BAC

Hey look on the bright side. With Ryder and Welsh on the same team, that’s one less guy to whoop Ferrari so now he has a chance to make the finals.

Why is it so hard to believe that a kid who doesn't feel he's improving would want to move to PSU for its top-shelf room? I truly don't understand what's so hard to believe about that. Exactly what lies are you accusing Welsh of telling? That he was unhappy in the OSU room? That he was "angry" at them for not letting him compete? That asked for and held a meeting with the staff about his desire to bring in more competitive partners in the RTC? Are you saying he just made all this stuff up, and what REALLY happened is that he was this super happy Buckeye until evil Cael snuck into his dorm one night and whispered sweet nothings about what PSU could offer, and promising untold riches? What exactly are you accusing PSU of, and what's the factual basis for your accusation?

LOL fair. My point is that the NIL money that Welsh was offered is likely whatever comes from the collective, i.e. what everyone shares in, and not the separate cash offers that a lot of schools are doing. That's consistent with Byers' comments a couple days ago and Welsh's comments today.

Life pro tip: if Pat Mineo tells you it's raining, he's actually peeing on your back. Come on Vak. As I said at the outset, it NEVER made sense that PSU would be seeking this kid out, as he's not really an upgrade. You guffawed. But what I said isn't exactly rocket science, is it? But now Welsh has confirmed it. Again, unless you're going to call him a liar, the desire to go to PSU initiated with him, not PSU, and he considered other offers before settling on his initial first choice of PSU. It wasn't Welsh who reported PSU, it was the rumor train, which you were happy to jump on. But let's say for a moment that the initial rumors/reporting were accurate, and he really did commit the same day he entered the portal. That's also consistent with him knowing beforehand that he wanted to go to PSU for its room, without regard to NIL, isn't it? I'd get your point if Welsh announced the same day he entered the portal while holding up one of those 8-foot-long lottery checks to boast of his NIL largesse, or if there was credible reporting of same. Or if he had announced a transfer outside the portal window (like certain Iowa transfers, *cough cough*). These things tell you there was improper solicitation going on. But there was none of that here. Yet you jumped right in with the smears and Lance Amstrong stuff. I can dig up the old posts if you want, but I predicted here that he'd go to Iowa and why it would make sense for him to do so, and after he committed, I commented here that it made sense, and I agreed the choice made sense for what he was looking for. I didn't comment on his NIL deal, as candidly, I've never heard any rumors of what it is/was. I'm pretty sure Bassett said in an interview that the NIL piece wasn't the main driver of his decision, and I believe him. If you want to tell me what his NIL deal was, I can comment, but I have a really high opinion of the kid and think he's well worth whatever investment Iowa can afford. I don't recall commenting on the accuracy of the dollar amount of the NIL deals of the other Iowa transfers (Buchanan/Teemer/Parco). I heard $500K for Buchanan being thrown around, but don't recall who said it, or if it was ever confirmed. Why do you ask? Is $500K accurate? What did the other two get? My own transfer-related beefs with Iowa came from a different angle. First, whatever the payout, I think Iowa totally betrayed Glazier, a had a perfectly solid homegrown 197lber. Had it happened like Welsh -- e.g. Buchanan enters portal, wants to go to Iowa because he loves Iowa's room, initiates contact and goes to Iowa despite better offers elsewhere -- I'd have no qualms. No starting spot is guaranteed. But what Iowa did is shocking, going outside the portal window to lure in a one-year-wonder with NIL money to take his spot and run him out of Iowa City. No one, certainly not Buchanan, has ever suggested that contact was initiated by him, not Iowa. Second, and more broadly, I think Iowa is cannibalizing itself, its culture and its recruits with its over-reliance on late-career ringers. Parco, Teemer and Buchanan collectively had 16 years of wrestling elsewhere, with one year left, bought in to take over a weight from the existing recruits and get wins while the homegrown guys either watch or leave. What does it even mean to be a Hawkeye wrestler anymore? Not much. Truth is, Iowa coaching isn't developing talent and is glossing over their failures with a slumlord's money. Take away the transfers, and Northern Iowa has surpassed them, but their fans won't hold Brands accountable.

I'm just taking Welsh at his word. Are you calling him a liar? If so, got any evidence? Also... Little Rock? Seriously, you're cool with raiding one of the newest and tiniest programs there is? In any case, unlike you, I'm not going to accuse Iowa of secretly trying to cut deals with your Little Rock buyouts before they entered the portal, and violating all sorts of rules to get them. Any particular reason you didn't accuse Iowa of that, the same way you did PSU?

