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the US team has as much depth and talented newcomers always ready to take the reigns in this day and age. I remember just finishing up my first year of college when Kyle Snyder's star was rising. Now I see on Twitter that his time as the guy at 97 is coming to a close, and we could see Aaron Brooks taking his spot. Yianni is another one; remember his first NCAA title and his early international success that earned him the reputation of being a world beater. Now I am not sure I would pick him over the likes of Lee or Retherford to make the world team. I am not really here to debate, but to appreciate how much talent USA Wrestling has been producing in the last decade+.

So, being a parent can sometimes be lame because my "children" want to "spend quality time with me" and whatever. So I taped this dual, and am blatantly stealing an old Bill Simmons gag and will give you my thoughts on this dual as it happens...for me. For you guys this happened hours ago. This could be great or a trainwreck. Lets go! Drake Ayala vs. Troy Spratley Obviously this is a match Iowa needs, but that Spratley is a very live underdog in. Let dive in. 1st Period: Looks like a lively crowd! Fortunately nothing bad has ever happened to an Iowa 125 in a packed GIA. One minute in and we have half shot from both guys and a warning to both wrestlers for hands to the face. Stall call against Ayala for backing out, I don't really like those if the "attacking" wrestler isn't actually taking a committed attack, but they did go pretty quickly to the edge once Spratley dug the underhook. They're a bit chippy back and forth, popping each other in the head. Nobody has truly threatened anybody with an attack yet. It should be noted that Spratley has a stupid face....ok that was an uncalled for shot. It's not his fault he has a stupid face. #RivalryWeek Spratley probably came the closest to grabbing a leg there, but got stuffed by Ayala with about 40 seconds to go. 2nd period: Spratley and his aforementioned face take bottom and they're out quickly. Ayala tried to work a Russian tie, but never did anything with it. A big picture of the clock just covered up the wrestlers, thanks a lot Flo! Wait, who's broadcasting this one? Not a whole lot happens here, they exchange shots that are better but nobody comes close to a TD. It felt like Ayala was winning the handfighting in that period, but no points, no matter. 3rd period: We start off the third right where you would expect to in a hotly contested, razor thin match, with a lingering shot of Tom Brands (probably) gazing wistfully at the mat. Spratley got a little funky on top for a second, but Ayala switches out of it, and they're forehead to forehead again. Someone finally gets to a leg after the ref starts verbally calling for action, and it's Spratley, but it's quickly stuffed and we're back neutral. Ayala nearly circles to a leg, but Spratley stays moving and Ayala never gets to an advantage position. Nobody gets anything going, and we're off to OT. How mad am I going to be at Spratley's face (that many people are saying is stupid.) OT: NOT MAD AT ALL STUPID FACE, THAT'S HOW MAD! Spratley sure looked stuck there, but the ref took his sweet ass time getting into position, and Drake eventually was awarded the win after looking like he should have been awarded the TD at least once earlier in the sequence. Feels like it should have been 6 for Iowa, will that loom large.... Ayala and Spratley appear to ask after each other's families and just a little friendly check in.

People always tell me I look like a bigger version of Lou Ferigno in his prime. I can't really see it, my mirror is not wide enough.

So GWN, You are saying that Hillary had a subpoena to retain devices and bleachbitted the server and used a hammer on the phones etc, and that is not an issue. Nothing to see here. And this tells us everything we need to know about your sense of justice. Hillary - obstruction of justice, playing with classified material. No trial. Biden - had paper classified documents in his garage that he had no right to not having been president. No trial. Trump - had paper classified documents secured as instructed and had a right because he had been president. TRIAL TRIAL pants on fire. This of course is objective prosecution based only on the facts. That's what you want us to believe. Sorry, your sense of justice is definitely not objective but subjective to who is under scrutiny. And that is not justice. mspart

Not to re-litigate the Hardy/Bartlett call but if a guy calls out for injury time and the TD is imminent then I think the points should be awarded. Okay with stopping the action to prevent injury but not points. Some injuries are not preventable by PD, but I am not sure that means we should eliminate PD.

Cael seems optimistic plus you have to factor in who Carter truly is. If he can stand come the NCAA's, he wrestles.

And if you want to talk youth at 65kg, look out for Alirez.

