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Truly incredible vistas, man. Blessed to be here with my wife and three daughters, a once in a lifetime experience...and when they sleep i can check on in on wrestling.

Can confirm.

Objectively hilarious.

Ben Askren is already a legend as far as I am concerned. Among the people who I feel literally changed the sport of wrestling like Wade Schalles and Dan Gable, I put Ben Askren right up there with them. I am glad he is still here with us.

My brother was a survivor of Dr. Strauss and an ongoing victim of Ohio State (stealing a line from the doc). I was a mediocre wrestler at Oregon State. My brother is 6 years younger than me and was highly recruited. I had not heard good things about Coach Hellickson from people I trusted and tried to talk him out of going to Ohio State. He had friends there, and he really loved Coach Jordan. He is not interviewed in the documentary, but his name does appear prominently during the portion of the doc where they are highlighting the names of the guys being interviewed on the original lawsuit filing, below Coleman's name. He was warned by some of his teammates and fellow plaintiffs not to watch it. But he was at kid nationals in Iowa and his roommate fell asleep watching HBO. My brother woke up to the documentary about 10 minutes in. Called me in the middle of the night completely falling apart. After all, he was going to be in the UNI-Dome the next day with scores of people he knew. He got through that OK, although there was one guy who kept harassing him about it, "It wasn't really that bad. Why didn't you just kick his ass, etc." One of my brother's people got rid of that guy. The suffering continues for these men. The current administration at Ohio State is trying to wash their hands of it: "it happened before we were here...statute of limitations...etc." But they continued to take actions to cover it up, because they knew it went deeper than the 177 original plaintiffs. Now for my mea culpa: My brother went from a star student committed to a championship lifestyle to struggling with school and substance abuse. For years, I resented him for "wasting" the talent and all his hard work. He continued to wrestle, NAIA AA, OTC Athlete, etc. but was a shadow of himself. I blamed him for it, and of course, we all make our choices. Like I tell my athletes, "There are reasons for things not excuses." I mostly cut him out of my life for a handful of years. Fortunately, a sports psychologist at the OTC recognized there was something else going on with him and he got help, even though it wasn't until years later that he unearthed the horrors he endured. He came to watch my son compete in Pocatello in 2012 and it was the first time he had anything to do with wrestling in years. He is now a great coach and mentor to kids. We are closer than we have ever been but I will never forgive myself for my lack of empathy and anger toward him. There are hundreds and hundreds of stories like his. Strauss destroyed what these men could have been. Ohio State could have stopped it. It is on record that the athletic administration, and Coach Hellickson, knew about it before my brother enrolled in Columbus. They could have stopped it. They could have warned him. But they didn't. I have a special distaste for Congressman Jordan. But, as my mental health professional wife once pointed out, it is quite possible that Jim was a victim as well. Yes, he went to U of Wisc. but he was an Ohio phenom and I am sure he spent plenty of time in Columbus.

"Answer this incredibly complicated hypothetical without knowing any contextual details right now" screams the troll who can't hold the bit thru this scenario.

Simply. Outstanding. The single most impressive thing I've seen on any wrestling board ever. There are levels to wrestling and there are levels to fighting. And there are levels to fighting for your life.

Jimmy rn

Pretty good! This is one of my all-time favs (Insta link below). . . Instagram

Lee and DeSanto are definitely not the best ever duo, but pretty dang good. Iowa hasn't had NCAA champs in back to back weights since 1999. DeSanto and Lee might be Iowa's best since then. They finished 1st and 3rd in 2021. I've listed other possible Iowa 1-2s from the past 25 years below that had an average finish of at least 2nd at NCAAs. Lee being a 3x champ, 2x Hodge winner, >90% winning pct, and >80% bonus rate is probably just about the best better half of all the possible 1-2s. DeSanto is an above average 3rd placer. He had a >80% winning pct and >50% bonus rate. He also had multiple wins over multiple NCAA champs and finalists - Bravo-Young x2, Byrd x4, Gomez, Gross, Lizak x2, Lovett x2, Micic, Mueller, and Suriano. 2021: Lee (1st 125), DeSanto (3rd 133); Total (24.5+19.5=44 NCAA Team points) 2017: Gilman (3rd 125), Clark (1st 133); Total (19.5+20=39.5) 2016: Gilman (2nd 125), Clark (2nd 133); Total (21.5+16=37.5) 2010: McDonough (1st 125), Dennis (2nd 133); Total (23.5+16=39.5) 2010: Dennis (2nd 133), Marion (2nd 141); Total (16+16=32) 2010: Marion (2nd 141), Metcalf (1st 149); Total (16+23=39) 2008: Perry (1st 165), Borschell (3rd 174); Total (25+18.5=43.5) 2007: Perry (1st 165), Luedke (3rd 174); Total (22+13.5=35.5) 2005: Johnston (2nd 157), Perry (2nd 165); Total (17+18=35) 2001: Strittmatter (2nd 125), Juergens (1st 133); Total (20*+22=42) 2001: Juergens (1st 133), Schwab (2nd 141); Total (22+19=41) 2000: Strittmatter (3rd 125), Juergens (1st 133); Total (18+25=43) 2000: Juergens (1st 133), Schwab (3rd 141); Total (25+20.5=45.5) *I only counted advancement and bonus points starting in the round of 32 and all TFs were counted as 1.5. Strittmatter had a pig tail in 2001 which he won by fall. I did not count the points from that match, which would have added 3 to his total and the Strittmatter-Juergens total would have been 45, though at some point it became impossible for a wrestler seeded above 32 to have a pigtail, which everyone of these guys were.

