Mandatory Poll: Haines vs O'Toole

[ionel]

36 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

They wrestled at the All-Star a 2 or 3 years ago. Keegan really controlled the entire match IIRC. But that match was years ago, so I completely agree he could make things interesting.

So what was their last folkstyle match cause we all know nothing matters but the last one?  

[BruceyB]

3 minutes ago, ionel said:

So what was their last folkstyle match cause we all know nothing matters but the last one?  

Is this supposed to be a joke? If so, I don't follow.

My last post was in response to someone saying Hamiti and O'Toole have never met in college, and I responded that they wrestled in the All-Star 2 or 3 years ago, and that Hamiti could challenge O'Toole..

So I stated their last folkstyle match and that despite the result, it would be an interesting match-up. 

Can you explain how your response now, please?

[Pa in Taiwan]

I foresee David Taylor succeeding in having his wrestlers ready for March much in the way that Cael does. Hamiti looked so great in the tech fall against the #4 guy from Virginia Tech at the weight class. If he continues rolling, things will be extremely interesting in March. If he's rolling, he could take out both of these guys. 

[flyingcement]

Just now, Pa in Taiwan said:

I foresee David Taylor succeeding in having his wrestlers ready for March much in the way that Cael does. Hamiti looked so great in the tech fall against the #4 guy from Virginia Tech at the weight class. If he continues rolling, things will be extremely interesting in March. If he's rolling, he could take out both of these guys. 

I agree.  I think he is off to a promising start.  I'm not one of those people who will say "well let's see how his entire life plays out before we make any educated guesses" but I genuinely do want to see how his coach style translates throughout the course of a season after the original adrenaline bump is gone.  And to what extent can he sustain that going forward is the second question.  But all positive signs so far.

[Pa in Taiwan]

1 minute ago, flyingcement said:

I agree.  I think he is off to a promising start.  I'm not one of those people who will say "well let's see how his entire life plays out before we make any educated guesses" but I genuinely do want to see how his coach style translates throughout the course of a season after the original adrenaline bump is gone.  And to what extent can he sustain that going forward is the second question.  But all positive signs so far.

The signs are there. Oklahoma State wrestlers are scoring points near the end of the period. Multiple guys who could have coasted with the decision turned it up and went for bonus points. Hamiti was nonstop in his attacks, both from his feet and from the top. All of these signs bode well for Taylor's team. I really had not thought that he could make such significant, visible changes in the team in such a short time, but they are looking really great. It's clear that everyone has bought in to Taylor as coach, trust him, and want to follow his lead. I think this may be the greatest thing to happen to NCAA wrestling in a long time. I'm not saying anything outrageous or saying that they will challenge PSU this year for the title, but we could see some interesting developments. One more thing: I believe that Taylor will convince Hendrickson that he can beat both Kerk and Steveson. Sparks will fly at heavyweight. 

[flyingcement]

Just now, Pa in Taiwan said:

The signs are there. Oklahoma State wrestlers are scoring points near the end of the period. Multiple guys who could have coasted with the decision turned it up and went for bonus points. Hamiti was nonstop in his attacks, both from his feet and from the top. All of these signs bode well for Taylor's team. I really had not thought that he could make such significant, visible changes in the team in such a short time, but they are looking really great. It's clear that everyone has bought in to Taylor as coach, trust him, and want to follow his lead. I think this may be the greatest thing to happen to NCAA wrestling in a long time. I'm not saying anything outrageous or saying that they will challenge PSU this year for the title, but we could see some interesting developments. One more thing: I believe that Taylor will convince Hendrickson that he can beat both Kerk and Steveson. Sparks will fly at heavyweight. 

I'm not as well versed in the history of NCAA coaches, but I am thinking of an NBA coach Tom Thibodeau who grinds everything he can out of his guys throughout the season, and they tend to be injured come playoff time.  Those are the types of things I'm hopeful to see are not an issue, because doing well through December is just too small of a sample size for me to weigh so heavily.  

Interesting point on the Hendrickson piece.  I think Kerk could be surmountable based on that kind of self-belief.  I would be gobsmacked if he defeated Steveson.  

[Pa in Taiwan]

9 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

I would be gobsmacked if he defeated Steveson.  

EVERYONE would be gobsmacked if he defeated Steveson. If he goes undefeated until then and is pumped for the match, I could see him at least giving Steveson a match, even scoring on him. 

[BruceyB]

8 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

I'm not as well versed in the history of NCAA coaches, but I am thinking of an NBA coach Tom Thibodeau who grinds everything he can out of his guys throughout the season, and they tend to be injured come playoff time.  Those are the types of things I'm hopeful to see are not an issue, because doing well through December is just too small of a sample size for me to weigh so heavily.  

Interesting point on the Hendrickson piece.  I think Kerk could be surmountable based on that kind of self-belief.  I would be gobsmacked if he defeated Steveson.  

