Did Kennedy just lose his starting job?

[RawDog]

Tough couple losses for poor Kennedy.  With the terrible decision the brands have to make on who to start between Nelson (former AA, senior and coach's son) and Kennedy (always wrestles his ass off and has done everything Iowa has asked of him), do these recent losses cost Kennedy his starting spot and give the nod back to Nelson Brands?

[666]

Seems easy to me, put the best wrestler on the mat, and I think Kennedy is the best the Hawkeyes have at that weight. Wouldn't Nelson get hammered from a lack of matches in seeding at NCAAs, also? Whoever wins the ranking match should be the guy on the mat. 

[Mr. PeanutButter]

Nelson has a majorly f'd up knee. Even if he manages to get back to some semblance of wrestling shape, he'll be hammered by the qualification and seeding criterias. 

It's gonna be Kennedy for the Hawks this season. 

[666]

5 minutes ago, Mr. PeanutButter said:

Nelson has a majorly f'd up knee. Even if he manages to get back to some semblance of wrestling shape, he'll be hammered by the qualification and seeding criterias. 

It's gonna be Kennedy for the Hawks this season. 

Kennedy will probably AA. He went R16, R12 in his previous 2 NCAAs. 

[RawDog]

22 minutes ago, Mr. PeanutButter said:

Nelson has a majorly f'd up knee. Even if he manages to get back to some semblance of wrestling shape, he'll be hammered by the qualification and seeding criterias. 

It's gonna be Kennedy for the Hawks this season. 

I saw Nelson had a lot of tape on that knee but he still seemed to be drilling pretty good.  Do you think Nelson comes back next year?

[BruceyB]

16 minutes ago, RawDog said:

Do you think Nelson comes back next year?

He just turned 26. Going through a college season as you're turning 27 would be an absolute grind on the body.

[Greenwave]

Of course with both Brands making the call.  That is of course Terry does not get suspended for running into the stands taunting a student fan.

 

this was their play all year, to keep Kennedy from transferring and save Nelson’s spot.   

[Wrestleknownothing]

1 minute ago, Greenwave said:

Of course with both Brands making the call.  That is of course Terry does not get suspended for running into the stands taunting a student fan.

 

this was their play all year, to keep Kennedy from transferring and save Nelson’s spot.   

You are babbling more than normal tonight.

[RawDog]

I just can't see the Brands sitting their nephew/son during his final season unless Kennedy is beating the doors of of Nelson(Which I doubt). If the Brands sit Nelson that is going to cause some heated conversations at Christmas dinner for the next 30 years.

[1032004]

3 hours ago, 666 said:

Seems easy to me, put the best wrestler on the mat, and I think Kennedy is the best the Hawkeyes have at that weight. 

What makes you say this?  Brands took 5th in 2023 with 2 wins over Dustin Plott.  If he is close to 100% he’s probably the better wrestler.

Not sure if he is close to 100% though

[666]

9 hours ago, RawDog said:

I just can't see the Brands sitting their nephew/son during his final season unless Kennedy is beating the doors of of Nelson(Which I doubt). If the Brands sit Nelson that is going to cause some heated conversations at Christmas dinner for the next 30 years.

It reminds me of the Joe Smith debacle when John started his boy, who got seeded #33 at NCAAs due to a lack of matches, when he should've just stuck with the 2 time AA that had wrestled all year. 

[Wrestleknownothing]

28 minutes ago, 666 said:

It reminds me of the Joe Smith debacle when John started his boy, who got seeded #33 at NCAAs due to a lack of matches, when he should've just stuck with the 2 time AA that had wrestled all year. 

A little fast and loose. Joe Smith won the wrestle off with Chandler Rogers.

[666]

1 minute ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

A little fast and loose. Joe Smith won the wrestle off with Chandler Rogers.

He never should've gotten the chance. He moved up a weight because of a lack of discipline and had few matches under his belt. Starting him over Rogers hurt the team. 

[Wrestleknownothing]

15 minutes ago, 666 said:

He never should've gotten the chance. He moved up a weight because of a lack of discipline and had few matches under his belt. Starting him over Rogers hurt the team. 

Maybe on all of that. Maybe he should not have gotten the chance. Maybr John Smith shouldn't have asked his wrestlers to cut so much weight. Maybe Rogers would have done better.

But Joe Smith did win the wrestle off.