None taken; gave me an excuse to add an avatar pic so I could make that joke. I will push back on Oregon St being the so called new kid on the block. They certainly can't match Okie St cause no one can; but they are like 4th in D1 history in dual meet wins (I believe only Okie St, Iowa St, and Iowa have more program wins) and have a Hodge winner. Just giving them a little respect is all

To be fair - calling him a non-placer at PA states was still accurate

Got busy with work. I won't let it happen again. Still can't post attachments, but can type out some stats (and maybe some ugly excel copy/paste) There have been 71 back-to-back (or greater) champions from the same school in tournament history. 16 schools have achieved the feat. School Streaks Oklahoma State - 18 Iowa - 12 Penn State - 11 Iowa State - 8 Oklahoma - 6 Michigan State - 3 Northern Iowa - 3 Nebraska - 2 Clarion - 1 Wisconsin - 1 Cal State-Bakersfield - 1 Arizona State - 1 Ohio State - 1 Illinois - 1 Minnesota - 1 Cornell - 1

So for the best three year span of 1 - 2 punch, here are the numbers for Zain Retherford/Jason Nolf and Carter Starocci/Aaron Brooks: The one (1) loss for Retherford/Nolf was due to INJURY DEFAULT to Rutgers. Starocci lost to Indiana's Washington 10-9 and Brooks lost to Iowa State's Coleman 9-7. The average dual points for includes getting 0 for their losses.

A lot of great ones 1-2 punches, but throwing some love to a smaller program in Edinboro, Aaron Schopp and Mitchell Port were pretty dang good.

Award criteria…. Is this the correct award? The Big Ten Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year award, presented to the conference's top male and female athletes, is given based on athletic excellence, sportsmanship, and a commitment to cooperation among peoples. The male award is named after track and field legend Jesse Owens

... good cat fight?

Wrestling has lost the narrative on sportsmanship

Maybe Carl could have filed one when it was reported. besides. I wouldn’t know how. And it appears one was filed already by someone. do you believe in protecting women from sexual abuses ? Or nah passes for those cause they have a good single leg or stall ride?

I reject it...

Kind of a tangent but just some commentary on the Zain/Nolf vs Starocci/Brooks stuff. If you take out Starocci's 5th year to make it even: Zain/Nolf scored 165.5 combined team points at NCAAs Starocci/Brooks scored 154.5 combined team points at NCAAs Zain/Nolf essentially spotted them 13 placement points and still beat them by 11; thats crazy. I'm not a Penn St fan but I very much appreciated watching Zain/Nolf demonstrate their craft. . . much less so on the latter duo . . .

Streaks is a triggering word for some of us that went to high school in Brandon Florida.

In my defense, I've been on this board for less than week. Also my name is ScottishSteel not Dick; I know my profile pic may make me look big, hairy, and horny but it's definitely not a dick. Have a great weekend sir!

I really hope the U.S. can one day escape this endless back-and-forth between Republicans and Democrats. It’s just the same broken system with different faces-and the propaganda around it keeps people from seeing any real alternative.

Vak, if the water recedes then run for your life!

If Masoumi actually transfers to Azerbaijan it's gonna be a big F U to Meshvildishvili who is a reigning olympic bronze (when the other bronze and gold retired) and also reigning European champion. Probably Meshvildishvili is # 4-5 in the world after Zare, Hendrickson, Masoumi and... who else? Yea he's 4. And he's not that old and gonna be out of the picture forever. And he can't transfer again because he's already a transfer.

Really? This is basically last week. Who is cpyles again?

i don't like most of the suggestions being offered. I mean, VRob had major accomplishments in HS and was obviously a talent. i gotta jump into a meeting but i'll get back on this topic. in short, i'd say state titles don't mean much. but for now Drew Foster and Stephen Buchanan come to mind.

if you want to get political that's fine. but do it on the NWT board.