Brody Teske vs. Daton Fix A little surprising to see Teske here. I do not see any of Derek Fix's special boom boom juice in the corner. This is probably not going to be as fun for me as 125. 1st Period: Fix nearly passed Teske by so hard he got taken down, but he skips out of it. Somebody tell Teske just to stand there and stare at Fix and make him shoot. Fix semicuts him (which is a bit surprising) but he may be chasing the major, which is nice to see. I spoke to soon, Fix barely moved the rest of the period. He's fortunate he's wrestling Brody Teske, who seems to forget he's in wrestling matches about 83% of the time. 2nd Period: We get a good hot of Derek Fix trying to helpfully point out to Daton some alternative injection sites. Teske somewhat effectively riding him...for about 15 seconds, then Fix performs some magic and casts those hips over. Honestly, based on how it looked, a minor miracle for Teske to only give up 1, I thought he might end up on his back. FIx gets into a nice high crotch, but Teske somewhat surprisingly takes him thru and is defending with an effective chest lock. Looks like it's only a matter of time, though, Fix appears to be navigating to the finish. Teske is actually doing ok for himself, and then Fix just decides to try to push him over. Teske is flirting with the neutral danger call, and the ref calls it. Can't really tell from my angle whether Teske ever came out of it, but then the ref weirdly blows stalemate when it seemed like Fix could have gone for back points? WTF? 7-1 after the second. The announcers keep trying to say "money roll" about Fix's escape. Third period: Fix cuts Teske again, and is going to look for a major. He kind of stumbles into a leg off a burst of forward motion from Teske, but Teske kicks out and we're handfighting in the middle again. Teske goes for an ankle pick, and nearly gets there, so credit for not shutting it down, but Fix is too good, skips out again. I don't know if Teske is sensing some flagging energy from Fix, or if he's trying to make his case for being the postseason guy, but he's coming at Fix with some heavy hands. Teske now taking some legit shots on FIx's legs. Kinda hoping he throttles back a little and doesn't get countered to give up the major,, but it DOES look like Fix is a bit tired. Nice effort from Teske, and he doesn't give up the major either. It's hard to believe Fix is going to make 57 kg, yeesh.

When updated rankings come out this week, MM should be #2 in my opinion. Undefeated. Beat up on Caliendo…who just beat Olejnik (Caliendo looked sharp). No one has really been close with him. Not sure why Intermat has him still at #6. Can’t wait for 165 at NCAA’s…should be most exciting bracket this year. On a side note, the other guy getting no respect in the rankings is Glazier…he’s like 21-1 with AB being his only loss, and he’s not even ranked inside the top 10.

After watching a ton of matches this season i'd really like some clarification on top stalling. The NCAA clearly stated they would be more aggressive in calling it but for the life of me it seems to be arbitrarily called at best. Can a claw ride be anything but a ride? Can hips over hips with no bar, half, etc., be anything but a ride? As you have watched this season what are your thoughts?

Hard to pick up all the nuances in Greco when it's not your focus. It's a different sport. Even if our best guys choose Greco at sixteen, They're still years behind. Not to mention the train wreck that the Greco Olympic Training center has been through. Think about Bastida and Echemendia and the time it's taken them to get to where they are with the transition from Freestyle to Folkstyle and they're still figuring it out.

I thought you were going to tell us about a high school phenom that was going to be the next Mesenbrink. I already got up in arms to say "there will never be another Mesenbrink!"

Mission accomplished Keep on Truckin Spladle - mspart

This is astonishing. They are only 5 years apart in age? I would have said 8-10. My gob is thoroughly smacked at that. Especially in a time where we are seeing that, for the right guys, you really can be competitive and engaged well into their 30's.

We'll probably see Starocci with a full tree stump wrap (Starotree?) but the injury could impact his gas tank. He's already recovering from sickness and trying to get his conditioning back to normal. That'll be tough to do without the use of his leg. Time for swimming, I guess

I can agree with Ohio. JB has my heart, Dake does not. But Dake is not going to lose to JB again. This is assuming JB makes the finals. And I think he can. I think he is that good. But I don't think he can take Dake unfortunately. And worse, I don't think JB thinks he can take Dake. It will be his last hurrah. Jordan was not able to make the team at a non olympic weight last year. I don't think he makes it at an Olympic weight this year. mspart

Like you?

I believe it's referencing, "fake" wrestling...

I'm starting to think he hams it up just so he can still fly below the radar in the wrestling world a bit. He gets so over his skis in random conversations, that it gives outsiders plausible deniability to not take him or his wrestlers potentially as seriously as they should. The wrestling community is still so used to the gable brands schwab j smith wear your anger on your face style that sometimes it feels like, at least amongst the coaching-age generation, that people like askren and poeta get dismissed for taking a different approach to things.

Schultz gets stall calls left and right for doing the same thing that Lovett did here. Terrible call here.

