Caliendo refused to shake Mesenbrink's hand on the podium

[BarSeries]

[VakAttack]

4 hours ago, dragit said:

That's not my notion and you are in error tagging me with it.   I specifically said in my original post that I didn't care about Caliendo not shaking hands.

Nor did I say that anyone needed to start every sentence with Mesenbrink is the best.  Rather I said it was weird that, when asked about a match that involved a transcendent performance, Brands avoided any discussion or mention at all that Caliendo even had an opponent.  Highly unusual in sports.  And strange because, as I said, a normal person would understand that acknowledging Messenbrink's strong work would serve to bolster, not lessen, the idea that Caliendo had a great career.

None of this is in praise of Messenbrink on the podium or criticism of Caliendo on the podium.  Speaking of which, congratulations on figuring out that Messenbrink is awkward, none of the rest of us could have ever pieced that one together on our own.

I didnt tag you in the entirety of my post, I addressed one specific part to you,  and it stands.  Its silly to criticize the content of anybody's statement for not addressing things you want them to address, including for not praising someone.  Brands focus at that moment is his guy who is hurting, not propping up his legacy or Mesenbrink's greatness.

[BarSeries]

[Greenwave]

Caliendo was thinking I hope I never see this guy sitting in the lobby at a job I am interviewing for.

This is just a bad look for him and his time at Iowa.  Has being in the Iowa room and the negative vibes TnT give out to other coaches, wrestlers and refs change a man’s attitude.

 

[Gene Mills Fan]

4 minutes ago, Greenwave said:

Caliendo was thinking I hope I never see this guy sitting in the lobby at a job I am interviewing for.

This is just a bad look for him and his time at Iowa.  Has being in the Iowa room and the negative vibes TnT give out to other coaches, wrestlers and refs change a man’s attitude.

 

I'll take ten Mikey Caliendo's for my team any day, Bro! 

[Le duke]

Ironic given what Caliendo did right before he lost.


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[Not creative name]

ask yourself: would the same gesture have been done if MC caught him with the head/arm lock and pinned him?

id say absolutely not.

MM is a chode.

[VakAttack]

9 minutes ago, Not creative name said:

ask yourself: would the same gesture have been done if MC caught him with the head/arm lock and pinned him?

id say absolutely not.

MM is a chode.

I'm not going to call the kid a chode, but as to how he reacts in his (infrequent) losses, that's pretty well-documented.  It ranges from limp handshake to pure foolishness.

[ThreePointTakedown]

We should shrug and move on

[headshuck]

Is it common for the champ to shake hands with everyone?

[ionel]

8 hours ago, dragit said:

I meant shaking hands down the podium line.  His wrestling was a big, big deal, which was the point of the rest of my post regarding Iowa's full refusal to give him any credit.

who? 

[mr.nonothingatall]

1 hour ago, Greenwave said:

 

This is just a bad look for him and his time at Iowa.  Has being in the Iowa room and the negative vibes TnT give out to other coaches, wrestlers and refs change a man’s attitude.

 

No it's not, your over reacting just like everyone else. Caliendo shook his hand after match. Tom and Terry aren't pulling wrestlers aside and turning them into bad people. Caliendo is not a bad person. Bad people, are people that come into comment sections and judge a 2x runner up who is still in college based off a hand they didn't shake 2 hours after they already shook that hand. Grow up

[JimmyCinnabon]

Even as a huge PSU fan I find MM to be obnoxious. Whatever media training Cael gives his wrestlers is awful. Most of the PSU wrestlers are insufferable in interviews at this point and insufferable in other ways. It becomes harder every day to root for these PSU guys, who many appear to be in a cult.

Edited March 23 by JimmyCinnabon

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

1 minute ago, JimmyCinnabon said:

Even as a huge PSU fan I find MM to be obnoxious. Whatever media training Cael gives his wrestlers is awful. Most of the PSU wrestlers are insufferable in interviews at this point and insufferable in other ways. It becomes harder every day to root for these PSU guys, who many appear to be in a cult.

I mean you could always root for a different team that has a more agreeable personality?

[JimmyCinnabon]

26 minutes ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

I mean you could always root for a different team that has a more agreeable personality?

I could. I am an adult and I can root for whatever team or individual I want.

[Hurricane Wrestling]

1 hour ago, VakAttack said:

I'm not going to call the kid a chode, but as to how he reacts in his (infrequent) losses, that's pretty well-documented.  It ranges from limp handshake to pure foolishness.

LOL!  You're "not going to call the kid a chode," but its "pretty well-documented" that he's a chode.  Sounds like you're calling him a chode. 

