For some resolution to this (for those interested), I got the push mower going. I started to take the carb off to give it a good cleaning and (don't laugh at me) couldn't get the SOB broke loose. I did remove the vacuum line in the process, just to be mentioned. Anywho, I reinstalled it, reattached the vacuum line, and fired it up. It actually ran fine. I put a few spritzes of brake cleaner through it while running and took it for a test run. Mowed some tall grass and it did ok. Nothing to write home about when it got into tall grass but it got the job done. I'm still debating swapping motors over (same bolt pattern as my old one) but I'll probably skip it for now. So thanks for the advice, I'm guessing it was something to do with a carb seal or vacuum seal or heck, idk, crap in the carb (was my first guess, too). Whatever the reason, it's working now and I'm happy.
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-Ryan 
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