SocraTease

I think Penn State is something like 59-7 in semifinals under Sanderson. Insane percentage given the level of competition at that stage.

The parity in the second tier teams is pretty impressive: Points: Team Standings Team Points Maximum Potential Points If Seeds Hold # F # Cons Semi # 3rd-4th # 5th-6th # 7th-8th Penn State 148 201 165 6 2 0 0 0 Michigan 64.5 93.5 69 2 2 0 0 0 Iowa 60 86 72 1 2 0 0 1 Arizona State 59.5 88.5 66.5 2 2 0 0 0 Iowa State 59.5 85.5 64 1 2 0 0 1 Cornell 58.5 81.5 64 1 2 0 0 0 Ohio State 57 77.5 65 2 1 0 0 0 Oklahoma State 55 75.5 60 2 1 0 0 0 Virginia Tech 53 79 62.5 1 2 0 0 1 Nebraska 52 83.5 58.5 0 3 0 0 2 North Carolina State 48.5 60.5 50.5 1 0 0 0 2 South Dakota State 43 71.5 51 0 3 0 0 1 Missouri 40 65.5 45.5 0 3 0 0 0

2024 NCAA Championships Top Individual Point scoring through 2 days: Points Per Individual Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 23 Levi Haines (Penn State) 22 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) 21 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 20.5 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) 20 Trent Hidlay (North Carolina State) 20 Vito Arujau (Cornell) 20 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) 19.5 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) 19.5 Lucas Davison (Michigan) 19 David Carr (Iowa State) 18.5 Drake Ayala (Iowa) 18.5 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) 18.5 Austin Gomez (Michigan) 18 Richard Figueroa (Arizona State) 18 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) 17.5 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 17.5 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) 17 Carter Starocci (Penn State) 16 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) 16 Keegan OToole (Missouri) 15 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) 14.5 Ty Watters (West Virginia) 14.5 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 13.5 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) 13.5 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) 12.5 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) 12.5 Real Woods (Iowa) 12.5 Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) 12.5 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) 12 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) 12 Peyten Kellar (Ohio) 12 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 12 Mike Caliendo (Iowa) 11.5 Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) 11 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 11 Luke Stanich (Lehigh) 11 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) 11 Zach Elam (Missouri) 11 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) 10.5 Bernie Truax (Penn State) 10.5 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) 10.5 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) 10.5 Shane Griffith (Michigan) 10.5 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) 10.5 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) 10 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) 10 Lennox Wolak (Columbia) 10 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 10 Peyton Hall (West Virginia) 10

Where is Nostradamus (aka Mr. Jensen) this fine evening? Looking for a working crystal ball for next season? Or in the fan portal applying for partisanship elsewhere?

Also known as "Road Warriors" ... the long road back from defeat

2024 NCAA Championships Individual points Points Per Individual Keegan OToole (Missouri) 15 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 14.5 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 13.5 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) 13 Levi Haines (Penn State) 13 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) 13 Trent Hidlay (North Carolina State) 13 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 12.5 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) 12.5 Lucas Davison (Michigan) 12 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 12 Vito Arujau (Cornell) 12 David Carr (Iowa State) 11.5 Drake Ayala (Iowa) 11.5 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) 11.5 Mike Caliendo (Iowa) 11.5 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) 11.5 Austin Gomez (Michigan) 11 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 11 Richard Figueroa (Arizona State) 11 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) 11 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) 10.5 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) 10.5 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 10.5 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) 10.5 Shane Griffith (Michigan) 10.5 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) 10.5 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) 10 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) 10 Lennox Wolak (Columbia) 10 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) 9 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) 9 Carter Starocci (Penn State) 9 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) 9 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) 9 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) 9 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) 9 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) 9 Rocky Elam (Missouri) 9 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) 9 Peyton Hall (West Virginia) 6.5 Chris Foca (Cornell) 5.5 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) 5.5 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) 5.5 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) 5.5 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) 5 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) 5 Ed Scott (North Carolina State) 4.5 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) 4.5 MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) 4.5 Michael Beard (Lehigh) 4.5 Real Woods (Iowa) 4.5 Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) 4.5 Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) 4.5 Stephen Little (Little Rock) 4.5 Ty Watters (West Virginia) 4.5 Will Feldkamp (Iowa State) 4.5 Brody Teske (Iowa) 4 Cayden Rooks (Indiana) 4 Gaven Sax (North Dakota State) 4 Giano Petrucelli (Air Force) 4 Seth Nevills (Maryland) 4 Thomas Stewart Jr (Virginia Tech) 4 Zach Elam (Missouri) 4 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) 3.5 Bernie Truax (Penn State) 3.5 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) 3.5 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) 3.5 Grady Griess (Navy) 3.5 Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) 3.5 Jaden Bullock (Michigan) 3.5 Jakob Camacho (North Carolina State) 3.5 Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State) 3.5 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) 3.5 Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) 3.5 Mitch Moore (Rutgers) 3.5 Aaron Nagao (Penn State) 3 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) 3 Benjamin Pasiuk (Army) 3 Braden Basile (Army) 3 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) 3 Cory Day (Binghamton) 3 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) 3 Elijah Griffin (Cal Baptist) 3 Graham Rooks (Indiana) 3 Jackson Arrington (North Carolina State) 3 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) 3 Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State) 3 Josh Edmond (Missouri) 3 Kai Orine (North Carolina State) 3 Kai Owen (Columbia) 3 Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) 3 Luke Stanich (Lehigh) 3 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 3 Nate Dugan (Princeton) 3 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) 3 Peyten Kellar (Ohio) 3 Quinn Kinner (Rider) 3 Ryan Jack (North Carolina State) 3 Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) 3 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) 3 Todd Carter (Gardner Webb) 3 Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) 3