[Offthemat]

I thought they all moved down a weight so Weigel could get back in the lineup. 

[666]

52 minutes ago, Offthemat said:

I thought they all moved down a weight so Weigel could get back in the lineup. 

The problem was Joe should've never let himself get fat and go from 157 to 174 in the first place. That was a lack of discipline. So Joe's Sr year he went down to 165 from 174 at the last minute, had very few matches under his belt, and somehow beat Rogers in the ranking match. If I'd been the coach I wouldn't have allowed him to rank at 165 because he'd be handicapped at NCAAs due to RPI issues, unless he was vastly superior as an option.  Rogers was 17-2, had won a tournament, and would've probably been a top 8 seed at NCAAs. 

Edited 11 hours ago by 666

[fishbane]

2 hours ago, 666 said:

He never should've gotten the chance. He moved up a weight because of a lack of discipline and had few matches under his belt. Starting him over Rogers hurt the team. 

This is a little revisionist.  I believe they needed him at 174.  Preston Weigle got injured and missed two months in the middle of the season.  This resulted in Geer and Smith going up and Smith staying at 174 and not going down earlier. If Joe Smith had decided to stay up he would have had to wrestle off returning AA Jacobe Smith late in the season.  The situation of a late season wrestle off between two AA one being the offspring of the head coach was unavoidable. 

[Idaho]

Make them wrestle it off - best 15 out of 29. 

Edited 9 hours ago by Idaho

[Idaho]

46 minutes ago, fishbane said:

This is a little revisionist.  I believe they needed him at 174.  Preston Weigle got injured and missed two months in the middle of the season.  This resulted in Geer and Smith going up and Smith staying at 174 and not going down earlier. If Joe Smith had decided to stay up he would have had to wrestle off returning AA Jacobe Smith late in the season.  The situation of a late season wrestle off between two AA one being the offspring of the head coach was unavoidable. 

Both are true... he had a hard time getting to 165...he looked out of shape out there at 174.  The Big 12 bracket initially had Rogers in it as the #3 seed then got redrawn with Smith as the #8.  Of course he was going to get the wrestle off because it's family, but having Rogers there all season, earning the allocation would have been the best move, especially in hindsight. Another storyline was that Rogers bumped up to 174 in the Iowa dual at the end of the season and got a pin, but he wasn't given the opportunity to bump up against Jacobe to earn the 174 spot the same that Joe was able to move down and challenge. 

[Mr. PeanutButter]

17 hours ago, RawDog said:

I saw Nelson had a lot of tape on that knee but he still seemed to be drilling pretty good.  Do you think Nelson comes back next year?

Nothing against the kid, I respect all wrestlers except for Mr. FastAssault and Mr. Hollywood, but I would much rather not watch Nelson grind out a 2-1 win ever again. 

[fishbane]

1 hour ago, Idaho said:

Both are true... he had a hard time getting to 165...he looked out of shape out there at 174.  The Big 12 bracket initially had Rogers in it as the #3 seed then got redrawn with Smith as the #8.  Of course he was going to get the wrestle off because it's family, but having Rogers there all season, earning the allocation would have been the best move, especially in hindsight. Another storyline was that Rogers bumped up to 174 in the Iowa dual at the end of the season and got a pin, but he wasn't given the opportunity to bump up against Jacobe to earn the 174 spot the same that Joe was able to move down and challenge. 

Joe Smith was undisciplined to come into the season up at 174.  If he came into the season at 165 then they likely settle that roster spot early.  Joe Smith likely wins the spot and when the December bump up happens it's Rogers wrestling 174 and there are fewer moving parts when Weigel returns.  Geer goes down and you ask Jacobe Smith where he wants to wrestle and give him a wrestle off at either 174 or 184.

With all the bumping that happened giving the 165lb loser a second wrestle off could have set off a cascade of wrestle offs the week before Big 12s.  The end result could have been multiple guys cutting weight to ultimately compete at the original higher weight.  Probably all them wouldnt like how it was handled.  I think early February when Weigel's returning you ask them all where they want to wrestle.  If someone's dropping then decent plans put that 3-4 weeks out and you let everyone know they will only be allowed to wrestle off at one weight on weight in 3-4 weeks.

[Hammerlock3]

When someone is coaching their own son, 90% of the time its the stupidest guy in the room to yell "nepotism" first.