Ohio State's 141lber Reece Humphrey
D1CW's latest blogger is its most decorated, #1 ranked Reece Humphrey of Ohio State. Reece, who has moved up to 141lbs this season, is a returning NCAA Runner-Up at 133lbs. The OSU senior will give readers a firsthand account of his individual quest for NCAA Champion, as well as team title for 2x Runner-Up Buckeyes.
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Post Las Vegas Invitational Entry
There were a lot of good things that came out of the Las Vegas Invitational and also a lot of lessons learned. We won the tournament, I won the tournament and we had three in the finals. I would say those were the three highlights for our team this weekend. As a team, we did not compete that well, which is really scary when we think of the potential this team can reach.
More positive on this weekend were that our young guys are starting to figure out what college wrestling is like. This is the one tournament that can simulate the Big Ten and NCAA Championships with its great competition and the two day format. The NCAA's are three days, but the Las Vegas Invitational is the only other tournament like that. Our young wrestlers are starting to figure out how to fight. If I had to pick one thing that was similar between all of the All-Americans, it would be that they fight through every position while they are on the mat.
Triggas showed great improvement in his wrestling this weekend. I thought that he looked great for most of his matches. He lost a close one fairly early in the tournament, but fought his way back through many matches, where he could have easily thrown in the towel and given up. Palmer was in the finals in a rematch of the 3rd and 4th place bout at NCAA's the previous year. He got called for stalling in the 3rd period while he was riding his opponent out, and it essentially cost him the match. He looked very solid in all of his other matches and is starting to put more attacks together, being more offensive, which is what he needs to be a National Champion this year. Sponseller was also in the finals with the returning National Runner-Up. He was ready to go, his conditioning was superior; like always, but he gave up a couple of takedowns early in the match and couldn't find a way to get them back. He is still improving on his wrestling skills and knows this is what will take him to the top. Rella put some points on the board this weekend. He pinned and teched his first two opponents and won by a major decision in another match. I was glad to see he was getting back to his offensive style of wrestling. Pucillo had a disappointing tournament finishing 4th. He is still getting everything to click and it is taking a little longer than he had expected to be in his top performance. I don't have any worries about him though. Mike is a great wrestler and knows how to win when the pressure is in the big tournaments.
That was just a quick description of the guys who placed in the tournament. All the other guys still have a lot of work on and are figuring out the differences of being a Division I program as opposed to a high school lineup where they would pin anyone that stepped on the mat with them. They are improving vastly and will be ready to put points on the board at Big Ten's and Nationals.
As for myself, I felt like I didn't wrestle well at all this weekend. I didn't move my feet at all the second day, which was my tougher matches and should have motivated me to move more and be more aggressive. I shut my offense down in both the semi's and the finals matches and it almost cost me both of them. I went to overtime in the semifinals and was losing by two in the third period of the finals. I learned a lot about what I need to do in big matches and I learned I have what it takes to put the pressure on in the third period if I need to. I also learned I have a will to win that I have never had before. Even when I was down in the third period and my legs were burning. I knew I was going to find a way to get it done. I have never felt that before in big matches. I have a confidence this year that will have me win the National Title.
With all of that said, it is great to learn lessons like that without having to take a loss. Many times people will say they needed that loss to motivate them. Well, I am more motivated than ever and I am really going to pick up my intensity in the room and on my running and lifting schedule over the winter break. We have some time off from mandatory practices to spend time with our families, but this will not be time off for me. This will be the time where I push myself to the limit to strive towards the finish line in March.
The weekend was a fun weekend winning my first Vegas Invite Title. Having my family and girlfriend all make the trip out made it a lot easier on me. I still feel the pressure of competing, but having people who love me around all the time makes things a lot easier, so I'd like to thank them for everything.
-----------------------------------11-23 Blog---------------------------------------------In this blog I will give the readers an inside look at the Ohio State wrestling team. How we prepare for each match, what is going on in our minds throughout the season, the morale of the team, what practices are like and I’ll also let you into my mind through my journey to become an NCAA champion.
If you don’t know me already I’ll tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Reece Humphrey and I am one of the co-captains of the team along with Mike Pucillo and Lance Palmer. My career here has been at 133 lbs and I have qualified for Nationals three times, finishing in the Round of 12 my sophomore year and I was an NCAA runner-up this past season. I am making the long awaited move up a weight class to 141 this year. Making 133 was a hard cut for me and I never really felt like I could show my potential as a wrestler because I was always fatigued from making the weight. This year, at 141, I will be able to move on the mat and wrestle to my capability without having the fear of being exhausted in the 3rd period. I am very excited for this move and I felt great in our first tournament (Oklahoma Gold in Brockport, NY).
Last weekend we looked average as a team. It’s hard to say we weren’t ready for this tournament since we have been working so hard in the room but our performance showed that we were not. I may have extremely high expectations for this team, but I know who is out there and the Buckeyes have what it takes to be No. 1.
As for myself, I am feeling great with the move up to 141, I stay around 147-148 and getting my weight down for the matches is no problem at all. I feel strong in practice as well as on the mat during competition. This past weekend was a lot of fun and it was an odd feeling since I was always hurting so bad to make weight, the tournaments and duals weren’t much fun at all. My whole career at Ohio State has been cutting weight and I have had the reputation of getting tired and its going to be a lot of fun being able to get other people tired in the 3rd period and to be able to move my feet throughout the match instead of trying to pick calculated spots to score. I have nothing but high hopes for myself and the rest of this team this season.