Pa in Taiwan

Yes, this is an interesting topic. I think the legacy of Cael and now his student Taylor is based around the fact that NCAA wrestling is not just two guys bashing each other and showing who is tougher, rinse and repeat from November until March. A major key to winning and scoring points for the team is what goes on in the head. A lot of this is developed in the room by talking about things. Wrestling smart and being smart about things like I mentioned above: scoring points with short time left in the period, always pushing for bonus points, etc. create a culture, both in the room and on the mat. It seems that Oklahoma State showed a lot of that approach on Thursday night. This manifests because the NCAA season is SO LONG and there are so many matches to wrestle. It may be better to roll at 50-60% through positions than to go live in all the practices. This is in strict opposition to what Ono said about wrestling freestyle for Japan. He said that they go full on live in practice ALL THE TIME. I don't know if he means year round or just in preparation for important freestyle tournaments, but, damn, that's impressive, and nobody could argue that it doesn't get results, especially in light of the Japanese men's performance in the past year.

EVERYONE would be gobsmacked if he defeated Steveson. If he goes undefeated until then and is pumped for the match, I could see him at least giving Steveson a match, even scoring on him.

The signs are there. Oklahoma State wrestlers are scoring points near the end of the period. Multiple guys who could have coasted with the decision turned it up and went for bonus points. Hamiti was nonstop in his attacks, both from his feet and from the top. All of these signs bode well for Taylor's team. I really had not thought that he could make such significant, visible changes in the team in such a short time, but they are looking really great. It's clear that everyone has bought in to Taylor as coach, trust him, and want to follow his lead. I think this may be the greatest thing to happen to NCAA wrestling in a long time. I'm not saying anything outrageous or saying that they will challenge PSU this year for the title, but we could see some interesting developments. One more thing: I believe that Taylor will convince Hendrickson that he can beat both Kerk and Steveson. Sparks will fly at heavyweight.

I foresee David Taylor succeeding in having his wrestlers ready for March much in the way that Cael does. Hamiti looked so great in the tech fall against the #4 guy from Virginia Tech at the weight class. If he continues rolling, things will be extremely interesting in March. If he's rolling, he could take out both of these guys.

I have no idea if Facundo beat Kasak, but Cael said clearly in his last interview that there have and will be more wrestle offs.

Nolf made a horrible decision. He beat JB in the Olympic Team Trials, and he could have beaten him and represented the US in this Worlds. He would have had a better chance than JB, and he could very well have taken gold at 79kg. Why would he bail after the Olympic Team Trials? Did he think we was going to win that US$1 million in the grappling tournament when his wrestling experience doesn't translate well into a submission sport?

I'm commenting on the entire US Senior Men's Freestyle system, and it's broken. There is no continuous development of young wrestlers for international competition. Kids get into the NCAAs and focus on folkstyle. Yes, many of the young guns are very good at freestyle, but to be honest, they finish high school and get into the grind of NCAA seasons and they go nowhere in freestyle. Look at Japan; look at Ono. He's a 20-year old kid and he's focused ON FREESTYLE. He wrestles all the time and he works on FREESTYLE positions. The youngsters need experience and competition at this level. Maybe they wouldn't come home with medals, just as the old guard aren't coming home with medals. At least it would result in forward momentum for the program as a whole.

If Taylor makes the bronze medal match and Ghasempour beats him, it will be a pretty poor way to leave competitive Senior Men's Freestyle, with two losses in an abbreviated Worlds. Similar stories for JB and James Greene. My advice is GTFO of the way and let the youngsters get some experience and win some medals.

The guy who teched Vito 12-0 after destroying Uguev 10-2. He might be pretty good. I hear he'll be spending a few months in the NLWC room this winter and is a huge fan of Cael. It's a free t-shirt from Taylor.

Perhaps someone can clarify this. It seems that United World Wrestling controls the video rights for World's for a very short time and then allows the matches, in high quality video format, to be posted on YouTube. This is fan-friendly for those of us who do not pay for expensive packages to watch matches real time. What about the IOC? Why aren't the Olympic finals in senior men's freestyle on YouTube yet? What is the benefit to the IOC of keeping those matches, now held over two months ago, from public consumption? Any insights would be welcome.

That's rich, especially considering that we were second place that year. The Soviet Union had 5 golds, 2 silvers and 1 bronze.

What's the deal with making the team? Are people sitting because of previous World medals, or Olympic medals? It should be a great qualifying tournament in the US to see who makes the team. Any HEW Olympic reps who you see sitting this one out? Who you got?

Should there be peace on Earth, an end to war, and every man loving all his neighbors?

Yeah, my comment on the other thread about Post-Olympic reflections, which appeared before the 65kg and 97kg weights had even begun: This guy is making a statement about our FANS, not our wrestlers. And perhaps he is making a statement to demonstrate something about HIMSELF as a US wrestling fan. Seriously, the number of US fans saying that we would win gold at all six weight classes really had me chuckling. I know it's nice to be a homer, but you should never let your homerism get in the way of logic and truth. The logic and truth have been telling me that THE WORLD IS DEEP. I commend the US team for representing our country and giving their all. I agree that things didn't go our way this Olympics, and a few close matches went the wrong way for the USA. Those who were talking sh** about how the US would take all six gold medals weren't giving proper respect to the quality of wresters at the Olympics. Anyone not respecting the US team this year is completely wrong. I just give props to ALL the wrestlers who make it to the Olympics. No easy matches.

What a funny comment! Uguev would be a real threat at 57kg., Sadulaev is a real threat at 97kg., Sidakov is the king of 74kg, not to mention Jamalov and Rassadin, both Russians repping other countries at that weight, Mamedov is a hammer at 65kg, and Kurbabov at 125kg isn't a top contender, but on any given day. The absence of Russia is huge.