TylerDurden

Track wrestling showed Riggins with 7 in the stats drop down, but it looks they included the mini-tournament for placements. So my bad for missing that. We still don't know what the suspended guys would have done, but Franek and Kennedy scored more this year than Siebrecht and Brands did last year at the same weights (+5). I agree Iowa was depleted (self-inflicted) and it impacted things, but my larger point was that I don't think this is all on the suspensions. They had big shoes to fill this season regardless of the suspensions. I'm not on the "Iowa is toast" boat, but I do think Iowa has some work to do.

Even with the suspended guys, I'm not sure Iowa does better than third. They finished 7.5 points behind Nebraska and 13 points behind Michigan for second. Cassioppi is obviously the one who had the most potential to outscore the replacement, as he was +6.5 last year versus what they got from Hill. He was a big scorer at 3rd place last year and he was a potential finalist. They would have been in a battle for third. I don't think they would have caught Michigan, but we'll never know. 157 Siebrecht (8.5 points in 23) vs Franek (4th, 11.5 points) 174 Brands (9 points in 23) vs Kennedy (5th, 11.5 points) 184 Assad (7.5 points in 23) vs. Riggins (10th, 7 points) 285 Cassioppi (16.5 points in 23) vs Hill (5th, 10 points) Regardless of what might have happened, it was always going to be a slight rebuild in Iowa City this year. You can't replace Spencer Lee. It's also not easy to replace Max Murin or Jacob Warner.

That was a fun match. Carr took a bad shot and paid for it, but I'd love to see that match 10 more times. It's technical, strategic and chaotic all at the same time. 165 at NCAAs is going to be amazing.

He took one with about 30 seconds left in the match. Mendez defended it and got his takedown during the subsequent exchange. Mendez looked pretty darn good in that match. He looks the part of a national champ.

Speaking of Lewan...how in the world does he not get more stalls called against him? Are his blocking with his butt to the center and half-hearted waves of his arms really enough to fool the officials? Even the pin against Blockhus started with him backing up.

I don't think this is the case. I think he's just sharing what he's heard. Nothing more, nothing less. I read his post as implying that the views he's sharing come from people outside of the athletics department based on the language he used, thus my comment about interacting with them in their professional capacities and the emotional involvement. His reply to that seems to imply that these opinions are from people inside of an athletic department. Fair enough. I'm sure he felt that was the best way to share his info. To each their own. Regardless of the who is talking, there are legitimate concerns about the ultimate impact on collegiate wrestling if/when they B1G and SEC figure out the legal and political maze they'll need to navigate to do their own thing. When people are unsure about where the money comes from and how much is coming, they tend to panic. For as much abuse as the NCAA takes, they are a known entity. People know what to expect, how the money flows, and how sports function in that structure. When you take that away, every outcome becomes viable, including elimination.

So you're saying that athletic department officials are telling you these things?

Perhaps, but you aren't dealing with them in their professional capacities. Collegiate athletics are an emotional endeavor.

How many of the 13 No. 7 seed finalists beat the No. 2 seed? My assumption is that it's unlikely, but it would be interesting if they all wrestled exactly to the assumed seed after beating the No. 2.

I see these as explanations about why he could win any one match - which I don't necessarily disagree with - not why he could win five in a row at the NCAA tournament from a double-digit seed. I don't really buy the idea that 20 guys have a shot to win the title, even at 125 this year. The early-season chaos happened, so I understand the viewpoint but I think it has jaded our view of the contenders. Beating DeAugustino, Spratley, Kaylor and Davis doesn't make the guy a title contender. It makes him a low AA threat where he'll have to beat someone like Volk, who has beaten Smith twice this year. If Smith had beaten Richie Figs, Ayala, Barnett, or McKee didn't tech him, I could see the rationale a bit more. If you want to say 20 guys have a shot to AA, I'll buy that, but they aren't all title contenders. His early-season, sudden-victory win against Ramos is noteworthy and we can't take that away from him, but the subsequent results from both guys suggest that was an aberration. As it always does, it will work itself out because they have to step on the mat. I've been wrong before and if Smith wins the title, I'll be wrong again. We can revisit after the B1Gs and see if opinions have changed.

