Coaching changes

[flyingcement]

So I admit that I fibbed.  I didn't get it from the Premium Board here - but "a" premium board somewhere out there - which is also known as the Iowa State Cyclones Forum.  Those guys had the info about Drake first

[ScottishSteel]

Army announces Mike Macc as assistant coach

[CyGold]

On 4/29/2026 at 1:12 PM, Dogbone said:

Did it really work at SDSU and UTC?  If Seth Gross doesn't get in trouble at Iowa and get picked up by SDSU, what accomplishment would he have? 

Take away Seth Gross and you could argue his results at UTC and SDSU don't suggest he would be a top 10-15 coach.   

From AI:

During Chris Bono's tenure as head coach at South Dakota State (2012-13 to 2017-18), the team's NCAA tournament finishes were:

2018: 12th place (Best finish; 1 National Champion, 3 All-Americans) - Gross -1st, Kocer 7th, Zilverback 8th

2017: 16th place (2 All-Americans) - Gross - 2nd and Kocer 8th

2016: Tied for 39th place (0 All-Americans)

2015: 41st place (0 All-Americans)

2014: 52nd place (0 All-Americans)

2013: 54th place (1 Qualifier) 

Not defending Bono but if you take away Caels AA he wouldn't be a top 15 coach either.   Looks like it was working to me.

[Dogbone]

On 5/2/2026 at 8:36 AM, CyGold said:

Not defending Bono but if you take away Caels AA he wouldn't be a top 15 coach either.   Looks like it was working to me.

Sure, but there is a difference in taking away one guy and all of them. tho.      My point wasn't he shouldn't get credit for Gross, but outside of Gross's succuss (whose 20+ points at NCAA make their team score look way better)  he has never been a top coach and, to date, he hasn't been able to replicate another 2x finalist/NC like he had with Gross.   

The question was why hasn't it worked at Wisconsin when it worked at SDSU and UTC.   And over his 20 year career as a head coach, his results at UW are fairly similar to his other years with the one exception being year's his teams got Gross's team points.  1 wrestler over a 20 year career is more of an anomaly than the standard.    

[TNwrestling]

59 minutes ago, Dogbone said:

The question was why hasn't it worked at Wisconsin when it worked at SDSU and UTC.    

Again, he had one All-American while at UTC. Cody Cleveland finished 8th at 141 his sophomore year. Not a single AA for Chattanooga since. Almost 20 years. Bono did irreparable damage to that program. 

[JMill]

34 minutes ago, TNwrestling said:

Again, he had one All-American while at UTC. Cody Cleveland finished 8th at 141 his sophomore year. Not a single AA for Chattanooga since. Almost 20 years. Bono did irreparable damage to that program. 

I’m pretty sure Dogbone is saying what Bono is doing at Wisconsin didn’t work at UTC or SDSU either… I think people forget how down the Big12 was his last couple years at SDSU.

[TexRef]

On 4/25/2026 at 9:48 AM, nhs67 said:

This just isn't true.

If you honestly believe the coach is bad, you should advocate they find a good coach to wrestle for.

Kid who was an assistant for me for a few years out of college was adamant that some of our club kids and HS seniors not even look at his Alma mater (D1 B1G school) due to the lack of the administration offering actual support as well as the facilities.

It seems they have improved the facilities a bit, but the support is still lacking.

Was that Illinois?

[TexRef]

On 4/27/2026 at 5:19 PM, rsotelo said:

One point that I argue over is the practice room and the use of lightweight mats in daily practice facilities.  The lightweight mats are okay for duals or tournaments where you are wrestling 7 minute matches, but DAILY drilling, practicing, and grinding on the lightweight mats will take a hard toll on the athlete's bodies.  Wisconsin had a NEWLY remodeled room when Bono started with double traditional Resilite mats.  Perfect and forgiving surface for daily training.  Then Bono started, the nice mats were removed and replaced with lightweight mats.  The only reason I can think of making the change is because someone got paid.

WAIT! Did a Wiscy fan just give Barry Davis a compliment?! 

