Northwestern head coach Matt Storniolo (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)It's Week 11 of the college wrestling season. I only know that because it says week 11 in my fantasy wrestling league. Speaking of which, I traded Daton Fix for Real Woods to FantasyD1Wrestle and Real vanished like Keyser Soze right after. The lesson here is don't make deals with the guy who writes the articles about the stupid thing (Editors Note: Jagger was warned by me about making such trades but proceeded anyway). But the rest of you asked some questions and I'm not getting paid by the word so let's get to it!
What is your take on the first All-Italian-American team? Does Northwestern have a potential top-ten finish at NCAAs? CEO of Italians
I think this is like your third version of the team, but I love it anyway.
Can NW crack the top ten? I think they can.
Coach Matt Storniolo has quietly put together a nice squad out in Evanston. Currently ranked eleventh in the tournament rankings, the Wildcats are merely a few breakout performances away from breaking through. DeAugustino has to get healthy. Chris Cannon already has two seventh-place finishes and is dangerous in any match. Tal-Shahar might be emerging in a wide-open 141 and Yahya Thomas is fresh off a Midlands title. And now Trevor Chumbley just knocked off Brayton Lee while running his record to 17-2 on the season. They really are quite strong at the lower weights and have 2022 All-Jagger heavyweight Lucas Davison up top to anchor a strong upper-weight group. The Storn Dog has things clicking out in the midwest right now, that's all I know.
Happy Friday the 13th. Who in your opinion is the scariest wrestler ever? Eric "Bad" Asselin
Pretty much any foreign wrestler scares me but for the sake of this, we will keep it local. My top five scariest wrestlers are in no particular order.
Tom Brands-Honestly would scare the life out of me if he were my coach
Steve Mocco-Heard he microwaved a steak once
The Undertaker-Is literally dead
Terry Brands-Likely plays the bad cop role out of the brothers but they probably run bad cop/bad cop anyway
Abe Lincoln-Also dead
Any NCAA wrestling sportsbooks? Cuzzin Sal
Apparently, you've already found some dude named Bet Fred. I wonder if he knows the whereabouts of my old friend Wrestling Bookie.
I'm becoming concerned that college wrestling conferences are going to get to the point where college football is, where you basically won't have allocations outside of winning the conference. Do you share similar concerns? Kevin Claunch
I admit I'm not overly familiar with how the allocation system works. I know the general idea is that conferences are awarded spots based on the performance of the wrestlers. After looking into it more, I only really see a major problem if the new era of college sports leads to numerous transfers where all the power schools in the Big Ten just get everyone to go there. You also have to worry about the guys still on the 2021 extra-year plan who may graduate and decide to do their last year at a big school like our guy Matt Finesilver did. I don't worry about it too much though, with at-large bids, I still think most all the right guys get in.
Are you now a Sixers fan? Kevin McGuigan
Always have been. But if Mark Hall throws out the first pitch at a Phillies game then we have business to settle. But I know Matt Valenti will never allow that.
Is it true that the mailbag clicks have a 141 and 2/3 chance of increasing when "Handsome" Matt Finesilver is discussed? Rhino Finesilver
Yes, but that's only because he adds 200 clicks on siblings alone. Stealing content, that's the real way to drive up clicks.
What weight could Sammy Alvarez make if he was wrestling for John Smith? 113? Jkos11
I'm not ready to discuss Sammy, yet. I hope he gets a chance at the dance in March at least once.
Your take on the dual meet discussion. P. Head
Eh, I don't really have one. Of course, a team tournament would be nice. Hayden Hidlay and I sit around watching Presbyterian and Queens, so I think we'll tune it for something like this. Would it bring in more fans? I suppose it could. It's easier to market multiple two-hour events in a playoff format than it is for a three-day marathon tournament with eight mats. You know what? You sold me on it. Let's all boycott this year's tournament until they give us a team tournament.
Speaking of duals, there's 7000 of them this weekend. Go check out the totally original Viewer Guide to see where you can find them. Have a good weekend.
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