MIZ-DPT

Last season Surtin was dealing with what he just retired from along with a torn hammy from a dual. Moore had just returned at Big 12's after missing a ton of time. Gioffre had broken ribs and had just returned at Big 12's. Mauller/Mocco were just banged up older guys that faded, like plenty of other 6th year seniors. Hell even with Rocky the injuries that kept him out this year happened against Brooks in the semis. As far as Whiting vs Hawks, just look at Whiting's results this season. He was undersized at 184 and Hawks was willing to step up and compete anytime he was asked with a higher ceiling than Whiting had shown. They've had a much older team with the COVID year and this is between big recruiting classes. Look at the 2020 season, it wasn't as bad as now but not far off before the 2021 recruits came in. This is similar with injuries making it worse. As far as injuries go it's tougher to say. It's definitely been more prevalent as of late but it strikes me as more bad luck with a handful of guys with significant injury histories. There's certainly been underperforming as of late but I know it's not related to Maple, losing him would be a significant loss.

Woman's basketball is tough to compare because the sport itself is so much more accessible and in the general population than wrestling is/will be anytime soon. Caitlin Clark has clearly had a massive affect on it, but WBB has had consistent viewership growth for the past few years. The sport has a lot of similar things going for it compared to wrestling, big stars, good rivalries, athletes who stick around for their full eligibility. However, it goes back to basketball being a very relatable sport for the most casual of sports fans. I don't think that wrestling comparing itself to women's basketball and Caitlin Clark gives any groundbreaking concepts for wrestling to learn from. IMO a much more reasonable sport to look at is the growth of collegiate volleyball. Olympic typically non revenue and more niche sport akin to wrestling that has been breaking viewership and attendance records in recent years. I think that growth in viewership starts at a youth level, and with the numbers on girls wrestling ever increasing, that could be a whole new group plus families to start watching college wrestling as a whole as opposed to the idea of trying to turn casual sports fans into wrestling fans. Not to mention if you're talking about concepts like storylines, increased promotion of women's wrestling adds in so many more names and schools to bring people in and build tension as well.

1. Plan is for Rocky to go 2. Wouldn't say Moore has won the spot, but expecting him to go. Seltzer has had weight cut struggles so far but I do think he has a high ceiling. 3. Maybe? I don't think locals do lol. 4. I don't think so. I've been high on Surtin since he came into the lineup and think he has a high ceiling. He was banged up last year, but talking to him again this year I think he looks like he's jumped levels. He's great from top, has big moves from neutral, but really improved on his neutral scrambling and leg attacks this year.

Little Rock. Nasir Bailey, Matty Bianchi, and Stephen Little make a strong young core. They're recruiting pretty well and I think have a lot of upside beyond this year. Kyle Dutton hurt his knee at the Tiger Style Invite and I'm not sure that he's healthy, but looked like a force up to the injury. They're one of those teams that I think could use the portal well as a smaller school for guys looking for a chance to start to round out their lineup, even if they're not a top guy.

Morgan Kopitsky has been doing recaps for Women's wrestling this season! Week One: Week two should be coming soon. Her author profile also has some great preseason content taking a look at what the top teams from last season are looking like. Jason Bryant also puts out daily events for men and women's wrestling. It seems like outside of Iowa a lot of schools have some basic streams on their sites but not sure of the consistency.

Taking this chance to plug my stuff on Missouri Wrestling Mizzou Podcast: https://rokfin.com/post/154727/Tigers-and-Takedowns-Tiger-Style-Invite-Preview- Article: https://rokfin.com/article/14771/Mat-Momentum-Analyzing-Mizzous-Lineup-at-the-Second-Annual-Tiger-Style-Invite