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In Philly yesterday (6/22) Trump said he told Dana White that White should set up a “migrant league of fighters” and then have the migrant champions fight UFC champions. Very distasteful remarks IMO. You can discuss problems and solutions without dehumanizing people.

As of now, according to the IOC, Sadulaev is out.

As of now, according to the IOC, Uguev, Kadzi, and Sidakov are out.

Who wins Olympic gold @ 86kg, 97kg, and 125kg?

Who wins Olympic gold @ 57kg, 65kg, and 74kg?

According to an article in The Athletic, school administrators believe that when universities share their revenues with athletes, the amount shared does not have to be equal between individual athletes or teams. Of course, football and to a lesser extent men's basketball are the moneymakers. So I expect any revenue sharing to be built to benefit those programs. However, according to the same article, when universities share their revenues with athletes, school administrators also believe that the amount shared will have to be equal between men's and women's teams. So for every dollar of pay a school sends to an athlete on a men's team, another dollar will go to an athlete on a women's team. That will be amazing for the women who get paid -- but, of course, it will result in less money being available to non-revenue-generating men's sports like wrestling. All in all, I think it should be obvious that wrestling is in for a tough time.

Don’t be a dork.

Currently there are reports that an antitrust lawsuit will involve a settlement in which schools pay athletes going back a few years. I’m not sure about the details, but it seems that the general trend is for college football and basketball teams to operate more and more like minor league teams. And if male athletes are making bank, will that require equal expenditures for female athletes? I don’t know. I doubt courts have considered that question. At any rate all or nearly all wrestling teams operate at a loss. They get money from football and/or basketball revenue, student fees, and taxes. It’s been socialism all along, folks. But in this brave new capitalistic world — perhaps with added mandates for equal expenditures for female athletes — it’s hard to see how college wrestling survives in its current form for much longer. I don’t know what college sports will look like in 20 years, but it probably won’t look like it does today. Athletes might be considered school employees for purposes of collective bargaining. Some might be unionized. Some will certainly make millions when NIL is added to the mix. Big schools might even legally separate their moneymaking teams (or all teams) from the school. If elite high school basketball players are more tuned into paydays, they might opt for the NBA G League or overseas leagues more and more. Who knows? But whatever happens, it looks very likely that more schools will eventually drop wrestling. Time to get your kids out of wrestling academies and into the library.

A few things Steveson could consider: Return to college wrestling Enter the freestyle circuit Play a year of college football and hope to make an NFL team next year (seems bad for brain health) Pursue making an NFL team or NFL practice team (seems bad for brain health) Pursue MMA (seems bad for brain health) Pursue a career outside athletics

With regard to boys HS wrestling in 2023, California had the most participants and Texas had the third most. With regard to girls HS wrestling in 2023, California had the most participants and Texas had the second most. Based on participation numbers alone, it seems like those two states are deserving of better college opportunities. Just my opinion.

Penn State was not good until Cael took over. That’s why it was a giant, but sleeping. In a fantasy world it’s possible to see lots of schools become elite, based on a number variables working right, but obviously it’s not reality.

Definitely a lot of potential sleeping giants.

A school can be a sleeping giant even where there is a 0% chance of it waking up.

MFS Olympic wrestling will be live in a little over two months. There are only six weight classes, of course. It appears there are 16 qualifiers per weight, except for 74kg, where there are 17 qualifiers, including a refugee participant. The US, of course, has qualified all six weight classes. Luckily for US fans, in all but one weight class, there are multiple US-connected wrestlers to follow. Seems like a good deal for US fans. Here they are: 57kg Micic (SRB) RBY (MEX) Cruz (PR) Lee 65kg Rivera (PR) Gomez (MEX) Zane 74kg Dake Bekzod (UZB) 86kg AB Amine (SM) Ramos (PR) 97kg Snyder 125kg Parris Smith (PR) Dhesi (CAN)

OkSt hiring David Taylor stirred the college wrestling world up. In some ways it suggests that Cael’s system has definitively replaced Gable’s system as the gold standard. But it also showed that wrestling programs can be willing to invest big in potential coaches — who they may not have talked to before — and who they think will be big names and capable CEOs. Who else fits that bill? And for that matter, what wrestling programs could eventually use a new face? Or what programs are sleeping giants? Cael, of course, identified PSU as a sleeping giant and the rest is history. A few big names: Spencer Lee, JB, Snyder, Dake. Potential big names: AB, Starocci, Vito. Sleeping giants: USC. Maryland (near Pennsylvania & NJ & in a big metro area). UT Austin.

I think all six MFS athletes are capable of medaling. A solid performance would be four medals.

AB says the type of stuff you’d expect to hear from a young evangelical elite athlete. It’s all a matter of upbringing and influences. Give him some time.

I thought AB’s description of what he had to go through at OTTs before the finals was insane. Cutting weight into the early morning hours, difficulty sleeping, early weigh ins, then competing by midday — against the reigning world champ. Hopefully USAWrestling gets this fixed. And for everyone who thought DT might help AB prepare for Yazdani — I’m guessing it’s not happening.

He’s still 23 and will change as time goes on. Any older person who listens to a 23 year old talk will soon realize the gap in age and perspective. Overall AB seems like a good dude who is trustworthy and absurdly disciplined. Really can’t ask much more of a young man.

If Dake continues competing after the Olympics, it’s hard to see him becoming a coach. That’s a significant time and energy drain. I believe the one year prime JB had some sort of coaching position at Nebraska he said he felt like he was trying to be the best in the world in his spare time.

It is indeed possible for an athlete to have the largest NIL deal and to turn down competing deals that are smaller but large. The athlete could also understand himself to have turned down the smaller offers out of loyalty. For instance, the athlete could turn down a slightly smaller competing offer out of hand because he cannot imagine leaving his current team. Now, is there any point to dissecting claims made by athletes on social media? The answer is no.

Coleman Scott?

With Kennedy heading to Stillwater, who replaces him at Happy Valley?

Wrestling is a net expense; former wrestlers do not appear to be as attractive to schools as former lacrosse players (a sport that is expanding); wrestling makes compliance with Title 9 more difficult; and nobody at ND seems to want a wrestling team. Those are big barriers!

125- Lilledahl / Davis 133- Nagao / Davis 141- Bartlett 149- SVN / Kasak 157- Kasak / Sealey 165- Haines / MM 174- MM / Facundo / Ryder 184- Barr 197- Starocci 285- Kerk