You'd have to ask him. There was a graphic when he was a recruit showing PSU wasn't even in their top 10. My personal guess is that Barr and Welsh were sort of arch-enemies when they were in high school, constantly trading narrow victories over each other. When Barr picked PSU, I have to assume Welch decided to look elsewhere. Again, that's pure speculation on my part. I'd also assume he thought he'd be able to get more of a challenge from the OSU room. But it sounds like they just didn't have anyone there who could challenge him, especially when Kharchla was injured, so he felt like he wasn't getting better. In the podcast he said he had a meeting with the coaches to bring in some guys to the RTC, but that didn't happen. He also said he was still "angry" about not being allowed to compete for a spot (which he now calls a "miscommunication"). Sounds to me like tOSU made its own bed here, and the beneficiary wasn't going to be the school with the biggest pocketbook, but the school with the best room. Love 'em or hate 'em, that's PSU.

Kinda funny that the Iowa people have been trashing PSU for sneakily poaching Welsh from Ohio State when they weren't looking, that they're the Lance Armstrong of wrestling, blah blah blah. A few days later, a couple truths come out. 1. Welsh confirms that his PSU contact was only after entering the portal, and is something he'd wanted for a long time beforehand since he wanted better practice partners than tOSU was able to give him. Also confirms PSU was never a done deal (but was one of a couple that HE was targeting since, after all, it was all about getting better partners), that he'd fielded numerous far-more-lucrative cash offers from other schools, but instead chose PSU with its small NIL collective for the strength of its room, in a decision made only yesterday. 2. Iowa shells out the bucks to pluck not one but TWO starters from tiny Little Rock, which is sort of like Elon Musk mugging a homeless man to steal his shoes. Queue the jokes about "lolz oh yeah I'm SURE they just wanna be in State College lololol." Except... yeah, they just really wanna be in State College. At least Rocco does. You can accuse PSU of poaching, but to do so, you need to call Rocco a liar. I'm not willing to do that. I'm anti-poaching, and I'd be on PSU's case if they were chasing down Rocco to enter the portal and throwing lots of money at him to displace Ryder. But I also do NOT think any coach should have to say "No, you are not welcome here" if they come banging on your door and saying they want to compete for a spot. This sounds more like the latter. Meanwhile, Iowa's reverse-Robin-Hood act continues, robbing from the poor so the rich can get richer. Hey, maybe you can get Steven Little too, and get Little Rock's program cancelled entirely?

I mean, if you look at it in a certain way, the Welsh situation beneficial for everyone *except* Ohio State, if its' true he's going to PSU. Pre-transfer, two of the top 184s next year were Ryder and Welsh. If Welsh transfers, that means one of the two is benched. That's one less obstacle to qualifying for NCAAs, and one step higher on the podium that the 184lbers of every other school can get. The more talent that PSU hoards on its bench, the better other schools can far vis-a-vis each other.

Rumor has it that Tom is still in the Wells Fargo Center today, waiting for the refs in the booth upstairs to come down so Tom can have a chat with them.

Oh yeah I saw that guy in Philly last weekend. He was dressed up like the Monopoly Man, with a tux and a curly white mustache, except he had a Nittany Lions t-shirt under the tux, and was carrying this big Ted DeBiase briefcase with hundred dollar bills half-dangling out of it, promising untold riches to any non-Nits as they walked off the AA stand. Come on man.

LOL what? My "point" is that my friend Vak is ascribing malicious motives and unethical conduct to PSU -- "poaching," "flipping," etc -- without a speck of evidence that it was induced by PSU, all while defending Iowa at every turn. For my part, I'd be very critical of PSU if they actively solicited Welsh to come in to take Ryder's spot at 184. I commented earlier that I doubt that was the case (since they're so even), but if it's true, I'd criticize them, as Ryder is too good to recruit over. I've said the same about PSU's Beard and Iowa's Glazier. I've had my criticisms of Iowa, but there's nothing I'd say about them that I wouldn't also say about PSU if they did the same thing. You can look for inconsistency in my comments, but you won't find any.

Hmm? I'm not really framing the Welsh thing, if he's even going to PSU at all. I'm just saying it's hard to believe PSU would actively solicit Welsh given his parity with Ryder. That's just looking at it objectively. I didn't say anything about Ono/James, but... sure, I'll bite. I'm sure PSU tried to convince Ono to enroll. Who wouldn't? College team aside, it's doing a massive favor to Lilledahl/Blaze on the RTC side, both future world teamers. I doubt it was in jealous response to anything Iowa or OSU did. It'd be recruiting malpractice if they didn't at least make an effort to sign him up. They've got redshirts galore between Lilledahl/Davis/Blaze so I'm sure they can figure it out. As for James' change of heart, we really don't know what role PSU played in that, if any. But surely you appreciate that when a 17 year old kid sees a team put their whole lineup in the top 6, with 4/5ths in the top 3, it will seem a desirable destination. They don't exactly need to do the "Psst, hey buddy" routine, where they sneak a discussion with him behind the bleachers at NCAAs. I don't see the need to suggest there's a bunch of unethical recruiting violations going on, do you? And I've never said anything about Iowa that's inconsistent with any of the above. Besides, on the bright side for Iowa, you've clearly got a second Ferrari coming your way. That's got to be good news right? I'm sure that whole double-birds-to-Hawk-fans thing will be forgotten in no time, and in 8 months time they'll be selling Ferrari merch in the Carver atrium.

