Iowas problem is Gable

[bnwtwg]

7 hours ago, ionel said:

Here's a graph Wkn left behind showing number of stupid Jimmy threads by month of wrestling season.  March will be brutal! 

gd bob f'n dole

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

16 hours ago, AgaveMaria said:

You read it right. Iowas problem is Dan Gable. More specifically - the inability of the coaching staff to move past his coaching style.

Jim Zalesky tried being Gable & failed. He somehow could not move past it and put his stamp on the team.

Tom has the same problem, though is a bit more successful with it. Where Zalesky was quiet Brands is vocal & excitable. Gable was, but he was always in control with his wrestlers & never lost sight of the prize. Brands is excitable & too often it seems scripted.

Until Iowa coaches can make the program their own it will be second banana with success while seldom reaching the top.

Bro, Gable is fighting UFC now.

[Smsu150]

The success of the Gable years is really the only issue.  Iowa is a great program, second only to Penn State in the last 15 - 20 years. The Hawks have had a great deal of success under Brands, winning four titles (Covid probably robbed them of a 5th) while consistently having one of the top programs in the country.  That being said, the Dan Gable years cast a long shadow. 

Edited November 21, 2025 by Smsu150
typo

[NM1965]

14 hours ago, MNRodent said:

What they need is some snazzy new uniforms. Solid black is so 1990's.

The one on the right is the official sleepwear of the Iowa Hawkeyes when they travel. You can't see the trapdoor in back from the angle of the picture, though. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

9 hours ago, Gus said:

Who on there starting lineup does not scramble well would be a better question. 

Terrible scrambling on that Angelo, he barely outscrambled an AWA kid, and those guys know nothing about scrambling.  Caliendo and Kennedy also come to mind.

[Spencerlee]

21 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Terrible scrambling on that Angelo, he barely outscrambled an AWA kid, and those guys know nothing about scrambling.  Caliendo and Kennedy also come to mind.

Ben Kueter won a junior World title with his scrambling. Jordan Williams and Dean Peterson (albeit transfers) are also terrific scramblers.

[NM1965]

35 minutes ago, Smsu150 said:

The success of the Gable years is really the only issue.  Iowa is a great program, second only to Penn State in the last 15 - 20 years. The Hawks have had a great deal of success under Brands, winning four titles (Covid probably robbed them of a 5th) while consistently having one of the top programs in the country.  That being said, the Dan Gable years cast a long shadow. 

If it wasn't for the Gable years, Iowa wouldn't even be what they are now. All that tradition they earned under Gable is the only thing keeping that program at the level it is. Spencer Lee wanted to wear that black singlet just because of Iowa's tradition, for example. You can bet most wrestlers weren't going to Iowa to wrestle for Tom, they wanted to wear that black singlet. It's a symbol, really, a badge of honor. 

Iowa will never catch Cael with Tom at the helm. Never in a billion years. Can Iowa replace Tom with somebody better? Yes, I believe they can, but the real question is should they? Well...probably they should. But I hope not. I enjoy Tom's manic personality and his interviews. I think Cael has a hammerlock on D1 wrestling and it won't go away if Iowa changes coaches. 

 

[jchapman]

1 minute ago, NM1965 said:

If it wasn't for the Gable years, Iowa wouldn't even be what they are now. All that tradition they earned under Gable is the only thing keeping that program at the level it is. Spencer Lee wanted to wear that black singlet just because of Iowa's tradition, for example. You can bet most wrestlers weren't going to Iowa to wrestle for Tom, they wanted to wear that black singlet. It's a symbol, really, a badge of honor. 

Iowa will never catch Cael with Tom at the helm. Never in a billion years. Can Iowa replace Tom with somebody better? Yes, I believe they can, but the real question is should they? Well...probably they should. But I hope not. I enjoy Tom's manic personality and his interviews. I think Cael has a hammerlock on D1 wrestling and it won't go away if Iowa changes coaches. 

