Eagle26

I do agree there’s a debate about whether it could have been a defensive fall or not. Right or wrong, I personally like the idea of making absolutely sure the guy is flat for at least a full second before you call a defensive fall. From this video, it doesn’t look like the ref had an opportunity to do that. However, there is that one instant where the video cuts out where he could’ve been flat at that time. So if you saw it live (I did not), maybe it looked worse. Regardless, the only scoring option there is 4-1 NW or call the pin for IL

Nor do I. The right thing and the common thing are rarely the same thing. Hey, maybe that phrase will catch on

Of course. It’s fine to make those comparisons… he chose to go D1, that’s who he wants to be compared against. However, when someone says he sucks or he’s a terrible wrestler, it is a not an accurate statement. An accurate critique comparing him to the other 125s in the B1G is that he’s a very good wrestler struggling against the best wrestlers.

Did I miss something? It looks like a very clear 4 and 1

It drives me nuts when people criticize and act like he is terrible wrestler when he is better than 99% of the people criticizing him! Yeah he is undersized and struggling against the top D1 wrestlers but I’m sure the critics would struggle against that kind of competition too

2/10

Generally, I agree. However, there’s a big difference between simply making predictions and flooding the forum with homerific nonsense. There were a few Penn state fans on the old forum that did this and even just having one or two fans doing this made me want to route against them. Now @jajensen09 is doing that for Nebraska

“I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler.” — Socrates Come on, @SocraTease , I had to post that for you :)

If duals actually mattered, we would probably get to see this. But they don’t, so we won’t :(

Well, I wouldn’t say everyone said that. Maybe some people thought that, but I sure didn’t. Most people in PA thought Lee would have tremendous success in college and he has certainly lived up to those expectations. I was just making the point that crazy things can happen. I think every single person in the state except Austin DeSanto thought Lee would win his 4th state title in HS. So I am rooting for Lee to win his 4th title this year and I think he will, but it’s premature to count it. Of course Jimmy knows that too, but here we are taking the bait lol

Lee is a 3x champ. Everyone thought he would be a 4x state champ in high school too. Don’t count your eggs before they hatch.

Ferrari would be the answer by a mile, but I don’t think you can consider him a “current” wrestler

The problem is that technically the top guy is trying to score by securing riding time. So therefore riding is not stalling. I hate it too, but apparently we need a rule change to address it.

Interesting concept… I’ve thought about a lot of different rule changes, but honestly never thought about this idea. My biggest concern would be that you are adding something subjective that there would be a lot of controversy over. For example, wrestler A is up by 10 and gets thrown to his back with just a few seconds left. How long do you let Wrestler B go for the pin? If you stop it, B’s team will be pissed. If you let it go on for a long time A’s team will be pissed. That’s a no win situation for the ref.

I agree it should be illegal and it already is in HS. I don’t think this is being soft, it is protecting the integrity of the sport. It is essentially a submission because to get the move to work, you have to get your opponent to succumb to the pain first and then you just tip him over. If you have done this move to others or had it done to you, you know what I mean. I’ve seen some nasty power halves too, but I’m not advocating for that to be illegal because you are using leverage to try to turn him and it hurts when you fight it. This is where you can say, if it hurts too bad, just go over. Sometimes a power half is applied when the bottom guy is not in position to be turned and then it is just punishing the guy. That’s usually when the ref calls potentially dangerous. That’s fine, but I don’t like leaving the bow and arrow up for interpretation because the bottom guy is almost never in a position to be turned and it is not the move itself that gets the guy to turn, it is the act of submission that gets him to turn.

Yeah that was weird… couldn’t see the refs signal from the video but there seemed to be no explanation at all?

Wow great job by Latona, he controlled the match

Why did they stop it after Latona’s TD?

Ever heard of Dan Gable? Cael and Gable are definitely in a league of their own, but Smiths coaching record is pretty incredible too. “Only” 5 titles in 30 years, but in the last 30 years, no TEAM other than Iowa or Penn Sate won more titles than that! Plus, factor in he also had 11 other top 3 finishes in that time. That’s pretty darn good.

One of the best interviews I heard in while… every wrestling fan should listen if they haven’t yet. Coach Smith is spot on with things that need to change in the sport. Duals are exciting and we need to find a way to make them matter. It’s not rocket science either… put a bigger emphasis on National Duals and make a qualification system like high school wrestling and other sports so every dual counts. We can achieve this and shorten the season. Each team could have 7-10 duals. Then nationals duals. Maybe one or two tournaments throughout the season and then conference and NCAAs. That would be like 20-30 matches and that is more than enough to keep our fans happy without over doing it. 40+ matches is totally unnecessary IMO.

Yes, high school is already bad for bumping. I do fear it could get worse though. I think the main reason college isn’t as bad is that they simply don’t care as much about winning duals. The main rule change we need to see to prevent this would be to coaches submit their lineup before the dual. Maybe that would allow the new scoring proposal to work?

I know Schalles and others have been advocating for this for decades. I have mixed feelings. I like the emphasis on scoring points, but there could be unintended consequences. The biggest one I think is that we are now rewarding mismatches in skill level even more and the strategy will turn to trying to get your best guys on kids they will tech or pin. So we will see even more bumping and ducking. We need to find a way to incentivize putting your best wrestler on their best wrestler. That will make the duals more exciting… not a bunch of mismatches and easy pins.

Okie is THE most accomplished program in the history of NCAA wrestling! Yes, it’s been awhile since their last national championship, but they have the resources needed to get another one. The job would be a big upgrade for everyone except Brands and Cael. Doesn’t mean everyone else would want to leave their current job, but it would be an upgrade nonetheless.

So you think Penn state is going to fire Cael to hire Taylor? I get your point… I think those guys could get head coaching jobs right from the start, but it is a definite risk for a major program to hire someone without experience. Personally, I think it would be worth the risk and it would be a good hire for OSU to nab one of those guys, but it’s still a risk so I wouldn’t say they have guaranteed jobs wherever they want.

The guy that beat Hahn in Vegas DNP at D1 NCAAs that year. Just because he had better wins during the season doesn’t mean he would’ve come out on top at NCAAs. We’ve seen so many crazy things happen at NCAAs…many of which ruin peoples chances at the hodge. I just don’t think it’s fair to give it to someone who didn’t go to the biggest tournament… that’s my humble opinion. I can understand the case for Wilson… he just wouldn’t have gotten my vote. He did get the votes that counted though so I’m not going to belabor the point