The Nittany Lions are in the midst of a dynasty and we are all witness to what is likely a shift in the approach to college wrestling. Gone now are the days of head-butting, chest-thumping brutality and mat-sprinting tantrums that felt synonymous with the sport. Cael Sanderson's coaching style seems to promote a fun-filled action-packed type of wrestling that fans across the country are beginning to favor.
Congrats to Penn State for another title and thanks for Making Wrestling Fun Again.
To your (many) questions …
Q: What was your favorite moment from the NCAAs?
-- Mike C.
George DiCamillo celebrates after winning his semifinal match at the NCAAs (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Foley: As a former wrestler and alumnus of the tournament the action on the mat (and my reaction) is always strongest when I see my alma mater competing. Watching George DiCamillo make his way into the finals was the most animated I've been watching a sports event this year. Jack Mueller finding a way to beat his nemesis Joey Dance with a busted up ankle ranks second. The NCAA wrestling tournament is a fan-first experience for most, including me.
Q: During the telecast of the NCAAs, Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Snyder and David Taylor said the NCAA tournament was the most exciting event in all of wrestling. Is that true? Have you attended or are you aware of any other wrestling events with that level of size, production value and energy?
-- Bryan R.
Foley: Regional wrestling competitions always have more oomph and spirit than those that are international collaborations. If you go to the Makhachkala Kids Open you're bound to see quite a bit of passion on display by fans and wrestlers. What you won't get is the production value.
When looking on the global scale you can argue that the NCAA tournament is a localized wrestling tournament. State rivalries can extend centuries and school colors are the modern tribe affiliation, lending an impassioned backdrop to an event fans have become familiar with since they first stepped on the mat. Memories, rivalries and the sound of 18,000-plus screaming fans is enough to make even the most even-keeled 18-22 year old wrestler feel overwhelmed with emotion. Add in a massive TV production piping the feed to millions across the United States and you end up with a spectacle nearly impossible to mimic.
Q: Who do you see as the frontrunner for the head coaching position at Pitt? Do you think Pat Santoro would leave Lehigh for it? Is Cary Kolat going to Pitt a possibility?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Cary Kolat recently raised money for a new wrestling facility and seems content with his job and life at Campbell. He would be an amazing fit, but those recent announcements make me think he's staying put.
Pat Santoro is alumnus and obvious choice. I'd look for him to be the top candidate followed by Jody Strittmatter, Donny Pritzlaff and Damion Hahn (though I doubt he's ever leaving Cornell).
Q: Did you see the fifth-place match at 285 pounds between Nick Nevills of Penn State and Jacob Kasper of Duke? In the first overtime Kasper got poked in the eye and needed to take injury time. This happened at the very beginning of the overtime period. Since Kasper took injury time, Nevills had choice when wrestling resumed. Nevills took the bottom position and he just had to escape within a minute to win, which he did. So basically because Kasper got poked in the eye, Nevills won the match. This seems like a very cheap way to win a match. I think there should be a rule that allows a wrestler reasonable amount of recovery time from an obvious accidental eye poke or groin shot without being charged for injury time and giving the opponent choice. MMA allows fighters recovery time for those two reasons, so should the NCAA. Do you agree?
-- Dave
Foley: I don't think Nevills intentionally poked Kasper in the eye. However, I do think that in this circumstance the rule should allow for recovery time. It's self-evident that a wrestler shouldn't be given a disadvantage after an accidental eye poke. Is there nothing else they can call that to avoid it becoming an injury time?
Twisted ankles, knees and ribs are subjective injuries, but is there some epidemic of injury time that is more disastrous than a one-eyed kid attempting to finish a match in order to avoid injury time?
Q: Michigan should be really tough next season. Adam Coon, Domenic Abounader and Alec Pantaleo all redshirted, and they still finished 10th with three All-Americans. It seems unrealistic that any team can challenge Penn State next year, but do you see Michigan as a potential runner-up in 2018?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Michigan has a massive lineup returning. A runner-up finish is a possibility, but it'll take bonus points and some intervention by a higher power to knock off Penn State in 2018 or 2019.
Q: What did you make of Nick Suriano being a scratch 24 hours before the start of the NCAAs?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Nick Suriano deserved the opportunity to test his strength up until the start of the NCAA tournament. If he was even a 10 percent chance to wrestle then he and the staff were well within their right to make an attempt.
