1032004

Is there any chance he goes 125?

@ionel has a thing for typos. But Crookham could get 3rd this year then be the favorite next year when Vito and Fix graduate

Well he wouldn't be coaching full-time either

I would think it could be partially to try to block others from qualifying. How many qualify from Senior Nats and who else do we expect to attend that isn’t qualified? Saw Suriano is now registered

Not totally clear here, but if he doesn’t he’ll be wrestling part-time: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/12/04/2790027/0/en/ABR-Dynamic-Funds-LLC-Expands-Team-with-World-Champion-Zain-Retherford.html

Is Pyles’s video still up too?

Maybe PSU is banging some trash cans to signal

Just watched that Japan match, he pulled his knee pad up for like a second. Big difference between that and taking like 10 seconds to completely take your headgear off and put it back on, which he did in the Cardenas match as well between the first and second periods. Also several instances of being slow to get back to the center for restart, which Pyles acknowledged at least once in that match also. I don’t know if conditioning is an issue overall for him, I’d think not based on his world title, but it sure seemed like he was gassed at times at CKLV. You of course are welcome to disagree.

Well if he *always* does the “adjust knee pads and singlet” thing then maybe conditioning is an issue? In the Andonian match after the first period he also completely took off his headgear and took his time putting it back on despite it not even looking messed up. How about after the last stoppage where he gets called for stalling with 15 seconds left and he lays on his back on the mat for a good 4-5 seconds? No sign of gassing there? Just because someone is gassed doesn’t mean they can’t still score points…

Towards the end of this? Even that he basically had to wait for Burley to come up, it’s not like he really generated it himself. Lewis also wasn’t in that position for very long and for much of the rest of his time on top he was out front/to the side, etc But yes I’ve also seen Fix turn a couple guys (not usually NQ-type guys) from it, but most of the time no.

I’d probably say 5 finalists and 4 champs if I had to put numbers on it. 174/197/285 are basically locks to make the finals and are heavy favorites to win, then would need 2 finalist and 1 champ out of 141, 149, 157, and 184 which I’d put decent odds on happening. I honestly wouldn’t be shocked to see Brooks or Kerk lose, but also wouldn’t be shocked to see 2 or more of 141/149/157/184 win.

wanna bet it's more than that?

I’m not seeing a noticeable “leg hit,” but honestly in rewatching the Andonian match he looked gassed there too. As early as the start of the second period he was employing the “adjust my headgear and kneepad” strategy while being slow to get back to the center (which Pyles acknowledged). Which match did the ref give the concussion signal? Wasn’t Andonian his second match?

What do you mean? I have no idea what if anything was impacting him but while it’s obviously just speculation I do legitimately think jet lag could’ve been an issue, considering his matches against Cardenas and Chumbley would have been at 10PM or later eastern time, and Cardenas for one is already living on the west coast. If he didn’t dominate Andonian, then I think we could say maybe he’s just not as good at this point as some thought. But for whatever reason he looked gassed against Cardenas, didn’t appear to be an injury to my untrained eye but who knows. And fwiw I am not a Cornell fan, if anything I probably dislike them as a team (but don’t have anything against any individual wrestlers).

Hey, that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it

Got a video of this happening recently? I can’t think of many examples. If you can tell they are actually twisting it against the joint, I’d agree it should be a penalty. But a lot of the times I can think of he’s moreso just holding the ankle for dear life and it gets twisted up in the process of the other guy trying to get a takedown

I think the argument (which I’d agree with, but overall am OK with reversals staying as 2) is that they are now more important, not less

Gonna have to watch this one…

If my goal was to AA, I would much rather be at 133

That’s silly. He’s a world champion, and he didn’t look overwhelmed against Andonian.

Love Gibbons’ call there. “If you’ve got both legs in, you’re really not working for a turn. Gotta pick a side.”

Oh yeah, I forgot all the people crying about it lol

If no Hines was kinda surprised Lehigh didn’t go with McGonagle at 141

What rankings is BTN using? I thought neither Flo nor Intermat had Crookham as #1