Maxwell Smart

Great job on the mailbag, and your opinion pieces when you don't have enough wrestling questions is exactly what was missing. Thanks!

That didn't take long. The Jagger mailbag got ruined by non-wrestling topics, and the same thing is happening again. If there aren't enough wrestling questions, perhaps the coach can opine on a topic of his choice. It would make for better reading.

Perhaps outside of this forum, the public doesn't view the NDI as a big growing the sport event as it's made out to be.

Great tournament, win, and story. Two big, strong athletes going at it and watching the power and speed was impressive with both. He deserves more spot light.

And they'll fall further behind after day 1 and every day that follows. The competition has ballooned this year. So many teams (Lehigh, VT, Cornell, etc.) have studs ready to go. The wrestling we're about to be treated to will be awesome! The team race will be tighter than thought.

Tom Brands and the changes to the line up. Was interested in the thoughts of the forum on the additions.

I've ragged on Tom for years, but I can see why he's so popular with the fan base. His love for his wrestlers and passion for the sport is palpable, and he believes in his guys. Naming guys that don't score much as having a lot of firepower is coach speak; he does it well. He said they put out their best line up. Just curious as to the thoughts on these changes and expectations from the new line up. Will this improve their scoring and placement? It'll be fun to watch. Liked his take on the pre-seeds; sounds one and done.

Socrates was quite profound; SocraTease not so much. Don't make a lot of predictions, but this year, and future years, we will be treated to outstanding wrestlers from outside the Big Ten who are going to provide us with amazing matches. A direct product of 1 team being dominant; the others rise up and get better. Could be wrong, but don't need to be right.

Time will tee. Regardless, this year's conference and Natty will be awesome.

The Big Ten tourney will show this out, and the Nationals will be the same. Competition in every weight class is better than ever and the young wrestlers are ahead of their time, and they're in every conference. The scores will be tighter than the ranking prediction. Having your team prepared for the grind will be the key to the trophy. Buckle up, March madness is upon us.

Just going to watch and let it play out. It's guaranteed to be entertaining and discussed even more as time goes on. Fair or unfair, the chatter is getting louder. It also goes with the territory. 86ing on the subject.

Some Hawkeye fans just refuse to see it. There's no rebound coming, look at their roster for next year. Stay with the Brands, and the program keeps falling behind. Top recruits are going elsewhere. Watch this years Big and NCAA's.

You lost me at Carl, thank goodness.

That's very true and it's happening. After years of discussion on this forum, regular Iowa fans are jumping in. The chatter on the internet has picked up a lot, and it isn't going to end until there's a change at the top. The "Iowa wrestling room is so tough, no one can last 4 years." take has always sounded like another (questionable) reason for the program's falling behind the others. We all know coaching matters in all phases of life.

Drake isn't beaten up because of the Brands Brothers. That's an old take that just falls flat.