 

Is there somebody right now that you think would be a better head coach at Iowa?

[NM1965]

1 minute ago, jchapman said:

Is there somebody right now that you think would be a better head coach at Iowa?

I think there are several. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

19 minutes ago, NM1965 said:

If it wasn't for the Gable years, Iowa wouldn't even be what they are now. All that tradition they earned under Gable is the only thing keeping that program at the level it is. Spencer Lee wanted to wear that black singlet just because of Iowa's tradition, for example. You can bet most wrestlers weren't going to Iowa to wrestle for Tom, they wanted to wear that black singlet. It's a symbol, really, a badge of honor. 

Iowa will never catch Cael with Tom at the helm. Never in a billion years. Can Iowa replace Tom with somebody better? Yes, I believe they can, but the real question is should they? Well...probably they should. But I hope not. I enjoy Tom's manic personality and his interviews. I think Cael has a hammerlock on D1 wrestling and it won't go away if Iowa changes coaches. 

 

Yeah... it was the black singlet.  And the fact that he wanted to wrestle for Tom and Terry and the program that consistently was putting out the best lightweights.

Do you ever do any research?

[NM1965]

2 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Yeah... it was the black singlet.  And the fact that he wanted to wrestle for Tom and Terry and the program that consistently was putting out the best lightweights.

Do you ever do any research?

Yeah. I know that Tom and Terry didn't produce any lightweight champs between Cory Clark and Spencer Lee and the only NCAA champ they produced since Spencer was a transfer from OU. Does that sound like the program "consistently putting out the best lightweights"? Spencer Lee went to Iowa because he was a Hawkeye fan. 

Do you ever do any research? 

Edited November 21, 2025 by NM1965

[Spencerlee]

2 minutes ago, NM1965 said:

Yeah. I know that Tom and Terry didn't produce any lightweight champs between Cory Clark and Spencer Lee and the only NCAA champ they produced since Spencer was a transfer from OU. Does that sound like the program "consistently putting out the best lightweights"? Spencer Lee went to Iowa because he was a Hawkeye fan. 

Do you ever do any research? 

Spencer wasn’t an Iowa fan. You don’t know anything.

[Viratas]

I think long-term, the Stieners would have been better coaches than the Brands; they were just two low-key. Although the Brands have not done bad, I mean I agree next to the Kittys they have been right there. Even, when we don't think they will be. 

 

[NM1965]

1 minute ago, Spencerlee said:

Spencer wasn’t an Iowa fan. You don’t know anything.

So he chose to go to a worse room for what reason? Oh yeah "Iowa produces the best lightweights", which we both know is BS. 

 

[NM1965]

Just now, Viratas said:

I think long-term, the Stieners would have been better coaches than the Brands; they were just two low-key. Although the Brands have not done bad, I mean I agree next to the Kittys they have been right there. Even, when we don't think they will be. 

 

I'm not so sure if they are "right there" versus the kitties. I looked at Tom's record. Hawkeyes won 3 NCAA titles out of his first 4 years, then 1 out of the next 14. They aren't consistently 2nd either. They've got 2 2nds, 4 3rds, 5 4ths, and 2 5ths. They might've won in 2020, granted. 

 

[headshuck]

The best way to kickstart a program is to combine recruiting classes.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

11 minutes ago, NM1965 said:

Yeah. I know that Tom and Terry didn't produce any lightweight champs between Cory Clark and Spencer Lee and the only NCAA champ they produced since Spencer was a transfer from OU. Does that sound like the program "consistently putting out the best lightweights"? Spencer Lee went to Iowa because he was a Hawkeye fan. 

Do you ever do any research? 

LOL you are doing some revisionist work! As if he had a crystal ball to look to see who their national champs after Cory Clark world be.  When Spencer entered school, they had a string of studs including Clark, Gilman, Ramos.

