Jagger's Friday Mailbag - 9/27/2024

And we’re back for another edition of the weekly mailbag as we close out the month of September and begin the unofficial start of the wrestling season with Flo’s annual Who’s Number One event this weekend. Nary a weekend will go without an event for roughly the next seven months. Throw in the baseball playoffs, WNBA playoffs (Go Liberty), and all the football, and divorce season is in full effect. But before you lawyer up, take a seat and enjoy whatever we are talking about today. 

Any worry, considering the Matthew Sluka story, about NIL deals gone wrong leading to wrestlers holding out in the future? Rhino 

Not really. At least not yet. For those unaware, UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka has left school over not being paid a sum of money that was promised by an assistant coach. And there’s your problem. You had a handshake deal from a glorified used car salesman. What did you expect would happen? It’s just another glitch in the NIL system that unfortunately doesn’t get corrected until it rears its ugly head. 

So can it happen in wrestling? I suppose it can but not exactly in this same scenario. Sluka is a fifth-year senior with the benefit of an available redshirt that he can still apply after four games into any season. In wrestling, only true freshmen can do that. So I doubt anyone would give up a year of eligibility and leave a team in the middle of a season because a random assistant said he would get X amount of money without any paperwork or knowledge of it from the head coach or institution. I’m sure other scenarios will happen as far as false promises are concerned, but in wrestling everyone will just enter the portal every year like free agents until someone wins four titles for four different schools. Or as we call it, Nick Suriano’s dream. 

Jags, what college freshmen do you have your eye on to carry the Jersey Tough torch this year? Salty Walkon 

That’s a very good question and one I should have an answer to. And I do. 

Simon Ruiz - The two-time state champ from Delbarton never finished lower than third at the NJ States and looks to make some noise at Cornell after coming off a gap year.

Mikey Dellagatta - Basically the same thing as Ruiz but with one state title and a lowest finish of fourth at NJ States. The St. Joe's product is also coming off a gap year. Needless to say, Cornell has a thing for North Jersey private schools. 

Lorenzo Norman - The former Blair wrestler had an uneven redshirt year coupled with a few good wins at the CKLV. But make no mistake, The kid’s got the goods. I look forward to seeing a lot more of him now that Stanford is in the ACC. 

Jimmy Mullen - The Virginia Tech big man is fully committed to wrestling right now and probably permanently after Rutgers beat the Hokies last week on the gridiron. Heavyweights beware. 

Thoughts on licensing Jagger Night to WWE for SummerSlam in NJ? What are bids starting at? Tsabolov Brands 

Eh, Jagger Night would’ve been cooler as an ECW thing. Mid 90’s`, jean shorts, Pantera, indoor smoking. Now that is a Jagger Night! But I assure you the bidding is open for anyone who wants to pony up. By the way, any fee also comes with a mandatory donation of the same price, plus a twenty-dollar service charge. 

Talk to you all next week when we have a little more clarity on who really is number one. Because two is not a winner and three nobody remembers.