Neweruser69's NCAA Thoughts

[neweruser69]

The 2025 NCAA tournament has concluded. 

As we now look forward to a new season, I cant help but think we are still plagued by the same issues year after year. 

1. Stalling - As usual, edge wrestling and lack of stalling constitute the worst part of our sport. I'm not saying the refs should've handed Byrd his victory earlier, but I would have understood it. 

2. Rideouts - Can we do away with OT riding time rideouts? Isn't everyone dissatisfied by winning in this fashion? For too many years now I have seen lesser wrestlers employ the "Escape only try to win in ride outs with no offense attempted" to steal matches. It only leads to more snoozefests. Maybe change the rule so if you don't score an offensive point you can't win in OT based on rideouts? Then head back to neutral.

Hell, I'd prefer only neutral 2 minute rounds until a takedown settles the match. 

 

3. Lung Bricks/Challenges - There desperately needs to be a penalization for these fake challenges. It's crossed the threshold of acceptability now. Coaches are strategizing key moments to give their guys a rest with these BS bricks. Get them out. 

 

Anyways, here's some thoughts I had on the tourney. 

125 - Gross final. The guy I wanted to win won, but that was ultimately one of the most forgettable finals I've ever seen. 

Did The Right Guy win the Weight  - No, I thought Lilledahl was the best of the field.

Random Thoughts - Has 125 gotten markedly worse recently or is it just me? Perhaps it's time to modify the classes.  

 

133 - Thought both finalists were considerably better than the field. Honestly, was shocked that Byrd had such a better gameplan than Ayala, but that's par for the course with Iowa in recent years. Ayala was over-reliant on his bread and butter and Byrd totally neutralized it. Ayala should've definitely be dinged earlier too.

Did The Right Guy win the Weight - Yes, he was the aggressor the entire time.

Random Thoughts - Nasir Bailey will be dangerous once he gets that hands transplant.

 

141 - Great match, Mendez is just really really good at wrestling. No real weaknesses, and he can turn it on like Jaggers before him. Hardy clearly jumped a level this year too, he was a pleasure to watch. Wish I could say the same about Bartlett, but he just never opened it up. 

Did The Right Guy win the Weight  - Yes

Random Thoughts  - Bartlett kind of looks like Bruno Mars with the stache. 

149 - Awful match, horribly officiated where the wrong guy won. Not sure how you overturn that TD. An unconvincing 1-0 win for a championship where you definitely taken down. Not my favorite celebration of the night either. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - No, Henson was better and got robbed. 

 

157 - It's better to be lucky than good right? Feels like that sums up Taylors tournament. Not saying he isn't an elite wrestler, but things broke for him in an amazing way, and then he was allowed to LITERALLY run away for just about a minute. Blaze didn't get the TD sure, but he couldn't catch Taylor either. I don't think we ever see him place close to this high again. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Nah, Kasak was the best here. Credit to Blaze for taking him out with savvy edgewrestling and a little luck.  

 

165 - No real comments here, Caliendo's vision quest came up just short. Credit to him for getting close to the MM pace and still being able to fight back. They've both separated themselves from the field by quite a bit. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Yes. 

 

174 - All I could think about after watching Hamiti dispatch Haines and O'toole was how different his career would've been at a better program. DT fully maximized this due and he looks amazing now, he was at the wrong weight and not utilizing his skills fully until now. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Oh yeah, beating 2 elite champs and looking better than both is no small feat. 

184 - The Keck-Mec Semi was one of the best bouts I have ever seen in my life. An absolute war with no one backing down or ceding ground. Truly an awesome match, best of the tourney by far in my eyes.

And Starocci is just that much better, which is wild. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Yes, say what you want about the persona, but he is excellence personified on the mat. 

 

197 - I have no idea how Barr did what he did, extremely impressive. Between him and AJ it kind of highlighted how unskilled this weight was this year. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Yes absolutely. 

AJ Ferrari - So, I think AJ Ferrari might actually be a genius. Hear me out...the ironically named MrFastTwich (who appears to have no real fast twitch movements) is made out of freaking steel cables. It was incredibly apparent all tournament long how much stronger he was than everyone. His entire strategy revolves around grinding people into the ground, knowing he can escape and hold you down. Takedowns don't matter, skill doesn't matter. You can't move the damn guy and you can't move once he's on top of you. Piss poor scouting with everyone taking bottom against him as well. 

I was SHOCKED to hear the pop for the splits after the medal round. 

 

285 - Gotta tell you, I felt this happening in my plums. Not the way it did, I thought Gable was going to foolishly take down after being winded, and wind up getting stuck in a pinfalldrickson. 

What actually happened was more surprising. He got outwrestled! What a phenomenal gameplan they had in place. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Absolutely, you can't disrespect the sport and generate positive juju, came back to get Gable big time. 

 

[flyingcement]

I agree with the penalization of the lung brick.  As a kid at a tournament somewhere, I got a t-shirt that said

Wrestling - The Ultimate Gut Check

No Food

No Water

No Timeouts

No Teammates to blame

No Place to Hide

There is no comparison

 

The t-shirt is not exactly true anymore.  Guys drink water while hiding with their coach during the "brick" timeouts.  I haven't seen much eating or blaming teammates... yet...

[flyingcement]

Bricks should be unlimited and they give a point to the other wrestler if failed.  

[ChickenWing]

I'm glad to hear someone agrees with me on 149. I enjoyed watching Lovett in early rounds but the final was awful and I felt bad for Henson.

[Wrestleknownothing]

  On 3/24/2025 at 1:43 AM, neweruser69 said:

The 2025 NCAA tournament has concluded. 

