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Ironic that after years of being criticized for not having enough offense, Bartlett may have just taken down Carter Starocci and Cael Sanderson simultaneously.

always knew he'd be behind bars one way or another

Coach Robie exenmplifying the VT motto “This is Home”.

For me.....46th NCAA Championship dating back to 1972 (Maryland).....this will be 40 in a row, dating back to 1985 (Oklahoma City)....before I retired, it was a vacation, today.....it's still a vacation....lol. Some day I plan on being the last man standing....oh, and by the way, I can prove I've been to each of those NCAA's!!!

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.

Seems like a stretch, what with Bo having his senior high school season next year...

Maybe Vinesh just phogat to check her weight.

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...

We as a community should fear indifference to bad, evil, or incompetence just as much - if not more - than the acts themselves. Bad is bad. Evil is evil. Incompetence is incompetence. Once a certain line is crossed, it’s unacceptable by any standard. Letting a wrestler stick their thumb up a training partner’s keester is simply bad. Grooming underage people - regardless of gender - is unequivocally evil. Failing to follow proper procedures to ensure a thorough investigation is the definition of incompetence. To act as if these things are not bad, evil, or incompetent is just as damaging as committing the act itself, because you are verbally excusing the acts. Words have value, and so does our courage to call out what’s truly wrong. Yes, there’s a legal process that must play out to determine guilt. But even before that, defending any of these actions - or trying to claim they aren’t evil, bad, or incompetent - is phucking abhorrent.

God is always asking for cash so that tracks.

Hope both men have successful surgeries. Prayers up. The Latona's have been a part of VT wrestling for nearly a decade. Everyone knows Sam, but his older brother Dom started wrestling at VT in 2016. The Brothers have always been hard working, humble and selfless. Sam sacrificed a couple years with a severe cut to help VT get the best lineup on the mat. Nice to see the family receive a wonderful gift from Coach Robie. VT Wrestling Tweet

I'm not surprised that Penn State isn't doing this. I'm a little surprised at what salty b I t c h e s some of the fans are being about the event daring to exist.

When looking for Greg's obituary I came across this tweet about him that I really enjoyed, so thought I would share.

Wow

"What kind of whore?" ~Kyle Snyder

Hasn't been discussed here, but this officially came down the pipe this morning. https://lehighsports.com/news/2025/5/27/lehigh-university-adds-womens-wrestling-as-26th-varsity-sport Sixth D1 to add the sport, joining Iowa, Presbyterian, Sacred Heart, Lindenwood and Delaware State. Among NCAA schools, that's now 116 teams. As of this moment, there's 37 Division II schools with the sport and 74 Division III. Definitely a plus since the academic profile of Lehigh is a draw.

This one is short, so I will translate it https://www.khabarvarzeshi.com/news/482369/پیام-ویژه-حسن-یزدانی-برای-دیوید-تیلور In the past years, having a great competitor such as you has been the biggest motivation to compete in any condition, which is the key to success. I wish you success in your new journey, and I hope that you enjoy every segment in your path.

People being caught up on the figure of money in items which may have been stolen out of all of this is really throwing me off.

In response to my returning points thread, someone on 34andcounting asked what kind of points could a freshman be expected to score at the NCAA Tournament. Using Willie's Big Board data I decided to take a look. One huge caveat is that the numbers below are fitted lines through some VERY noisy data. The first thing I looked at was the odds of qualifying for the tournament based on BB rank. There are 12 years worth of graduating classes in the data (2013 - 2023) that have completed true freshman and redshirt freshman years. For these calcs I am including true freshmen and redshirt freshmen for each high school graduating year. For example, for 2022 grads I include 2023 true freshmen plus 2024 redshirt freshmen. 80% of Success is Showing Up 100% of #1 Big Boarders qualified for the tournament as either a true freshman or a redshirt freshman. These are your only sure things. By the time you get to the #10 BB it is a 50/50 proposition whether they even qualify for the tournament, never mind score once they get there. No Participation Points But you can't just show up. Once a freshman makes the tournament they still need to score. Combining scoring with probability of making the tournament steepens the curve somewhat. At almost 18 points per, #1 BB can be expected to score in the high teens in their freshmen year (true or redshirt). But that is it. No other rank cracks double digits. And by the time you get to the #10 ranked freshman recruit you are looking at about 4 points. Bring in da' Noise, Bring in da' Funk That really should be Mitchell Mesenbrink's walk out music. Remember what I said about the noise in the data? Mesenbrink is the physical embodiment of that noise (and he was trained by the Master of Funk). As the #59 ranked wrestler in his class, the line above suggests he is good for about a half a point in his freshman year. Well, at 19.5 points he is what we would call an outlier. And the reason you should take this with a grain of salt.