[TexRef]

On 4/29/2026 at 7:34 AM, MPhillips said:

Peasants...

Almost as bad as the Oilers...Findlay

[MPhillips]

8 hours ago, TexRef said:

Almost as bad as the Oilers...Findlay

Unlike the Dragons...Tiffin

[CyGold]

22 hours ago, Dogbone said:

Sure, but there is a difference in taking away one guy and all of them. tho.      My point wasn't he shouldn't get credit for Gross, but outside of Gross's succuss (whose 20+ points at NCAA make their team score look way better)  he has never been a top coach and, to date, he hasn't been able to replicate another 2x finalist/NC like he had with Gross.   

The question was why hasn't it worked at Wisconsin when it worked at SDSU and UTC.   And over his 20 year career as a head coach, his results at UW are fairly similar to his other years with the one exception being year's his teams got Gross's team points.  1 wrestler over a 20 year career is more of an anomaly than the standard.    

I'm curious on how many schools have produced 2x Finalists similar to Gross?  Wisconsin has had other 2x AA like Hamiti.

BTW. Who does get credit for Gross?   Do only "good coaches" get to take credit for NC?  Can Nickerson take credit for Alirez?  I'm an ISU fan so I'm wondering if we get credit for DT since he committed to ISU before following Cael.

[CyGold]

Dogbone. -  sorry I read you post too fast and thought you said he shouldn't get credit for Gross.   When you in fact said the opposite.   My bad

[CyGold]

21 hours ago, TNwrestling said:

Again, he had one All-American while at UTC. Cody Cleveland finished 8th at 141 his sophomore year. Not a single AA for Chattanooga since. Almost 20 years. Bono did irreparable damage to that program. 

I'm genuinely curious as to how a coach 20 years ago still negatively impacts a program that is still active.   What damage did Bono do?  Did Brands also create damage?

[TNwrestling]

28 minutes ago, CyGold said:

I'm genuinely curious as to how a coach 20 years ago still negatively impacts a program that is still active.   What damage did Bono do?  Did Brands also create damage?

I think Bono is the damage from Terry leaving for Colorado Springs. It was his first head coaching gig and was still competing while there. 

Bono's first year in chattanooga they went 16-8. Beat a loaded #18 Wisconsin team 19-18 and had one AA. Next season the Mocs went 16-1 and had a win over #14 Ohio State 28-13 with Keller repeating as AA. The next season the UTC Mocs went 12-10 in dual meets. 7 of those 10 wins were against non division 1 opponents. The other 5 wins were SoCon duals. They lost every single dual to non socon division 1 opponents and we had our last AA with Cody Cleveland finishing 8th at 141. Then Bono was gone..

 

Enter Heath Eslinger and the ultimate demise of Chattanooga wrestling. The second winningest wrestler in Chattanooga history behind former AA Michael Keefe. Like Coach Eslinger, Chattanooga would go on to dominate the SoCon but never have an All American again, and never really able to compete with the rest of the Division 1 teams outside of the south. Meteocrity. 

 

Chattanooga is where wrestling goes to die. Terry started it, Bono poisoned it, Eslinger finished it off. 

 

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. 

[nhs67]

12 hours ago, TexRef said:

Was that Illinois?

Nah, Sparty, mate.

[MoveCountermove]

2 hours ago, nhs67 said:

Nah, Sparty, mate.

100000000% that kid was in the right to encourage his wrestlers to seek other opportunities. I’m a huge U of M fan, but even I wish that MSU wasn’t such a bottom feeder. It would be healthy for the state and for competition for them to just be decent. I’d be encouraging kids to head to CMU before MSU, and it’s not close. Bennett was a solid guy coming up and had a hell of a career, and I think he can get the most out of a lot of these kids who aren’t able to splash nationally but have huge pedigrees within the state.

