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BAC

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Everything posted by BAC

  1. A couple thoughts. First, I think Ferrari is crazy to register for the Soldier Salute. For it to be worth Brands freeing up the coin to give AJ the scholly money he's probably seeking, AJ would need to be *significantly* better than their current options. And he won't be. He's been out of competition for a year and a half. If he makes weight at all, he may well lose to Glazier, and even if he wins it won't be by more than a point or two. Then everyone will rightly say -- dang is it really worth Brands taking on this cancerous loose cannon if he's only a rounding error better than current options? Normally I'd think his registration was just a ruse -- a teaser to amp up his social media, before he no-shows -- but if that were his game, he'd have registered a week ago, not last-minute, and hyped it up. Either way, bad move for AJ. He's going to lose whatever leverage he thought he had. Second, even if he DOES take the mat, spare me the "can he beat Brooks?" stuff. Brooks wins 10 out of 10 against Ferrari. People are forgetting how weak the 197lb class was the year AJ won it. He squeaked by Warner 3-2 and nipped Bonnacorsi in the finals. And now, after 2 years flexing in the mirror while he awaits trial, he's going to knock off one of the best wrestlers in the world at the weight? Yeah... no. Brooks picks him apart. Hidlay is the only legit threat here.
  2. Its razor thin. On Starocci's side, he hasn't lost since his freshman year. Brooks has taken a loss each of the last 2 years. On Brooks' side, he's been a bit more dominant, and he also has the Big 10 title from 2020 to his resume, even before he ran off his 3 titles. If I'm guessing what I'd say at year end, its Starocci. To me, it looks like Starocci level-jumped, and will be even more dominant than Brooks this year. I wouldn't be shocked if he majors both the former NCAA champs at his weight, while I think Brooks struggles to beat Hidlay by more than a point or two.
  3. Of the other names mentioned, I might need to add Fleming and Evans to my team. Fleming was as good a choke artist as the East Lansing Strangler himself. His "OMG how did THAT happen!?" facial expression when the opponent went out was priceless. And didn't Evans miss the state tournament one year in high school for taking a dump in some kid's baseball glove? Even if its not true, the rumor alone is enough to burnish his heel reputation.
  4. Aw come on, he's just a back-up. AJ's the starter. :] But I agree, not really a heel. I was a fan. Just not many D1 guys to have been DQ'd more than once for unsportsmanlike conduct. That's gotta get you at least an HM.
  5. That's fair. But hooo boy, if you messed with his eyes...
  6. Here's my team. 125: N. Simmons (starter); T. Gilman (backup); C. Fleeger (backup) 133: A. DeSanto (starter); T. Ramos (backup) 141: J. Wilson (starter); T[om]. Brands (backup) 149: B. Metcalf 157: B. Jenkins 165: J. Hendricks (starter); B. Fernandes (backup) 174: B. George (starter); C. Starocci (backup) 184: P. Downey 197: AJ Ferrari (starter); J. Trenge (backup) 285: S. Mocco (starter); J. Henselman (backup)
  7. Cornell recruits top talent and proves they can develop it. Expect to see 3 guys on the World team. I thought there'd be a dropoff when Koll left but if there's been one, it has been pretty minor. Props to Grey. But yes, Stanford may now be their top competitor for more academically inclined wrestlers. Per Flo, the #2 recruiting class for 2024, with PSU at 1 and Iowa at 3.
  8. Bah. RTCs should have enough confidence in what they offer that is a minimal concern. And they should be humble enough to realize that no matter how good their staff is, their wrestlers will benefit from different looks and coaching ideas. And I think it would have the opposite effect: wrestlers will be more inclined to sign up with RTCs that won't hold them hostage, but rather will get them out there to broaden their horizons. It also would help in retaining wrestlers: would tOSU have lost Snyder to NWLC if Snyder had the option to go train with Cael/Casey/Varner for a couple months, then return? I'm not so sure they would have. Besides, if it is done as an exchange, the risk runs both ways. I highly doubt that an RTC receiving an exchange wrestler would try to poach them, or the other RTC would do the same, and they'd be seen as a pariah by all the other RTCs for abusing the trust placed in them. I see only upside.
  9. At HWC, Gilman went from 2nd (2017) to DNP (2018) to DNQ (2019). Many of us, including me, had written off his 2017 silver as a bit flukish. At NLWC, Glman went Bronze-Gold-Silver (2020-22). That's not natural progression. It's a level jump. That said, I don't think its proof that NLWC has better coaching than HWC. Sometimes a guy just needs a change of environment to thrive, or a different coaching perspective, or different training partners with a wider set of looks. That doesn't mean the coaches are qualitatively better. (Truthfully I DO think NLWC's free/folk coaching tops overall, I just don't think one can assume all improvement is due to coaching quality.) Candidly I wish the various RTCs would agree to "athlete exchanges," e.g. swapping wrestlers for maybe a month or two at a time, to ensure their guys are getting different coaching perspectives and different training partners. It would no doubt benefit both RTCs' athletes in the long run.
  10. Looks like Bahrain is a new favored destination of Russian wrestlers looking to play adopt-a-country before the Olympics.