I'm not being flippant and I think Smith is a very entertaining guy to watch, but what has he done to make you believe he could put together the five consecutive matches that it will take to win the NCAA title? Perhaps I look at these hypotheticals too literally, but I consider his seeding at the B1G and NCAAs before I'd put him up as a title contender - even at 125 this year. At the B1G, his seeding is probably 6-7-8 seed range. At the NCAA, he's a double-digit seed which means he's running into a top 8 seed in round two and each round after that. He was the No. 5 seed last year and was two and BBQ. Yes, I realize a year in the Nebraska room is better than one at App State, but I just don't see it.

Correct. How else are we going to know the final team score margin?

I think you might be mistaking keeping the score close with the ability to beat Bartlett. Even if we assume you're saying Woods, Mendez, Hardy and Lemley could beat him...who's the fifth guy? I do think there are guys in the B1G who can beat him, but there aren't five.

Adding a few whose names I haven't seen for Indiana, in recognition of their HS careers: Chad Red Blake Mauer Reece Humphrey Lance Ellis - a somewhat mythical wrestler in-state. Was 177-0 with an insane pin rate and would throw you from anywhere. Was a bit small/injured for college wrestling, but was as entertaining as they came. And even though he's still active, Jesse Mendez has the potential to top Indiana's best list when he's finished.

He's in the conversation. I'm not sure why you keep acting like he's not.

If this is simply about awarding the Hodge to the best wrestler, then this thread is pointless. Hendrickson isn't the best NCAA wrestler.

After said balls are found, then what? Does the back of the shirt provide additional guidance?

Where is the block feature?

Absolutely not.

There are 46 years worth of results in this comparison, which means it's hardly a comparison at all. The landscape is drastically different from when Gable was the head coach. It's much harder to build and sustain a program now. Much harder. Even so, the Brands/Zalesky comparison presents a pretty skewed version of reality, lacking any context. Sure the average NCAA finish is similar - even with Brands having seven more seasons, which is an advantage to Brands - but Zalesky's last five NCAA finishes were: 4-8-2-7-4 and finished 4 and 6th place in the B1G his last two years. We also should remember that Zalesky took over a program that had won six of the previous seven national titles. Brands took over for Zalesky and, after one season, won three straight nattys. The Cael factor is real as well. Neither Gable or Zalesky faced an opponent as formidable as Penn State has been over the past dozen years or so. He's been at PSU for all but three years that Brands has been at Iowa. Brands isn't as good as Cael, but his results are better than everyone else coaching right now. But he's also not Zalesky and it's not that close. I get that Iowa fans feel like they have some sort of birthright to win the NCAA title, but this stuff is silly. If anyone on this board is riding the Fire Brands train, who are you suggesting replace him that can do better?

I like the direction IU is heading, but they have no chance in this dual. O/U on match wins for IU is 1.5

This dual seem ripe for sig bets.

I realize this post likely came a burner account for one of the trolls, but GTFO with nonsense. This sounds like the type of stuff you hear from that one dad who sucked as an athlete, almost earning a high school varsity letter, but surely knows what it takes to be a champion because he watched a lot of self-help videos on YouTube and once spent $500 on a leadership conference.

Good lord. Reading through this thread makes me realize how much the internet has skewed our views of everything, glamorizing hot take, knee-jerk reactions to anything that doesn't result in the perfect outcome. You aren't a serious person if you're calling for Brands' job. You just aren't. He's been at Iowa 17 years and has never finished lower than 8th at the NCAA tournament and that happened in his first year. Since then, he's never finished lower than 5th (and that was only once) and has four national titles - and probably missed out on a fifth during the COVID season. I think he behaves like a complete idiot and has the reasoning skills of a 7-year-old, but you're out of your damn mind if you're trying to run him off.

Troll rating: 2/10