CHROMEBIRD

What if she wins Beach Worlds this fall? I'm mostly kidding, but it seems very unlike her to take any time away from freestyle.

I just don't think schools will have the resources or scale to provide the type of guidance athletes will need, beyond the bare fundamentals of contracts, planning, etc. in the new pay-for-play world, esp as investments and comp will invariably become more complex. My guess is that agents will step in and handle that stuff. I guess they already are in the biggest sports.

Kids would get ridiculed for being held back once upon a time, but I can see why some parents may opt to do it for athletic reasons or bullying reasons or whatever. Also, you gotta love the offseason here. How'd we get to talking about this?

I'm with Peebs. I like TnT as wrestlers and ambassadors to the sport, and love their commitment to their guys; my critique is with the coaching and culture at Iowa, as I don't believe "emulate Gable" works super well in today's environment. Would love to see whoever the next hc is, whenever that happens, to be an outsider who wasn't molded in and married to the Iowa Style as if it were gospel... or at least Iowa alums who've had enough of a change of scenery (Metcalf, DSJ, Ramos, etc.) to know what works/what doesn't and evolve Iowa Style. All of that being said, people calling for Brands to step down over the BB thing need to get a grip. Imagine having so much juice as a hs recruit that you can get the head coach of a Top 3 program replaced. Foh with that.

Good stuff, I was hoping that you still read this forum. Is Fujinami coming back next year? I should've tagged you in this other thread

Bit of apples-and-oranges with folkstyle and today's freestyle rules, but I don't recall if the action was any better or worse back when FILA awarded 1TDs. I think they went to 2+ to encourage more exciting takedowns (amplitude, etc.), which is what they were really after, rather than just "action". But IIRC they also did a bunch of rules tinkering with the clinch/ball grabs and such around that timeframe. I guess folk attempted similar with the revised NF points rules but dunno if an analogue from neutral would work.

NIL deals to date have been so opaque, it's hard to get a representative picture either way. The clearinghouse is supposed to remedy this to an extent, but who knows. There will always be loopholes and gaps.

High schoolers are also eligible for individual NIL deals. Bassett could've just worked something out directly with Bob to get his travel & lodging covered.

Ain't that the truth. Bro literally has his name on the wrestling room and it's not enough. In the future though, deep-pocketed entities will likely be able to take equity stakes in athletic programs once pay-for-play really gets going. ADs and department stakeholders are going to have to learn to live with ceding control of their programs

Altering your wrestling career in such a big way, over such a small thing, is WILD. But, as I said, maybe better for all parties involved. The Bassetts sound like they might be a handful, and maybe BB can add something new to his repertoire elsewhere.

What the

He previously did an analysis of 3TD on bonus points

Yeah, wtf was that all about? Referencing his mental health challenges last season?

Anyway, my hot take is that Bassett decommitted because he doesn't want to have to shovel his own snow this winter

Has it been confirmed that OSU picks up Jax's travel tab? I figured a kid whose family moves him from North Carolina to McCort and to tournaments and camps around the country has some money to send him to Stillwater

I'm going off of what I remember seeing either on here or on socials, so you may be right. It would still indicate that his decision didn't hinge on NIL. Either way, I wonder if BB realizes that the big bag days are over, or will at least be watered-down, now that the House settlement is final.

I guess the unusual thing is Sadulaev bringing Gable in to train. Seems like it's usually the other way around, with wrestlers traveling in to Dagestan for their own improvement. Like Higuchi, Susaki, etc.

Sakamoto with cornrows is wild. Any predictions on the WFS side? I don't know what Japan's lineup is looking like, but saw that Ozaki lost to Motoki at the Meiji Cup at 62 and that Ishii won 68.

Wrestlin on the range I've got my headgear... on I've got my shoes... dusty I've got my techvest... on my coach He's called T-T-T-T-T-T-Taylor... of course

The paid flights thing is weird and the loosely rumored $5M or whatever is hilarious. After BB committed to Iowa, he literally said that he had higher offers from other programs on the table but his decision wasn't about the money. I wonder though if his decommitment will sting him a little bit financially. His NIL will have to go through the clearinghouse now, and will be limited by the annual salary cap. Donors can still earmark contributions to wrestling, but it'll still come at the expense of other sports (e.g., football), which ADs may not love. If I'm being honest though, the decision is probably good for Bassett's wrestling. In many ways, he's the prototypical Iowa wrestler. Strong, aggressive, pushes himself extremely hard, bullies opponents, never lets up. Those aren't bad things by any means, but why commit to a place that will develop what you're already great at? He needs a coach that will level up his technique and training style. It's not hard to imagine BB at Iowa smoking 95% of his opponents, then getting outfunked/caught at Nationals. Or overtraining and getting hurt late in the season. We've seen it happen many times before.

He should add 2 new schools to his recruiting mix every week

What sort of real world business experience does Sentes have? Honest question, not trying to throw shade or anything bc I like the guy. I'm sure Sentes has a great network and can very speak well on behalf of wrestlers, but it seems useful for an Executive Director of the WIBN to also have a solid firsthand understanding of the business & corporate world. Maybe I'm missing something, but I thought he went right from competing into coaching. Either way, it's a pretty big loss for Campbell.

His dad seems like a pretty chill guy, but some of the things he says sounds like the kind of stuff people here see at youth tournaments with ultra-intense parents in the bleachers. Not really the type of motivation he'd get at PSU, which is interesting.

Next stop, Grand View? No offense to the Vikes

I heard about this on ESPN yesterday. Sheeh, this is scary. Hoping for the best for Askren.