The real problem with RAF sustainabilty?

[BruceyB]

11 hours ago, 1032004 said:

there are tons of top tier guys not in college and we see most of the college guys enough anyway.

Tons? Look at the domestic rankings.. 

57kg: #3 Liam Cronin, #4 Daniel Deshazer, #7 Austin Assad, #8 Brady Roark

65kg: #1 Real Woods, #2 Joey McKenna.. no one else in the top 8

74kg: #3 Jerrett Jacques, #4 Quincy Monday, #6 Terrell Barraclough #7 Peyton Hall, #8 Ed Scott

79kg: #6 Ethan Riddle, #7 Kennedy Monday, #8 Muhamed McBryde

86kg: #7 Marcus Coleman, #8 Chris Moore

92kg: #5 Eric Schultz #6 Dustin Plott #7 Hayden Walters, #8 Patrick Brophy

97kg: #4 Ethan Laird, #5 Eric Schultz, #6 Zane Lanham, #7 Gavin Hoffman

125kg: #5 Jordan Wood, #6 Christian Lance, #7 Lucas Stoddard, #8 Alex Semenenko

How many of the guys I listed above are you really interested in watching compete? I'd say most weight classes are lucky if they have 5 interesting guys that are post-grad, and 5 guys per weight doesn't exactly scream longevity when it comes to interesting match-ups. Foreigners is the only long term solution. Make it an "US vs them" kind of event where every little kid and unknowing observer has a built in guy to root for, whether the know his backstory or not.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

10 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

Tons? Look at the domestic rankings.. 

57kg: #3 Liam Cronin, #4 Daniel Deshazer, #7 Austin Assad, #8 Brady Roark

65kg: #1 Real Woods, #2 Joey McKenna.. no one else in the top 8

74kg: #3 Jerrett Jacques, #4 Quincy Monday, #6 Terrell Barraclough #7 Peyton Hall, #8 Ed Scott

79kg: #6 Ethan Riddle, #7 Kennedy Monday, #8 Muhamed McBryde

86kg: #7 Marcus Coleman, #8 Chris Moore

92kg: #5 Eric Schultz #6 Dustin Plott #7 Hayden Walters, #8 Patrick Brophy

97kg: #4 Ethan Laird, #5 Eric Schultz, #6 Zane Lanham, #7 Gavin Hoffman

125kg: #5 Jordan Wood, #6 Christian Lance, #7 Lucas Stoddard, #8 Alex Semenenko

How many of the guys I listed above are you really interested in watching compete? I'd say most weight classes are lucky if they have 5 interesting guys that are post-grad, and 5 guys per weight doesn't exactly scream longevity when it comes to interesting match-ups. Foreigners is the only long term solution. Make it an "US vs them" kind of event where every little kid and unknowing observer has a built in guy to root for, whether the know his backstory or not.

It feels like you're missing a lot of guys there.  #1,2,3 at heavy are out of college.  Who is #4?  

Plenty of others missing.

Or are you trying to compile a list of wrestlers you find boring?  I admit to being a bit confused.

Edited 7 hours ago by Interviewed_at_Weehawken

[boconnell]

4 hours ago, BruceyB said:

I was incorrect overall. Especially in the upper weights (86kg+) that is very well dominated by post-grad wrestlers. And even at the lighter weights, I shouldn't have said "majority." But from 57kg-79kg in flo's domestic rankings, 47% of the top 5 in those weights are still in college. So if you consider essentially half of the talent pool in 6 different weight classes is still in college, it's not the majority but a large portion, and that's just according to the rankings, which doesn't even include college guys that would almost certainly be in the top 5 if they competed in the open division.

 

Almost half is significant for sure.   That means they have about 3 real guys per weight without college guys.  That's a couple of shows and then they're out of guys.  So they definitely need the college guys or a lot more international guys.