BruceyB

Buddy, rankings try to be objective based on results that have happened. They are not predictions. Keep going though..

I just don't even know what to say at this point. I'm sad, disappointed, and find it hard to see any change on the horizon. I can't help but think that between NIL and the freedom of that transfer portal, the reason we all have loved college sports is gone. Commitment.. gone. Loyalty.. gone. Parity (even the little we once had in wrestling).. gone. It's similar to this past week in March Madness. Because of the poaching of athletes from mid-majors, this was the first time in 17 years that every single 1-4 seed won in the first round. March Madness has lost a significant part of the madness because with the freedom of the transfer portal and the NIL money, talent is constantly funneled into the stronger programs with more money to spend. Until we can find some form of regulations in college athletics, this is what we have to look forward to.

There isn't much that is technical about ranking. You take into effect results of what happens and adjust accordingly. If you were going to provide preseason rankings that had to stand-up to the results of the season, you might have a point.. but ranking a group of athletes based on the previous seasons results and than adjusting them based on what happens really isn't that difficult. I start with this years NCAA tournament qualifiers and how they performed and make an initial 1-33.. guys who beat them/lose to outsiders get adjusted accordingly. I'm not sure how this is supposed to be so hard to do?

I'd think Berge would be an easier target. If McEnelly leaves Minnesota, I don't even know what to say about college wrestling anymore.

I didn't realize doing college rankings was such a lucrative business.

EXCEPT for.. I was talking about predicting team scores in March. And I don't think ranking is really all that difficult. The websites that publish their own rankings obviously have the time and resources to be thorough in knowing the relevant starters for 70ish or so teams. They start with last years results and then shuffle guys around based on the results the following year. Seeding is even easier because they literally just put numbers into a matrix and it seeds the wrestlers and the seeding committee can make slight adjustments where they see it necessary.

The fact that you have a much more sophisticated model than our top wrestling organizations is truly astounding.

The list of 2x champs is so long that it's almost impossible to narrow it down to even a reasonable top 10. That being said, David Taylor and Ben Askren are 2x champions and 2x hodge winners. How many wrestlers have two hodges?

2/10 troll. I would have given more points if you suggested he threw that match to show the WWE that he wasn't afraid to take a dive. Doing something for the sport the he abandoned for two years doesn't exactly line-up with his priorities.

If I'm understanding you correctly.. If Coleman Scott took over for John Smith, OKST wouldn't have likely been anything other than the same OKST, just with a new name at Head Coach. Likewise, if Tom Ryan retired and Jaggers, Stieber, or anyone else took the helm, it's unlikely that there would be a notable improvement. I think it's fair to put both Iowa and Ohio State in the same category (and Oklahoma State before the big change). It's easy to say "replace the head coach" but the real problem is there aren't many guys that you would expect to have any more success if given the keys to the program. I think if Ryan is considering taking a step back anytime soon, Schwab is a very legitimate candidate. I'd be curious what he could do with at a bigger program with higher-end recruits. He seems to be of a similar "family first" kind of team mindset.

There is no doubt about that.

Wow. I was completely unaware of this. Absurd.

I would argue that he was taken down by Frost in the bloodround and shouldn't have even placed this year. I don't think it's a given that he repeats this years tournament. But more importantly, I think when you are trying to establish a new culture as a second year head coach, bringing an outsider in over 2 highly talented guys coming out of redshirt could be a risk. That being said, the OKST coaching staff knows what they have better than I do, and if they don't see the potential in those two guys to make an impact this year, then you're right. It would be a no brainer.

Does OSU need a 133? They have McComas and Sakamoto coming out of redshirt. It's possible, but it doesn't seem like the best landing spot necessarily.

Michigan/Minnesota would make more sense.

Koy Hopke at Minnesota will be an interesting one with the cleared out field.

Oh, I 100% saw it live. A little shot to the ribs isn't a big deal.. it was the finals and Mitch was probably telling him "thanks for the good match" right in his ear right after he secured the clinching takedown.

Most people here seem to be equating his athleticism to being able to quickly pick up the skills to wrestle on bottom, and learn to how win in scrambles that he's never experienced before. I've said it before, freestyle is a much simpler style to learn because there are far less positions and techniques that you'll encounter. He's going to have to learn how to defend a leg coming in, a crab ride, not giving up a wrist on bottom while trying to improve.. these are things that can be a struggle for our best high school wrestlers when they are coming into college after wrestling folk their entire lives. It will be interesting to see. I'm definitely not saying that he can't do it, but it will be a lot to learn. I'm more curious about why a 21 year old that is a World Champion would want to use these years learning a completely different style? I wonder if he is kind of bored of just training the same things every day for freestyle and wants to develop by learning a new style while wrestling in America. I've wondered what guys like Burroughs, Dake, and Taylor would do in practice after spending 10+ years training specifically in freestyle. Training gut/gut defense and leg lace defense has to get out pretty quickly you'd think.

It was pretty egregious. You see the pushing the head down after this whistle pretty often, he tried to dribble that thing like a basketball.

Friday night I mistakenly used PSU's wrestling to seed statistic when I should have just used their semi-final winning percentage. IIRC your stats had them 52-10 in the semis during the Cael era?

Exactly. I'm not even trying to make excuses for Shapiro, I'm just saying that nothing that happened this weekend makes me think he's a "douchebag" or bad kid. I wouldn't have said anything at all if wrestle87 simply said he wasn't a fan. There is a huge area between being a fan and making personal attacks about the kids integrity and character when you've never even met him.

I think the steroids comment was completely unnecessary and feel that a speculative claim was a bad look on him. But based on the immediate hawkeye reaction it sounds like he foolishly said something that is probably (fair or not) rumored around the D1 landscape. It's not a good look, but I'm not going to call him a douchebag and other things that @wrestle87 had to say about him.

THAT is what you're talking about as being unacceptable? I would hate to know what you think about Desanto's tactics and Thomas Gilman's backwards slam and extra curriculars with Alan Waters. I don't know a ton about Shapiro, but if that's the worst he's done, that's distasteful at worst. He pulled the arm back like a jerk, but didn't do anything against a joint to injure him. That video did literally nothing to change my current neutral view of him. I'm just not a huge proponent of attacking the character of kids that I've never met.

"The Newton Bomber" is a pretty badass wrestling nickname.

I would say he's at minimum a Good Coraller.