I think 9 of the semifinalists are already qualified for US Olympic Trails on April 19 ... plus Gomez (for Mexico). Could add a couple more depending on who wins the finals.

17 Big Ten guys. At least one in each weight, including one weight (174) with three. Pretty sure that the conference won't have a champion at 184, however.

Yes, I think there could be trauma issues and scars after the All-Star match. Getting inside someone else's head in athletics is an under-appreciated art form and skill. I suspect that Cael Sanderson currently lives in the craniums of few coaches as well. Even the dead can strike fear in the living and survive in various guises: guilt, conscience, hate, Stockholm syndrome etc.

Penn State and Michigan are currently in their hotel rooms working with "Imagineers" to redesign their injured wrestlers (Starocci and Griffith) in order to increase their odds in the Semis tonight. Some of their plans have been leaked:

True that.

2024 NCAA Championships Pts. / Maximum / If seeds hold/ Semis Blood Round of 12 Team Standings Team Points Maximum Potential Points If Seeds Hold # QF # SF # Cons 2 # Cons 3 # Cons 4 (Rd of 12) Penn State 86.5 254.5 152 8 6 2 2 4 Michigan 50.5 130 66 5 4 4 1 1 Arizona State 44.5 104.5 66.5 4 4 2 1 0 Iowa State 42 150 67 5 2 4 2 4 Iowa 41.5 149.5 67.5 4 2 5 2 4 Ohio State 36 105 57.5 3 2 5 2 2 Virginia Tech 35 145.5 52 4 2 5 4 3 North Carolina State 33.5 146 84.5 5 1 4 2 5 Missouri 33 121.5 48.5 3 2 2 2 3 Oklahoma State 33 124 49 3 2 4 4 2 Cornell 32.5 125.5 63.5 3 1 5 3 4 Nebraska 29 161 60.5 7 1 1 0 6 Northern Iowa 26.5 100 42 2 1 3 3 3 South Dakota State 24 97.5 39 2 1 4 3 3 Stanford 20.5 74.5 21.5 1 1 4 4 2 Wisconsin 20 54.5 31.5 2 1 3 0 1 Lehigh 18.5 92 54.5 3 1 1 1 3 Minnesota 17.5 71.5 24.5 2 1 5 2 2 Air Force 15 49.5 22 1 1 1 1 1 Pittsburgh 15 15 15 0 0 7 2 0 Oregon State 13.5 48 17 1 1 2 1 1 Indiana 13 13 11.5 0 0 5 2 0 Rutgers 13 74 23.5 1 0 6 3 2 Columbia 12.5 27.5 11.5 1 1 2 0 0 North Carolina 12.5 27.5 12.5 1 1 3 0 0 West Virginia 11.5 50.5 22 1 0 2 1 2 Lock Haven 9.5 24.5 9.5 1 1 1 0 0 Navy 9.5 70.5 13.5 1 0 4 4 2 Little Rock 9 48 13.5 1 0 3 1 2 Campbell 8.5 30.5 9 0 0 5 1 0 Maryland 8.5 8.5 7.5 0 0 4 0 0 Penn 8 8 7 0 0 4 1 0 Appalachian State 7 26.5 7 0 0 4 3 1 Oklahoma 7 48.5 7.5 1 0 2 1 1 Binghamton 6.5 48 17 1 0 2 2 1 Bucknell 6.5 48 6.5 0 0 4 2 1 Army 6 25.5 6 0 0 2 2 1 Rider 6 25.5 5 0 0 2 1 1 Wyoming 5.5 25 9 0 0 3 3 1 Central Michigan 5 24.5 5 0 0 2 2 1 Virginia 5 5 5 0 0 3 0 0 Michigan State 4 4 4 0 0 2 1 0 North Dakota State 4 23.5 4 0 0 1 1 1 Ohio 4 23.5 4 0 0 2 1 1 Princeton 3.5 3.5 3.5 0 0 2 1 0 Cal Baptist 3 3 3.5 0 0 1 0 0 Cal Poly 3 22.5 6.5 1 0 2 1 1 George Mason 3 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 Northern Colorado 2.5 22 2.5 0 0 2 1 1 Northwestern 2.5 2.5 2.5 0 0 2 1 0 Purdue 2.5 22 7 1 0 1 0 1 Illinois 2 21.5 6.5 1 0 0 0 1 Buffalo 1.5 1.5 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 Chattanooga 1.5 1.5 1.5 0 0 2 0 0 Harvard 1.5 1.5 1.5 0 0 1 1 0 Franklin & Marshall 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 Gardner Webb 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 Long Island 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Utah Valley 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 VMI 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Cleveland State 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 0 1 0 0 SIUE 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 0 1 0 0 American 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Clarion 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hofstra 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Northern Illinois 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 The Citadel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Note: Teams in RED have been mathematically eliminated from the team title race.