I forget who was in an interview recently but they said something about how they practice less at PSU than a lot of schools, and they all talk about how they just have fun wrestling. If you think DT is in there grinding these guys early and is going to burn them out by march, that would go against everything he learned from his mentor/coach.

[BruceyB]

1 minute ago, Pa in Taiwan said:

EVERYONE would be gobsmacked if he defeated Steveson. If he goes undefeated until then and is pumped for the match, I could see him at least giving Steveson a match, even scoring on him. 

I would not be gobsmacked if either Wyatt or Greg beat Gable at the tournament. I certainly wouldn't predict it, but I would be less gobsmacked than when Caldwell beat Metcalf. Hot take.

[flyingcement]

4 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

I forget who was in an interview recently but they said something about how they practice less at PSU than a lot of schools, and they all talk about how they just have fun wrestling. If you think DT is in there grinding these guys early and is going to burn them out by march, that would go against everything he learned from his mentor/coach.

I don't know enough about whether he would want to make his own stamp or not.  I'm not asserting he is grinding guys, but I'd like to see how it plays out  if he is also high effective at preparing guys for the actual tournament.  Grinding guys was one of first things that came to mind as a possibility, but there are other ways of not peaking at the right time.  We haven't seen him ever coach at this level before, so I was just reiterating that all signs are good so far, but certainly a lot left to prove 

Edited yesterday at 01:23 AM by flyingcement

[Pa in Taiwan]

10 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

I forget who was in an interview recently but they said something about how they practice less at PSU than a lot of schools, and they all talk about how they just have fun wrestling. If you think DT is in there grinding these guys early and is going to burn them out by march, that would go against everything he learned from his mentor/coach.

Yes, this is an interesting topic. I think the legacy of Cael and now his student Taylor is based around the fact that NCAA wrestling is not just two guys bashing each other and showing who is tougher, rinse and repeat from November until March. A major key to winning and scoring points for the team is what goes on in the head. A lot of this is developed in the room by talking about things. Wrestling smart and being smart about things like I mentioned above: scoring points with short time left in the period, always pushing for bonus points, etc. create a culture, both in the room and on the mat. It seems that Oklahoma State showed a lot of that approach on Thursday night. This manifests because the NCAA season is SO LONG and there are so many matches to wrestle. It may be better to roll at 50-60% through positions than to go live in all the practices. 

This is in strict opposition to what Ono said about wrestling freestyle for Japan. He said that they go full on live in practice ALL THE TIME. I don't know if he means year round or just in preparation for important freestyle tournaments, but, damn, that's impressive, and nobody could argue that it doesn't get results, especially in light of the Japanese men's performance in the past year. 

 

 

[Wrestleknownothing]

22 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

I forget who was in an interview recently but they said something about how they practice less at PSU than a lot of schools, and they all talk about how they just have fun wrestling. If you think DT is in there grinding these guys early and is going to burn them out by march, that would go against everything he learned from his mentor/coach.

It always amuses me when they do their press availability in the hallway outside of the practice room and you can see through the window behind them all the guys playing dodgeball.

[Le duke]

It always amuses me when they do their press availability in the hallway outside of the practice room and you can see through the window behind them all the guys playing dodgeball.

I’m actually impressed that they have the maturity to NOT put a heater into the plexiglass right behind Cael/Casey/Cody/their roommate on occasion.

From a competitive dodgeball perspective, this could lead to your own demise as an opponent could catch the ricochet but still, I’d take the risk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RawDog]

2 hours ago, BruceyB said:

I would not be gobsmacked if either Wyatt or Greg beat Gable at the tournament. I certainly wouldn't predict it, but I would be less gobsmacked than when Caldwell beat Metcalf. Hot take.

I don't understand why everyone was so gobsmacked by Caldwell beating Metcalf. Caldwell had already beat Metcalf before their finals match

[D3 for LU]

15 hours ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

It always amuses me when they do their press availability in the hallway outside of the practice room and you can see through the window behind them all the guys playing dodgeball.

D3

[ionel]

16 hours ago, RawDog said:

I don't understand why everyone was so gobsmacked by Caldwell beating Metcalf. Caldwell had already beat Metcalf before their finals match

• but everyone knew it was just a fluke spladle 

[Fletcher]

Why did this poll have to be mandatory? We're all busy with holiday stuff.

But mandatory is mandatory, so here we are.

[ionel]

24 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

Why did this poll have to be mandatory? We're all busy with holiday stuff.

But mandatory is mandatory, so here we are.

... and yet you had time for nonsense.  

[Pinnacle]

I think I predicted Haines somewhere else, but going on record here that I am picking Levi Haines.

I will own it if he gets beat by KOT.

[BruceyB]

5 minutes ago, Pinnacle said:

I think I predicted Haines somewhere else, but going on record here that I am picking Levi Haines.

I will own it if he gets beat by KOT.

I have KOT. But I don't feel confident. Likewise.

Sidenote if anyone is reading this and watching on rokfin, is anyone else having issues?