PSU is awesome … but ….

[Dark Energy]

Team is incredible.  Looks like best team ever and may just build on that next year.  Gap between them and any other team is gapping.  Kudos to Cael, his staff, the wrestlers, and the support network and fans.  Truly truly amazing.

But - it makes the whole sport a lot less interesting for me.  Just not much anticipation.  You know the underdog is going to get smacked, hard.  
 

Team title at NCAAs is such a foregone conclusion that it isn’t part of the fun.  More of an ‘oh damn.’  Doesn’t bring excitement to the sport anymore.
 

Wishing there was someway to create more parity.  Current situation is diminishing my interest.

[Nittanychris]

I'm a Penn State fan but apart from that, when I watch the best athletes in the country/world at ANY sport, I'm intrigued and entertained by their astounding skill level. Penn State is performing with wrestling skill never seen before in the history of college wrestling. That is, and always will be, immensely entertaining to watch.

[Rassling]

8 minutes ago, Dark Energy said:

Team is incredible.  Looks like best team ever and may just build on that next year.  Gap between them and any other team is gapping.  Kudos to Cael, his staff, the wrestlers, and the support network and fans.  Truly truly amazing.

But - it makes the whole sport a lot less interesting for me.  Just not much anticipation.  You know the underdog is going to get smacked, hard.  
 

Team title at NCAAs is such a foregone conclusion that it isn’t part of the fun.  More of an ‘oh damn.’  Doesn’t bring excitement to the sport anymore.
 

Wishing there was someway to create more parity.  Current situation is diminishing my interest.

I definitely agree. The encouraging news is there are other teams who have recruited studs of their own - including Iowa. Hopefully in a few years the talent will start to balance out making the sport even more exciting.

[Fred]

18 minutes ago, Dark Energy said:

Team is incredible.  Looks like best team ever and may just build on that next year.  Gap between them and any other team is gapping.  Kudos to Cael, his staff, the wrestlers, and the support network and fans.  Truly truly amazing.

But - it makes the whole sport a lot less interesting for me.  Just not much anticipation.  You know the underdog is going to get smacked, hard.  
 

Team title at NCAAs is such a foregone conclusion that it isn’t part of the fun.  More of an ‘oh damn.’  Doesn’t bring excitement to the sport anymore.
 

Wishing there was someway to create more parity.  Current situation is diminishing my interest.

Since Carl refuses to engage for a full season, just start the whole thing in Jan for everyone. People here underestimate the advantage their scheduling gives them… yesterday’s dual couldn’t have made that clearer. 

[LemonPie]

It’s Iowa’s fault.  Things will go back to normal soon.  Team race for 2028 and 2029 will be enthralling.  Even 2027 could be close if Ross is an immediate contender for Okie St. 

Edited February 14 by LemonPie

[scorenomore]

In all likelihood, this is the end of the era of complete dominance by PSU.  Although PSU has a great eye for figuring out how to win, they have enjoyed having the best recruits year in and year out.

With DT, they will have to share and I just don't see their coaching as that superior that they will be able to be as dominate going forward.

Ohio State's stellar recruiting class a few years ago had Bouzakis, Mendez and Feldman.  Bouzakis is finally dialed in and wrestling above expectations, Mendez has exceeded expectations and Feldman has arguably disappointed.  However, Feldman literally broke his neck and has never been the same.  Feldman wrestles scared because he is and that's a lot more than most of us would do which would have been to retire from the sport.

[Le duke]

14 minutes ago, Fred said:

Since Carl refuses to engage for a full season, just start the whole thing in Jan for everyone. People here underestimate the advantage their scheduling gives them… yesterday’s dual couldn’t have made that clearer. 

If TanTom had an even cursory knowledge of physiology, he wouldn't have a) had his team peak for NDIs and b) try to keep them there. The problem is that he did A) and then did B). As such, they are falling apart, almost on cue. 

On the other hand, 7 of 10 PSU starters wrestled at U23 Worlds. They peaked for that event. And then, they took some time off of competition, intentionally lost some fitness, and started back up a couple weeks later. Which is what well managed teams or athletes do, regardless of sport. 

[jackwebster]

I hope I'm not getting Lance Armstronged. I watched every stage for 3 years in a row. I watched all the documentaries. I even bought a pair of Nike Frees. 7+ champs? At what point is it too good to be true?

[Pinnacle]

To the OP, there is a way to get to parity but it requires more self reflection than the current group of coaches seem willing to undertake.

Stop fighting Sanderson like he is the devil - he is not that at all  Stop fighting change and start embracing it.

They have the portal and they have NIL, so they can literally quickly build a team of top competitors. Just stop forcing them to wrestle and compete like it is still 1980. Wake up and fully give in to the here and now. 

Edited February 14 by Pinnacle

[nhs67]

53 minutes ago, Fred said:

Since Carl refuses to engage for a full season, just start the whole thing in Jan for everyone. People here underestimate the advantage their scheduling gives them… yesterday’s dual couldn’t have made that clearer. 

You're saying that putting a focus on age-level and world team successes in an entirely different style, for the first 1/3rd of the season, is a huge advantage?

I agree, although I don't think you mean it that way.

Edited February 14 by nhs67

[WrestlingRasta]

What’s truly scary is that they bring everyone back next year, minus 174, where they likely just bump Messinbrink up to and enter Kasak.  They also have the ‘problem’ of figuring out what to do with a world champion and a kid who beast Lillidahl who are not in this years line up. Six of their current starters are freshman or sophomore.  And still have guys like Sealy and Winckel in the room, probably a season or two in the room from being in the line up.  It’s not going anywhere for a while. 
 

I guess it’s a matter of to each their own.  Some people get bored with domination.  Others get excited seeing something you may not see again in your lifetime. 

