scourge165

Didn't Dean beat Beard on a last second TD like...was it 8-7 in their wrestle off? 9-8? It was a 1 TD match. I don't recall exactly, but it was an extremely competitive match. One was a Freshmen with 4 years left. So that was a year earlier. And Dean The other had 2 years left. Keep Beard in that room, in the NLWC with the chance to Wrestle with Brooks, Snyder, Starroci, the best Wrestlers in the Country and I think you're going to get more from him in 4 years than Dean gives you in 2. Just an opinion, not meant as a slight against either Wrestler. Dean won an NCAA Title. And yes, I watched Dean Wrestle Laire and Beard. He wrestled two much bigger 97 pounders. Laird is a very good Wrestler. He was one helluva HWT who competed with some very good Wrestlers and he's a BIG '97(as is Beard). Dean...more of an '84, but when you go onto a team with Aaron Brooks, you don't wrestle '84. On top of that, Beard starts out with clean TDs(should have had another). They wrestle the 1st period, Dean is desperate to get the riding time...taking multiple stalling calls to do so. He also gets about 2 minutes off when Beard's coaches challenge a locked hands. Dean's smart. He gets a TD in the 2nd, rides him out. But again, Beard gets to his feet and takes him down with clean TDs. And again, Laird was bigger. So no, I don't think gassed because he was sick, I think he gassed because he's probably 3-4 inches shorter than the two, they've each as thick as him and Dean just ALWAYS Wrestles close matches. The Laird match came down to a SPLIT second where Dean's hand touches, but Dean had plenty of gas in the tank to go there after he got behind. And yes. He beat Bastida. It's not rare for elite Wrestlers to go back and forth. Bastida is also giving up a point going into every match. For the record, I didn't actually bring up Laird, you did. I simply said I thought they could get more out of Beard than Dean. But if you want to bring up Bastida, he's a Cuban. He's a couple years into Wrestling Folkstyle while Dean is particularly savvy. So what? So lets say Dean wins it each year. Beard takes...5th and a 3rd? That sound fair? Feels like he could easily win it, but...for the sake of argument. Beard has 2 more years left. I'll reiterate. I think the ROI was higher on Beard than Dean.

This was my opinion. My feeling even at the time. I wanted...35 or so matches. I KNEW I wasn't going to be anywhere close to where I needed to be early in the year. It'd take getting down, making weight, going through that season and getting those matches in, the whole grind...I always thought I needed that to get myself ready. It's been a while, the RTCs were not on the same level, so I may feel differently, but I wanted those 7 minute matches, ESPECIALLY against Wrestlers I was a little better than where I was pushing for bonus points or just in a real, life go that meant something, a chance to test myself, my lungs, legs...maybe some OT matches. Make sure I could Wrestle any period without getting tired. The long grind matches were helpful in practice, but that's teammates(again, the RTC being a larger part of the equation may change things). I think you'd see some drop off in the Wrestling in the NCAAs and more upsets as we've seen the past couple years with the limited tournaments due to Covid. But, maybe that was my own issue, I don't know.

Yeah, I wonder if they could have let Beard wrestle off for the spot or if it was kinda promised to Dean? Not that I think those two losses Dean suffered mean...much(particularly the first as that was SO close to not being 2...though it was the right call) but Beard was the younger guy, he was more suited for that weight, longer. Just seemed like the ROI was higher on Beard than Dean. Also feels like it'd be pretty hard to tell a defending NC he's not gonna start for you. AS for Haines, I said last year when I watched him Wrestle, he'd be the '57LB champ this year. It was obvious his learning curve is not just steep, it was...straight up. Now I guess I'll see if I was right or not. Maybe I'm being influenced too much by Hall...but I don't think so.

Wha....what in the hell did I just watch?

Starocci kinda said that right after he'd just intimated that he was looking forward to doing something nobody else had ever done, be a 5X Champ(he was asked about it and he said absolutely a chance to put myself kinda in my own group...I'm paraphrasing) and then beating JB the "Greatest American or whatever," using air quotes. Confidence is great. Disrespect is...obnoxious. ALSO, he spoke about how he'd be cutting down to 163.5 during the NCAA's preparing for the Qualifier just a couple weeks after the D1s as that's really not a priority. Kid came off a little annoying in that interview and all over the place...but I suspect he'll end up going for that 5th(if he gets 3 and 4...which are NOT guaranteed...hell, Gomez just dominated Yianni, Mekhi could certainly beat Starocci).

Isn't this just called the D1s? Takes place in March?