Packard

125 - Luke Lilledahl (25-0) v Nico Megaludis (32-3) - Luke 133 - Jax Forrest (18-0) v Nashon Garrett (37-0) - Jax 141 - Sergio Vega (24-0) v Dean Heil (32-1) - Vega. Under neutral danger rules it’d probably be a first period tech 149 - Aden Valencia (21-7) v Zain Retherford (34-0) - Zain 157 - Landon Robideau (21-2) v Isaiah Martinez (32-1) - Imar 165 - Mitch Messenbrink (27-0) v Alex Dieringer (33-0) - The hardest one, but I’m going Messenbrink 174 - Levi Haines (26-0) v Myles Martin (33-6) - Haines 184 - Max McEnelly (24-2) v Gabe Dean (34-1) - Destroyer of Worlds 197 - Josh Barr (24-0) v J’Den Cox (33-1) - Tough call. I want to say Barr, but I’m going Cox he won an Olympic Bronze a few months later 285 - Isaac Trumble (21-0) v Kyle Snyder (11-0) - I feel like Trumble has been around so long he was actually in this bracket. I’m sure Snyder beat him then so I’ll call it a repeat

Is Drake Ayala really a game changing coach for Iowa State? I keep seeing this is a major hire and a huge splash?

Iowa on pace for a 4th place finish for the third year in a row. Do they have much to be excited about next year? Penn State will be loaded again next year. Oklahoma State may push for the team title. VA Tech is bringing everybody out of red shirt. Is Iowa in a position to make a push? Or will they over perform and place 4th again?

Watched Iowa vs Ohio State and Iowa State and left both match unimpressed. Do they have anybody that looks like a finalists? 184 may not be the toughest, but certainly enough to keep Angelo out. Caliendo maybe? But that looks tough as well.

Iowa’s gone 22 period of regulation without a takedown.

Iowa has won two in a row and still hasn’t scored a TD in regulation.

Has Iowa scored a takedown?

It seems like it was reported. Did you see the part where security cameras were reviewed and people interviewed by the police?

I have always questioned Starroci’s character and temperament based on observations (terrible thing to do on my part). However, to say he should be kicked off the team or Cael should be fired is a pretty huge leap based on information in the article. First, the article says the police were not able to locate Starroci, but that could easily be misworded. Maybe the police did ask him questions but Starroci refused to cooperate. They have no evidence he did it, so what were they supposed to do? Get a search warrant? What did you want Cael to do? Holy crap can you imagine if coaches opened police investigations every time a player reports something stolen from their locker? That’s millions of case a day! 95% of the time the player left it at home, car, etc. The SA allegations are horrible, but if nothing has been reported everybody’s hands are tired. Did anybody tell Cael or did “everybody” talk about it behind closed doors and Cael “had to know?” Checking the oil and 5 on 2 are horrible parts of our sport. It has as much to do with our sport not growing as much as anything. However, if every wrestler was kicked off the team for accusations of that we’d have to move to 6 weight classes. All these factors combined, plus maybe more we don’t know, could lead to moving on and not joining the NLWC. But it’s hard to imagine kicking him off the PSU team with flimsy allegations.

Probably won’t break the points record? Almost every guy in that lineup could win the National Championship. Lilledahl, Ono, possibly Blaze, SVN, kasak, Messenbrink, Haines, and Barr would all be in contention for a championship. How many World titles are in that lineup?

Ok, let’s download the data and run it through AI to figure what PSU would score in 1991. I’m thinking they would crush everybody and have 10 National Champions in 91.

Something about the name Gable and monumental upsets in the last match of your college career.

So every Penn State wrestler won their last match this morning and every one was a bonus point. (Minus the MFF out) 3, 5, 3, 3, 3, ?, 3, ?, ?, 6 They win two of the three finals tonight and it’s hard to argue this isn’t the best NCAA team ever.

Did MIZZOU even have a program before Brian Smith? We only talk about that program because of him. I do think they chronically underperform at the National tournament, but you don’t fire a guy that like. I’m kinda tired of the Iowa injury argument. First, it is a chronic issues. High expectations at the beginning of the year, but come tournament time “the injury bug” derails what could have been. Meanwhile, we seen an obviously injured Kerk make it to the semis, Barr make it to the finals, last year Starrocci limped his way to a Natty in a brutal field, Jason Nolf finished his career on one leg with a championship. Iowa guys get injured and score 0 team points.

Don’t they drug test the winners every year? Remember Dake asking the NCAA official, on live TV, if he looked like he was on steroids?

I think 3 finalists changes the perspective big time. Especially since I think two of them will win it. 5 AAs, one finalist, and a 4 place finish seems way worse. However, when does the injury bug become a concern? It seems every year Iowa doesn’t perform to pre season expectations because of the injuries.

Doug Schwab and Lee Roper should be at the top of almost every list.

To be fair when six of your guys are seeded to be finalists that doesn’t leave much room for error. It’s a little different then not meeting your seed of 4, 5, or 6 Also, 285 can still meet his seed

Whew. Terrible round for Penn State so far. In tight matches at the end they look like they don’t know how to wrestle. Kasak and Lillehdahl looked lost at the end.

How did he go the entire third period without a stall call?

Will Iowa have more finalists then Penn State?

I don’t know how I feel about a shorter season. ESPN was talking about a guy who had more wins than anybody this season - 30. Most guys in the tournament barely have 20 matches. I’d say competition has been reduced a huge amount from Cael Sanderson’s days. I would love to see more stalling called - Top, bottom, neutral. Also think a step out point would be nice. The amount of guys that back up, put their back on the line, then circle around and shoot an opponent OOBs is ridiculous. I don’t think Freestyle has become sumo at all. I love mat wrestling and think it makes us unique. I don’t want to limit that, but I think a riding point should only be awarded if you score back points as well. Add that requirement and be more aggressive calling stall on mat wrestling. Especially the top guy.

I agree with that. You get four all Americans with three finalists then it is a successful tournament. Especially considering injuries to two other potential All Americans. Ayala, Caliendo, and Buchanan will make or break Iowa’s season. If they only have one make the finals it is devastating.

I agree. Probably isn’t - then we need to stop creating threads on here complaining because “ESPN would never allow this production problem of a basketball game”

Oh yes, I remember Erin Andrews and Molly McGrath asking Tom Brady about the safeties leverage and how it told him the safety would rotate to the flats rather then play deep third. Then asking how he read the spacing concept on 2nd down in the 3rd quarter. They never lob softball questions such as, “How did you feel walking into the field for that last drive?” Or “Tell me what that receiver means to this team.” They’re post match interviews. The questions will be the same regardless of who asks them.