Whereas Buchanan got lost on his way driving to Oklahoma and ended up in Iowa City and decided to stay like a lost cat, Parco was trying to login to the ASU site when he accidentally landed on the Iowa website and hit the "enroll" button, and Teemer's $175K just rained from the sky and had no connection at all to Iowa NIL.

Year 1: NCAA runner-up for tOSU Year 2: Redshirt at tOSU Year 3: Got cut from PSU b/c not good enough make the final 30

Well yeah, but it's not like they're gonna cut him. It just means some other 4th stringer gets moved to the "club team."

I was thinking of the reporting back in December that Welsh was unhappy he was forced to redshirt, and was looking to transfer. I assume that's what Randolph was referring to also. That said, when Welsh said back in Dec that he was staying, Ryan went on record in saying he gave Welsh the option to go 184. (See https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/13272402-tom-ryan-clears-the-air-on-rocco-welsh-transfer-speculation). If Ryan's comments are accurate, it's hard to see what Welsh was upset about.

I know you said don't talk to me but... why wouldn't Ryan let him wreste? I sort of get letting Kharchla finish out his career, but why not let him go 184? That's where Rocco competed this year as a redshirt anyway. Rogotzke wasn't exactly a world beater and he hasn't taken a redshirt either, so I don't see what the problem was.

If it's PSU, I have a hard time believing he was actively recruited. Because why? IMO it's a toss-up with him and Ryder. Welsh was a runner-up, but he made the finals with SV wins over Wolak and Ruth. Ryder's a U20 world medalist (making the world team by beating Arnold, Ruiz, Norman and others) and had an undefeated redshirt season (wins over Stewart, Parker, Cartagena, Soldano). If Welsh is an upgrade it's by the thinnest of margins. Ryder's also Duke's HS teammate, and I doubt they want to tick off Duke. Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt this is "recruiting over" so much as he wants to come to PSU, and it isn't the coaches place to say "no, you aren't welcome." Fact is, kids just want to go to PSU to get better and win stuff.

Yeah, I'm probably kidding myself if I think the new rules will result in more wrestling scholarships. Most of the literature to date is saying what you're saying -- namely, that Olympic sports will have their funding cut or be eliminated altogether to free up funding to the moneymaker, football. An article from a few months ago: Roster limits in college small sports put athletes on chopping block while coaches look for answers | AP News

I agree, but I think it could make a difference at the margins. If Facundo goes to Cael and says, "I don't mind if I'm not starting or don't get NIL bucks but I'm only getting a 1/3 scholarship and I really want to at least get my education paid for," I would expect Cael will now have the pull to get those extra scholarship dollars, whereas he was capped at 9.9 before. I suppose it could work the other way too. Some schools aren't in the business of pushing NIL deals, but they have huge endowments, and could grant extra scholarships without hurting their bottom line. Of the two scenarios, I suspect the Facundo example is the more likely way this plays out.

I keep hearing that. Yeah, it isn't "lifetime achievement," but we're not required to put blinders on, either. It isn't like NCAA seeding. WIN says "Criteria for the Hodge includes a wrestler’s record, dominance/bonus-point percentage, quality of competition and sportsmanship." (here) Those are guideline criteria to identify the best, most dominant guy, but we're allowed to look beyond the single-season stats and use our brains to figure out who that is. There's never been a single Hodge winner, including last season (here), where the writeup didn't include a discussion of the wrestler's history prior to that season, to help illustrate why he's the best in the current season. So in Carter's case, it isn't an award for getting 5 titles. But we're allowed to consider the fact that he's won 5 straight titles, and hasn't lost in over 4 years, to inform our understanding of exactly how good he is, when comparing him against other undefeated guys with similar bonus point percentages. Consider Gable, for example. If he had won, he'd be the Hodge favorite. But would he still have been the favorite if he were a new-on-the-scene freshman? I doubt it. Gable is on the top of everyone's P4P list since we know he's a 2x champ and an Olympic champion, and possibly the all-time HWT GOAT. Those facts inform our understanding of who is the "best" among a group of wrestlers who put up similar stats. In short, we are allowed to consider Carter's historical dominance to understand and contextualize his present-season dominance. We don't have to check our brains into the luggage compartment before casting our votes.

