Nak21

PSU. I expect another title in March, without much drama. Will they set another scoring record?? Probably the last one before DT and Okie St start making it a team race again in 2027-28. 125 - will LL repeat? Will he open it up more and score more on other top guys? 133 & 141 - who’s gonna go here? Blaze, Ono, Desmond, Davis (will he even be on the team). Will Blaze open it up more and find some way to score on the top 3 (Jax, Davino, Seidel)?? If Ono goes, do we just see utter obliteration in neutral and struggles on the mat if it gets that far? 2 out 3 periods likely in neutral, do we see domination and lots of TFs or does he not live up to the hype and struggles with folk style? Is there any there there with Davis’ “issues” and he is booted and takes his services elsewhere? Back to Michigan? How has Desmond filled out and where does he fit in the mix? 149 - how does SVN do in his last go around, with a 149 that suddenly appears to have gotten a lot better. Will he still be so sloppy, especially at the beginning of matches? 157 - thinking Kasak here. Does he make it thru the season or is there a lingering injury/head/concussion problem here. If it’s Sealy, how does he fare when given a chance at the spot? 165 - does PJ go 165? does PJ bonus his way thru the whole season? 174 - does MM go 174? Does MM bonus his way thru the whole season? 184 - does Rocco open it up and find some offense against what appears to be a very evenly matched top 3-4 guys? 197 - is Barr healthy? Does Barr bonus his way thru the whole season? 285 - which Mirasola do we get? Whichever one it is, have they put on a little size and ALOT of strength since last year? Will whoever goes crack the top 4-5 on the podium come March??

First off, GREAT topic! Thank you! I’d first off like to see a lot of programs we had 20-40yrs ago, come back. NE - Syracuse, Boston University, Wilkes. SUNY Albany and Stony Brook make the jump to match Bing U and Buffalo. SE - bring back Clemson. SEC get in the game - Tennessee, UGa, Bama, Kentucky, Vandy, Florida, someone in Mississippi, LSU. TEXAS! And A&M! Florida State. Midwest - Colorado, Colo St, someone or both someone’s in Kansas. Bring back BYU. West - pipe dream and ship has sailed, BUT Big 10 f-ed up not making the newbies add wrestling (and Hockey) - looking directly at you Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC. Add Washington St back too. California in general, with the level of wrestling there, it’s criminal more of the UC and Cal State system don’t have more programs. That right there would add 25+ back or in and get us up over 100 teams. It’s a start. Let’s hope!

Well certainly great news!! Let’s hope we see many more. One thing, it’s getting some print here, schools adding wrestling to boost enrollment, revenue, etc. I genuinely ask, cuz I’m not sure I buy that. Does adding 20-30 guys, who are likely not paying full freight (if there’s no full athletic ride, I’m sure like the D3 route they’re getting some grant and aid thrown in to sweeten the deal) really do much for enrollment and the revenue stream at a school, even a small one? Seems like such a drop in the bucket for both, that it’s a nothing burger.

Seems like some good parts in there, but I wish the Schools and NCAA could’ve figured something out (I know, I know) because I don’t like when Congress gets involved in just about anything. Pipe dream would’ve been provisions to not just protect Olympic sports from being cut but to somehow resurrect some that have been cut over the decades.

PSU’s schedule is out

Great stuff! Appreciate the work! I guess if they’re healthy and over performed at NCAAs I could possibly see 4th? Coupled with someone else having a bad tournament/a significant injury pre NCAAs. But it sure does look like 5th could be their ceiling and maybe 7th the floor? 125 has like 5? AAs back and some other super recruits. 133 is loaded and Crookham is very injury prone. 141-149-157-165 potential but I’m not expecting big points, 157 might even be on the roster, who knows? 174 should AA, but does so little upsets can happen. 184 ditto. 197 I still think isn’t very deep so maybe a higher AA finish here than you’d expect. 285 does Keuter stay healthy? Who’s going at a few other places? I would think AA for sure, but it hasn’t seemed to come together for him yet.

I’m not a Hawk hater but I mentioned Caliendo as a pick of mine. For 3 yrs he has seemed like a good kid, wrestled hard, just in the wrong place at the wrong time and had a buzz saw at his weight. Without MM, he’s maybe a 2x champ. The attempted choke holds during the last final, he’s frustrated, trying anything, wrestlings a rough sport, stuff happens. The handshake snub, not a good look but hardly overshadows what the kid did over 3yrs on the mat at Iowa and a year at North Dakota St.