He obviously needs a mullet to top him off You've seen those Poulin videos from when he was a kid? Hehehe

So we are all in agreement, we would prefer Richards avoid RBY. Obviously other than fandom there's no real reason to believe RIchards isn't the favorite in the proposed matchup, but... I, like many of you, think RBY is dangerous for anyone, and Richards could beat somebody 10x in a row and I'd still be iffy in the confidence department, so we can all hold our collective breath until draws come out and then during the tournament. Nick Boone, obviously it would be advantageous to avoid Tobier, but even if he doesn't, the % chance an aged Tobier gets him out of there within the first 60 seconds is wildly slim.... The % chance Tobier gasses and gets teched in a match with Lee that goes over 3 minutes is >90%.... 65kg is clearly the more important to get qualified here (I think whoever is the rep at 57kg will easily get it qualified at the Last Chance event) But eh, it'll be a fun watch

Yeah, you could potentially wrestle in a little as a week after a meniscus scope. With an ACL, you either have to hold off on surgery like Spencer or Kerk, or you're out for the season. That said, I've seen people walk (or continue to wrestle) immediately after an ACL tear. If a knee locks up from a meniscus tear (torn part folds up in the joint), you aren't walking until you can get it to unlock.

The match was over.

Depends, you can finish after ACL injury. You won't be back from acl surgery in 4 weeks. However you don't have to have surgery to wrestle.

The first stalling call on Lovett in the 1st period was worse as I don't think Parco had taken a shot, yet, so when the 2nd one was called it was a point and allowed Parco to stall out the rest of the match. I don't think the 2nd stall call was that bad as Lovett is just trying to push out, but it would nice if that was called consistently as that happens 90% time when someone gets to the edge. It is even worse in top/bottom position in my opinion.

He had the tech already…… was trying for the pin. Once ref blew whistle match was over. He had to be helped off mat and appeared to not be able to put weight on it.

The ref was holding the tech fall near fall points when the injury occurred, so yes, "he finished the match".

Great stuff, @VakAttack

Yeah watching that a few times, Starocci definitely did that to himself

It's like you were staring in a mirror while you typed this. I can think of no one who posts as often as you who has less to say. Maybe the twentieth time you call heavyweights fat guys who eat everything someone will laugh. Maybe the twenty first.

Nothing definitive that I could see but Lovett was obviously trying to push him out rather than trying to take him down. In freestyle, I believe Lovett would have gotten the step out point. I didn't notice his arms being extended which would negate it.

Serious note, great to see Pat Smith looking healthy and sounding great. Also the most incredible humblebrag in history as he tells a story about techfalling Joe Williams and using it to explain how he knew Joe would be great! That's truly incredible work by the man, Pat Smith!

I disagree that the skill is no longer allowed in folkstyle. On the contrary, the funk roll happens all the time. It is less successful nowadays because folks have had years to plan how to defend against it. Moreover, nobody was ever as good at it as Jesse Delgado. It was an important part of his offense against top-tier wrestlers. Nowadays, it is mostly a last line of desperate defense. What set Jesse apart was that he studied it and practiced it and refined it so that he moved smoothly from point A to point B and then points C and D and so on. He didn't stay on his back like some other fellows. I asked him about it in a recent interview, and he said that he was afraid that a ref in a hostile gym would call a pinfall against him, so he moved with alacrity. In fact, he said the new danger rule would have benefited him. (25:15 in video below). I agree with him. His opponents would've been the ones in trouble. He had other weapons as well. Nobody has a 9-0 lifetime takedown advantage over Nashon Garrett who doesn't have a full quiver of arrows. Besides being incredibly skilled, he was also a college teammate of Zane's. They have had a long-lasting friendship. Then, there are the other BAMFs on that couch. Pretty amazing, and I would say the best 57kg room in the world.

EMERGENCY INTERMISSION INTERVIEW RECAP: I normally would not recap the coach interview, but Smitty is FIRED UP! Too fired up, maybe, as the best simile he could come up with was "falling over like a building" but he's not super happy with the first half performance. Specifically he takes out Spratley and Travis by name, yeesh! I think it's important to note how terrible orange looks as a primary team color. You look terrible, Smitty.

