BruceyB

Many of the opponents of the 197/285 keep talking about "cutting" as if these 197s are walking around at 220+ and "cutting" weight to get to 197. If you weigh 220, and follow a diet plan, most guys will be able to lose 10-15 pounds via a healthy diet, and then are only "cutting" around 8-12 pounds. These guys can lose 8+ pounds of water in a practice.. I'm actually curious to get @bnwtwg's input on this. You said you cut from, IIRC, 234 to 197, I'm guessing 234 was where you were before you started the descent to 197. During the season how big would you get between weigh-ins? I'm sure you were making a harder descent to 197 than just about anyone is these days. The vast majority of todays wrestlers aren't doing it like we were 15+ years ago. I'd assume most D1 athletic departments have a full time dietician, and guys aren't yo-yoing their weight like Hendricks gorging on Little Caesar's in 2005. In the older days, there was quite honestly, a pride in how much weight was cut. In most interviews today where guys discuss their weight, it sounds like most guys never get more than 5 pounds over during the season.

Jason Tsirtsis? Is your favorite hobby is watching paint dry?

133 Nagao 157 Facundo/Sealey 165 Facundo/Sealey That's 3 AA caliber guys that could step into the lineup if necessary excluding 184-285. The simple truth is that there is a good chance that Nagao is not the starter even if healthy, Facundo would likely to AA at this weight, and Sealey is a stud in RS that they don't need to use this year. I am more often than not rooting for upsets over the nits, but I do so because they are just so loaded that it's not fun watching half the champions come from one room every year. I'm not going to do it now, and wrestlestat doesn't have enough data on the RS freshmen to accurately predict, but I bet if you did hypothetical matchups, the backups if healthy might still be a top 10 dual team in the country.. I said it before, it is truly an embarrassment of riches.

This may trigger some people, but I'd be in favor of lowering 285 if the problem is that the gap from 197 to 285 is too big. Are you telling me if he needed to, Cohlton Schultz couldn't lose 20 pounds? It might be harder to dig an underhook and push guys OB, but wouldn't that actually be for the good of the weight to increase the overall athleticism while lowering the weight disparity? I can't recall every seeing a 285 heavy that couldn't follow a diet plan to get to 265 if that was the weight. They don't because they simply don't have to.

He wouldn't be anywhere near the first guy to go into a season thinking they wanted to eat, only to find themselves not as effective at the higher weight and decide they aren't so hungry after all.

It's easy to make claims that can't be disproven. I don't foresee him disrupting his MMA career to come out and put his money where his mouth is. He's just talking to make headlines. He's in the promotion business now. I'm curious what others think, but I believe he would be the underdog against Zahid right now. Zahid was a singlet pull away from beating Brooks, and has only improved over the past handful of years as well as grown into the weight. Nickal hasn't focused on freestyle wrestling in multiple years. I'd love to see it though.

Imagine the Pokes' coaching staff pulling up in this fit. To any of the older generation guys, no coach actually wore a singlet in practice did they?

Yes, I agree. I realize that in my previous post I only acknowledge Ferrari forcing their hand, while it could have also been Gabe believing he is best at 174. I'm curious how the goes in the room are between Nelson, Arnold, and Kennedy. A part of me wondered when he was going 184 this year instead of 174 was because it wasn't a given that he would beat out Nelson or Kennedy for the spot, so he decided to get bigger and just stay at 184 after performing well there last year while undersized. How lucky we would be if more coaches would just tell you their roster plans like Coach Dresser.

I mean, it depends on the definition of "hands were tied." The subject has be talked about ad nauseum, and we all know the arguments for and against pulling the RS. The only scenario I see where their hands would be tied is if Ferrari was threatening to leave if they didn't let him compete for the spot. I just don't see the coaches choosing to pull his RS for a slight upgrade. FWIW I think Kennedy could very will be a top 5-6 guy in his own right at 174 this season. The transfer rules really do give the athletes all of the power in RS/etc decisions because if they don't get what they want, they can just transfer to somewhere that will give it to them.

It still begs the question, is Arnold going down to 174? If so, I would be very curious to know if it was the coaching staff's idea, or if Gabe just feels that he could perform better at 174.

First step is making the lineup. Alex Facundo was #2 on Flo's 2021 Big Board and has yet to AA. Hamiti and Caliendo were both ranked lower coming out of high school. All three wrestled 165 at NCAAs in 2023, and only the guy who went to Penn State failed to place, and then hasn't been able to make the starting lineup since. So maybe take the guy from PSU 9 out of 10 times? I don't see how Sealey makes the lineup next year. His best chance is if he can make 57 and beat Kasak, which is quite a feat, and it's not going to get any easier the following year.

