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I will have a full list in my preview guide (available maybe as early as Sunday) - i have some extensive stats on the bloodround wins and losses. Never has there been a 4x R12 finisher and as was noted earlier, Murin and Phillippi are 3x R12. 13 wrestlers all time have been R12 3x and never placed. Of note, only one wrestler has ever been 4-0 in the bloodround since the tournament went to 8 places in 1979. Zach Sanders …

It's pretty simple. 1) Keck & Hidlay split with Keck having the most recent win 2) Keck beat Coleman 3) AB had a lapse in judgement and lost to Coleman 4) AB gets the #3 seed 5) It's wrong but the formula doesn't account prior year results nor the All Star Classic 6) AB is still the best wrestler in the weight but they can only seed based on the results they have for this year 7) If Brooks and Hidlay meet in the semis and the refs do their jobs Hidlay will get stalled out of the match

And for last year's group, Kizhan Clarke was a law student at UNC when he placed second overall. And then was memorably offered a job by Nick Lee's dad

This might be a repeat but it was on ESPN https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/35820049/college-wrestlers-grizzly-bear-attack

People are offered their narratives, often with no supporting evidence. Once they've accepted the narrative, no amount of evidence or lack thereof will change their minds.

You serious? If a basketball team says they have trouble with size you don't tell the players to grow, you pack the paint with your biggest players and dish it inside. If O'Tools says he has a problem with reach, Hamiti should favor positions that take advantage of his length. Adjust stance and ties to make it harder to get at legs, gets arms out first from bottom, de-compactify body position when O'Toole forces scrambles, look for cradles, and so on. How you possibly concluded that Hamiti should grow his arms longer is beyond me.

PD III, Ph.D.

I don't usually believe in omens, but this seems just too much for mere coincidence: Today's (Friday March 10) New York Times crossword puzzle had the following clue: 18 Across: It has a higher population of pigs than people (4 letters) Now, I didn't know this one off the top of my head, but after I got a few of the Down clues I realized that it started with the letter "I" and ended with the letter "A". (Spoiler alert: don't look below if you don't want to know the answer to this four letter state in the US Midwest that starts with the letter "I" and ends with the letter "A" and is where they grow a lot of corn and, despite growing a lot of corn they apparently have trouble with seeding.) | | | | | Answer: look in Saturday's paper for the answer, they always print the entire grid the next day.

For the anticipated Brooks-Hidlay semifinal, I suggest an invisible electronic fence that zaps Hidlay every time he tries to flee the mat. The first Zap is a warning. Each one after that is a point for Brooks and the Zaps get more painful as the match progresses. If it goes to SV, a knockout Zap might be landed.

I agree. mspart

Spreading the wealth was a explicitly stated objective back when they abandoned prior year success and when to a formula. That first year, ACC and Pac-12 had huge jumps in qualifiers, iirc. I think as fans we are short-sighted if we start giving 5th placers in the Big10 better seeds than lesser conference champs. If you’re goal is to reduce D1 wrestling to 12-15 schools, then sure, but giving that App St or Cal Poly champ a “better” path to AA ultimately keeps those programs alive. As long as conference tournaments remain the qualifiers, it makes sense to treat those conferences with respect, even though we all know that some years/weights the Big10 has 7/8 guys all better than a fringe conference champ.

Because I prefer rewarding competitors who wrestle a tough schedule rather than punish them. But it's a nitpick over a single seed and the bigger theme is better record vs. better wrestler. Luckily this is why they wrestle the tournament - the results will speak for themselves!

I have a suggestion that I think would make 133 more interesting to watch at the NCAAs (for me anyway)... You know how they have those straps they put on arm wrestlers when their hands keep slipping off? In order that opponents of that offensive machine Bravo-Young cannot back up and prevent engagement, I suggest Bravo-Young and his opponent be strapped together at the waist not more than 3 feet apart. This should ensure that Bravo-Young keeps adding to his amazing takedown ratio vs opponents.