I think quarterfinal wins are worth 7 points (plus possible bonus), which is huge. Previous wins in the championship round were only worth 1 point (plus possible bonus). It will make huge differences in the team race. If you win in the quarters, you are guaranteed AA status (and at least 6th place), right? Edit: I didn't mean to post this as a reply to the comment. Oh well. Let the matches begin!

In my view, David Taylor offers the best technical insights about positions, technique, and strategy. And he is able to keep to the action and also make relevant asides. He's a true professional. And, of course, I realize he is now in the final stages of trials preparation so he probably won't be there. Borroughs will probably be fine in his commentary.

I understand your point, but I have to watch the specific matches on ESPN + on my laptop and ESPN broadcast on my TV. I like some (minimal) commentary if it is on target but terrible commentary is worse than no commentary and just the crowd noise or silence.

Not this. If they are flipping the channel, they will (a) hear a guy rambling on about tweets, food, and every other thing besides wrestling or offering cliches about the sport and (b) they won't likely even see DC because the images will be of the mat or (soon-to-be) commercials. The NCAAs are about wrestling not about appealing to MMA followers, and it is what true college wrestling fans look forward to more than any other time of year. Get competent insightful analysis and commentary, not guys that care more about MMA or being celebrities.

Fire Cormier. He is absolutely terrible. And keep the celebrities far, far away. They don't know the rules, the sport, the moves or technique or most of the wrestlers.. No other serious sport would hire these incompetent fools except maybe MMA. It is some corporate crowd (or corporate thinking) trying to make wrestling relevant to a larger audience but it backfires and doesn't work. It is an embarrassment.

A Taoist might agree with your first statement. Rules are a sign that something has broken down. As for the Flying Squirrel, maybe it should be a 5 point move. Acrobatic and entertaining and rare. https://www.google.com/search?q=wrestling+flying+squirrel&source=lmns&tbm=vid&bih=631&biw=1440&prmd=ivnsmbtz&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQvNrpkoeFAxXHPlkFHUvZB2QQ0pQJKAJ6BAgBEAY#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:c2337464,vid:61UGSbdDTwU,st:0

Average with respect to what or who? Please clarify. Penn State scored 9 1/2 points at these four weights. Nebraska scored 10 1/2 points. By your reckoning, Nebraska is also pretty "average". Who sets the bar (standard), an all-star team composed of guys like Spencer Lee (125), Logan Steiber (133), Yianni (141), and Zain Retherford (149)? It's a team of 10 guys not 4 for you to cherry pick from. How about Nebraska's four heaviest weights: 174, 184, 197, 285? 174: 0 points (DNQ) 184: 3.5 points 197: 2.0 points (about to be tech-ed by Hidlay tomorrow morning/early afternoon) 285: 0 points (0-2, eliminated)

Was he referring to tweets he was getting from Chael Sonnen (a guy I can't stand who loves to hear himself pontificate and brag and get nostalgic)?

I would love to see a new rule next year: A three second count when wrestling from a knee or both knees and then a stalling call. Wrestling from the knees is itself essentially stalling. Rarely is it ever justified. It is extremely difficult to take someone down when they are wrestling from their knees.

I would love to see a new rule next year: a three second count when wrestling from a knee or both knees and then a stalling call. Wrestling from the knees is itself essentially stalling. Rarely is it ever justified.

I was on ESPNU in the afternoon and ESPN in the evening but following particular matches (without commentary) on ESPN +. I stand by my comments, however. So many cliches (especially from D.C.) or vapid statements like "He's really really good" or "He's really strong" or "These are not the heavyweights from years ago" etc. I would rather hear Robles on commentary. Enthusiasm and hyperbole are not legitimate substitutes for insight, analysis or even play by play description. They are cover ups for not doing your homework or knowing the nuances of a particular wrestler or match. Can you imagine this kind of commentary and cutting to commercials and non-sequiturs and false information being tolerated for basketball or football or soccer? I can't.

Get him off the mic. He's terrible. And a bad distraction.