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All, Dropping a promo code to save 20% on my D1 Digital Preview Guide for the upcoming D1 championships. It'll have every result, history like no one else, facts, stats, figures, fantasy information, breakdowns, trends, etc. Use discount code "intermat" at checkout. If you've got questions, drop them here. It was 230 pages last year. Will be more this year. And it's not loaded up with ads like the NCAA program is either. Designed for tablets and smart phones, it works great as an interactive PDF on your computer, too. https://mat-talk-online.sellfy.store/p/fanguide2023/

After reading a thread on HR about where Spencer Lee stands in the pantheon of four timers I decided to take a look at 100%ers instead. Since 1928 there have been 20 wrestlers who won all the titles they were eligible for (yes, I am including Spencer Lee and Yianni Dikomihalis because it is a 100%-slam dunk-guarantee they will win their fourth - you heard it here first). For these 20 I looked at a variety of metrics that I thought were important. For dominance I looked at bonus points per NCAA match (using today's scoring system), pinfall %, and career win %. But I also wanted to measure permanence. In the early days they wrestled very few matches. And I think this matters. It is easier to win 25 straight matches than it is to win 100 straight. So I included total NCAA matches wrestled, total career wins, and total career pinfalls. Some metrics favor the old and some favor the new. To adjust for this reasonable people might weigh these metrics differently than I did. Or include other metrics. Or exclude these metrics. There are choices. What I did was count the number of times a wrestler appears in the top quartile and sort by that count. To break ties I sorted by the average rank. I fully expect Iowa and Cornell fans to absolutely hate this post. Homework: How do you feel about where the two newest four timers stand? Would you include three for three wrestlers in your list? Why or why not?

Oh, you want to say it. You need to say it. Maybe start by going someplace remote and just whisper it into a cup. We can build slowly. Maybe use it at a party, or with the cashier at Starbucks. But it is probably best to start by saying both words with a pause in between and then work on shortening the pause by an imperceptible increment each day. It will be like watching a baby grow, but in reverse, Kyle Dake style. You won't even notice the tiny difference, but one day you will wake up and the two baby words have grown up into one big word. Trust me, it is liberating. I have a five year plan where I expect to hear it on the PA at the 2028 NCAA tournament.

Where's Gray Simons?

The DIII postseason starts Friday with four regions. The other two start on Saturday. Previews have been going up on d3wrestle.com with three done so far. Central https://www.d3wrestle.com/2023-central-region-preview/ Mideast https://www.d3wrestle.com/2023-mideast-region-preview/ Southeast https://www.d3wrestle.com/2023-southeast-region-preview/ Upper Midwest - Wednesday 12pm Northeast - Thursday 9am Lower Midwest - Thursday 12pm

Already been done....

Nothing Facundo or Van Ness have shown this year indicates they have anything like that in them yet. Still a bunch of time to develop, but they're both very limited offensively. Facundo, in particular, is at a bear of a weight and I would have him as underdog to place. Van Ness is at an easier weight, but so far has shown to be more limited wrestler than Facundo (which is disappointing as a fan, since I think he has the most upside of any of the PSU young guys), and was recently relatively easily controlled by a guy I think most of think of as a bloodround guy in Max Murin. Haines, combining his ability with the weakness of the weight, is most poised to have one of those "PSU Freshman" runs, but I think O'Connor is a bear and will beat everybody, plus you have Andonian who is incredibly difficult to wrestle, especially the first time, and Robb. I would think Haines has a decent shot to mid-to-high AA, but out of Bartlett, Van Ness, and Facundo, I think your more likely to get one AA than three high AAs; they're just too limited offensively. PSU guys have great records at NCAAs, but it's typically on the back of their superstuds, and I see that trend continuing (as they cruise to another title, so I'm sure they won't be complaining).

Looks like Jimmy Kennedy.

Sports Illustrated -- though this version of SI is a shadow of its former self-- says Penn State might break Iowa's 170-team points record. https://www.si.com/college/pennstate/wrestling/penn-state-wrestling-nittany-lions-finish-unbeaten-regular-season-with-win-over-clarion

I think so, yes. 22 of 30 who won 3 of 4 took the loss freshman year.

I made the mistake of saying “what’s wrong?” last night and now I’m in overseeing weight management of the lightest weight. Joke’s on her because there is no better bro-love relationship than the lightest dude and the heavyweight! (if you unwrap the above then that means I’m in charge of meal time of our toddler and me & little dude both have stupid fun which just gets me into infinitely more trouble)

Something you never hear from Jimmy....

Yep. 9 for 9. Pretty amazing.