Hold backs and “Texas redshirts” as we used to call them aside… School years run late Aug/early Sept to late May/late June of the following year. That’s 9-10 months. If your birthday falls in the May-July window of the academic year, you’re on the younger side and likely many of your classmates have turned 18 already. Way back in 19-dickety-two when I was a Sr, I also turned 18 in May, about 6wks before graduation, I was one of the younger kids in my grade, of my friend group I was the 2nd youngest/2nd to last to turn 18. So yes James is on the young side. And given some of these kids who are indeed held back for academic or athletic reasons who may be 12-18mos older than their peers, yes he is young.

Guess it depends on the kid, the coach, the team. Not sure it will be a norm, given the new rules, you need to meet some criteria to do it. Jayden James being so young (just turned 18 in June) helps out PSU due to the log jam of talent at those middle weights. If you’re a kid who can do it and means you don’t lose a year sitting behind someone, you’re probably nuts not too. I’m hearing 157 Kasak (or Sealy if Kasak head/concussions is an issue), 165 Duke, 174 MM. We shall see

Not really teams I dislike, just different teams. But… Iowa - Caliendo, kid always wrestled hard, seemed like a good kid. Gabe, bounced all over, kid just wants to be on the mat, bit of a mouth but he’s matured I think, doesn’t do much but he competes. Ohio St - Mendez, just tough. Feldman, often injured, still goes out there and competes. Davino, kids tough, so low to the mat and tough to score on. Okie St - Jax, he’s fun to watch. VT - Siedel, kids tough. Illinois - Byrd, tough, shame his Sr year didn’t pan out like he wanted, GF is 3’ taller than him. Can’t recall his name but I think the Illini had a kid I saw a Big Ten puff piece on, lost his Dad around tourney time maybe 2 yrs ago, there was definitely dust in the air and my allergies were acting up, but I was pulling for that kid to AA. Nebraska - Hardy, class kid, like how he owned up on his part in the Davis temper tantrum. Lovett, always seemed to be in fun matches. UNI - Keckeisen, good wrestler, different era he would’ve won a few more.

I don’t know about this one. I know assistants in non-revenue sports don’t make much and work a lot but we might need to see this one and risk embarrassing the school/coach. A quick search shows that there’s slightly more money out there than $35k. Maybe Loggie Bear needs to do a better job with his salary ask?? https://apps.hr.osu.edu/Salaries/Home/Salaries?Funding=0&CostCenter=CC12646 Athletics | Wrestling&IsValid=True The well funded Ath Dept at Frostburg St is willing to kick in an extra $10k/yr. Div 2 but hey, moneys money. https://collegesports.jobs/jobs/frostburg-state-university-assistant-mens-wrestling-coach Hofstra will go an extra $20k/yr and give you a $6k car stipend. https://careers.insidehighered.com/job/3523681/assistant-wrestling-coach/ I wish there was more money in wrestling for these guys but I think most aren’t in it for the money.

Lots of log jams at PSU. 5 for 5 and the new rules did not help their cause. Gonna be interesting going forward.

I’m not sure I’d put the nail in Cornell’s coffin just yet. BUT some interesting things to watch over the next 5-10 yrs. They don’t have the revenue sharing, I don’t think they’re allowed NIL, 5for5 is a no go unless the Ivy League changes their rules otherwise you get 4 and you’re done or you transfer for your 5th, no more fun and games at Finger Lakes CC. With some of the defections, does that become more of a trend?? Kids decommitting or transferring out for “greener” pastures? Cornell has been amazing given their disadvantages vs the mostly large state schools power programs, but it’s the Wild West now, do we see a downward slide and this past season was the beginning? I hope not and their incoming class seems loaded for bear but is it sustainable in the new economic NCAA model? This isn’t just we can’t give you an athletic scholarship anymore but we’ll play some grant and aid games and get your family taken care of…this is no scholarship, no revenue share and I’m sorry the car dealership down the street can’t give you a $100k to hand out balloons and sign autographs twice a year (correct me if I’m wrong on Ivy’s not allowing NIL). It’s adding up to a lot of money left on the table for that piece of paper at graduation…and young men aren’t always known for their decision making and thinking long term.

Where will the rascal end up? Prison…

I don’t think they are. Things could’ve changed but rolling into the 30 roster limit it was said by Cael and the AD that they would likely be in the 22-24 scholarship ballpark, with the AD adding the caveat that if Cael needed something they’d get it for him, which I’d imagine meant one off an extra ship or 2 if needed in certain years. I’m sure many are getting some level of NIL and PSU is doing the revenue share thing too. It’s a lot more lucrative to be an Olympic sport/non-revenue sport college athlete today than it used to be.