Would having the CKLV, Southern Scuffle and Midlands as ranking Tournaments during the season be beneficial? It would certainty increase participation if they held the same weight percentage as say conference placements. It would also incentivize teams to wrestle starters.

Not at all. I'm setting neither precedent nor standards. I'm simply saying that I don't think Russia should be allowed to participate. What about China? What about South Africa? What about other examples over the years? ... you're engaging in "whataboutism". I'm not. The scope of my discussion is Russia and the upcoming Olympics.

Two unseeded wrestlers make the finals at the same weight. Not sure I have ever seen this before. Congratulations to both wrestlers!

If I had to choose a national champion that was only from SoCon or MAC, I guess it would be: 125: Caleb Smith 133: Brayden Palmer 141: McKenzie Bell 149: Jon Millner 157: Peter Pappas 165: Izzak Olejnik 174: Rocky Jordan 184: Will Feldkamp 197: Ethan Laird 285: Taye Ghadiali

Just Just saw they won it too. Guess I mis read lol

It's like rain on your wedding day. It's a free ride when you've already paid. It's the good advice that you just didn't take And who would've thought... it figures

lol......... thanks for the help

And neither burg is dominating.

I don't think you're off at all. This seems like it's sensitive subject, but again...just want to point out the absurdity of seeding Yianni #2 in his own conference. I can't wait for Carter Starocci to be a 4X defending National Champ...coming off an Olympic Gold. He injury defaults a match after turning an ankle early in the year and ends up...as a #4 seed because we've banned rationale thought from the seeding process!

I'd rather have an imperfect system that does the sport good than one that doesn't. The algorithm right now rewards ducking, penalizes conference strength, and sets up brackets with conference matches that we've already seen during the season. Even if a committe doesn't get the seeding right, it could fix some of these basic flaws in the formula.

Sorry ... thought we were on topic ... my bad.

Imagine that train wreck.

That's really what it comes down to. Just basic common sense. Yianni was the #2 seed this past weekend. I understand how the ridiculous way we seed works...and I have a problem with it. I don't see where that is conflicting. When everyone can plainly state they KNOW Brooks is the best in the weight and he's the 3 seed when 3 guys have 1 loss, it's silly. He lost to a guy that Keck beat. I don't care. He's beaten Keck and he's...again, won multiple National Titles at this weight.

The seeding formula sucks. Askren is right that there needs to be a common sense committee so we're not so beholden to an algorithm that doesn't necessarily do the sport any favors.

Lance Palmer

Tanner Gardner, 125 Stanford AA years ago. Now associate AD @ Rice University Athletics.

I thought I read about this ~a year ago. A friend(the one crazy SOB who WOULD probably try and do some stupid shit like that) sent me a link. I could have sworn it was ESPN. And he sent it because we'd both known someone who'd been attacked by a Grizzly. I came across a black bear in a pretty remote area once...about half a mile away from where I was coming and a quarter mile where I was going. I just saw...I don't even remember how many Cubs, but I know there were at least 2(I was about 11-12). And they came out on this 4-wheeler trail that I rode all the time up by my families land(Uncle, Grandparents, Dads). I knew enough to freeze up and then just start walking backward and hope that Mother Bear was not coming out behind me. Finally I saw it walk out onto the road, look right at me and...just completely dismiss me as a threat. It probably came out ~30 seconds later, so I don't know how far I'd backpedaled in the meantime. It wasn't a big bear. Maybe 250? 500 pound Grizzly? I can't even fathom...and the guts it took for that kid to throw his body against the Grizzly...crazy. One of the ballsy-est stories I've ever heard.

Conference championship or not having weight in seeding is asinine.

Central Oklahoma is relying on AA’s that are 24(141), 24(184), 24(197), 25(149), 25(165), 26 in 4 days (285), and 27(133) lolololol

Tangled with a grizzly and lived to tell the tale. They're two of the most luckiest sob's that walked those trails (lucky to be alive, that is... ) D3

He ducked the byrd! This is just fowl, in the words of John Smith: how low can you go?

