWERS (COLLIERVILLE) 215 HARRY JOHN, (CORDOVA) vs. BRETT ROGERS (COLLIERVILLE) 275 STEWART ALLEN, (CORDOVA) vs. JAMES LINDOW (COLLIERVILLE)

I believe they will be meeting up again this coming Tuesday when Cordova Meets Collierville at Houston High School.

Having watched Simpson wrestle in college and having also seen Storniolo, Esposito, and Manotti I'd say Phillip has a decent shot to make the D1 finals this year. I'd rank Esposito 1, Manotti 2 and Phillip 3. Over a three day tournament wresters get exhausted however and making weight on three consecutive days is very taxing. Talent gives a little way to stamina and mental toughness. He's got a great shot. I am new to Tennesee. Would he be the first Champ from this state if he succeeded?