To dissect the relative rights and wrongs of what transpired on the mats that day would be pointless -- and to blame the referees seems obvious and wayward of further critique.
As we've seen with increasing consistency, the coaches, athletes and parents on all sides of the wrestling mat are decaying the once-positive behavior of the wrestling mat and turning sport it into the moral morass of reality TV.
Bad behavior is everywhere on the wrestling mats, but it would be foolish to point to a singular cause. From where I sit, blame can be equally shared between the media, the high pressure of youth sports and the fascinating re-emergence of the #FaceMush culture that now serves large swaths of the sport.
I don't know when the #FaceMush culture took hold and I don't feel a dissection is necessary to solve the problems it is causing the sport. What is obvious is the incessant whining … and screaming … and stomping … and teeth-clenching threats of college coaches bled into the product and affected the sport's ethos.
Regrettably, it may have already become the most signature aspect of the sport.
Fans, athletes and stakeholders would all love a lot fewer blood curdling screams from men who try to then act tough on the sidelines. The peacocking of chests and the in-your-face celebrations are the tactics of bullying schoolchildren, not adults. The blurring of that distinction could very well be a contributing factor to the stymied growth of the sport nationwide.
Wrestling is tough, but it in no way should require its participants to be jerks on and off the mat.
What happened in Pennsylvania is not out of the norm. Was it odd that the normal social constructs broke down and coaches gamed the system with such blatant disregard for sportsmanship? Yes. But this behavior has been bubbling beneath the surface for years in the sport. The #FaceMush culture demands that everyone involved in wrestling must become a screaming, complaining, and crying mess.
This isn't just running off the mat after you lose a match, or refusing to shake an opposing coach's hand. This is the constant focus on INTENSITY rather than technique, WEIGHT CUT rather than healthy dieting, and the idea of BREAKING your opponent rather than letting your excellence and hard work shine. For all the life lessons wrestling can teach young kids our culture has done a fantastic job of bastardizing it to become one with a focus on trying to KILL your opponent rather than just try to score more points or pin them.
Wrestling still creates positive, viral moments -- athletes who forfeit matches to the physically disabled and those who honor their opponent's off-the-mat familial losses. Wrestlers are often sweet individuals who want what's best for their loved ones and work hard to achieve their goals, which is what makes the most recent outbursts and the recent propulsion of bad behavior all the more jarring.
Judging by the immaturity on display in Pennsylvania, we've done well to almost completely ruin a culture that was once filled with men of self-respect, pride and modesty and replaced it with ones blinded by the blood of the kill.
I'm not overly optimistic that America will refocus its emotional energies on good sportsmanship and fair play. The cultural plunge seems to be increasing, not letting up. But then again, maybe it will.
Maybe some of our sport's calm and collected college coaches will make an impact? Maybe more coaches and athletes will watch Jordan Burroughs win with honor at the Olympics, coaches in part by a wonderful human being and coach in Bruce Burnett? Maybe coaches will see the way the USA women's team -- often up against long odds -- absolutely never quits, and likewise never complains.
Maybe the Olympics will help right this ship?
Maybe.
But if something doesn't change soon we're racing to the bottom, where we'll almost certainly find fewer fans and increased irrelevance.
To your questions …
Q: I can't imagine NC State is going to get through this weekend without blemish. I expect Virginia Tech to beat them tonight. I have the Hokies winning seven matches. If NC State somehow gets past Virginia Tech, then I would expect Missouri to beat NC State. If NC State loses, who do you expect to face Penn State for the dual championship?
-- Mike C.
Pat Popolizio is in his fourth season as NC State's head wrestling coach (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)Still, to take on Missouri two days later seems like madness. Their scheduling doesn't allow for a rest period and Mizzou is well-equipped enough to upend the team at the end of the year.
No matter what happens in the dual meet, it's very obvious that Pat Popolizio is the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year and that his wrestlers won't be laggards heading into the ACC or NCAA tournament.
I think NC State bests Virginia Tech, but is just under 50 percent to also upend Mizzou.
Q: I watched the Ohio State-Penn State dual meet last week. The first five starting wrestlers for PSU were PA state champs (four were multiple-time champs), followed by sub Geno Morelli, a multiple-time PA state placewinner. Reportedly, when Cael Sanderson sought the PSU position, he stated that if he could recruit the best PA prospect every year, plus one other national prospect, his teams would be nationally competitive every year -- something he didn't believe he could accomplish at ISU, recruiting in-state against Iowa.
