CHROMEBIRD

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?

Using funk loosely... but their ability to outscramble others or finish from atypical positions and situations

He wears cleats everywhere, though. There's a legendary story about a time Harbaugh wore cleats during an in-home visit and scratched up the recruit's floors . Rumor is that he does it because of some sort of incentive from the Nike/Jordan sponsorship.

What if they had to undress like Mongolian wrestling coaches?

I feel like conditioning and pace won't be an issue at either weight as much as technique and funk against the PSU guys

I didn't realize that wrestlers competed in singlets (or tights that look like singlets) back then, but after looking up photos of early 1900s Olympics, there they were. For some reason, I thought they wore some type of leggings or shorts and no top, then some sort of t-shirt/tank top and leggings "uniform" until the singlet was un-banned in the 1960s or so.

Have the pools been set? I'm looking forward to Hamiti as well as Haines up at 174. A Figs and Spratley rematch would also be good, though I'm under the impression that Richie tends to wrestle far off his peak in the preseason. Maybe I'm misremembering.

Good video. I liked the advice from Cael, thought it was a little strange when Starocci said "I'm not a wrestler" since that's basically his entire identity rn. The natty daddy bling took me out

If Shane's pumped, I'm pumped. P.S. I know he's always pumped.

I think it was also his dad who said 174 was a lil bit of a tough pull last year

Rotchy got worked but I wouldn't put too much weight into it. I thought Keuter's conditioning would be a little further along with all the offseason training he's been doing. I'm kinda over Nelson, zzz...

I don't think he's eligible for NIL. Transferring to the US would be a downgrade anyway, but he's more than welcome

Do you think he'll end up at SDSU? I think DeVos is out of eligibility after this season, but not sure. I agree, it'll suck not to see Kennedy in the lineup. I'm more disappointed that Siebrecht (and to a lesser extent, Glaze) is gone. Had high hopes for him in a black & gold singlet this season.

An elite freestyler who's good on his feet could get by on day one. 3pt TDs catch and release all day. Gives up RT? Who cares

Don't tempt the powers that be. NCAA already got rid of 4th place trophies to save a few bucks.

Non-sumo combat sports are very popular in Japan among young people, and pro wrestling (if it can be considered a sport) has broad all-ages appeal there. Not anywhere close to baseball or soccer, but definitely not obscure either. Sumo is always cited as a top sport, but I read that the median age of sumo fans is close to 55. Even though it's part sport and part art & cultural, it isn't really connecting with the younger audiences to carry the sport forward in the future. Mass appeal isn't needed for athletes to find world-level success, but local popularity of a sport obviously has an exponential effect. A pretty good case study for wrestling might be the popularity of Judo in France. French fans are impressively fluent in the sport. And so many parents send their kids to Judo lessons because they believe it's a necessary part of their childhood education alongside academics, arts, etiquette, and other physical exercise. There are clubs everywhere. I don't fully understand how the sport became so engrained in French culture, but I would love to see it emulated in wrestling.

Excellent, thank you @MPhillips!

Will the dual be streamed anywhere? I didn't see it on the ACC Network listings

Yeah, I think Nolf genuinely geeks out at fight science and just wants to broaden his knowledge. Like if there was a PhD program in combat sports, he would be right there. We saw it in college, the way he'd study tape and "invent" novel moves, and work with Bo & Zain on striking, grappling, submission, etc. So trying out new martial arts and combat sports is no surprise. He seems like a modern day Bruce Lee trying to learn and perfect his craft.

I'm under the impression that JB is doing fine financially and doesn't need to get into D1 coaching for the money. There's so much BS in college sports these days that I wouldn't blame him for passing on that challenge. That said, if he does get into coaching it would be nice to see him be the start of something rather than just be a part of something. Skip the Big Ten schools and the power programs, build a dynasty at like Rider, Cal Poly, or Tarleton State. And now that I've got my head up in the clouds, it would be fun to see JB expand his clubs into full-blown freestyle academies. Start a pro/semi-pro freestyle league between the RTCs. JB has the star power to pull sponsors and media. I hope he thinks big.

Some think AJ would be Dionysus, but he'd definitely be Koalemos

Japanese wrestlers defecting to Russia because it's easier to make the world team there... Seriously though, I wonder if this will translate into more UWW events outside of Eastern Europe. Going to Worlds in Japan or elsewhere around Asia/Oceania might be a nice change of scenery. The wifi and streaming may also be a little more reliable.