whaletail

Whoosh! (and your complete lack of respect for capital letters isn't just shameful, but super shameful)

If nothing else, I thought academics would be an issue at UNC. I'm not sure where any NIL money would come from either. No fan support that I've ever noticed, and no prior NIL acquisitions to speak of. Makes me even less confident in the numbers being thrown around elsewhere, as it's hard to imagine AJ turning down that kind of money to attend UNC.

Mike Faust, the Gilman heavyweight (later went to Penn)? If so, I was a few years ahead of him at Gilman, same class as Rock (Gerard Harrison). Rock and I were pretty even until high school, when I got bigger and he got better. By the time we were seniors, I couldn't even take him down in practice anymore. But the best guy I ever wrestled is easy; Sheldon Thomas (1x NCAA champ at Clarion, 2x 3rd I think). We wrestled at least 5x, from 7th grade (when I was a second year Junior League wrestler) through high school, and he beat the brakes off me every time. I did he take him down, though, the last time we wrestled. I got in deeper on a duck under than I ever should have, and he was so out of position, he pretty much gave up the two just to get back on his offense quicker. And he did just that, eventually pinning me. I wasn't anything special, but that was the only time I was pinned in high school, and maybe the only back points I gave up that year. As an aside, me and a buddy attended the '97 NCAAs at Northern Iowa, and rented a room from a local family. Sheldon's family just happened to be staying in the same house, and I still remember how sad they were that Friday night after he lost. The defending champ and undefeated #1 seed, I'm pretty sure he lost to Iowa's #8 seed Jesse Whitmer in the quarterfinals, but came back to win four straight on the back side and finish third. Whitmer went on to beat Lindsay Durlacher in the finals, and Iowa set the NCAA scoring record (since beaten by PSU).

Fair point, and I don't think refs can even begin to parse organic exchanges from the contrived. Although I suspect Petersen got screwed by the rule, not every problem has a solution, and this one's at least a rarity.

When a wrestler requires injury time after an exchange that ends in a potentially dangerous call, should his opponent still get choice for the restart? This heavily impacted the Dean Petersen/Caleb Smith 125lb Big10 semifinal, as Smith was able to choose bottom during SV. During the prior exchange, both wrestlers' knees were loaded against the joint during a neutral scramble. When the ref eventually called PD, Petersen immediately grabbed his knee, and appeared to be screaming in pain. I think it's at least worth the rules committee's time to review the issue.

Rock and I were high school teammates and oddly enough, I remember him being a bit of an introvert. Not my favorite commentator, and his excitement can sometimes feel manufactured, but he does know what he's watching.

Beatrice Chebet looking like the next distance star. Americans stayed with the lead pack until the final lap, and the Italian who nearly medaled in the 5K damn near outkicked Chebet. And Sifan medals again, with a marathon left for the trifecta! Tsegay out of the medals again, but still with a shot in the 1500. Still not as exciting as the men's 10K or 1500 (best race I've ever seen); mostly a coronation for Chebet. Overall, Team USA's track performance has been what I hoped wrestling would be. Won't happen this year, but remember, the men had no track golds in Tokyo and look at their performance this year (5 golds off the top of my head, plus completely unexpected bronze medals from Nuguse and Grant Fisher, and a silver from Rooks in the steeple). A similar rebound in MFS would be ~3-4 golds and a medal at 65kg (I view Fisher's 10k bronze as akin to medaling at 65kg)

If anyone was going to miss weight at 50kg, I would've bet money on the Mongolian. As much as I wanted to see Sarah wrestle Yui or Vinesh during the tourney, that semis win was very impressive!

Forgot about that! Wrestling in the Olympics could obviously build his MMA brand, but not if he's out after one match. Don't think they'll let him in anyway.

I guess the Belarussian (sp?) 74 that beat Dake so bad in '21 won't be in Paris either?

As much as I didn't like the way Cael handled Suriano's injury at NCAAs, I can't come up with a valid opposing argument. If it were high school, it'd likely be a different story, but as a college coach, I just don't see how he owes a duty of care to anyone beyond the university and those on his team. Seems un-Christian, and certainly not in line with Jesus' teachings, but given how little he publicly proselytizes, I'm not even comfortable calling the guy a hypocrite.

I can't recall a single issue since probably his second year at Iowa. I'm not a Hawkeye fan, or Brands fan, but he really appears to have thrived there.

By my admittedly quick count, 7/10 Minnesota wrestlers equaled or exceeded their seed in 2001. Wonder how that compares against recent PSU teams.

I'm pretty sure Minnesota won the 2000 NCAAs with 10 AAs, but no champs. As for 2024 PSU, 10 AAs wouldn't shock me at all, but I'd guess 8. Not sure who I'd leave out though. Interestingly, Davis probably has one of the tougher paths to AA, and he's a 1 seed.

Reminds me of Quentin Wright. Still my favorite PSU big guy.