[D3 for LU]

Well, the nit fans don't even SEEM to be tiring from ALL this dominance from their team.

(And, from the looks of it, don't wanna give THAT up, AT ALL.)

Still, as DE above stated  above (and I agree ) that I wish some sort of parity DID happen in this sport.

D3

[AgaveMaria]

What would you have been writing when Iowa was in the middle of 9 in a row? Or Oklahoma A&M/OSU for so many decades?

No one guarantees Penn State a title. They still have to win on the mat. 

 

Edited February 14 by AgaveMaria

[Gene Mills Fan]

the parity is 3-6 and PSU is on their own level with all the best guys in the country. We can love them in worlds and Olympic golds. 

[RawDog]

1 hour ago, jackwebster said:

I hope I'm not getting Lance Armstronged. I watched every stage for 3 years in a row. I watched all the documentaries. I even bought a pair of Nike Frees. 7+ champs? At what point is it too good to be true?

Where there is smoke there is usually fire.

[D3 for LU]

Yeah, yeah, yeah... as I have mentioned years before... when Iowa dominance waned as the power drifted over to the east in State College, PA... it only  changed colors from Black/ Yellow (gold?)  to Blue/White.

The nits, some may say, are the Harlem Globetrotters of wrestling, 

Everyone else are the WASHINGTON GENERALS!

D3

[1032004]

2 hours ago, Fred said:

Since Carl refuses to engage for a full season, just start the whole thing in Jan for everyone. People here underestimate the advantage their scheduling gives them… yesterday’s dual couldn’t have made that clearer. 

 

1 hour ago, Le duke said:

If TanTom had an even cursory knowledge of physiology, he wouldn't have a) had his team peak for NDIs and b) try to keep them there. The problem is that he did A) and then did B). As such, they are falling apart, almost on cue. 

When you guys say last night’s dual is evidence of the advantage of Cael’s scheduling or that tOSU is “falling apart,” are you referring more to the guys that actually wrestled or the fact that tOSU had a bunch of guys out?

Of their starters that actually wrestled, I feel like Feldman is the only one where you could say that, and he was really the only guy besides Mendez that most expected to win.   With his injury history, I could certainly see the argument for not putting him through as much of a grind as he’s been through.  But Fishback probably overperformed vs what most people expected, and 125 & 133 were tossups at best that turned out to be really close.  Bouzakis is basically on the PSU schedule, and I’d bet more people were picking Blaze yet Davino almost had him.

Of the guys that didn’t wrestle, Kharchla also has an injury history, but he already hasn’t wrestled as much as other guys on tOSU.  That feels more like a duck to me, and of course Ryan deserves criticism for that since as much as people criticize Cael’s schedule, he usually runs out his full lineup for B10 duals.  Not sure of Stiles’ situation, but all reports are Cannon was pretty badly injured.   I guess people could be blaming his schedule for that, but he hasn’t really wrestled all that many matches.  And of course even in spite of their schedule, PSU often has their fair share of injuries with this year being no exception.

Edited February 14 by 1032004

[Booger]

5 minutes ago, Coastal said:

We should consider ourselves lucky that Penn State didn't attend the Paycom duals.  If Penn State would have gone 18-2 against the teams that made the finals back then, it really would have been a wake me up in March. 

... like a bucket of cold water?

[Simpleman424]

What fixes it…people willing to pay 5x more into the program than anyone else, focusing on your RTC, having your kids learn to slow wrestle (basically stall - MM and Haines as general exceptions) until they need to move and have a coach that will turn the other way and not address things that would impact the program negatively if made more public. 

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

Penn State’s “dynasty” is a blip compared to the eons where Iowa and Oklahoma State dominated for 30+ years. I don’t recall any Iowa or Oklahoma State fans crying about parity back then.  

[Idaho]

13 minutes ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

Penn State’s “dynasty” is a blip compared to the eons where Iowa and Oklahoma State dominated for 30+ years. I don’t recall any Iowa or Oklahoma State fans crying about parity back then.  

That's because the internet didn't exist back then or you would have.

Wrestling has progressed far beyond what Ok State was doing in 40's-60's and Iowa in the 70's-90's, making PSU's run against way better competition much more impressive. 

[H82Lose]

I am not a Penn St fan, my only tie to that school is Luke. With that being said, I LOVE to watch a team dominate for a long period of time like this. This is what GREAT looks like. He build this program, pillar by pillar, changed the landscape. You have the Iowa way, grind all year, beat the hell out of your body all year, and many times break down at the end. Penn St comes in, have fun, not a whole lot of live, keep your body fresh, reload, win again. Some Penn St fans are a little unbearable, as I see some of the Okie St fans starting to become. BUT, from a 30,000 ft view, I love to see someone dominate for long periods of time. It 2-3 years,Okie State will be up there IMO, and could make things interesting. 

[H82Lose]

2 minutes ago, Idaho said:

That's because the internet didn't exist back then or you would have.

Wrestling has progressed far beyond what Ok State was doing in 40's-60's and Iowa in the 70's-90's, making PSU's run against way better competition much more impressive. 

facts.

[Pinnacle]

Really, it is cultures that need to change more than just coaches. Fans who literally ask some higher power to do something so that the best team does not continue to win are adopting an incorrect mindset. Fans and coaches who complain about the winner lose track of what they should be doing themselves. 

Get rid of that focus on what you can't control and focus 100 percent on what you can control and you are on a far better path.

[RandolphTJones]

1 hour ago, Coastal said:

We should consider ourselves lucky that Penn State didn't attend the Paycom duals.  If Penn State would have gone 18-2 against the teams that made the finals back then, it really would have been a wake me up in March. 

 Curious if Penn St starts to attend how long this event would actually go on for.