I'll admit you can probably say that in 2024, but that shouldn't discount the past. Before Brian Smith took over at Missouri, their best finish was 10th in the early 80s and there were very often finishing outside of the top 20. Smith and his staff have been able to take solid, but often not "can't miss" recruits and consistently develop them into AAs, and national champions. Ben Askren was their first ever national champion in 2006, and that was really a big turning point for the national awareness of what was going on at Missouri. Schwab and co. are obviously doing very well at N. Iowa, and this may be their best overall team during Schwab's tenure. Pat Pop, Kevin Dresser, and Brian Smith would be my votes for guys that do the most with their recruits. They don't have the funding to play with the real blue blood programs, or many in the big 10 when it comes to the transfer portal, but they do an incredible job at developing their recruits, and have made their programs into very fun, and very relevant programs. It's not very often a school rises from relative obscurity to a consistent top 10 program. There are a number of other coaches that I think are certainly in the discussion, but these would be my top three.

No love for Jake Schwartz?

Hardy seems to be an outlier on your list.. just curious why he makes it in?

Joey Dance was a lot of fun to watch.

My only question is whether or not it benefits the smaller programs financially to wrestle, and especially host Penn State. I know in football the bigger schools pay the smaller schools for the matchup.. so despite losing 70-0 to Georgia, NW Georgia State make a sizeable chunk of money that helps sustain their program. If you wrestle Penn State and get a share of the streaming/B1G money, it could be good for the sport, but I don't see how watching 10 pins/techs is fun for the fans, even if you're a fan of PSU..

Yes, that's what wrestling needs.. most talent accumulating at fewer schools..

Just a random question.. seeing that I've never been able to find anything connecting Beric to the rest of the Jordans that wrestled for St. Paris Graham, I'm assuming it was just a coincidence that he wrestled at SPG and shares the same last name?

No. 4 Nebraska 9, No. 10 Northern Iowa 24 125: Trever Anderson (UNI) dec. #5 Caleb Smith (NEB) 5-2 (NEB 0, UNI 3) 133: #20 Jacob Van Dee (NEB) dec. Julian Farber (UNI) 5-0 (NEB 3, UNI 3) 141: #8 Cael Happel (UNI) dec. #5 Brock Hardy (NEB) 7-5 (NEB 3, UNI 6) 149: #5 Ridge Lovett (NEB) dec. #17 Colin Realbuto (UNI) 12-9 (NEB 6, UNI 6) 157: #5 Ryder Downey (UNI) dec. #3 Antrell Taylor (NEB) SV-1 5-2 (NEB 6, UNI 9) 165: #21 Jack Thomsen (UNI) dec. Christopher Minto (NEB) SV-1 4-1 (NEB 6, UNI 12) 174: #17 Lenny Pinto (NEB) dec. #16 Jared Simma (UNI) 6-5 (NEB 9, UNI 12) 184: #2 Parker Keckeisen (UNI) pinned #5 Silas Allred (NEB) (3:38) (NEB 9, UNI 18) 197: #15 Wyatt Voelker (UNI) dec. #22 Camden McDanel (NEB) 6-4 (NEB 9, UNI 21) HWT: #16 Lance Runyon (UNI) dec. #23 Harley Andrews (NEB) 11-6 (NEB 9, UNI 24) Quite the performance for UNI. Runyon wrestling 165 as a true FR, 174 as a fresh and soph, hurt last year, and now wrestling well at 285 is crazy.

It is truly an embarrassment of riches. I can't imagine any college roster has ever had close to the talent that is amassed on this PSU team. Nagao is an AA and I kind of doubt he beats Davis even if healthy, Joe Sealey in RS, Ryder in RS, The Mirasolas in RS, Facundo can't get into the lineup.. That's 6 wrestlers that will likely be AA contenders from the moment they step into a starting role. Seeing Barraclough go to UT Valley and currently ranked 4th in the country has to have Facundo considering a move. It's only going to be harder to get into the starting lineup next year.

Agreed. It's hard to imagine any team not named Penn St, Iowa, or Ok St realistically being a title contender in the foreseeable future. Between their HS recruits and financial ability to fill in gaps through the portal, they aren't likely to have many, if any holes in their lineups. The fact that Iowa has 2 noncompetitive weights this year is pretty shocking. Ohio State has a ton of talent, but unless they have the funds and are able to bring in high level transfers, I just don't see think any team able to compete for a national title just based on their high school recruits.

Ah, agree completely.

Yes, it's definitely for the best for the parents to stay off the message boards.

I'd be very interested to see what Cole Mirasola weighed in at this morning. Curious to see how big he'll be able to get for next season.

It's fair to criticize an athlete when they don't show effort. Stewart gave up the second Ryder stopped him when he was looking to roll through. Not even a kick of the feet before the pin. I also wish him the best and hope to see him round back into form.