What have been the most successful most home-grown college teams in recent history? What have been the most successful most home-grown college teams in remote history? Say, prior to national media attention/promotion and routine, wide-spread national recruiting …
-- Mike A.
Foley: Edinboro takes Pennsylvania talent and grooms them into some of the best wrestlers in the country. Almost every year a wrestler from Edinboro, buried in the mid-teens nationally explodes onto the national scene and wins a national title. They stand as the benchmark on how to recruit (and coach) locally.
Kent State has done a wonderful job over the last several years recruiting locally and creating national champions and All-Americans. One caveat is that not all of them are technically from Ohio, since the school can offer in-state tuition to Pennsylvania residents within a certain distance of the school.
Similarly, I think that we are seeing Lock Haven begin this process under Scott Moore, with a lot of local talent returning home.
From what I understand the best locally groomed program in "remote" history might be Fresno State who enjoyed a wealth of talent from the Central Valley. Stephen Abas, Gerry Abas and Yero Washington are almost enough to justify the list, but there are many more from the past, and I suspect many more to come.
MUTLIMEDIA HALFTIME (and links)
Yarygin highlights
#Yarygin2016 Wrestling Highlights#Yarygin2016 Wrestling Highlights #RussiaWrestling Great Performance by Yakutia Wrestlers.
Posted by Russia Wrestling on Thursday, February 4, 2016
Great spot for RIO2016
O #eventoteste de #LutaOlÃmpica mostrou como as mulheres são guerreiras e boas de briga! http://bit.ly/MulheresBoaDeBriga
Posted by Aquece Rio on Thursday, February 4, 2016
Link: Blindspot's Jamie Alexander was a wrestler?! Yes, she was a wrestler.
Jiu-Jitsu highlights
IBJJF 2016 European Championships HighlightA Weekend's Worth of Elite Grappling Packed into a Few Minutes: the Black and Brown Belt Highlight Video from the European Championships!
Posted by FloGrappling on Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Q: Is there a difference between who wrestles in the Pan Am Games and who wrestles in the Pan Am Olympic Weight qualifier?
-- @ZeroNBlindTeri
Foley: Yes. The two are not related. The Pan Am Games are a quadrennial sporting event (like the Olympics), while the Pan-Am Championships and Pan-American OG Qualifying Tournament are run by United World Wrestling.
The Pan-Am Qualifiers are open to all Pan Am countries who did not qualify a wrestler for the Olympics at the World Championships. For the USA men's freestyle team that means 57 kilos, 65 kilos, 86 kilos and 125 kilos.
The Pan-Am Championships are just the annual continental championships.
As of last week the championships will no longer be run in Olympic years since so much focus and financial resource remains focused on the qualification of athletes.
Q: The 184-pound weight class in Division I looks wide open right now! Gabe Dean, Vic Avery and Blake Stauffer all took losses last weekend. I like the way Michigan's Dominic Abounader is wrestling right now. His only loss has come to Dean. Right now who is your pick to win the NCAA title at 184 pounds?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Gabe Dean is still the odds-on favorite to win the NCAA title. As the defending NCAA champion and someone familiar with a few losses, I think Dean is as emotionally and physically equipped to succeed in March as any wrestler I've ever seen. He's also very well coached.
I like what I've seen of Abounader, but I'm uncertain how a tough Big Ten will affect him on two weeks rest. I'd imagine that it can take some rebounding for a conference champion, much less someone that eats a few losses. Total grinder.
Vic Avery's secret weapon, and guide to an NCAA title, might be Tim Flynn and the Fighting Scots tradition of outperforming expectations at the NCAA tournament.
Q: Are Jason Tsirtsis' recent struggles more mental or physical?
-- Mike C.
Foley: There has to be a combination of both, but a third interpretation would be the new rules and Big Ten refereeing has forced Tsirtsis to be more active on his feet. His increased activity, and the threat of stalling points, may have forced him to be a more anxious competitor.
The loss of Drew Pariano obviously had an effect on the Northwestern team. An upheaval like his firing can lead to a multitude of outcomes -- some as subtle as a gravitational ripple and others as on the nose as NCAA champion wrestlers taking bad regular season losses.
Q: Will you be asking fans to tune into InterMat's live blogs all weekend? Running four duals in three days!
-- @WrestlingSHP
Foley: Tune in, or risk Britt embracing the Culture of the Kill.
Quick note …
Congrats to Mark DiSalvo on his recent head coaching position at Thomas More College. He's a good man and coach. Wishing him and his family success and happiness.
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