NM1965

I've known lots of guys with shitty complexions like that who weren't taking steroids,

Looking at the bracket for 125, it's highly possible Braedon Davis will wrestle only B10 opponents! Lujan, Peterson, McKee, Ramos, and Ayala! That would be crazy, huh? It would only require a couple mild upsets (per seedings) for it to happen.

I think the match between Braedon Davis and Tristan Lujan (assuming he wins his pigtail match) might be the toughest #1 seed first round draw.

I wouldn't mind the idea of more duals, it could have the beneficial aspect of making coaches put their reserves in more often on a strategic basis. It would add travel expenses to the season though, among other things. How many average duals do they even have these days? 15 or so? How many is too many duals?

Just wanted to warn you guys not familiar with the KC area that you don't want to go south or west of the city too far. They have devil worshippers running around those areas. On the plus side they do produce some pretty good wrestling talent.

Cael knows what he's doing and he's the one that calls the shots. I have little doubt that Starocci probably wanted to wrestle last weekend. Who wouldn't want a Big 10 medal? They are very cool and all wrestlers love bling. But Cael knew he could get Starocci another week to recover and still make it into NCAAs. Cael wasn't worried about a poor seed either. Let's face it, Starocci is going to smoke everybody he wrestles if he's healthy and it doesn't matter what seed he is. Plus Cael is seemingly acting with caution out of concern for his guy, and you can't fault a guy for that. I get that Starocci, seemingly, is annoyed but that's what happens when you tweak a leg. He's got a chance to take out his annoyance on the mat this week.

Over the years I've seen many, many instances of guys just forfeiting the rest of their matches after losing in the semifinal (not just NCAAs but other tournaments). That one Ness kid did it constantly back in the day. I think some guys just lose motivation if they can no longer contend for a title and 3rd place to them is no better than 6th place and they think they have something better to do with their time than wrestle 2 more matches. I don't know if that was Lee's motivation for defaulting out last year, but I have to admit I lost a bit of respect for him, especially after all that "warrior has no excuses" chatter from the year before. But ultimately it's not up to us, the fans, what those guys do and it's probably crazy of us to sit here and speculate on the whys and wheretofores on all this stuff

Yeah, I know. Big 10 is that good. Still, I find it very hard to feel sorry for a guy who went 16-12 and finished 9th not making it to NCAAs. I hope the kid is feeling alright though, I'm sure he'll make the trip and hang out with the team.

I'll have you know that MOST athletes who have attended Oklahoma State can count to two by the time they are Sophomores.

Oh, you don't want to visit that part of town.

Jeeesus. You are kidding, right? Terry Brands? LOL those Brands boys.

Oh yes, that happens too. Sometimes, very rarely, you'll see D2/D3 guys that can compete with good D1 guys. It's pretty rare though, you have to admit. Guys like Carlton Haselrig are like the wrestling equivalent of unicorns

Starocci could still try out for OTT even without winning NCAAs though, right? He'd just not get an auto invite and he'd have to work his way through the other guys, right?

Manning's point is weak sauce though. It doesn't matter than Baumann qualified and Wilson didn't, each would probably lose in R24 anyway or R16 at best. Manning is bitching because he'll miss the 2 or 3 points Wilson might've scored for him at NCAAs, and that's assuming he won a couple matches. He has a point about Baumann getting an easier road because Starocci was seeded #1 and sat out, but PSU isn't breaking any rules and he knows it. Plus should a guy who couldn't even finish higher than 9th in his own conference even get a bid to the NCAAs anyway? I mean, that's piss poor, I don't care how good the conference is, and yeah, I know there are 9th placers in the Big 10 that could beat conference champs in some conferences, but still, 9th place sucks balls.

I heard all the same complaints back in the 80s when Iowa was winning every year. PSU won't rule forever.

LOL, Brands is such a whacko.

Well, I don't know if it could be considered a Lenscrafter's moment, but just once I'd like one of the continual Bible pumpers to say after losing "There is no God" in the same tone as the priest in Caddyshack.

2 of Wilson's 3 wins at Big Tens came in the "true 9th place" mini tourney, not exactly a bunch of world beaters!!

Wait...you mean people are getting paid to hate Iowa now? Where's my check?

Any truth to the rumors that the Ferrari brothers have been hanging around PSU's wrestling room?

That's what my parents and teachers used to say.

Sounds like he's been nursing a grievance all the way back to 2017.

Brands is a complete fruitcake, we all know that, but I never hear Brands bellyaching like Mark Manning.

Well since Manning apparently believes everybody deserves to wrestle at NCAAs why don't they just invite starters from all the teams? It would only add a couple more matches to the tournament anyway.

I'm not so sure that Schlatter vs Starocci is a legitimate comparison anyway. Schlatter basically had a career ending injury prior to Big 10s but Starocci finished teching the last opponent he wrestled before Big 10s. Schlatter was held out of Big 10s in the crazy hope that he would recover in time for NCAAs, which he didn't, whereas Starocci walked around last weekend complaining that he wanted to wrestle and was held out of the tournament by his coach in an abundance of caution, not because he couldn't necessarily compete.