maligned

Two other thoughts here: What is our definition of "best for the team" by the way? The best for the team PERFORMANCE in all scenarios for this isolated year is for Rocco Welsh to be in the lineup. He would outplace anyone else at 174 or 184. "Best for the team" in this case really means best for team ETHOS because it's best for the guy who's paid his dues, will come close to AA level, and "deserves" his shot. Second thought: What can be done in these scenarios to better engage a guy competitively when it does make sense to take a shirt, but you're such a high level guy? Couldn't they find ways to get him additional freestyle time with the OTC and let him attend a couple international events to cut his teeth there more?

They're not wrong, but it's the basis of what's not really being said: He felt pressured to take the redshirt and frustrated by how the season is playing out and considered moving on.

He obviously didn't lose to Kharchla, but the reading between the lines part from all of Ryan's comments feels like this: Yes, he had 3 choices and, yes, he probably would have been given some autonomy to genuinely choose. BUT...there was almost certainly this: "but listen, man, what's probably best for the team and your bigger dreams is for you to take your redshirt this year."

Selection criteria and seeding criteria: Head-to-head competition: 25% Quality wins: 20% Coaches ranking: 15% Results against common opponents: 10% RPI (Ratings Percentage Index): 10% Win Percentage: 10% Qualifying event placement: 10% With RPI, you benefit much more than you're hurt from wrestling a very high win percentage guy like Hendrickson (75% of RPI is opponents' results). But you're obviously hurt by the win percentage damage. In most cases, it makes sense to wrestle the big matches, though, because those quality wins matter so much (wins over guys who earned an allocation). Against a guy like Hendrickson where you'll almost certainly lose, it's about a wash. Against anyone even slightly beatable, you have to chase those quality wins.

High school results will be the basis for kids that go straight to D1--but they won't matter at all for kids that go the JUCO route. If a 20 or 21 yo kid finishes up JUCOs as a high placer, that's all that will matter. A 20/21 year-old 3rd place JUCO kid with his age 21 to 25 "man strength" years available for a D1 program suddenly becomes just as desirable as the #15 ranked high schooler. If it plays out that JUCO doesn't count toward eligibility, this shift toward JUCO becoming more a college minor league for D1 will cause a high percentage of graduating high schoolers outside the top few at each weight to consider JUCOs. Again, think of hockey where almost all D1 kids have to be 20 or 21 with 2 or 3 years of the amateur junior hockey circuit post-high school to get an offer. It could absolutely evolve a considerable degree in that direction.

Wow! This could end up being yet another huge change. Is 2 years JUCO plus 4 years (5 years with wrestling) of NCAA going to become a normal development plan for certain large cross-sections of athletes? Wow. All JUCO coaches and administrators have to be celebrating the huge bump in enrollment and athlete quality they're about to get. Lots of kids with non-Top 25 offers would now view JUCO as a place to get stronger and better at their sport--and get a huge leg up on similar, less seasoned 18 year olds competing for offers to places they can make money. Certain sports and conferences will become like D1 hockey where you have to be 21 with a couple years of the junior hockey circuit under your belt to get signed somewhere.

Super athletic and powerful for the weight. He earned the SoCon an at-large NCAA bid last year before getting shocked conference weekend and not having enough top-level competition evidence to get him the at-large bid he was in line for. Ranked matches this year are 8-5 loss to Bouzakis and 4-1 SV loss to #12 Oakley (who he split with last year)--plus the upset over Bailey last night. He's 5-2 overall.

CrossFit Games GOAT, Mat Fraser, had physiological testing done that would show his 5'7", 190lb, frame needed 8000 to 9000 cals to support his two 2 to 2.5-hr intense training sessions per day. He's talked about 500 cals in super-concentrated high-cal juice/sports drinks immediately after each session as being essential for muscular recovery and calorie accumulation. Modern-day wrestlers are doing these same recovery carb cals after weigh-ins and between matches. If Keuter is doing it after lifting and after practice each day, he's down to 5k needed for meals, protein shakes, and snacks.

I'm not an OSU fan, but I was in town and went. Such an unbelievable moment to see him put it all on the line again on a D1 mat just 15 months after being shot. As others have said and you can see in the video; if we're honest, he likely won't see high-level results until his leg and general physical fitness progress a little further. Being there, though, and seeing it unfold, it just doesn't matter at this point. "Where he fits" and genuine expectations feel like questions for some weeks down the road after he's had a fair shot to evaluate himself and calibrate his goals and ambitions. I think he's penciled in for Sunday again versus Edinboro.

Italy has sent a handful of homegrowns in all 3 styles regularly (although they have certainly had many empty spots in their lineups). Hungary and Romania have always sent full teams in all weights in men's freestyle, with occasional medal contenders--so any spot taken by an import is stealing a spot from a homegrown athlete.

On the positive side from a Purdue perspective, the fact that he felt enough of a sentimental connection to honor them by keeping them in the final 3 means that his brother loves Purdue. It says something, even though we knew the final result wouldn't be with them. With that positive side mentioned, I honestly feel like dragging along the sentimental choice into the final couple schools for a big recruit like this is unnecessary and accidentally wastes their time, emotions, and resources. Like acknowledge them with a visit, thank them, and then just be honest with yourself to include the schools you're really looking at. Like with Bo Bassett continuing to include hometown Pitt-Johnstown in his update list. Come on. Unless he's privately told them he's not really considering them, but wants to prop them up, he should definitely drop them from his list sooner than later in his updates. Just be honest.

Yeah, in nations like San Marino or Bahrain, it's a non-issue. But so many of the transfers are happening to Romania, Hungary, Italy, and others that would produce genuinely competitive candidates that need mat time to develop. Yes, there are probably sore losers complaining about the current climate, but I'm sure there are plenty of private clubs and individuals from second-tier wrestling nations with genuine programs that are voicing their complaints about lost opportunities too.

Long-time Indianapolis area high school coach Jim Tonte (currently Franklin, IN) always keeps it fancy with caps & feathers, shiny jackets, zoot suits, etc, for big matches and state finals. Didn't find images of some of his best work, but here are a couple recent examples.

WrestleStat's biggest mover of the week was Indiana freshman Bryce Lowery, who beats #20 Legend Lamer, 10-3, in his second college match of any type. With that and another convincing dual win at Cal Baptist, he's already #24 in the country according to WrestleStat's algorithm.