2017 Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic

PWC Matchup Breakdown: Mikey Labriola vs. Kaleb Romero

PWC Matchup Breakdown: Mikey Labriola vs. Kaleb Romero

No. 1 Mikey Labriola (PA) and No. 3 Kaleb Romero (OH) are a matchup nightmare for every other guy in the country, but how do they match up against each other?

Mar 24, 2017 by Ryan Holmes
PWC Matchup Breakdown: Mikey Labriola vs. Kaleb Romero
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When two of the top 170-pound wrestlers in the country meet at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic on Saturday, there is going to be some serious fireworks. Top-ranked Mikey Labriola (PA) and No. 3 Kaleb Romero (OH) are a matchup nightmare for every other guy in the country, but how do they size up against each other?

Let's take a look at each guy before we get to the action at Pitt's Fitzgerald Field House.

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Tale of the Tape

Mikey Labriola
Kaleb Romero
State PA OH
FloRanking 1 3
Career Record 166-12 202-3
State Titles 2 4
College Nebraska Ohio State


1. Pace

As we've seen throughout the year, Labriola is extremely high-paced. He thrives off of breaking guys with his pressure. Romero is very similar. He starts fast and is very quick to build a lead on his opponents. Dictating the tempo of the match will be essential, since each guy is the type to start fast. In this department, I give the edge to Labriola mostly because his pace has been known to break down some of the toughest competition this year.

Edge:
Labriola


2. Aggressiveness

This is a tough one to differentiate between. Both guys wrestle with an aggressive nature, but it's in two totally different ways. Going up against Labriola is like running 100-yard wind sprints for a coach with a quick whistle. When you think he's going to give you a 30-second break, it's usually just for 10. Romero, on the other hand, is more like a muscle car that wants to run everyone off the road. He comes at you so hard that it's tough to react, and by the time you do you've already been scored on.

Edge: Romero


3. Athleticism

OK, so I'll be honest. Maybe I am a bit biased because I've seen Kaleb Romero's football highlights, and if you haven't I highly suggest that you look it up, but the dude is a serious athlete. Now I know we've seen Mikey Labs abandon the sprawl and just jump over guys at Ironman, but it's a little bit hard to bypass the athleticism of Romero.

Edge: Romero


4. Defense (Scramble Ability)

For guys who rarely ever get taken down because their in-your-face style offense takes over every match they enter, looking at their defense could be pretty tough. However, there have been a few instances in which an opponent has taken a shot on them that they've had to fend off. In the past, Labriola has had some trouble with scrambling, and it wouldn't always go his way. But this year, he hit a turning point, which I believe happened at Who's #1 against Travis Wittlake. In that match, Labriola came out on top of a scramble to win and remain No. 1. Since then, he seems to be more comfortable in scrambles and barely wastes any time in the head-to-heel position when passing a leg.

Edge: Labriola


5. Level of Competition

With wins at Ironman and Beast of the East, Labriola has been up against better competition, which is probably obvious since he is ranked No. 1, but his level of difficulty to win matches and tournaments has just been tougher. I'm not taking anything away from Romero -- he's a four-time state champion for a reason -- but looking at their bodies of work and who they have done it against is what separates them.

Edge: Labriola


Commentary

As we all know, matches are not wrestled on paper, which ironically defeats the purpose of all this, but it's still fun to break them down anyway. With that said, this is going to be a matchup of guys who are pretty equal in my opinion. Romero and Labriola are high-powered. And with the match starting at 160, it's going to happen pretty early so don't miss it.