When I consider what an all Michigan roster would look like and how competitive that might be, it’s essentially one or two kids a season who are nationally ranked (Blum, Cosby, Dundee/DCC kids), then MSU’s roster. I think a lot of those kids have untapped potential, but I also think they are where a lot of Michiganders go to continue wrestling and get their degree. The talent leaves pretty regularly. Remy Cotton was great and has moved on and is continuing his upward trajectory in a better room. I’d expect Sorrow to leave at some point after he looks good for a year or so in competition. Outside of the one off like that, it’s a bunch of guys who NQ and not much more after several years of winning titles or being All State in HS. The talent gap even within D1 is a gulf

[romeo07]

Dazjon Casto of The Citadel has accepted a HC position for a new wrestling program at Oceanside Academy, which is a charter school that focuses on elite athletics. With his departure the only member of their coaching staff listed online still with the team is their lone graduate assistant. I've been told they've narrowed down their finalists who are all meeting with the team. Whoever is picked will have a lot of hiring to do.

[cl415]

Sounds like there is some Iowa/Iowa State drama surrounding the Drake hire. Shocker. Anyone who was in Vegas had to have seen this coming…

[rsotelo]

On 5/4/2026 at 9:07 AM, TNwrestling said:

Again, he had one All-American while at UTC. Cody Cleveland finished 8th at 141 his sophomore year. Not a single AA for Chattanooga since. Almost 20 years. Bono did irreparable damage to that program. 

Can you please elaborate on the damage to UTC please?

[juniorvarsity]

7 hours ago, MoveCountermove said:

100000000% that kid was in the right to encourage his wrestlers to seek other opportunities. I’m a huge U of M fan, but even I wish that MSU wasn’t such a bottom feeder. It would be healthy for the state and for competition for them to just be decent. I’d be encouraging kids to head to CMU before MSU, and it’s not close. Bennett was a solid guy coming up and had a hell of a career, and I think he can get the most out of a lot of these kids who aren’t able to splash nationally but have huge pedigrees within the state.

When I consider what an all Michigan roster would look like and how competitive that might be, it’s essentially one or two kids a season who are nationally ranked (Blum, Cosby, Dundee/DCC kids), then MSU’s roster. I think a lot of those kids have untapped potential, but I also think they are where a lot of Michiganders go to continue wrestling and get their degree. The talent leaves pretty regularly. Remy Cotton was great and has moved on and is continuing his upward trajectory in a better room. I’d expect Sorrow to leave at some point after he looks good for a year or so in competition. Outside of the one off like that, it’s a bunch of guys who NQ and not much more after several years of winning titles or being All State in HS. The talent gap even within D1 is a gulf

Michigan State placed last at Big Tens the past 2 years. They got 13th the two years prior. 

Chandler has had 1 AA since he got the head coach job - Foley in 2019. 

[juniorvarsity]

So who is replacing James Green at Nebraska?

[TNwrestling]

13 hours ago, rsotelo said:

Can you please elaborate on the damage to UTC please?

One story I was told, by a Mocs wrestling alum, was on more than one occasion he would give athletes money to stay home and NOT compete. Sometimes hundreds of dollars. When they partied, he partied with them. 

[Dogbone]

2 hours ago, juniorvarsity said:

So who is replacing James Green at Nebraska?

Robert Kokesh was announced a few days ago. 

https://huskers.com/news/2026/04/30/kokesh-returns-as-assistant-coach

 

[Dogbone]

23 hours ago, TNwrestling said:

Chattanooga is where wrestling goes to die. Terry started it, Bono poisoned it, Eslinger finished it off. 

 

I am not the biggest Bono defender and I am not saying he was amazing at UTC,  but its not like UTC was a national power (inD1) prior to Terry arriving.    Their current success is comparable (maybe down a little but not dead?) to where it was before Terry arrived, no? 

[TNwrestling]

19 minutes ago, Dogbone said:

I am not the biggest Bono defender and I am not saying he was amazing at UTC,  but its not like UTC was a national power (inD1) prior to Terry arriving.    Their current success is comparable (maybe down a little but not dead?) to where it was before Terry arrived, no? 

No, but Terry's arrival changed the trajectory of the program. Bono walked into a program with two All-Americans and one who would aa that year. To then leave two years later and never have a single all-American since....

 

I honestly don't know what would save the program...or entire conference for that matter...outside of maybe app state.