And your evidence is a "limp handshake" after his 2024 NCAA finals loss to Carr and some unspecified "pure foolishness."  Well, your video evidence of the former isn't probative.  For one, you can't clearly see the handshake because its partially obscured by the referee.   And two, the limpness or firmness of a handshake is best determined by feel, not video.  Absent a statement from David Carr that Mesenbrink gave him a limp handshake, your argument is specious.

As to the charge of Mesenbrink reacting with "pure foolishness" when he loses, please cite some examples of what you are specifically talking about.  His only college loss was to Carr, which is discussed above. Perhaps he's displayed foolishness in his losses in freestyle, but that would require some type of evidence to substantiate your charge. 

[Caveira]

1 minute ago, Hurricane Wrestling said:

LOL!  You're "not going to call the kid a chode," but its "pretty well-documented" that he's a chode.  Sounds like you're calling him a chode. 

And your evidence is a "limp handshake" after his 2024 NCAA finals loss to Carr and some unspecified "pure foolishness."  Well, your video evidence of the former isn't probative.  For one, you can't clearly see the handshake because its partially obscured by the referee.   And two, the limpness or firmness of a handshake is best determined by feel, not video.  Absent a statement from David Carr that Mesenbrink gave him a limp handshake, your argument is specious.

As to the charge of Mesenbrink reacting with "pure foolishness" when he loses, please cite some examples of what you are specifically talking about.  His only college loss was to Carr, which is discussed above. Perhaps he's displayed foolishness in his losses in freestyle, but that would require some type of evidence to substantiate your charge. 

Wasn’t he acting a little foolish while losing to Burroughs ?

[VakAttack]

7 minutes ago, Hurricane Wrestling said:

LOL!  You're "not going to call the kid a chode," but its "pretty well-documented" that he's a chode.  Sounds like you're calling him a chode. 

And your evidence is a "limp handshake" after his 2024 NCAA finals loss to Carr and some unspecified "pure foolishness."  Well, your video evidence of the former isn't probative.  For one, you can't clearly see the handshake because its partially obscured by the referee.   And two, the limpness or firmness of a handshake is best determined by feel, not video.  Absent a statement from David Carr that Mesenbrink gave him a limp handshake, your argument is specious.

As to the charge of Mesenbrink reacting with "pure foolishness" when he loses, please cite some examples of what you are specifically talking about.  His only college loss was to Carr, which is discussed above. Perhaps he's displayed foolishness in his losses in freestyle, but that would require some type of evidence to substantiate your charge. 

I didn't call him a chode.  Foolishness is not the same thing as being a chode.  Considering when he wins it's these long, deep handshakes, and when he lost it was less than half a second, plus I was in the building, I'm fine with my assertion.  Feel free to watch the Burroughs 2024 semifinal for examples of foolishness in losses.

I want to be clear, I'm not criticizing him for reacting poorly, just pointing out that this was performative and condescending, in the same vein as when Nickal would pick the guys up, and is one of those things that's easy to pretend is magnanimous because you're always winning.

[LoserJucoMan]

I don't even think it's fair to call Messybrink performative or anything like that. Sure he probably wouldn't have done that if he lost, but why does that matter. Would you call him performative if he was celebrating using the same logic of "It's performative because he wouldn't have done that if he lost". If you're going to say that about anybody say that to Ferrari who is more than happy to do the splits and bring people to the center of the mat to pray with him when he wins but injury defaults out and then accuses the victor of using HGH, (kind of similar to Meyer Shapiro who not only initially refused to shake hands after his quarterfinals lost but ALSO accused Kasak of steroids last year after his loss). Do I think it was a jerk move by Caliendo? Yes, we've seen from his elbow last year in the finals as well as that super deep oil check this year in the finals he gets dirty with Messybrink. Can I blame him? No, if I lost to the same dude 9 times with the last time being the most dominant in the finals I wouldn't want to shake his hand either. You guys are acting like Messybrink tried to raise his hand and say he was the real champ for his perseverance or something lol

[Hurricane Wrestling]

45 minutes ago, VakAttack said:

I didn't call him a chode.  Foolishness is not the same thing as being a chode.  Considering when he wins it's these long, deep handshakes, and when he lost it was less than half a second, plus I was in the building, I'm fine with my assertion.  Feel free to watch the Burroughs 2024 semifinal for examples of foolishness in losses.

I want to be clear, I'm not criticizing him for reacting poorly, just pointing out that this was performative and condescending, in the same vein as when Nickal would pick the guys up, and is one of those things that's easy to pretend is magnanimous because you're always winning.

Nickal and Mesenbrink may be pretenders as you allege.  OTH, maybe they're just showing respect to their opponents. No one really knows as we can't see into their hearts and minds.

