strange_daze

Montell Marion was Dake’s first.

Just a thread to share some memorable NCAA tournament matches/moments. One that always comes to mind for me at this time of year: Mcllravy v. Abas (1993): Many many others—add one if you feel like it.

It’s a simple take, but I say: wrestle now, while you can. Not for the team but because next year is never guaranteed.

It's a funny post, but if it were any other team, some of these could be real possibilities. I do think Haines is looking better than earlier in the season, and Mesenbrink is pretty bad@ss. I like to think about Hidlay pushing Brooks but don't see the latter getting beat. Otherwise, who knows--strange things happen at the big show.

*Nickal

Quiet optimism.

Gomez is wrestling well right now. He's dangerous in the tie-up for sure, but he's also got a pretty wide arsenal on his feet (including a super-slick single that can come up into a body lock). I'd probably take him the dual, but I see more potential for Ridge to go deep at nationals.

I think a key element of 'Carvering' involves chaos and usually disorientation of some sort. It is often a 'mismatch' between two competitors (e.g., Schwabby and Guerrero), but necessary to the situation, I think, is a moment where something goes haywire: e.g., a wrestler bonks out in the third; a ref calls stalling or intervenes in the match in some other way; the score or riding time clock is incorrect; etc. The crowd plays a necessary and critical role in these moments: by getting really loud and making it difficult for said wrestlers and refs and staff to orient to the match and do what they came to do. I think the example of Sammy Brooks and Bo Nickal is actually a good example of the lesser known phenomenon of 'anti-Carvering': a talented and cool-headed star is unrattled by the environment and masters the chaos through his own unconventional technique. One can compare this, too, to 'near-Carvering': for instance when Brandon Sorensen almost got one on Zain. I should probably go back to work.

I'm with Fred on this one. Cinnabunz keeps the board lively...and I like that.

Hearing Sparks ‘guest’ on FRL helped me understand his personality outside the broadcast scene and brought me around to him even more. Seems like a good guy on top of being an intelligent and vocal advocate for wrestlers and the sport of wrestling.

Aaron and Greg finally giving the PSU faithful something to cheer about.

Being purposely dense isn’t a virtue.

Sure. And sometimes you bite off more than you can chew. CS is obviously very good, but for all his talk, he should be blowing the roof off the place in that situation.

Carter looked more interested in lite salad than fresh meat in that one.