Last Hoorah Team

[Eagle26]

3 minutes ago, skandar said:

lololol

 

ask Dake or Spencer if they’d rather have one gold (2016) vs a silver and bronze(2024)
 

lmao at factoring in non medalists, but not the Russians that weren’t here. Knock down Dake and Snyder a spot for sure plus maybe Spencer.
 

People were hyping up the US preemptively asking if the US should have an asterisk next to their team title this year and this is the performance they put up???

 

this team shit the bed compared to expectations 

You are talking about two different things here. Obviously an individual would rather have one gold than multiple silvers and bronze. But we are talking about a TEAM. That is totally different. One team member getting gold and then six out seven wrestlers DNP with none even wrestling for a medal is not even close to as good as medals in half the weights and another in 5th. In what world is 4 out of 6 in the top 5 worse than 1 out of 7 in the top 5? Again, I’m not saying I’m happy with our performance. We should’ve done better. But our team is still much better than it was 16 years ago

 

[scribers]

2008 was awful. Ball grabs and folk style pretenders bent on mma dollars 

[cowcards]

51 minutes ago, skandar said:

lololol

 

ask Dake or Spencer if they’d rather have one gold (2016) vs a silver and bronze(2024)
 

lmao at factoring in non medalists, but not the Russians that weren’t here. Knock down Dake and Snyder a spot for sure plus maybe Spencer.
 

People were hyping up the US preemptively asking if the US should have an asterisk next to their team title this year and this is the performance they put up???

 

this team shit the bed compared to expectations 

It doesn’t help that the expectations are way out of whack and we can’t admit how much draw matters when you aren’t the #1 guy. 

[Bulldog]

1 hour ago, skandar said:

...this team shit the bed compared to expectations 

At no other time in history have we had so many wrestling pundits/"journalists"/talking heads running their mouths via podcasts and websites, creating all sorts of high expectations. I know the Flo dudes and the Bashamania bro convinced a bunch of people that Olympic domination was inevitable. Those sorts of expectations get listens and subscriptions, but they really are not realistic.  The world is also  really, really good at wrestling.  

Edited August 11 by Bulldog

[PortaJohn]

There's a lot to be excited about for the future of Team USA at the Olympic Weights.  Our crop of guys coming up (hs & college) are good.  We've consistently medaled at the U tournaments. 

74kg will be the easiest to reset.  Nolf is a solid replacement for the near future if needed and we have Keegan O'Toole coming on to the scene shortly.   Mesenbrink medaled twice at U20's.  Silver then Gold.  And we can't forget Meyer Shapiro.  His results speak for themselves. 

65kg  Near future Jesse Mendez and Alirez will elevate this weight class.  Maybe Yianni D reappears but the weight issue might be a real thing.    

57kg  If Vito can continue to make the cut or if Spencer Lee decides to continue we are set at this weight. 

86kg Brooks needs to stay at this weight.  He's built for it and I'm not a fan of the Brooks to 97 rumors.  Trent could be a solid replacement and Starocci is another alternative but I think he goes the Bo Nickal route

97kg Snyder has a tournament or two left in him.  I wish someone could get into Zahid's ear and convince him to make the commitment to move up.  Might take a year but his frame screams 97kg and he'd be a real threat. 

125kg  Parris has room to grow and Kerk will be a nice addition to the weight class after he fully transitions.  Problem with Kerk is getting him motivated and keeping him healthy

And then there are the crop of young guns in high school and underclassmen in college.  Let's be clear.  USA has never had this much depth at freestyle.

 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

1 minute ago, PortaJohn said:

There's a lot to be excited about for the future of Team USA at the Olympic Weights.  Our crop of guys coming up (hs & college) are good.  We've consistently medaled at the U tournaments. 

74kg will be the easiest to reset.  Nolf is a solid replacement for the near future if needed and we have Keegan O'Toole coming on to the scene shortly.   Mesenbrink medaled twice at U20's.  Silver then Gold.  And we can't forget Meyer Shapiro.  His results speak for themselves. 

65kg  Near future Jesse Mendez and Alirez will elevate this weight class.  Maybe Yianni D reappears but the weight issue might be a real thing.    

57kg  If Vito can continue to make the cut or if Spencer Lee decides to continue we are set at this weight. 

86kg Brooks needs to stay at this weight.  He's built for it and I'm not a fan of the Brooks to 97 rumors.  Trent could be a solid replacement and Starocci is another alternative but I think he goes the Bo Nickal route

97kg Snyder has a tournament or two left in him.  I wish someone could get into Zahid's ear and convince him to make the commitment to move up.  Might take a year but his frame screams 97kg and he'd be a real threat. 

125kg  Parris has room to grow and Kerk will be a nice addition to the weight class after he fully transitions.  Problem with Kerk is getting him motivated and keeping him healthy

And then there are the crop of young guns in high school and underclassmen in college.  Let's be clear.  USA has never had this much depth at freestyle.

 

Vito ain’t a 57. Not one who can win big matches on the world/Olympic stage. Hes a big 61. 

[PortaJohn]

1 minute ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Vito ain’t a 57. Not one who can win big matches on the world/Olympic stage. Hes a big 61. 

I know.  But a man can wish.  Or he somehow fills into 65 but that might be a bigger wish

Edited August 11 by PortaJohn

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

24 minutes ago, PortaJohn said:

I know.  But a man can wish.  Or he somehow fills into 65 but that might be a bigger wish

He’s got a better chance of being an effective 65. 

[PortaJohn]

6 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

He’s got a better chance of being an effective 65. 

What's the turn around on that jump.  Thats almost 10 pounds.  A solid a year in the weight room plus half a year to adjust?