The "Sportsmanship Award" is not to be confused with the "Athlete of the Year Award." (AI tried its best.) Apparently, the Athlete of the Year doesn't have to show any type of Sportsmanship at all (and a complete lack of sportsmanship doesn't appear to be a problem at all.) History: In 1982, the Big Ten Conference established their athlete of the year award, with the winners being selected by a panel of conference media members from nominations submitted by each school. The award for male winners is named after Ohio State track star Jesse Owens. The woman's award was previously known as the Suzy Favor Athlete of the Year before it was revealed in 2012 that Favor had worked as a prostitute for a Las Vegas escort service. The Big Ten removed her name from the women's award in July 2013 as a result. C'mon. Kyle Snyder won this thing TWO times and he hooked up with at least one prostitute (at least as far as he knew.) From the rumors, maybe many more. But Suzy Favor gets cancelled by the Big Ten? And Snyder? The Big Ten had no problem with that - nor did any of the wrestling world. Apparently, it's OK for men to engage in sex-for-pay. But not for women? Big Ten cancel culture is just like any other cancel culture - it's got to go. Suzy Favor should be reinstated as the namesake for this award. Or Kyle should be reprimanded. Big Ten - make up your mind. Is sex-for-pay OK or not? Then do the right thing.

Sorry man, I'm posting off data from a beach in Thailand.

Umm so, apparently it isn’t a 100% done deal with Chattanooga and someone else is in play. I have no idea who. But I’m told it’s 60/40 chatt

For the purpose of that thread, 1 - 2 has meant adjacent weights. So Ruth and Taylor would not qualify. Also, Zain and Nolf (2016-2018) have more (127.5 points) at NCAAs than two 3xers (2021-2023) in Brooks and Starocci (110.5 points). The other aspect is duals. Who was more lethal in duals back to back?

While other forums are foolishly charging a fee to participate, this one provides fascinating history like this for free.

Being true to my CA roots, while not technically qualified, it seems disingenuous (almost criminal) to not include Mark Schultz in this tread. He's the ultimate Diamond in the Rough- hear me out . . . Mark Schultz won a CA state championship his senior year (1978) wrestling for Palo Alto High, which technically disqualifies him from this thread. He won in R16 7-6, Quarters 4-4 OT, 5-2 in semis and 7-4 in finals, hardly dominate, but also upsetting 3 undefeated wrestlers along the way. What makes his senior run improbable (and more so his later accomplishments), is that prior to winning that state title, he is the only wrestler in CA history to never win a single tournament before his run up to a state title (just crazy). Mark's official CA high school record is 34-8, including 4-6 as a junior. Not highly recruited, he attended UCLA and went 18-8 as a freshman...transfers Oklahoma in 1979 and redshirts- fails to place in every tournament that year (flashback to high school). We all know what happens after that...In 1980, unranked, beats #1 Mike DeAnna, gets ranked #2 and goes on to win 3 NCAA D1 Championships, including denying Ed Banach (another all-time great) a chance to become the first 4x D1 champ. Continues on to be a 2x World Champ, Olympic Champ, and a legend in our sport.

Feels like Steve Neal should be the poster boy for this. Placed 4th as a senior in HS in 1994 (only time he placed), goes to CSU Bakersfield where he proceeds to go 4,2,1,1 at NCAAs (last 2 seasons undefeated), wins US Open, Pan Ams, and a World Championship in 1999, and second at 2000 Olympic Trials. Switches to football and becomes a 3x Super Bowl Champ with the Patriots. Who woulda thunk it? Nothing short of spectacular! ...There's also Anthony Cassar...

I would recommend against contracting dengue fever if you are presented with the choice by the mosquito edit: best food in the world tho

I wouldn't be sorry for that ... sounds great.

Yea he took 3rd his senior yr losing in the semis to the legendary Paul Finn who is the only guy in NJ history to go undefeated with all pins for an entire season .. that weight class was pretty wild , Baumgartner beat future pro wrestler bam bam Bigelow in that tournament , also jim Jeffcoat who played 15 years for the Dallas cowboys and won 2 superbowls lost on the otherside to Finn

To cite the source… FWIW: It is from Nicola video description. https://youtu.be/oDoNJOZJmJs?si=gjw3aTc_5Ag-fEXO

I saw this video scrolling facebook, didn't even realize it was him until I read the caption. Very difficult watch, but also pretty inspiring.

I want to cook him a big dish of home-mades and meatballs and tell him to eat as much as he can and get some rest. Don't worry about us.

Rough watch from when.we last heard him, but obvious emotion...that was raw and moving. Truly glad he's made it this far, and hope he can continue to go up.

He has to log into his other account to tell himself he's right.

Facial hair looks good on you Ben!

Wow … emotional view. 45 pound weight loss in 50 days. No memory of over a month. Can hear his thankfulness for those that have shown their love. And he sounds positive. As usual. Amazing guy. Folks — a good idea is to show your apppreciation and love to those that deserve it … now. Don’t wait for hell to come to the front door. They will love to hear it and it will come back to you. Be good to each other.

That was great to him able to give his own update!

Soooooo happy for him, his wife, his children, and his parents to see him coming out the other side.