There's much commentary about how the transfer portal and NIL are reducing parity. But will the two big NCAA rule changes next year cut the other way? I'm talking about (1) a 30-man roster limit, and (2) scholarship cap increases from 9.9 to up to 30. I'm not sure. I think it could increase parity, but depends on how the roster limits are implemented, and how much scholarships increase -- and by who. I'm curious to see how the latest portal activity plays out. It may even reduce parity. What do you think? Here's my half-baked thoughts. First the 30-man roster caps. In theory, some of those athletes in the portal could be guys who think they might not make the roster cut where they are, so they want to go to a program where they will. That increases parity, as in theory they're going to a less competitive program. On the other hand, I recall the "roster caps" of the Title IX days, where the coach would just create a separate "club team" and put the excess wrestlers on there, even though they all continue to practice together and no one knows the difference. Is that going to be what happens here? If so, then I doubt the roster caps will actually translate into roster cuts. It doesn't hurt parity, but won't help it either. Second, the increase in scholarship limit. In theory, some of those athletes on the portal could be guys who will easily make the roster cut, but don't have a full scholarship (and aren't making much/anything in NIL). I could see them going to a less competitive school which may not have the donor bucks for NIL, but does have the newfound ability to grant a full scholarship. If so, that helps parity. But is that really how this plays out? I think that may be wishful thinking on my part. Truth is, some of the less competitive D1 schools don't offer 9.9 scholarships as it is, so they sure won't be able to increase beyond that. The schools most likely to be able to increase their scholarship offerings are probably the ones who are already the big dogs with NIL money. That means it'll actually hurt parity, as it'll make it easier for them to hoard wrestlers, including non-starters. For example, if the big-dog schools suddenly grant full rides to all or almost all 30 guys who fall within the roster cap, then just like that, those non-starters with new scholarships will have no incentive to transfer for a better scholarship. Take a guy like Joe Sealey, who (presumably) isn't getting a full ride and isn't apt to start next year, but could likely get a full ride (or close to it) elsewhere. Before the rule change, he might choose to get a full ride (NIL considerations aside), but now he may end up sticking around, since now PSU can offer him a full ride despite not starting. Overall? I dunno. My hunch is net harm to parity as I'm guessing colleges can circumvent the roster caps, and that it will be only the bigger schools with already-strong teams that can meaningfully increase their scholarship offerings.

LOL they should! The whole point of a OW award is to reward the guy with the best tournament -- and my Hodge opinion aside, Wyatt wrestled as monster a NCAA tournament as anyone's ever wrestled. I'm guessing many coaches cast their vote before the HWT match. Wouldn't be the first time.

IMO, Wyatt's deserving of MOW for NCAAs, but Carter has the better case for the Hodge. Sadly, we're going to get that backwards. For MOW, you're supposed to give it to the guy who had the best tournament, regardless of who's the best wrestler overall. Carter beat a defending champ, but at this specific tournament, Wyatt was the man, knocking off the defending champ in the semis AND upsetting the 2x champ and Olympic champ in the finals. No one had a better tournament run than Wyatt. Yet Carter got MOW. But for the Hodge, you're supposed to give it to the best overall wrestler. The stated criteria vary, but they're guidelines all getting at the same thing: the best guy. No question that's Carter. Wyatt had a great year too, but his amazing Saturday night aside, I don't think Wyatt's even the best heavyweight, let alone the best wrestler. If they wrestled best of 3, most people (including me) would pick Gable, despite Wyatt winning that first one, after seeing how Wyatt got big-brothered for 9/10ths of the match until he hero'd out a TD at the end. It was just his night. As for Carter, his bonus rate is higher than Wyatt, but that's not the best argument. More to the point, he's the total package, and just straight-up unbeatable. He hasn't lost since 2021. Yeah, he's gone to OT, but who cares? Since his first college match, he's 20-0 in matches decided by 2 points or less, 7-0 in OT matches. He's dominant even when he *isn't* winning by bonus points: That is, even when the margin of victory is small, it's seldom in question. I doubt the losing wrestler in a close loss ever feels like he "almost beat" Carter. Carter's defense, intelligence, mental strength, ability to escape and ability to ride are all just too much for anyone to beat, even when Carter struggles to score himself. I get why casual fans are voting for Wyatt. He's a HWT, and Hodge voters *love* heavyweight... just like in boxing and WWE, the lower weights are always secondary to HWT. Moreover... he beat Gable! Plus he's a military guy, AND he came running out with a "Jesus" shirt, AND he came running out with an American flag! He's an American Hero! He pointed at the Pres when he won, who pointed back! Captain America! Woooo! Okay fine, give him MOW, he earned it. But for a thinking wrestling fan, for someone who understands and appreciates what Carter's doing out there, I really don't see how there's any serious question that Carter is the superior wrestler overall and the right choice for Hodge.