[lu1979]

3 hours ago, AnklePicker said:

Russian transferring may not be new but it’s as abundant as ever. In fact it’s a lot of Dagestanis. Just look at 74kg. Dake wrestled Tsabalov for bronze, both guys in the other bronze match were Russian and the champ Tsamalov is also Russian. Of the 6 in the medal matches 4 were Russian. 

I thought it was remarkable that Zhumalove had to beat 4 guys (as opposed to the normal 3) to get to the finals and every one was an expat Russian.

[alex1fly]

1 hour ago, Bulldog said:

At no other time in history have we had so many wrestling pundits/"journalists"/talking heads running their mouths via podcasts and websites, creating all sorts of high expectations. I know the Flo dudes and the Bashamania bro convinced a bunch of people that Olympic domination was inevitable. Those sorts of expectations get listens and subscriptions, but they really are not realistic.  The world is also  really, really good at wrestling.  

100  

In my view Lee outperformed expectations. Zain, Parris, and Brooks were not expected to medal. “Six gold medals in MFS!” would’ve been awesome obviously but that was never realistic this round. 

Edited August 11 by alex1fly

[DocBB]

12 hours ago, BuckyBadger said:

For 2028 I could see:

57: Spencer

65: Yianni

74: ???

86: Brooks

97: ???

HWT: Gable

That’s a solid 4 weights. There will be other guys that step up between now and then for the unknowns. The golden age could still be going strong, just with fresh faces.

65kg Jesse Mendez all the way...

[DocBB]

11 hours ago, 1032004 said:

I doubt Snyder is done.

I thought Dake would be done but Pyles in their recap video today said he thinks he might not be.

Lee seems 50/50 to me.

 

We have lots of young guys that could be ready to step in though.  Sure I’m forgetting some but off the top of my head guys like Blaze, Forrest, Lilledahl, Mendez, Alirez, Mesenbrink, O’Toole, Carr, Mirasola could be good replacements

 

Snyder may not be done at only 28 but he looks to be on the downside of his career and there are at least 3 or 4 World guys that would be clear favorites over him at this point. And then if Brooks goes up a weight well...

[skandar]

1 hour ago, Bulldog said:

At no other time in history have we had so many wrestling pundits/"journalists"/talking heads running their mouths via podcasts and websites, creating all sorts of high expectations. I know the Flo dudes and the Bashamania bro convinced a bunch of people that Olympic domination was inevitable. Those sorts of expectations get listens and subscriptions, but they really are not realistic.  The world is also  really, really good at wrestling.  

I agree, but then when someone posts expectations based on reality they get ripped on for not giving the US enough credit or whatever.

 

the only USMFS wrestler that really underperformed was Mason. The others just aren’t as good as people wanted to believe.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

31 minutes ago, PortaJohn said:

What's the turn around on that jump.  Thats almost 10 pounds.  A solid a year in the weight room plus half a year to adjust?

Already tall and long and very very quick. My understanding is that there were times in the offseason when he outweighed yianni. Not recently, but back in the college days.  (One of my sons club coaches was a Cornell wrestler)

[1032004]

25 minutes ago, DocBB said:

Snyder may not be done at only 28 but he looks to be on the downside of his career and there are at least 3 or 4 World guys that would be clear favorites over him at this point. And then if Brooks goes up a weight well...

Is there any chance Snyder goes up to heavyweight?

If not and Brooks goes to 97, does one of them leave NLWC?

[PortaJohn]

1 minute ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Already tall and long and very very quick. My understanding is that there were times in the offseason when he outweighed yianni. Not recently, but back in the college days.  (One of my sons club coaches was a Cornell wrestler)

NJ or NY?  

[WrestlingRasta]

4 hours ago, billyhoyle said:

Russians transferring countries for the Olympics is not new. This field is weaker than any of the prior years with only 6 weights. If you want to make an argument that it’s tougher than the 8 or 10 weight years, I could see that. But then also you should have JB ranked as the greatest US wrestler ever (ahead of smith). 

The volume of athletes from Russia repping other countries is getting especially thicker.  Am I mistaken in that Brooks wrestled four actual Russians?  

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

2 minutes ago, WrestlingRasta said:

The volume of athletes from Russia repping other countries is getting especially thicker.  Am I mistaken in that Brooks wrestled four actual Russians?  

I definitely agree that there are more Russians wrestling for different countries. (Bahrain, Serbia, etc)
 

Brooks is a bad example though. Ishiguro is definitely Japanese. 
Magomedov is definitely Russian. (Well, Dagestani)

I don’t know enough but the others may have grown up in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.  Former Soviet republics , yes … but not in their lifetimes.  

 

[WrestlingRasta]

Did he wrestle JPN?  I can’t remember his second match. 
 

Edited August 11 by WrestlingRasta

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

Just now, WrestlingRasta said:

Did he wrestle JPN?  I can’t remember his second match. 

Japan. 

[WrestlingRasta]

Okay so I was mistaken. He only wrestled three Russians 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

3 minutes ago, WrestlingRasta said:

Okay so I was mistaken. He only wrestled three Russians 

I worked with a family of Uzbek wrestlers. They would be extremely angry if called Russians. You know.., gulags, forced relocations, etc. 

“From a former Soviet republic, yes… definitely not Russian.”

[WrestlingRasta]

In the context of wrestling, they’re all Russians. 
 

To each their own. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

1 minute ago, WrestlingRasta said:

In the context of wrestling, they’re all Russians. 
 

To each their own. 

No. You don’t get to make that choice. 
They probably:
1. Are not  ethnically Russian

2. Never lived in Russia

3. Never even lived in the Soviet Union  

Uzbeks and Kazakhs. 
It appears he wrestled one Russian  

I mean, a lot of ignorance going on. You thought Japanese were Russians 15 minutes ago