Eagle26

In regards to Dake being stock up, I agree. It’s the best we’ve seen him in a while. I thought he looked a thicker and maybe he’s grown into a full sized 86. Anyone have any insight on if he’s actually have to lose a few pounds to make 86? I think that’s something he needs against Zahid who seems huge for the weight.

I think Lee looked pretty darn good. He’s a guy that has that wow factor because he can tech a lot of really good wrestlers. I think that lead to people believing he was a lock for a world champ. While I agree he has that potential, he’s still going to be tight with those top guys. Luke is one of those guys. He’s a world champ at U17, U20, and U23! Anyone that does that is going to be right there at senior level too. If we send either one of those guys, I like our chances, but nothing is a lock.

Wow! David Evans knocks out Vito! I never heard of him before but he looked good. I’m sure Vito was probably struggling a bit mentally though. Credit to him for trying to wrestle back

Came here to ask the same thing… crazy that the US open semis do not have their own start time. Just run a round of consis and whenever you get to the semis is when they happen to start? Most high school tournaments don’t even do that lol

Mineo has definitely been a lot more accurate the last few years. He didn’t say Dresser was leaving and Dresser didn’t say he’s staying as head coach. I’d bet he’s right here. And I think it’s genius on ISU’s part. Dresser is one of the GOATs as a CEO type coach. Follow the NFL model and make a position that’s like a GM for him, and have a separate head coach for a younger guy like Metcalf to just focus on everything on the mats. Imagine if Iowa kept Gable on in that role. Or I could see UNC doing something similar with Koll (who would be equally as great as Dresser as GM) and getting someone young and fresh as head coach

That makes sense. I know a few were grad transfers, but I thought there was one or two that didn’t graduate yet

Sad to see all their transfers after such a great showing at NCAAs. I think Ayres is a great coach and I’m surprised to see so many leaving. I would bet that Hayden Hidlay is an awesome coach, so maybe his departure is the reason so many are leaving, or is it something else?

Lol, not sure if this is satire, but Penn State is at the Apex of college wrestling and Iowa is not even close to them right now. They basically got double up in team score. Yeah they are a still a very good program but they aren’t chasing 4th place trophies and they have a long way to go to get on top. Especially with OK State entering the conversation. Why on earth would they not even replace a coach they lost? That’s a good way to regress. A big hire is really the only way to maybe help them catch up

Whoever they replace Telford with

That would be an excellent hire for them! Doubt it will happen though

And I forgot to mention that it is guest starring our very own Jason Bryant! (And Dan Gable).

I think this is an important hire for Iowa. They need a young, big name guy to give a breath of fresh air to their program. I do think TnT are still good coaches, but we’ve seen what a younger big name can do. I think they need an outside hire too. Just helps dispel the myth that they are one dimension “Iowa style” only.

Yes, I watched on Angel. I think they are relatively new… focus is on family friendly stuff so it’s nice if you have kids. Not a ton of content but several good things. They actually have another wrestling movie called “The Last Champion” starring the guy who plays Rip in Yellowstone. It’s pretty good as well but more of a based on a true story thing. Homestead is good too and a few other decent movies. Probably worth it for at least a month or two

Just watched his new film, “Standout”. It is excellent! It is a documentary that tells his story very well. I remember the whole arena rooting for him in Philly in 2011. I highly recommend it! https://standoutfilm.com

That pretty much sums it up. The hardcore wrestling fan is not their target audience. There’s just not enough of us to make it profitable. I’d rather watch the Zagreb Open than RAF, but I bet the viewership shows I’m in the vast minority. I get wanting to keep the sport pure and appreciate it for what it is, but unfortunately, that just doesn’t sell. I hope it succeeds and I think they have the right ideas to do it (other than all the old, out of shape guys lol).

He did not look very cut to me. But he has the frame to fill out so that’s probably best for him long term. I do think it would hurt his chances significantly for 2028 though

I also think Jax doesn’t look big at 133, and his college weight is all dependent on what weight he wants to go for the Olympics. I honestly can’t see him being big enough for 65 especially on an Olympic year. His goal is Olympic gold, and IMO his only chance at that is at 57 kg, so I don’t see him moving up in the next two years.

I always tell this to kids that use the excuse that they don’t want to wrestle because of risk of injury. However, I do think it’s worth noting that the data they use in this study is pretty old (one they linked is from 2016). So it really doesn’t tell us if it’s been increasing in recent years

I actually agree there is not a whole of difference physically. Obviously you have to taper training a little but that’s about it. What you do mentally can make all the difference in the world though.

That’s a good point too

I’ve been one to give him the benefit of the doubt in most cases, but this is just sad

I agree with you that Jax was a level above this weekend. He was not a level above Seidel in their match earlier this season, but that shows his growth. He definitely controlled Davino and did not look in danger, but it’s still a one takedown match. We did not get to see him vs. Blaze this season. Nothing makes me think Blaze would beat him, but styles make a difference and Jax likes to shoot and Blaze has excellent reattacks. So while I agree Jax is clearly the best wrestler now, we’ve seen historically how others can study a “better” wrestler and find a way to beat him. I believe that Seidel, Davino, and Blaze are all good enough that they could come up with a game plan to beat Jax even though they might not be better. Jax will be training to beat the world, but if they train to just be Jax, it’s probably going to happen. We’ve even seen this with the GOAT Jordan Burroughs.

It’s certainly possible, but Vega keeps thing too close, so I’m thinking he drops a few matches. I agree Jax is the better bet because he’s just so darn good! But then again so are the other freshmen around his weight, so it’s probably likely one of them finds a way to beat him at least once. Or with his wide open style he gets caught at some point. If it does happen though, I would argue that their feat would be greater than Caels because they did it without a red shirt. Even if they have 60 fewer matches, that would still be more impressive to me.

If I were a betting man, I’d take a chance on Caliendo with those odds. Also, Taylor and Valencia might be worth a shot too

Well, he had to stop the match if he awarded the takedown. I don’t think it was a terrible call to award the takedown then, but I agree with the review that it probably wasn’t at that time (almost certainly would’ve if they kept wrestling though). Seems like they need to consider a rule change because of these stupid reviews.