The USA was one of the first to explicitly set up a *separation* of church and state in the constitution to allow folks to follow or not follow whatever they want.

I think AJ's always been religious. The only thing that's changed recently is he no longer believes that he's God.

As much as everyone seems to hate his wrestling style... I think this should go to Beau Bartlett. Last year he was a micron away from being a NCAA champ but lost to Mendez and he still walked off the mat smiling and head held high. Mendez beats him again this year OT (just barely) after Bartlett beat him twice in the regular season and Big 10s. Bartlett fights back to finish 3rd. Finishes his career never a champ, and wrestled up a weight for his team for two seasons. Guy always has a smile on his face and never says anything negative. Great attitude, great sportsman....someone to be admired.

He’s always been a greedy bastard. 159 for me. None for you.

Lehigh's Rob Rohn was trailing 14-2 late in the third period and mixered OK's Josh Lambrecht for the fall in 2002. 4 pins in a row in the NCAA championships.

Take that haters that think NIL will be the death of all the smaller programs

OK. So who won? Well, its complicated. There are at least three ways you can answer that question, so let's look at all three, shall we. Most Correct Matches You can only get ten right. So in the name of symmetry there were ten posters who got ten right. I want to thank @TylerDurden, @Techfall, @PortaJohn, @Nittanychris, @ionel, @CGriff, @AZ_wrestling, @666, PSUWrestling2425 (on HVI) and psu0408 (HVI) for keeping things neat and tidy. But wait. It turns out you can get ten correct and still not get them all right. psu0408 was feeling his oats a bit and added an eleventh category (which he got wrong - sorry, no points deductions - EXCEPT FORE YOU), so I am sorry, but he is eliminated from the competition. The True Iowa Homer Award goes to... Lets pause a moment to recognize a true individualist. In this age of social media driven peer pressures it can be so difficult to swim against the tide of popular opinion. So when a true hero emerges, we must celebrate him. While @Mr. PeanutButter may have lost this particular competition by traditional standards, he is not a hidebound traditionalist. His bravery has won over the heart of every true Iowa wrestling fan. And what could be more important than that? Well, bragging rights, of course. But "True Iowa Homer" is probably second best? It Is A Team Sport, Dummy (I have heard so many times. Mostly the dummy part but...) Award At the end of the day it comes down to the team score. So who was closest to the pin? As previously reported, our own TylerDurden takes the prize. Seer of seers, prognosticator of prognosticators. For the rest of the year all his predictions have the weight of law. He shall not be questioned. When his statements contradict known facts, it is the known fact that shall give way. Look on TylerDurden's Works, ye Mighty, and despair! The Lee Corso Award For Attention To Detail (or maybe it will be named the Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right Award) Award Ya know...about this team thing....isn't the final score the sum of the individual scores? And shouldn't we see who came closest there? Lee and I are glad you asked., If we sum of the individual deviations we get a better sense of who was "right" by not allowing two wrong answers to offset each other. @Techfall, step to the front of the class and take your bow. Wisdom (?) Of The Crowds Not so much. Unlike in years past the crowd was not very wise this year. With a final predicted score of 25.5 to 7.7 the Iowa portion was fine, but lack of faith in PSU to ring the bonus point cash register is frankly disappointing. Anyone using us to bet the spread (20.5, I think) would have taken a big L on the bet. We promise to do better next time. And as always, thank you all who participated. The Crowd not previously mentioned: @VakAttack @Spencerlee @PSUDad97 @MidwestMan @meZYNbrink @JPack @Interviewed_at_Weehawken @Hillbilly Jim @Gage @Dogbone @BruceyB @BIGTENFANBOY @BarSeries @BAC @Truzzcat @RawDog @Ragu @Pish @Pinnacle @nhs67 @Le duke @Jimmy Cinnabon @Husker_Du (though you made me work for it) @Gus @Gene Mills Fan @flyingcement @fishbane @CHROMEBIRD @bnwtwg @BloodRound @Barracuda141 @1032004 @RandolphTJones Same time next year (B1G schedule permitting)?