AB got exactly what he deserved. He didn't wrestle a full schedule & I hope moving forward Cael sends the guys back to a decent tournament. I'm on board with Cael not over-wrestling his guys during the season. Regardless of the fact AB is the best in the weight class and probably in the top 3 p4p, he only wrestled 13 matches including Bigs. The #3 seed is on him.

#VakBankmanFried

Princeton's description of Quincy Monday: "A NWCA Scholar All-American and Academic All-Ivy honoree,"

Apparently, Mike Carr is in med school while also wrestling.

Clothes? I thought he used the money to somehow try and convince the NCAA to give Spencer yet another year of eligibility for next year.

I wouldn't describe it as all that B&W. Like a lot of things life throws our way, it's complicated. Imagine having a guy join your wrestling team who just last week snuck into your cousins' house, beat them up, and took their stuff. That's kind of how I feel about the situation. (Pipe down if you want to argue that it isn't a good analogy. It isn't, I know. But it does help illustrate how "I" feel about the topic - which is exactly my point.) None of this makes anybody on the wrestling team or coaches of the wrestling team an angel, nor any of the cousins. Arguing that they make mistakes, too is just more of the all too common "what-about-ism" that leads nowhere.

But how do we get Will Lewan to settle matches within regulation?

I have mixed feelings about Russia competing. If nothing else, they should be more heavily scrutinized and more heavily tested prior to their admission, given the history of noncompliance, regardless of the flag they end up competing under.

I like both wrestlers a lot. Wish they could each win a natty. But, for chaos sake, give me Ham&Cheese

Hamiti looked hobbled by something at the All-Star. He's moving a LOT better now. Looked so good at B1Gs.

Cornell fan POV Hope Ungar can shock the world. Kept it close with Glory in EIWA finals. Crazier things have happened. 133 might be the most exciting semi finals in the tournament. Vito has the ability to win the whole thing Cornella v McNeil is a great r2 match I think we see Johnson vs Yianni for a second time in the semis which is super exciting Most likely Monday for a 3rd time but watch out for Facundo Foca might pin his way to the semis Anyone can win 197 and Cardenas is hot coming into Tulsa, who knows?

It seems there is a need for clarification about what "easiest" (or "hardest") weight means: 1. Easiest for any of the 33 seeded wrestlers to win (compared to the other 9 weights)? 2. Easiest to AA (top 8)? 3. Easiest because the weight isn't very deep (compared to the other 9 weights)— e.g., only has 2 or 3 elite guys in it? 4. Easiest path to win the weight for someone given their seeding? 125 might be the easiest for Spencer Lee win because he doesn't have many true threats. 165 might be the hardest for anyone who is not a top 4 seed. It has three returning champs. 197 seems wide open and relatively "easy" for top 12 or so guys to conceivably make the finals and win. 133 won't be easy unless you are RBY, Fix or Arujau. Same for 285: on paper it looks like Parris vs. Kerk. The only weights with no returning champs are: 141 and 285. Are they easier? One way to imagine the situation would be to ask if you had no idea what your given weight was, which weight would you pick to be thrown into and have the best chance to win it given what you know about the listed wrestlers and contenders? My own sense is that 197 and 157 are the most wide open. Then perhaps followed by 141.

It's fine to be biased and stand behind your guy but calling Glory a "lock" is beyond idiotic.

They're not the best seeds but they're ok. I wish they would do away with conference placement as a criteria. Or at least reduce its weight in the matrix. I do not understand why some goon who wrestles cans all year should be seeded higher than, let's say, a returning finalist who took a couple losses to the #1 guy (not referring to this year, just posing a hypothetical)

Teske lost to everybody, he should have a tough draw, that is what being a 25 seed is about. Name me a 25 seed with any easy path to the final, or semis, or quarters, or the second round. Warner is undefeated against Caffey 4-0. Caffey got injured at B1Gs to boot. Sounds like an easy draw. So we are down to 4/10. Sounds like Iowa got favorable treatment.