Jared Franek vs. Teague Travis 1st Period: I feel like Franek is more active than I thought he was, he just doesn't get to a leg very often. He's taking actual attacks. 4 shots to 0 in the first, by my count. But no points is no points. Franek finished the period on a leg, but not close to a finish. 2nd Period: Travis on top, just kind of leeching. Franek almost gets out to start, but after that it's just ground-based handfighting for the first 30 seconds. Franek gets out of the next restart, but based on what we just saw and what I've seen of Franek...he's going to want to not let this get anywhere near a rideout situation, lol. Travis with the Ric Flair eyepoke, and the crowd does not like that Franek put his eye in the way of Travis' fingers. Franek pounces on a double and finishes, great job! Travis is quickly away. Franek pounces again onto an ankle, and finishes (camerawork again prevented me from seeing how) and Franek hangs on to end the period and suddenly we're in major decision territory. 7-1 into the third. 3rd Period: Travis out quickly. WHOA! With a 1:40 left in the match, Travis wildly dives at Franek's legs in a double! Did he not know he could do that until right now? Travis finially gets to a leg. They're in a weird scramble, and Franek's knee is in a tough spot that I don't know where he can move it, and the ref calls potentially dangerous. Coleman Scott is upset and appears to be explaining to the referee that the real estate situations in Stillwater are actually much more favorable than Chapel Hill than you would think, so you can't really blame him for moving to a lower position and abandoning all the athletes he recruited...Travis is coming hard now, and Franek with a counter low double to get the 10-2 lead! The clock shows 26 seconds, though, and given what we've seen so far, it's hard to see Franek riding this out for the major...wait, apparently it's 18 seconds? The TV broadcast clock is just running right now. #ThanksFlo Wait, now the broadcasters are saying 25 seconds, but the clock is showing 16...this is a mess. Now there's blood time. Now on the restart, they called locked hands? Now they're reviewing it themselves without a brick being thrown? Good luck getting out of the building tonight, guys. Call confirmed, very close. Franek immediately cuts, and he wins! Good first half for Iowa!

Real Woods vs. Tagen Jamison Another match, like 125, where it feels like Iowa really needs it, but that based on how Real Woods has looked, Jamison is a very live dog. 1st Period: Woods looking a little like theo ld Real and in right away. Jamison fighting hard with a whizzer, and I thought Woods had both ankles and was behind, but the ref doesn't award a TD and calls out of bounds a couple of seconds later. POLL THE JURY! There is a lady in the stands who gets overly excited anytime a Cowboy moves. Woods is dancing and feinting, has take a couple of shots, but only briefly touched an ankle. Jamison has taken one half shot, and otherwise has just waved his hands at Woods leg from his staggered stance, hoping I guess to summon Woods leg to him, Harry Potter style. Second Period: Someone got cautioned, I think Woods, but the stunning camerawork hid it from me, because who doesn't love a good mystery. Jamison got about 25 seconds of riding time, so he may have an interesting choice if we go 1-0 to the third...never mind, Woods gets in on theswing single again, and he adjusts to avoid the whizzer, nicei n-match adjustment. Now we'll see how Jamison handles Woods top work. The answer was: Not well! Woods rides out the period, breaking Jamison flat a couple of times. Jamison was on his feet as time expired, lets see what he does to start the third. Third Period: Jamison chooses bottom! Woods has flagged at the end of matches, so lets see...Jamison does well! He gets out with only 44 seconds on the board, a TD ties this match! Lets see if the whole waving thing works...Woods is still controlling the pace of this match, he has Jamison sprawling at feints instead of looking for angles for his own shot (which I assume he is capable of doing?) He was not. Woods controlled throughout, and was in on a single (to burn time) at the end.

I was just talking with my brother(a non-wrestler) about this while watching Iowa Okie State. He hadn't watched any wrestling in a few years. Two things have changed in the past decade that have made wrestling far more entertaining, but have done so at the cost of many many knees. Collective skill in leg scrambles and confidence in leg scramble positions has gone up in the past decade, leg scramble fluency is a fundamental requirement for walking into a college room. It is as much a part of defense AND offense as head hands defense and reshots used to be. Concurrent with this evolution, being able to do the splits, front and side has become a prerequisite as well. Wrestlers are pushing their knees and legs to positions and situations that they really aren't meant to go. If you look on most high level teams, half the guys are wearing a knee sleeve or two, or a big knee brace and a knee pad somehow. I can't think of a top team that doesn't have guys sporting fat wraps, braces, or knee sleeves by March. Leg scrambles directly resemble what jiu jitsu, especially no-gi, refers to as leg entanglements, and they are a direct route to some of the most catastrophic submission holds in jiu jitsu. I'm not surprised it happened, but goodness, please tell your wrestlers not to rely on this sort of scrambling for too long unless they have the world's strongest hamstrings (Hamstrings protect the ACL).

Not if they threw me in. I'm not just losing matches for them, I'm getting team points taken away left and right. I'm a biter, but I'm not getting DQ'd over that until I really make a scene.

Say what you will about him, but at least Chris Bono never forced his crappy album onto my phone and wouldn't let me delete it.

But he is implying that he is better than RBY. How does having a guy whose skill is no longer allowed in folkstyle helpful in freestyle? Just a weird comparison and weak way to knock RBY.

I called this shit

They just didn't know how to handle the "arm behind the back" stance or the "run to the edge" in big matches, or they would have made changes.

Because they're in the same bracket this week

The list of guys with two NCAA titles that they did not change any rules for is long. Why single out RBY.

Fun fact: One of Zane Richards' training partner has the same # of NCAA titles as RBY. And he was so good they had to change the rules because of him. Nobody ever changed any rules for Mr. Bravo Young just sayin