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

Do you think its a wrestling-specific problem? Or a problem that exists in power dynamics everywhere. It's a genuine question.

Please go away.

I noticed Basch didn't make an infographic yet so I thought I'd help him out

Willie… maybe he really had no idea what was happening. Basch on the other hand. Fuk that guy. He was supposedly tight with Beau and he acted like nothing bad was happening just to protect Cael and the program. He is a PR guy disguised as a media member. Disgusting behavior from him.

I don't this doesn't come out as off-putting, but IMO we should just keep this thread to actual updates on Ben's health while avoiding playing doctor by trying to explain why, how, or what is going to come of Ben's current situation. I know that we are all on the same team, but we should stick to what we know based on the information that has been made public. I know that's not typically the spirit of a forum, but in this critical time, I don't think any of us want to give "opinion" on what may or may not be transpiring. This is an absolutely horrible situation, and I think we would all be best giving it space. Please continue to share updates, but let's not bring opinions or speculation into the picture anymore than necessary.

Jagger off the top rope with an all-timer

Shut up, virgin.

Unfortunately I couldn't beat a guy named Cael Sanderson. Lost to him in the 1991 Western Regional freestyle final (Boise, Idaho). Lost to him again at the NCAA tournament in 2001. The only solace is that he apparently beat everyone he wrestled.

I need to get this one out of the way a little early this year as I have a few things coming up that will distract me from the forum for a bit. Once, Twice, Three Times.... The great Lionel Ritchie said it best. Who will be a "timer" this year? Possible Two-Timers (not that kind, the good kind): 125 - Richie Figueroa 141 - Jesse Mendez 141 - Andrew Alirez 149 - Caleb Henson 174 - Levi Haines 184 - Parker Keckeisen 197 - AJ Ferrari 285 - Greg Kerkvliet Possible Three-Timers (As Easy As 1, 2, ...) 174 - Keegan O'Toole 285 - Gable Steveson Possible Five-Timer ("There Can Be Only One") 184 - Carter Starocci Movin On Up I have tracked the highest scoring wrestlers in NCAA history (using current scoring rules) down to number 234. To make the list you need to meet, or exceed Ed Peery's 59 total points. There are a handful of wrestlers who have a shot at moving onto the list, and a few who will move up the list (barring catastrophe). The Possible Newbies (* denotes fifth year) Ridge Lovett currently on 31 points Beau Bartlett currently on 35.5 points* Kyle Parco currently on 40 points* Stephen Buchanan currently on 40 points Wyatt Hendrickson currently on 48.5 points* Cohlton Schultz currently on 58 points* Going To A Deluxe Apartment In The Sky? Who are the guys already on the list that have a chance to move on up? For reference, the top 5 scorers in NCAA history are: Cael Sanderson (107.5) Logan Stieber (103.5) Ed Banach (102.5) Mark Churella (99.5) David Taylor (99) A Toast To The Most? We are Americans. We like the most of everything. Do I want fries with that? Silly question. I want all the fries. Bigger, Higher, Better. There are at least two possible mosts on the line. Team Points Who knows what is happening with Josh Barr? Perhaps only Nick Suriano. But, assuming he is healthy, and assuming Braeden Davis can stay out of scrambles, PSU has a very real shot at decimating the team points record that has stood the test of time. As long as by time you mean 12 months. I will update my projection for them some time after seeds come out, but based on post-conference rankings they could be as high as 199 points. Though I highly doubt that. Losses We all know about Carter Starocci and his pursuit of the most NCAA titles, thanks to the NCAA decision to grant as many years as it takes. But there is another side to that coin. With more opportunity to win comes more opportunity to lose. And sadly there is a wrestler who has the chance to become the losing-est wrestler in NCAA tournament history. But don't take that statement as a judgement (as many on the forums are want to do), because to attain that title a wrestler needs to be a winner first, and foremost. Oh, the irony. The only way to rack up loses is to win. Finishing 6th or 8th gets you three loses. That's an All-American, baby. So shout out to Kyle Parco. Having finished 6th, 8th, 4th, and 5th he has 10 total loses (3+3+2+2). If he finishes with 2 more loses (fourth or worse), the record is his, and his alone. With an asterisk, of course. The current holders of the title, with 11 total loses, are Kirk Mammen (Oklahoma State 6th, 6th, 5th, 8th) and Ben Bennett (Central Michigan 6th, 8th, 6th, 4th). Long may you ride. If I have left anything out, please add to the list.