However, when there is a late scratch, or a wrestler leaves the conference tournament on medical default, then the NCAA should accommodate the trip for a backup wrestler. No need to waste the opportunity for someone to pursue their dreams on the mat when there are plenty of wrestlers willing to make weight and travel for even a Hail Mary shot of getting on the mats.
Q: Who wins between Jason Nolf and Zain Retherford in an imaginary 153-pound weight class? This was a hot topic of debate for my brother and me during the NCAA finals. I'm taking the Zain Train every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
-- Jake M.
Foley: I love the question, but lack your confidence in finding an answer. It would likely depend on when they weighed in and who was refereeing. You'd have to imagine that Nolf has figured a way out from underneath Zain, but would that be enough for Nolf to win? How to stop that lil' monster from attacking you, non-stop?
I'm not choosing. I'm leaving this in Cael's hands. HE MUST MAKE THIS HAPPEN!
Q: So it will be Penn State again for 2018!!!! Will anyone challenge them? Also, does it make sense to bump everyone up from 125 for Oklahoma State to make room for Daton Fix? or do you think he will redshirt?
-- Raed K.
Foley: Yes it will be.
I think you redshirt Fix and give yourself a year to prepare for the outside shot of taking on Penn State in 2019. Then again, maybe the best idea is to attack when they are at their most confident.
Q: I'm sure everyone is going to ask some version of this, but I'll ask my version anyway. Do you think PSU's "have fun and wrestle free" philosophy will spread through the sport the same way that Gable's "grind them into dust" style did? Don't you think coaches and high-end recruits will prefer that style to pushing, shoving and scrambling to one-point wins?
-- Bryan R.
Foley: I hope so.
Q: Of the past Division I teams to have five national champs in one year, have any ever done it without a senior being one of those five? Is PSU the first?
On a side note, how much does the PSU wrestlers' mentality coming off the mat during interviews help recruiting? It seems like all those guys mention having fun and staying mentally loose. That's a very different mentality than is seen from Iowa and some other top-tier schools.
-- Ryan P.
Foley: PSU is the first to win five without a senior.
The on-the-mat theatrics help more, but I think that hearing the wrestlers express their physical actions certainly supports the idea that they are wrestling with a different set of motivating factors, and a training regimen that seems to create likable, well-rounded and well-spoken young men.
If you're a parent of a top recruit how do you not want your kids in that environment?
Q: After the Darian Cruz-Thomas Gilman match a question immediately came to my attention. What is your list of the best five wrestlers to never win a championship? I haven't been around the sport long enough, but some of the great competitors I can think of include Tyler Caldwell, Mike McMullan, Ryan Churella and Thomas Gilman. It's unfortunate we may have to add Adam Coon to this list, wrong place at the wrong time considering the Snyder era.
-- Nick F.
Foley: In recent years …
Mike McMullan (Northwestern)
Hudson Taylor (Maryland)
Ryan Churella (Michigan)
Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov (American)
Josh Lambrecht (Oklahoma)
Q: Iowa State scored one point at the NCAAs after going 1-12 in dual meets! It's incredible the program has fallen so far. What are realistic expectations for Kevin Dresser in his first season in Ames?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Two points?
I expect to see immediate turnaround in conditioning, resolve and technique. There are no miracles to be had, but I think that at least a handful of his wrestlers are talented and driven enough to immediately respond to his coaching and find themselves with respectable seasons, maybe even an All-American finish.
Q: I'd like to know your thoughts on the Spencer Lee loss, and what seems to be an excuse by 50 percent of the fan base for his loss. I'm sure he wasn't wearing that knee brace for style points, but of course no doctor in his right mind would clear a teenager to participate in a brutal sport such as wrestling with a shredded ACL. Many athletes compete with tears and walk around for years with them. I would suspect this injury wasn't as horrific as reported. Each time he loses (which is barely ever) there's some type of "reason." Daton Fix: too big, Luke Pletcher: spider bite.