As we now look forward to a new season, I cant help but think we are still plagued by the same issues year after year. 

1. Stalling - As usual, edge wrestling and lack of stalling constitute the worst part of our sport. I'm not saying the refs should've handed Byrd his victory earlier, but I would have understood it. 

2. Rideouts - Can we do away with OT riding time rideouts? Isn't everyone dissatisfied by winning in this fashion? For too many years now I have seen lesser wrestlers employ the "Escape only try to win in ride outs with no offense attempted" to steal matches. It only leads to more snoozefests. Maybe change the rule so if you don't score an offensive point you can't win in OT based on rideouts? Then head back to neutral.

Hell, I'd prefer only neutral 2 minute rounds until a takedown settles the match. 

 

3. Lung Bricks/Challenges - There desperately needs to be a penalization for these fake challenges. It's crossed the threshold of acceptability now. Coaches are strategizing key moments to give their guys a rest with these BS bricks. Get them out. 

 

Anyways, here's some thoughts I had on the tourney. 

125 - Gross final. The guy I wanted to win won, but that was ultimately one of the most forgettable finals I've ever seen. 

Did The Right Guy win the Weight  - No, I thought Lilledahl was the best of the field.

Random Thoughts - Has 125 gotten markedly worse recently or is it just me? Perhaps it's time to modify the classes.  

 

133 - Thought both finalists were considerably better than the field. Honestly, was shocked that Byrd had such a better gameplan than Ayala, but that's par for the course with Iowa in recent years. Ayala was over-reliant on his bread and butter and Byrd totally neutralized it. Ayala should've definitely be dinged earlier too.

Did The Right Guy win the Weight - Yes, he was the aggressor the entire time.

Random Thoughts - Nasir Bailey will be dangerous once he gets that hands transplant.

 

141 - Great match, Mendez is just really really good at wrestling. No real weaknesses, and he can turn it on like Jaggers before him. Hardy clearly jumped a level this year too, he was a pleasure to watch. Wish I could say the same about Bartlett, but he just never opened it up. 

Did The Right Guy win the Weight  - Yes

Random Thoughts  - Bartlett kind of looks like Bruno Mars with the stache. 

149 - Awful match, horribly officiated where the wrong guy won. Not sure how you overturn that TD. An unconvincing 1-0 win for a championship where you definitely taken down. Not my favorite celebration of the night either. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - No, Henson was better and got robbed. 

 

157 - It's better to be lucky than good right? Feels like that sums up Taylors tournament. Not saying he isn't an elite wrestler, but things broke for him in an amazing way, and then he was allowed to LITERALLY run away for just about a minute. Blaze didn't get the TD sure, but he couldn't catch Taylor either. I don't think we ever see him place close to this high again. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Nah, Kasak was the best here. Credit to Blaze for taking him out with savvy edgewrestling and a little luck.  

 

165 - No real comments here, Caliendo's vision quest came up just short. Credit to him for getting close to the MM pace and still being able to fight back. They've both separated themselves from the field by quite a bit. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Yes. 

 

174 - All I could think about after watching Hamiti dispatch Haines and O'toole was how different his career would've been at a better program. DT fully maximized this due and he looks amazing now, he was at the wrong weight and not utilizing his skills fully until now. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Oh yeah, beating 2 elite champs and looking better than both is no small feat. 

184 - The Keck-Mec Semi was one of the best bouts I have ever seen in my life. An absolute war with no one backing down or ceding ground. Truly an awesome match, best of the tourney by far in my eyes.

And Starocci is just that much better, which is wild. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Yes, say what you want about the persona, but he is excellence personified on the mat. 

 

197 - I have no idea how Barr did what he did, extremely impressive. Between him and AJ it kind of highlighted how unskilled this weight was this year. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Yes absolutely. 

AJ Ferrari - So, I think AJ Ferrari might actually be a genius. Hear me out...the ironically named MrFastTwich (who appears to have no real fast twitch movements) is made out of freaking steel cables. It was incredibly apparent all tournament long how much stronger he was than everyone. His entire strategy revolves around grinding people into the ground, knowing he can escape and hold you down. Takedowns don't matter, skill doesn't matter. You can't move the damn guy and you can't move once he's on top of you. Piss poor scouting with everyone taking bottom against him as well. 

I was SHOCKED to hear the pop for the splits after the medal round. 

 

285 - Gotta tell you, I felt this happening in my plums. Not the way it did, I thought Gable was going to foolishly take down after being winded, and wind up getting stuck in a pinfalldrickson. 

What actually happened was more surprising. He got outwrestled! What a phenomenal gameplan they had in place. 

Did the Right Guy Win the Weight - Absolutely, you can't disrespect the sport and generate positive juju, came back to get Gable big time. 

 

Expand  

Great write up

[lu_alum]

  On 3/24/2025 at 1:52 AM, flyingcement said:

Bricks should be unlimited and they give a point to the other wrestler if failed.  

Expand  

I don't know about unlimited bricks.  I like the international approach.  One brick per match.  If the challenge is successful, you keep the brick.  If you fail a challenge, you lose the brick and your guy loses a match point.

Edited March 24 by lu_alum

[headshuck]

How about a little oxygen tank that each team gets a limited number of. You know going in if your opponent has one available. It’s humiliating to get one tossed to you so you work harder to avoid.

[neweruser69]

  On 3/24/2025 at 2:12 AM, ChickenWing said:

I'm glad to hear someone agrees with me on 149. I enjoyed watching Lovett in early rounds but the final was awful and I felt bad for Henson.

Expand  

A more definitive win would've been nice. I also don't see how Henson doesn't get a TD if action continues.