Yes, I did the research.  I watched and read interviews and didn't resort to my feelings, as you apparently did.

[Gene Mills Fan]

TNTDS stop drinking tequila made from AgaveMaria

[NM1965]

10 minutes ago, headshuck said:

The best way to kickstart a program is to combine recruiting classes.

Tom already did that once

[Viratas]

17 minutes ago, NM1965 said:

I'm not so sure if they are "right there" versus the kitties. I looked at Tom's record. Hawkeyes won 3 NCAA titles out of his first 4 years, then 1 out of the next 14. They aren't consistently 2nd either. They've got 2 2nds, 4 3rds, 5 4ths, and 2 5ths. They might've won in 2020, granted. 

 

I said "Other than the Kittys" meaning they are behind them, not equal.

[NM1965]

Just now, Viratas said:

I said "Other than the Kittys" meaning they are behind them, not equal.

Yeah, but I got the sense you meant they are close to PSU, which isn't the case. My bad, sorry. 

[Viratas]

Just now, NM1965 said:

Yeah, but I got the sense you meant they are close to PSU, which isn't the case. My bad, sorry. 

No worries, and trust me, I am about as far from an IA fan as possible.

[Mr. PeanutButter]

56 minutes ago, NM1965 said:

If it wasn't for the Gable years, Iowa wouldn't even be what they are now. All that tradition they earned under Gable is the only thing keeping that program at the level it is. Spencer Lee wanted to wear that black singlet just because of Iowa's tradition, for example. You can bet most wrestlers weren't going to Iowa to wrestle for Tom, they wanted to wear that black singlet. It's a symbol, really, a badge of honor. 

Iowa will never catch Cael with Tom at the helm. Never in a billion years. Can Iowa replace Tom with somebody better? Yes, I believe they can, but the real question is should they? Well...probably they should. But I hope not. I enjoy Tom's manic personality and his interviews. I think Cael has a hammerlock on D1 wrestling and it won't go away if Iowa changes coaches. 

 

Spencer Lee has said in multiple interviews that he committed to Iowa because he wanted to be coached by Tom and Terry (and couldn't imagine/didn't want them coaching against him)

Looking forward to what else you make up

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

20 minutes ago, Mr. PeanutButter said:

Spencer Lee has said in multiple interviews that he committed to Iowa because he wanted to be coached by Tom and Terry (and couldn't imagine/didn't want them coaching against him)

Looking forward to what else you make up

[NM1965]

8 minutes ago, Mr. PeanutButter said:

Spencer Lee has said in multiple interviews that he committed to Iowa because he wanted to be coached by Tom and Terry (and couldn't imagine/didn't want them coaching against him)

Looking forward to what else you make up

Sorry, I made some assumptions. I know Brands isn't the lightweight guru people are claiming (albeit still a very good coach), and I know Iowa doesn't have a great room compared to PSU, so I wrongly assumed Lee was a Hawkeye fan. I'm not enough of a Lee groupie to memorize every word he's ever said either so I was unaware he said that. My mistake. 

What you stated in your response to me actually makes me respect Spencer Lee less. So Spencer Lee went to a lesser room for a team that he wasn't a fan of, ostensibly because he wanted to wrestle for Tom Brands and didn't want Tom coaching against him? Spencer was afraid of a guy who hadn't coached an NCAA champ in 5 years to coach against him, a 3 time age level world champion, bluechip recruit almost guaranteed to win multiple NCAA titles wherever he went? That doesn't really add up, does it?

From what you wrote and from what others have said in your "corrections" to me, the conclusion I've reached is that Lee must've wanted to be the star of a program and at Iowa he would be the star wrestler of a top program, and at PSU Spencer would just be another champ in a stable of badasses (Nolf, Zain, Bo, etc), but it would be pretty egotistical to admit to something like that, wouldn't it?

Cueing up for relentless outrage from Spencer fans...5....4...3...2...1

Go for it.