CHROMEBIRD

Agreed. Was anyone else surprised that the big bump up wasn't no thang for Sasso? I thought it would be. Great to see him back on the mat. I hope he's feeling it now that he's got that first match, and a dub, under his belt.

Spencer won his second Hodge with about a dozen or so matches, including Big Tens and Nationals. Definitely fewer than 15.

I thought the conference OKs medical redshirts and appeals go to the NCAA, although with today's NCAA I suppose almost everything will become permissible

Should we read that as Oz is redshirting for sure?

Re-read what I wrote. Competing in college doesn't have any impact on his freestyle, or the sport, or (probably) his earnings. I don't really buy the legacy thing because he's already won multiple NCAA titles, Olympic gold, and is something like 200-2 in folkstyle going back to the 8th grade. There's no challenge for him in college.

Yeah, what's his connection to Va Tech?

Maybe UWW Seniors could one day benefit from a relegation/promotion-like system, if it ever gets big enough. I know there's already U23, U20, Continentals, etc. but maybe a development sub-division for scrappy up and coming nations would encourage participation. It probably gets boring seeing the same handful-or-so of countries on the podium all the time.

Look, Gable has earned the right to do whatever he wants, but what do we gain from his return to college? He'll probably walk through the season without breaking a sweat, so it's a rather boring storyline that won't do much for the sport. His wrestling probably won't improve much, nor will it need to, so I'm doubtful that another season in the NCAA does anything for him as an athlete. It makes the "doing it for my legacy" stuff sound like double-speak for "I couldn't hack the challenges of being a pro athlete, so I'm coming back to my NCAA safe space where I'm the bully." Why not at least compete in freestyle against grown ass men from around the planet who will actually challenge him? He'd probably be able to pull the same dough as an RTC athlete that he'll be getting under NIL. And RTC is as good of a bridge to coaching as is making one last run in college. I know, I know, I should be pumped about Steveson's return, but the vibe seems all wrong.

What's his projected college weight? 70kg is great for now, but I'm wondering if he'll be an Olympic weight tweener.

Does it create a loophole in the UWW's one time only transfer rule? Like could a wrestler transfer and the be like oops, I no longer have a passport so I'm going back to my old country. I guess they'd have to sit out for 3 years, but still.

Dylan Ness could've been a 3-time finalist if he hadn't injury defaulted out of the tournament in the semis his senior year. Dunno if he would've won it all but IIRC he was pinning his way through the bracket until he got hurt.

It's hard to imagine him committing outside of the six schools he's taking official visits to, so 1 in 3 chances, all things being equal? Iowa PSU tOSU VT Okie State Rutgers

I've been impressed with Gould in the short time that she's been commissioner. I hope she pushes for Olympic sports, it's not a terrible idea for the Pac to diversify its portfolio of sports, esp since football and m/w basketball won't be at the level of the old Pac-12.

I am not super confident that the Ivy League would grant him a medical hardship waiver and would guess that he will have to burn a year. Worth it, though. If his head injuries are anywhere as serious as they seem to be, you don't wanna FA and FO with stuff like that.

I'm with you on this. Steveson's return is just sort of... I don't know, sad? He has nothing left to prove in college wrestling. It just reminds me of the old guy in Dazed & Confused who has nothing better to do than hang out with kids.

Wkn had a legit point, though. Cav pivoted metrics from revenue generation to value, which is vague, and peaced out after he got called out for it. But to play the pay-for-value game: if "value creation" is the basis for compensation, then a strong case could be made for highly rewarding women's & Olympic sports. Value is about more than eyeballs and merch. Women's and Olympic sports add value to the athletics department's brand through equity and representation, cost less to run, enhance the organization's culture, engage with the community, promote student wellness & quality of life, and arguably raise the org's APR & academic metrics (if they even matter anymore). They also don't siphon institutional or donation money that could otherwise go towards the athletics or academic departments or the student body at large.

Starocci probably made a sensible argument to the coaching staff that he wanted to go 174 so he could be a full-sized 74kg at OTTs. Same with Brooks. A year ago, the question was why did Brooks have to bump up a weight to make room for Truax? But it was likely so AB would be good to go at 86kg. And it worked.

Iowa has gotten some pretty good mileage out of its transfers over the years... Cal, ADS, Woods, Eierman, Lugo, Metcalf (technically), etc. It's odd if Jimmy thinks things would change under today's transfer portal and pay-to-play rules.

Would you pay to see this friendly exhibition match? Let's say it's folkstyle, main event at the top of a card of friendlies. It might be an entertaining fundraiser and good exposure for the sport. Proceeds could go to, idk, a pool that assists D1 programs at risk of getting cut. I can't even guess if it would be a competitive match. Cael's getting up there in years, but he's also Cael.

Yeah, I totally hear that. I just think sponsors think differently than fans on here and would rather put an athlete with the perfect hs record (or whatever) next to their brand than the guy spending time in development at the next level. You see it in other sports too, even in like basketball where kids commonly reclassify to college (and then the league) sooner to get their bag. They spend their time walking through their hs season instead of spending their senior year competing at the next level because it keeps the hype machine going, which now keeps the NIL machine going too, and because it mitigates risk of getting injured or exposed if they're not yet ready for prime time (which is a ridiculous expectation, but it happens). I'm cool with whatever PJD or any of the other upcoming superstars decide to do. Just saying that the calculus has probably changed about the decision to compete in high school vs. spend that time training at the RTC/OTC.

Agree with this. He may be tempted to stick around though. Completely crushing it his senior season of hs, even if predictably so, probably helps his NIL earning potential. Sponsors and collectives might be more easily wowed by big results and impressive numbers than a year of development, even if spending a year at the OTC or an RTC would have a bigger payoff in the long-run.

Fun to see Caliendo turn it on. On the other hand, JOMBO™ is going to have a stroke watching Nelson this season.

Was expecting Andonian to go grown-man strength on PJ and horse him around. Kids these days are so insanely talented.

Hell yeah!

I saw that Bryce Andonian and PJ Duke are going. Any other notable entries?