meZYNbrink

I never understood why 21 was considered a free year of eligibility while seniors from 2020 (and everyone else who competed that season) got hosed. The only logic I've heard is that in order to incentivize wrestlers to compete in 21, when it was unsure if the championships would be held due to the ongoing pandemic, the NCAA offered it essentially as a preeminent mulligan. But if they were willing to give the free year for 21, why not 20 as well? Just seems arbitrary and capricious. Never sat well and still doesn't.

Lilledahl MD Ayala D Bartlett D SVN D Teemer D (toss up) Mezynbrink MD Levi MD Starroci WBGP (win by grave pissing) Buchanan D Kerkvliet D PSU 25 - UI 9 Feel like I took too many close matches and there are bound to be crazier things happen.

They are not. No ill will to the LDS church, but they have entirely different and contradictory beliefs. It's not as simple as catholics vs protestants.

Seemed like Basch and Willie had an idea that he wouldn't be there, then Flo put out a ton of marketing for the event centered around him... I don't hate Flo but it certainly seemed that they were the only ones saying he would be there.

Don't sell yourself short. A triple in a beer league is a lifelong accomplishment.

Tsirtsis is an Indiana legend. Wish him all the best.

Agreed. Everyone should get 4 chances at NCAAs. His years off make it a bit more complicated to me though. I support it, but it's weird. The class of 2020 guys are who I feel the worst for. That situation was handled so unfairly for them, and then the NCAA gave everyone after them a free year. Seems like salt in the wound.

Couldn't agree more. Wish that during that time I'd been able to be as financially set up as Gable. And I bet most of us have some regrets about the what ifs in our lives, at least GS saw those out. Hope he sticks around here. Only thing that bugs me is the retroactive redshirts and taking pro money, I remember another MN wrestler who made a mixtape that jeopardized his amateur status. NCAA sports have come a long way, probably for the better in most ways. If anything I just feel bad for the guys that came before living on oatmeal and great value chicken breast.

Not that they weren't great wrestlers, but they were not at the level of a Bo or Cormier from a pedigree standpoint. Would love to seem them wrestle in the cage but they are there to get paid.

You should hear how Dana speaks about them. For the record, I love fighting and wrestling. But there are so many more casual fight fans than casual wrestling fans. Wrestling should do all it can to be self sufficient. As much as I love wrestling and love rooting for wrestlers in the fight business, I would like it more if wrestlers could make good money and stay in the sport.

Correct

As long as I've been around the sport (about 15 years) I remember DT being the guy everybody wanted to emulate. Went to a few of his camps as a kid and he was all class. Never thought I'd root for OSU but... here I am.

I think we get lost in the fandom and the accolades of the sport that we forget these are real people. Everybody gets burnt out from their job from time to time, but at my job I'm not tearing MCLs and leaving with bruises, cuts, and black eyes. If he wants to do something else, all the respect to him. I've also heard him say he wants to go into fighting at some point, but I'm not sure if that's still a priority. A lot of people think he left wrestling for BJJ but I also don't think that his sole focus is to win ADCC or CJI. I think he's having fun and obviously has an aptitude for combat sports. Would be awesome to see him in the cage and I feel sorry for whoever would draw him in DWCS.

Famously invented the eponymous half nelson technique.

Which obviously paid off when AB called Muhammad a false prophet.

I've noticed this too over the years, I think a lot of it can be attributed to a relative lack of media training. Because of that, when athletes are put in situations that are public facing, they manifest a lot of the personality, mannerisms, and talking points of their coaches, which I no doubt they've internalized as they've watched their HC/AC deal with public speaking to the team, donors, and media.

Sounds like he is.

He seemed to confirm it in a breakdown of the bracket in a video posted to Twitter. Looked like he was addressing media.

Not grasping for straws, Sad didn't cheat at Senior Worlds. But a lot of people don't believe he was eligible at his age level championship competitions. Also, I don't love the grey shirt, but everybody has the same ruleset and access to eligibility deferment in the NCAA. In the end I don't have a problem with it. Wish Beard and Sadulaev nothing but the best (not that they should give a rip what I think). I do think you're comparing apples to oranges there with the NCAA eligibility to age level eligibility thing.

Yep, that's about it. The Lance comparison is really to show that I don't care. He was still the best in the world against the best competition. When he competed at age levels, he had an advantage, that's all. Now he just has to deal with the fact he peaked a few years before the public thought he would based on his ostensibly young age.

To me, it's kind of like the Lance Armstrong doping scandal. Do I believe he was the best in the world? Yes. Do I believe he was a cheater? Also yes.

Couldn't agree more that Indianapolis would be a great destination. Centralized city, great venues, many food/drink options, proximally close to other hotbeds (IA, PA, OH, WI), and a great airport. NBA All Star Weekend was hosted there last year and proved the city can show up to host great events of and above the scale of D1 championships. The USA Swimming OLY trials were there this summer as well. Denver would be great too, selfishly.

Would love to see DT go 92. You have to think he's the favorite, but after his performance against Brooks, not sure what to expect. Granted, Brooks was a hair away from the Olympic finals. All said, my mouth is already watering for a DT/Sad supermatch.

Population is their advantage, a strong history of traditional wrestling is another. But their facilities, developmental programs, and access to high quality training from a young age is a detriment. I'd say they are doing very well.

I think the answer is somewhere in the middle here. Easy fix is that you have to transition to a different move to score on the same sequence. Like in folkstyle