  11. https://www.flowrestling.org/events/7985064-2023-u23-u20-world-team-trials/videos?playing=11022697&limit=60 Ruth’s own fault for choosing paper. Rookie rock-paper-scissors mistake.
  12. Dang it LJB, you got me going again!
  13. Glad you are amused! Likewise, it is amusing to me when wrestling parents actually believe that their high school kids are SO good and SO intimidating that an actual current senior-level world champion and Olympic medalist (Gilman) was SO terrified that he "literally ran away" rather than face them, leading to him being "verbally assaulted" all practice by the kid for his cowardice, and then when he finally gathered the cajones to face the terrifying youth(s), was promptly "teched... in about 20 seconds".
  14. I'm just busting your nuggets brother, no need to get salty But omg thanks for the laugh this morning, I needed that!
  15. Oh OK, I didn't really follow the prior comments, was only reacting to yours, whose wording implied (to me) that he (Haines) was still in high school when he majored Gallagher. I think I follow you now... carry on.
  16. Are you sure? I heard Gilman was absolutely mortified at the prospect of a harrowing encounter with your younger son too, and was hiding behind the throw dummy all practice to avoid him. Or was your younger kid also able to verbally berate Glman enough that Gilman finally broke, put his tail between his legs, and slow-walked back to the mat to sheepishly succumb to his inevitable fate?
  17. I think you mean his win over Gallagher at the Edinboro Open in 2022 (when Haines was in high school), not his win in the dual this year.
  18. LOL this has to be the most absurd thing I've ever read in these forums. You're alleging that Thomas freaking Gilman was SO terrified of your high-school-aged kid that he "literally" ran away to avoid having to wrestle him, then was "verbally assaulted" by your high schooler in practice for being SO afraid... and then got teched by your kid in 20 seconds? LOL oh yeah I'm sure that's the "reality"...
  19. Just chiming in to say I think it's hilarious that Jimmy was so certain that "commitment" was misspelled (it isn't) that he added a "[sic]" to the title. LOL. Nice try JC.
  20. I don't get why you asked the question -- repeatedly -- if you were only to criticize the correct answer when you got it. What was the point of that? And no, I did not "have" to go that far back. I included some older examples since you didn't give a time limit, but most of the Sr. World medalists I mentioned post-date the dropping of the 48kg weight class in 1997 -- Dabir, Atli, Mansurov, Garcia etc. Why lie? Even of the pre-'97 examples, only Belaglazov (and maybe Shin) won Seniors at 48, and Belaglazov later won Seniors at a higher weight anyway. Not sure if you know who he and Dabir are but I promise you they didn't win because they were light -- they are P4P greats. Obviously there are no super-recent examples since they dropped the 50kg Jr weight after 2017, and since Lee won it in 2015 and 2016, you have to go earlier -- where examples are plentiful. Whatever, carry on with whatever meme-flinging argument you're having, but don't shoot the messenger. If you don't want to know the answer to a question, don't ask it.
  21. Not sure if this is rhetorical but since you keep asking, there are many. Ali Reza Dabir, one of Iran's all time greats, is one. So is Golem Reza Mohammadi, another Iranian hammer. They must have about 10 senior medals between them, half gold. The great Armenian Mkrtchyan won a Jr Gold down at 46kg, Espoirs at 48 and went on to win multiple world medals. Another great, Anatoly Belaglazov won Jrs at under 50 and dang how many Sr world medals did he win? Not sure how many you want. I believe Cuban world gold medalist Garcia also had couple Jr Gold at 50kg and maybe another at an even lower weight, and Cuban Olympic medalist Monzon was Jr World gold at 46 or 50. A couple Koreans too, Kim Jon-Shin(?) won Jrs at 50kg and was a Sr. World champ the next year. A favorite of mine, Ukranian Mansurov, won Jrs at 50kg and won a couple Sr World titles. Suleman Atli, a Turk, is another recent example. I'm sure there are others. Obviously there's been some variations over the years in weights, ages and nomenclature. I'm not really following the Fix/Lee argument here and don't really care, but if the idea is 50kg is a weak weight, I would say that statistically there are/were probably fewer competitors there so that will impact its depth in relative terms, but I would have thought it pretty obvious that many 50kg (or lower) champion youths are going to naturally grow into the lightest Sr level weight class and excel there too. Which is what happens. Seems like a silly argument but whatever.
  22. I like clickbait titles and your homerism, Illini. I think Zane has a fighting chance. We would have said the same about Suriano if he won, but Zane took it. Gilman is favored for sure but I am excited to see the match, and happy to see Zane break through.
  23. Just wanted to add a shout out to Alli St. John's classy response. Stays above the fray, subtly points out the double standard, and moves on. Really weird that certain Iowa fans and donors would want to alienate her and her husband. I'd have thought they are wrestling royalty in Iowa circles. I don't get it.
  24. I doubt the price comes down. I think a lot of people are underestimating how in demand these tickets will be in PA. When NCAAs were in Phily a decade ago, tickets were being resold at 2-3x face value. That probably won't happen here, but I expect a sellout and a brisk aftermarket. This ain't Iowa City.
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