As to the Burroughs 2024 semifinal, that's just an example of a match getting chippy, a not unusual occurrence.  I still don't see any evidence of any widespread foolishness displayed by Mesenbrink in his losses.

[BAC]

This is the craziest thread I’ve seen in a while.

It is VERY common to extend a hand before the podium photos and right after the podium. It’s rare to see it NOT happen in one form or another. There was nothing remotely inappropriate about what Mesenbrink did. How far have some of you sunk, berating a kid for a good faith and genuine expression of congratulations and camaraderie.

Honestly it seems like the PSU haters have invented an entirely new etiquette rule just for PSU where they need to just shut up and take their medal and joylessly go home, lest they be perceived as “rubbing it in.”

I do agree with those giving Caliendo a pass. His body language suggests he didn’t refuse the shake so much as he was just trying to get through the moment, and may not have noticed at all. He just stared straight ahead, motionlessly. Mesenbrink read that correctly and quickly moved on. But ordinarily, intentionally refusing a handshake during the podium ceremony would be considered rude, even if the outstretched hand wears blue and white. 

[Xmas32]

19 hours ago, strange_daze said:

I actually think it's an interesting time for wrestling, and I believe the current/upcoming generation of wrestlers is bringing positive attention to themselves and the sport. I also like some of the messaging: it's often very thoughtful, and smart, and articulate, especially for guys who just walked off the mat and spend lots (and lots) of time wrestling rooms.

Way more mature than I was at their age.

I should clarify: I really like watching Mesenbrink wrestle, and I've followed a great deal of his content, including pretty much every interview he gave over the past few days. He's a thoughtful guy. My point here, on this thread, is that he and the PSU team don't own the concept of sportsmanship, even if, in some cases, their version may be worth adopting.

I'm not defending Caliendo per se, but he's also taking a lot of heat/hate on social media (not just here), and I think it's unwarranted. The PSU faithful, literally thousands of them, are using the clip as a means to castigate him and Iowa more generally, and in doing so, elevate themselves, through their team, as being on the moral high ground. I find it distasteful and self-aggrandizing.

I should add: it's 'just' wrestling, but to give credit to Mesenbrink and the way he talks about the sport, life, and so on, there are really important themes here that are worth discussing in a meaningful way. This message board may not be the right locale for it exactly, but it's a community space, and I think injecting some nuance is worth the effort.

It could just be me, but I noticed way, way more of wrestlers shaking the opposing coaches hands after matches this year at NCAAs then I have in a long time. I'm not sure if that was the case this year or it's one of those, "I saw a yellow car on the road today and now I see yellow cars everywhere" type thing. 

[Hurricane Wrestling]

 @VakAttack  Note that at the end of the match in which you allege Mesenbrink acted foolishly, he leaned forward, gave the winner a vigorous handshake and a smile, while looking directly at him. 

OTH, Burroughs averted his gaze, and only limply shook hands.  (Note the position of his thumb and extended fingers.)

I call upon you to publicly apologize to Mr. Mesenbrink on this forum.  And, should you see him in person, express your regrets and offer your hand (and, for God's sake, don't do so limply).

In conclusion, I'm appalled at your baseless allegations against MM (and Nickal), Mr. Vak.  I only regret that Ms. Suzy Shagwell isn't here to offer you her constructive criticism.  

Edited March 23 by Hurricane Wrestling
insert an emoji

[BAC]

5 hours ago, VakAttack said:

I'm not going to call the kid a chode, but as to how he reacts in his (infrequent) losses, that's pretty well-documented.  It ranges from limp handshake to pure foolishness.

Oh, is it "well documented" Vak? 

Sounds like you've really amassed some evidence there, Vak. Care to enlighten us all these well-documented examples of poor post-match sportsmanship by Mesenbrink after a loss?

I, for one, am really excited to see this.  I'm sure others are too.

We'll wait.  

 

 

Edited March 23 by BAC

[Mr. PeanutButter]

30 minutes ago, Hurricane Wrestling said:

 @VakAttack  Note that at the end of the match in which you allege Mesenbrink acted foolishly, he leaned forward, gave the winner a vigorous handshake and a smile, while looking directly at him. 

OTH, Burroughs averted his gaze, and only limply shook hands.  (Note the position of his thumb and extended fingers.)

I call upon you to publicly apologize to Mr. Mesenbrink on this forum.  And, should you see him in person, express your regrets and offer your hand (and, for God's sake, don't do so limply).

In conclusion, I'm appalled at your baseless allegations against MM (and Nickal), Mr. Vak.  I only regret that Ms. Suzy Shagwell isn't here to offer you her constructive criticism.  

Dude you're a weirdo