Seems to be doing a great job for someone with limited experience. Great chemistry with Sparks. Knowledgeable about techniques, tactics, and strategy. Good anecdotes. Knows wrestlers from across the nation and from all the weights, not just his own. Maybe as the night went on, he did a little play by play when he shouldn't have. The thing that impressed me the most was that he didn't get overly excited or disappointed when his current/former teammates were involved in close matches. If you didn't know he wrestled for NC State a year ago, you wouldn't have been able to guess his alma mater. Compare that to Dan Gable who hasn't coached Iowa in almost 30 years when he is doing commentary and a Hawkeye is wrestling.

Brands challenging a stall call.

You don't see a program and their feeder school both on the hot seat very often.

Good luck to all the wrestlers and may you all have a tournament full of fun & cheer! ‘Twas the night before weigh-ins, and all through the gym, Not a wrestler was eating, not even a slim. The singlets were hung in the lockers with care, In hopes that tomorrow, a win would be there. The coaches were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of takedowns danced in their heads. And I in my warm-ups, my headphones on blast, Had just settled in for a cut that must last. When out in the hallway there rose such a clatter, I sprang from my bench to see what was the matter. Away to the door, I moved in a flash, Tripped over my headgear and fell with a crash. The fluorescent lights cast a bright, eerie glow, Illuminating the shadows that danced down below. When what to my tired, sore eyes should appear, But Cael Sanderclaus, with a smirk ear to ear. “Get rest,” he commanded, his voice low and deep, “For tomorrow, you battle—the title to keep. Your training is done, your mindset is right, Now dream of that podium and wrestle with might.” Then back to my spot, I walked with a yawn, Knowing the tournament soon would be on. I whispered to myself as I lay down my head, “I’ll leave it all on the mat—no regrets when I’m dead.”

That doesn’t mean anything. Your wife is that and she’s 190

I was just thinking how great it was not watching someone ride a leg on top for 4 minutes without turning his opponent.

My prediction is that Bo gives a dogsh*t take on the whole thing.

Props to Bartlett and his wife for speaking openly and not behind an anonymous name. If more wrestlers/former teammates come out with similar allegations this could get ugly.

I just threw up a new database that has all ~40k matches that have taken place at the NCAA D1 championships. Check it out here. I just noticed the search and filter aren't working. I'm going to have to reach out to try and figure out why. Enjoy!

Never has so much time been spent talking about something that hardly ever happens. Thrust me on this, the people who have their panties in a bunch over this not only don’t watch women’s sports, they HATE women’s sports. It’s just an excuse for bigots to bully a marginalized group.

