fishbane

He only received 1 forfeit. W Dec (32), L Dec (1), W Dec (16), W Dec (18), W Dec (26), W FFT (12), L MD (11), L Dec (5) to finish 8th. 16 was the highest seed he beat via non-FFT to make the podium. Still he won 4 matches to get there. As JB pointed out, two forfeits with no wins getting you to the podium is not possible since full wrestlebacks were implemented in the early 1990s. In today's format you would need to somehow get 4 consecutive forfeits in the consolations to get to the podium without winning a match. I guess on the front side it would take only 3 but that would require someone to enter the tournament injured and not wrestle which has happened (Nick Suriano, Dustin Schlatter, etc.) but less likely than a forfeit in a later round.

In 1984 Rudy Isom lost his opening round match at 167lbs to Jeff Jelic 4-3 of Pitt 4-3. He then won two consolations matches by FFT assuring himself of a top sure 8 finish. He ended up winning his next match 1-0 to make the consi semis and then lost before falling to Relic for a second time to finish 6th. Has anyone ever had an easier path to AA? It would be wild if someone lost in the first round won twice by FFT then lost two consecutive matches to finish 8th. Has anyone ever only won matches by FFT en route to an AA finish? If so, what's the highest finish achieved in this manner? 1984 Bracket http://www.wrestlingstats.com/ncaa/pdf/brackets/NCAA 1984.pdf

I had read on Wikipedia that it was created by two fellas from Erie, PA and that the first trial competition was held at Erie Tech. One of the creators was an arm wrestler named Dann Carr. I don't believe he is related to the Carrs from Erie that are know in wrestling. I'll have to check out that ESPN piece. Thanks!

Darrel Gholar was a contender on series 3 of American Gladiators in 1991 (May have been filmed in 1990). He won a couple rounds and ultimately fell short in the semi finals to a baker from Brooklyn. He handed Gladiator Nitro his only loss of the season in the conquer ring in his semi final loss. Conquer is a modified wrestling competition where the contender has 10s to force any portion of the gladiator outside of the circular competition area. I think this is interpreted as some body part of the touching the ground outside of the area and not a 3D cylinder. Nitro was 5-0 in the conquer ring in season 3 before losing to Gholar. In the episode the announces play up Gholar's wrestling ability describing him as a wrestling coach from Minneapolis, MN and greco roman olympic alternate in 1988. I found some collegiate results for him from the University of Minnesota. He was 3rd at Big Tens at 158 in 1983 and Big Ten runner up at 167 in 1984. He was the 10 seed at NCAAs in 1984, but had some bad luck. He lost 7-1 in the second round to 3 seed and future 2x Olympian Melvin Douglas. Douglas lost his next two matches by FFT and DNP. In 1984 there weren't full wrestle backs and since Gholar lost to someone who failed to make the semifinals he was not given a wrestle back. Meanwhile the 4th place finished at Big Tens, Rudy Isom of Wisconsin, lost in the first round then won two successive consolation matches by FFT to make the podium. Does anyone know the story behind all the FFTs in the 1984 NCAAs at 167? Does anyone have results from the 1988 Greco Olympic Trails? I'd guess for him to an alternate he would have lost in the best of 3 at either 74 o2 82kgs. If anyone is interested in his appearances on American Gladiators there are links to the full episodes below. 1st round https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkSVQLDpKc Quarter final https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpQKRfcYdDc Semi-final (Conquer win over Nitro) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeQrdADGs0M

RIP

They had posted the list on instagram two days ago. Not sure who posted first Jimmy here or Flo on instagram. I suppose if one starts as many conversations as Jimmy a few will gain traction and make it on FRL. https://www.instagram.com/p/CslishPuL57/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGDJXW5ZtEk The Bad Guy says Fraser and Russell came up with the RTC system in a van he was in sometime in the late 1990s. He also says Albert Ferrari is on the Iowa campus and he is going to hit the weight room with him.

I agree with 1032004 on this. You should compare to last year only if that athlete is returning, but not when a transfer replaces a spot occupied by a graduating senior or someone leaving the team. For example Nagao's impact at PSU should not be measured against RBY's performance this year PSU would have lost RBY's points anyway. If Nagao didn't transfer PSU would be putting out Timothy Levine, Karl Shindledecker, Baylor Shunk, Gary Steen, Marco Vespa, or Braedon Davis? Nagao's impact would be replacing one of them in the lineup.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsjpxdpO_YD/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== He'd be the first to win 5 Olympic golds in wrestling should he pull it off. With Rulon also planning a comeback could he retire another legend in their final Olympic games?

The main motivation would not be holding to a weight class that is too big or too small up to a month before the trials. It's true that both should have completed their degrees or certainly could be by the end of next season. I even think 184 is sub optimal if Lewis is fixing to go 86kg. The word is that Aaron Brooks will go 197 next season for an Olympic run at 86kg. Amine move up to 197 for the last Olympics.

Lewis? Is that likely? Wrestlestat still has him at 174 for next year. I'd think it would make more sense fore Starocci and Lewis to take an Olympic redshirt for a run at 74kg than bump up to 184lbs/86kg.