I've always seen Lee's greatest asset as his belief and mindset which resembles that of a mongoose. In the Austin DeSanto loss, I don't believe it was the injury that was the primary factor, but his mind that caved in to the relentless attack he hasn't seen in a very long time. Is this type of denial the one thing (besides injuries) that can keep him from excelling at the next level? It's not the respectful, humble, attitude of our proven champions like Kyle Snyder, Jordan Burroughs, John Smith, or Cael Sanderson.
-- Dave J.
Foley: Whoa! Shots fired.
I didn't delve too far into the Sencer Lee injury controversy, but I can say that plenty of wrestlers have tried to compete with torn ACL's. There is no doctor approval needed for competition at the high school level unless elevated to that position by the coach. In college the school can retire you for the season against your will since everything is run through their athletics program. In high school it's on the parents.
Spencer Lee is not one to make excuses and he seems to own up to the loss. I can tell you as someone who (MRI pending) recently tore his ACL that grappling is much more difficult. Sometimes I feel confident in my motion and then out of nowhere a sharp pain or instability when posting. Every injury is different, but no question that an ACL would severely impact on performance.
But as you also wrote, kudos to Austin DeSanto. He wanted the challenge all season, kept up the pressure during the match, and ended up making history.
Q: Cory Clark is a great wrestler, NCAA champ, three-time finalist, four-time All-American. At the end of his match, it appeared that Terry Brands was telling Cory to throw him. Cory shook his head "no" but Brands persisted and Cory gave in. After the throw, Clark's expression was one of dismissiveness. Can't say I blame him. Biggest win of his career and his coach forces him to do a contrived stunt. Contrast that with most of the other coaches who shared the spontaneous and genuine joy of their wrestlers. On the positive side though, perhaps Brands is starting to realize that acting angry does not mean you are tough or successful.
-- Russ T.
Foley: That last part miiiiight be a reach. You're right. The throw was inauthentic, which is kind of cringe-worthy since it implies that Terry was asking for attention to be on him rather than Cory Clark. Also, Clark's shoulder was pretty banged up. If he couldn't shoot it was certainly a reach to ask him to hit a lateral drop.
ANNUAL BASKETBALL RANT
By Frustrated Wrestling Fan
The NCAA needs to change the scheduling of the wrestling season by one week. After last weekend I realized that I hate basketball. Well, I probably wouldn't mind it so much if March Madness didn't start the same weekend as my beloved NCAA wrestling tournament, but this past weekend I tried to watch at a giant sports bar in Chicago with what seemed like over 80 TVs. You would think with so many TVs the bar manager would be willing to change just ONE to wrestling, being that the national championships were on, right? Wrong. They absolutely refused. They looked at me like I was asking to watch C-SPAN reruns for 36 hours straight. I had to run down the street to literally bribe a bartender at a dive bar to change it from basketball to wrestling for five minutes … only to get booed and groans from the crowd. The bartender, clearly annoyed by the boos, switched it back to basketball (despite 8-9 other TVs already playing basketball in that bar) after only four minutes, and the crowd cheered! They freaking cheered! Honestly, the same game was on multiple other TVs already! This indicated to me that the sport was absolutely hated when people couldn't turn their heads three degrees to watch basketball on a different screen.
It is a travesty that the marquee tournament of the sport of wrestling has to compete head-to-head with the blind loyalty of the masses to the March basketball tournament. It is ridiculously timed scheduling by the NCAA and it hurts the sport immensely. Move it back one week so that people will actually tune in and maybe gain a few fans! Competing with the bizarre monster that has become college basketball is a losing proposition.
REF, HE'S STALLING!
By Erik B.
I hate to beat a dead horse but stalling continues to be an issue.
This past weekend my father-in-law stopped by while I was watching the consolation rounds. He's not a big wrestling guy, but has seen his fair share of matches over the years. Within the first minute of watching, he pointed out, "They sure don't call stalling like they used to." At first I tried to argue that it wasn't stalling in this case, that yes they do still call stalling, and even explained the current out of bounds rules. He didn't press the issue any further, but I couldn't help but dwell on his observation. He was right, and even though I enjoyed most of the product I couldn't help but notice stalling over and over. Something has to give. Call stalling more, add in the international out of bounds rules, let the bottom man out if they go out of bounds on their feet. All of it. Some of it. Something.
On a side note I'm pumped about the new rules and weight classes at the international level. Great news.
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