With the USA's struggles at 65kg over the past twenty years and the revolving door that is USA reps at the weight, I went back year by year to 2006 and looked found every medalist in Worlds and Olympics. During this span, 12 wrestlers have represented the red white and blue. 6 of them were 1 time reps. 4 have represented the USA twice. Zain has been the man on three separate occasions, and Metcalf leads the pack with 4 trips to the World Championships. This made me wonder if other countries have had a similar lack of continuity with their representatives, as well as similar struggles to place at the worlds most competitive weight class. Here are the most to least medals by country since 2006. 1. Russia: 12 total medals from 8 different wrestlers. 4 gold, 2 silver, 6 bronze 2. Japan: 6 medals from 3 different wrestlers. 4 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze 3. India: 6 medals from two different wrestlers. 1 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze 4. Iran: 5 medals from 3 different wrestlers. 1 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze 5: Georgia: 5 medals from 2 different wrestlers. 1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze 6. Cuba: 5 medals from 2 different wrestlers. 1 silver, 4 bronze 7. Hungary: 3 medals from Muszukajev. 1 gold, 2 bronze 8. Azerbaijan: 3 medals from two different wrestlers. 3 silver 9. Mongolia: 3 medals from two different wrestlers. 3 bronze 10. Turkey: 2 gold medals from Sahin. 11: USA: 1 gold from Zadick, 1 silver from Diakomihalis. 12. Italy: Chamizo 1 gold, 1 bronze / Armenia: 1 gold and 1 bronze. 13: Ukraine, Navruzov, Kazakhstan, Puerto Rico all with 1 silver and 1 bronze each. 14. Poland with 1 silver. 15. Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and Albania with 1 bronze each. Some other interesting notes that I discovered during this research include.. No wrestler has won 3 golds at 65kg, and only three have claimed 2. Otuguru for Japan, Romonov for Russia, and Sahin for Turkey. Only Tushishvili of Georgia, Lopez of Cuba, Punia of India, Romonov, Muszukajev, and Yonemitsu have medaled 3 times at the weight. Only Tushishvili and Punia have earned four medals with 1 silver and 3 bronze respectively, and no one has 5 medals. Of the 40 medalists over the past 20 years, exactly 20 of those wrestlers earned just 1 medal at the weight class. I spent far too much time putting this together (I'm sure someone better with excel could have done it much faster than I) and maybe @Wrestleknownothing can create an interesting graphic from this information if it suits his interest. Nevertheless, if you actually take the time to read this, I'd love to for you to share any takeaways you might have from the information, how it pertains to USA wrestling, or just the landscape of 65kg as a whole.

Thoughts: --It's just so stupid that this is even illegal. It happens legally thousands of times a day in the porn world and the OnlyFans world (and in parts of Nevada and Maine), and thousands more a day in the "arrangements"/"sugar daddy" world, and it's barely a rounding error a way from what happens millions of times a day, e.g. men buying dinner and sort of getting something in return, and women seducing wealthier men for access to his wallet. Much of human history is built on men who provide best being the ones who get ass. Where, as here, there's no indicia the person lacked the capacity to consent, it is a simple business transaction, morally indistinguishable from paying someone to mow your lawn. So I'm sorry, but I just can't bring it upon myself to be even remotely troubled by this as I don't see it being in any way wrong. It's a crime, but right up there in seriousness with jaywalking and loitering. The people acting all butthurt about this are ridiculous. --I'd always happy to make an exception for the religious preachy types when they're abject hypocrites, but does it here? Not that I can see. I don't doubt that he's a devout Christian, and trying to live a Christian life, doesn't mean he's criticizing the lifestyles of others who aren't devout Christians and saying we're all going to hell, nor is he out there trying to jack up the penalties for prostitution or preaching against it. I'm only bothered when the religious right tries to shove morals down my throat that they themselves won't adhere to. Maybe he violated his own professed beliefs, but that's between him and himself. I just have no reason to care. --He's probably in hot water with his wife, but truthfully, we don't even know that. For all we know, she signed off on it or agreed to look the other way, as maybe there's things she can't or won't do. Or maybe not -- maybe she's furious and ready to rip his nuts off, but once again, that's solely between them. I'm not willing to make any judgments about his marriage any more than I will about his morality. --I'm sure his PR people will help him write up some big public apology, talking about how he let down his wife and kids and his God, how he'll try to do better and live his life according to God's plan, blah blah blah, but none of that changes the above. That's understandable, as the sponsors will expect it. But it won't change what I said above. Bottom line: For his own mental health and personal happiness, I hope he's able to conform his conduct to his beliefs and his commitments to his wife, but it makes zero difference to me if that entails changing his conduct or changing his beliefs/commitments.