Mea Culpa Forgive me data for I have sinned. There are sins of commission and sins of omission. I have committed the latter. My original data table was missing FOUR undefeated wrestlers (thank you @Jason Bryant for catching my error). You should never trust me again. Read everything critically. That said, trust me, this time I got it right (I hope). FYI, top quartile is now top 6.

Winning 25 straight vs 100 straight is easier if the relative competition is similar. But what if someone wins 25 straight against only the best competition vs 100 against some great and some not so great competition? Then the comparison gets muddier.

1964 Oklahoma had 6th seed Jerry Stanley (147) and unseeded Mike Sager (137) win titles. 1976 Wisconsin had 5th seed Jack Reinwand (126) and unseeded Pat Christenson (167) win titles.

I'm not around many wrestling friends anymore so whenever I say this phrase they just stare at me like a fool (so does my wife). Oh well what can you do. Wrestlers have them, other sports play with them...

They did via the win %.

If I'm sensitive because i think Khan was barbaric, brutal, and a 1st degree murderer, then I'll be sensitive. My guess is that those living under his rule probably felt similar before losing their lives to him. mspart

I talked to a close friend with the NWHOF (my turn to use an acronym)....and they said subtract 600 from the capacity due to needed floor space, contributing to the fact I'm in the upper bowl after 43 NCAA's/37 in a row.....smh. BUT I'm with 6 other guys so that was a big factor. That's OK....still the best time of year ....Big 10 for a huge warmup then the big dance...."March Matness ©".....I'm laying claim to coining the phrase many years ago, after sitting in establishments between sessions (with my former team mate S. B.*) stuck watching basketball with the commentators saying March Madness. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. *my 2nd acronym..lol

I don't know if I'm harsh here. The SEC run from 1972-1980 ended up with 21 All-Americans After the breakup, that left the remaining schools in the East and Midwest Regions (depending on the year) to place 19 wrestlers from 1981-85. So the Auburn, LSU, Tennessee, Kentucky crew was more prolific after the conference broke up. The SEC got 21 AA's out of 142 qualifiers in those 9 years sponsoring the sport, while the four (then three teams left as Auburn's last year was 1981) provided 19 AA's out of 69 qualifiers in those 5 years. SEC schools had some fierce wrestlers, but the SEC as a whole, the conference was not great. Georgia, Alabama and Florida collectively earned 1 All-American from 1972-1980.

Thank you @Fadzaev2. Portland State does indeed have a storied history. The move up from DII to DI and the Pac-10 was tough. The school never funded and fully backed the program in that move, it was a difficult task to be competitive as a team. However the school did qualify wrestlers to the D1 tourney and had some Pac 10 finalists in the late 90's/early 2000's.

Is nobody going to bring up the SI jinx? Or did I miss it?

Quality group of gents. Five of the best and a bum.

Just kidding. WKN is amazing. He not only is great at digging out and analyzing the data, he is the best I've ever seen at actually understanding data, drawing meaningful conclusions, and explaining it all to everyone. We're VERY lucky to have him "onboard".

The crazy part to me is that Reader stays with Bono. By all accounts Reader is a stand up guy.

It Van Ness is wrestling AOC in the finals, something crazy has happened.

Becasue of Asken or because of Bono? Rest assured, I am not an Askren fan, but to imply it is all on Ben...talk to some SDSU people.

I would expect Kerkvliet to out bonus last year by a fair margin. He scored 2.5 last year.

You are correct Sorry I missed Griifth (Don't know why) Revised

All you need to know is that it puts Ben Askren in to a predicament.

ACC 125 should be quite interesting. My predictions: Eddie Ventresca Jack Wagner Jarrett Trombley Colton Camacho Patrick McCormick Ethan Grimminger

Mind the Gap, ol' chap! D3

If they wrestle out of their minds they will be lucky to get within 30 points of the record, which won't even put them in the top 10. To say SI is a shadow of its old self is among the understatements of the year.

Lenny Pinto

Pinto is on fire

He's definitely a bracket buster. Excited to see him go at it at NCAA's

Hey Luchador, better pic!! mspart

In Wisconsin: Except for events held in bordering states (MN, IL, MI and IA), no approval shall be provided for more than one out-of-state competition, event and/or scrimmage per team each school season.

Askren has complained several times on FRL that Sanderson won't spill the secret sauce. Maybe the Mirasolas are on a deep cover mission.

Great list but in Piccininni's case, he was able to get it to work that one time

I can copy/paste fine, but all my numbers will be in base 9 from now on.

Cronin was excellent in his match against Courtney. Particularly with defense and reattack

Put the refs on a shot clock and give them 45 seconds to make the call.

Only man who can clear this up is andegre but he hasn't joined the new forum. Maybe the legendary @johnstownsteelcan reach out to him on rivals and have him come on over to explain it