I’m not sure they can. Recruiting, minus the one most recent class, has been subpar compared to several other schools they desire to compete with and seems to be a weak point for a while now. Couple that with development concerns - real or perceived; health issues at the end of the season - again, real or perceived; an overall style and approach that seems outdated and doesn’t seem to work as well as others…they seem almost locked into this cycle now of having multiple major lineup holes that have to resort to the Portal and SlumLord millionaire coming in to patch holes every season with bags of money. And even there the ROI is hit or miss…some major success, some “hey thanks for the cash, I’m gonna phone it in from here”. They have a problem on their hands, it’s a problem 70+ schools would love to have but it’s Iowa, they don’t wrestle for team trophies, they expect championships and they’re currently miles away. As for them winning another one before the Brands retire…I’m not sure they can with the current model. At the very least a major shake up in assistants (Telford for Kennedy is NOT it) and style is needed to have a chance. Otherwise it’s likely continue to wait for Hawkeye fans until the Brands go and it’s a complete overhaul, a major splash hire and better utilization of SlumLords cash.

You would think his height and reach would be a detriment but Arnold AA at 197 and he can’t ride any rides at an amusement park. So maybe Mo with an extra 10-20lbs on him, the 220-230 range, could be very effective at 285. This years crop of AA/rd12/rd16 at 285 seemed dominated by the lighter, more athletic body types. We’ll see soon enough. And…yeah, now does he have any eligibility left? 5 in 5 with almost no exemptions can’t get adopted soon enough.

WOW!! Great stuff! Thank you!! PA with an enormous historic scoring lead, nearly 5000 pts. Not surprised to see PA at #1, little shocked on the size of the gap. Also a little surprised to see IA and OK so high, but then I played the racing bars over time and as I expected it’s a lot of historic scoring from way way back and a less steep trajectory in more modern times. I’d expect CA, NJ, OH, IL to continue to knock them down further.

I’m fine with most of that 5 for 5 proposal. I’d like to see all the different “shirts” be done away with. Only issue I have is the start date. Start it when they enroll and you have 5 yrs, only way to pause the clock is the usual exceptions - military, pregnancy, religious. Some kid enlists and serves his country for 5 yrs, takes his GI Bill he earned to get an education, shows up at State U as a 22-23yo freshman, I don’t think it’s right to tell him or her they can’t now play a sport. Same goes with a young lady who gets pregnant in college or a kid who makes a religious commitment. Those I’ll allow. All the Dr shopping for medicals, red shirts, Olympic shirts, I’d like to see those go.

Horrible all around. I agree on the apology is just words, future actions will speak louder as to whether he’s truly sorry and has reformed his ways. But I can’t get over that he’s not only his coach, but also his Dad. This is just the only incident we’ve seen, I’d imagine there have been others at home and in public that weren’t caught on video. Where’s Mom in all this? Guy needs some help, some counseling, maybe some time apart from his family to get his head straight. Feel bad for the kid, that’s the obvious victim here.

Happy April Fools. Rules committee made their changes last year and we live with them for 1 more. The FOLLOWING year (changes are every 2 years) they can reconvene to fix (or damage) the sport further. Stalling needs to be addressed. Some very specific and very draconian measures have to be explicitly spelled out to give the refs cover to make the calls. Backing up. Dropping to a knee. Finger grabbing/interlacing/locking that was pulled last cycle was possibly the dumbest thing they’ve done in a while and needs to be reinstated and with penalties (ie stall calls and/or pts). All these things need to be spelled out explicitly in the rules to provide cover for the refs - wrestler A backs up and drops to a knee off the whistle, immediate warning followed by stall calls for each infraction - refs need cover and if that happens, guys maybe get dinged 3-4 times in the 1st 15-20 secs of a match. Locking up the fingers - immediate warning and stoppage, stall calls and/or pts every time after - certain teams wrestling against a certain team need to wrestle or they face a lot of penalty points early and often. Refs need to get very involved in matches early to right the ship and drive future behavior, both in matches and over the course of a season.

Not much money in wrestling, with a few exceptions. Can’t imagine most assistants make much. All these guys do it for the love of the game, even the few doing it for big money I think don’t care about the money. And it’s a rough game. HEW is a thing for coaches too. Can’t fault these guys for moving in another direction to provide better for themselves and their families.

What is our metric here? Most guys? Most money spent? (We’ll likely never know this for certain) Most best guys? Revisit March 2027 to see how transfers made out? Seems Iowa will contend on some of those criteria. I’ve seen projected lineups speculated here that have upwards of 5 weights where a portal guy might be needed. SlumLord Millionaire doesn’t mind throwing bags around, ROI be damned. Iowa St is being mentioned as maybe having a head start pre-4/1 and is being mentioned with a a small handful of studs…solid percentage of Stanfords roster ending up in Ames?? Seems the last 3-5 yrs the wrestling off season has been more fun and has more drama than the actual season!! Let the games begin!! Gentlemen start your accusations!!!!

Congrats MM!! Well deserved!

RIP Coach. Always enjoyed watching his teams compete.