Not sure. Fix and Vito both have another year should they choose to use it. I'd guess it's possible they switch weights if they choose to wrestle to better align with an Olympic weight, but I'd pick either over Nagao next season. If they sit out they could use an olympic redshirt and return the next year. In the long term, Nagao may be he the biggest impact as only he and Vionovich have 3 years remaining and Mesenbrink is the only one with 4. Nagao could have 3 top 3 finishes at PSU.

Do you mean 184 or 174? I am not sure if Griffith goes 174 or 165. I think the chances of him going 184 are slim. Wrestlestat has him at 174 and my statements were assuming he goes up to 174. My thoughts were that Lewis and Starocci at 174 would be as tough for him to get past as O'Toole and Carr at 165. He could win either weight, but I think Truax is more likely to win 184 or 197 (Do we know for sure where he will be either?) than Griffith is to win 165 or 174.

Problem is he is moving into a weight that also has two returning NCAA champs (Lewis and Starocci). I'll say Truax scores the most points at NCAA points on that list. Probably not the biggest impact as PSU would win the title without him. Biggest impact in terms of accounting for the largest % of his team's NCAA point total would be Seth Nevills. Michigan will have the most NCAA points from transfers collectively and Griffith might be that sweet spot of highest % of team points for a trophy team.

They sold out the last time they were supposed to be in State College (2020). Tickets were half the price then. B cause of COVID they ended up being held in Fort Worth, TX at reduced capacity. This presale was for people who had purchased tickets for the 2020 trials in State College that were cancelled.

The tickets were definitely more expensive. I recall that there were upper level tickets available for $58 or $102 last time. This time they were closer to $250. Lower level tickets seems about 2x more expensive as well. There were definitely some shenanigans with the ticket prices this time. I saw some seats where seats 1 and 2 in the row were $20.50 more than seats 3 and 4. They were sold in pairs so I'm not sure if seat 1 was $20.50 more, it was $10.25 extra split evenly over the two seats, or distributed some other way. In any event, I had never seen a premium for seats at the end of a row like that.

Are you not entertained?

Overall the Neumann part was the worst bit. Neumann would have had a duty to report Plienis's gambling. Not only did he not do that but then he loaned him money and covered it up. Neumann's involvement made it a major violation. For Plienis's part I'm not sure the loan was worse than the gambling. I feel like athletes have received small impermissible benefits akin to an interest free $500 loan for a few months without it ending their college careers. It was more the gambling that lead to his death penalty. I think if Neumann had loaned him $500 to fix his car Plienis would have wrestled again.

The last gambling related story that I can think of in NCAA wrestling was at Nebraska. The Nebraska heavyweight JR Plienis got into some gambling debt betting on football (college and pro) and borrowed some money from the Nebraska head coach Tim Neumann to pay the debit. Neumann I think actually took program money for the loan and he ultimately resigned over it and other accusation of improper compensation. Mark Manning was hired as his replacement. Plienis transferred, but was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA for the gambling.

Betting on yourself to cover the spread can be problematic too. Can cause nonsensical play calling, suboptimal strategy, or excessive risk to try and cover the spread Betting on yourself in a money line situation would have less of a conflict of interest, but in some sports spread betting is standard.

I think betting on yourself can have certain conflicts of interest too. In theory betting on yourself shouldn't present a conflict of interest, but in practice there are a lot of ways one can wager on a sporting event. The most famous college sports betting scandal in history didn't involve throwing games but shaving points. The team with the players in on the fix still won, but just not by enough to cover the spread. Betting on yourself to win a wrestling match any outcome no point spread sounds fine in concept, but what about betting to win by second period fall? I have an issue with that. Betting to win by decision? Also not good. Betting to win with a point spread? I don't like that either. A wrestler might be ahead late, but must win by 3 to cover the spread on his wager. I wouldn't want my wrestlers in a position like that where they are taking unnecessary risk late in a match because they are trying to win a bet. The NCAA has rules that prohibit athletes from betting on any sport they sponsor at any level. It's probably for the best. If an athlete/gambler ends up taking large losses with their wagers on other sports or even on themselves to win they might become beholden to an unsavory individual who wants him to fix some event or tempted to bet on events they are participating in so they can influence the outcome. The rule serves a purpose.

The MN number isn't right. The govsalaries had him earning $150k in 2018 and all years subsequent were around $40k. Not sure what changed in their reporting, but I don't believe he took a $110k paycut. He's probably around Clemson at $190k.

There was a topic on this a month or so back. At that time, I was able to find Goodale's University pay. NU and PSU are trickier to find since they are private institutions. Being non-profits there are some reporting requirements, but much less than state run institutions. https://intermatforums.com/topic/1750-what-are-the-top-20-wrestling-head-coaches-salaries/

Brands and the entire staff took a hair cut during COVID. "Wrestling head coach Tom Brands, who signed a new contract in February 2020 as the pandemic was about to begin, took his 15 percent cut from his July 1, 2020 salary — which increased from $190,000 to $350,000. In addition to Brands' $52,500 pay cut, he took another $30,000 budget reduction. His associates, Terry Brands and Ryan Morningstar trimmed their salaries according to the sliding scale Barta announced last summer — knocking $20,500 off Terry Brands' pay." https://www.galesburg.com/story/sports/college/football/2021/05/14/iowas-football-coaches-didnt-take-pay-cuts-pandemic/5091682001/