peanut

How is that known as a certainty?

I'm sure Pyles has much better info than me. But I note that Haines just beat KOT 6-0 at WTTs today. So it seems like he's ready to roll now. And with all the talent in the room, I don't see any reason for Haines to sit (unless he wants to). As of now I'd predict the PSU lineup as: 125- Lilledahl 133- Davis (possible: Nagao) 141- BB 149- SVN 157- Kasak 165- MM 174- Haines 184- Cstar 197- Barr HWT- Kerk

IIRC step outs had two purposes: 1) keep action in the center; 2) reward wrestlers who take offensive risks. The step out itself (for the most part) shows that one wrestler has forced another wrestler to go somewhere they didn't want to go.

At 61kg we have Vito vs Blaze. I don’t think anyone expects Blaze — a high schooler — to beat the defending world champ. If he loses people will say something like “wow you made it the WTT finals as a high schooler. Amazing. Now get back to your homeroom.” And if he wins he’s a legend forever. Not a bad position to be in! At 70kg we have Green vs Pantaleo. It’s great to see Green back. Let’s see what these guys can do. At 79kg, we have JB versus Marsteller. Can JB reverse the outcome from last year? Also, how about that age gap between Blaze and JB? One guy probably lives with his parents and the other guy has like five kids. At 92kg, we have Zahid versus DT. This is a great matchup. Zahid is the reigning bronze medalist, and he was virtually even with Aaron Brooks at OTTs. And DT is DT. Of course, there may be questions about conditioning from one or both guys. All I know is that I’ll be watching for the cold spray. Oh and if Zahid wins, he might have the best Mexican Independence Day (Sept 16) of his life. I know I’ll be enjoying some Mexican food.

Zahid is the reigning bronze medalist and was virtually even with Brooks at OTTs. He’s the underdog versus DT, but he’s very capable of beating him.

???

I can only create three polls, and I thought the above three weight classes were the most interesting ones.

Should be fun.

My guess for PSU: 125- Lilledahl 133- Davis (possible: Nagao) 141- BB 149- SVN 157- Kasak 165- Haines (possible: MM) 174- MM (possible: Haines, Facundo, Ryder) 184- Cstar 197- Barr HWT- Kerk IDK man, this seems like a good team.

My take: Vito Spencer Brooks Dake Snyder But if we're counting Puerto Rico, I'd slide Seabass in at number 5.

I have no idea what Gable should do and it’s totally weird that I thought about it, but what if he played college football? Is it too late for that?

My understanding is that Nolf -- a world class freestyler in his prime -- is retiring from freestyle at least in part in order to pursue BJJ. That caught my attention. I have to confess that I know almost nothing about about BJJ. How popular is it? Are there professional BJJ practitioners? Aside from Brazil, where is BJJ popular? Are there areas of overlap between BJJ and folk/free? I have questions, but no answers.

At WTTs

What is Nolf’s training situation going to be like in Texas?

So JB is going 79kg. Who will be some of the other competitors there?

Khelif beat Liu from China for the gold, which prevented China from winning the gold medal count. Instead, the US and China tied with 40 golds each, with the US winning the overall medal count. USA! USA! USA! USA!

Who will our reps be?

Right, some international kids have crossed over from free to folk. But if college was free I think you’d see a lot more. It would be great wrestling, and recruiting would be way more interesting.

Preparing athletes for international success is only one reason for switching to freestyle. Other reasons include: freestyle is a better product freestyle opens up recruiting to the rest of the world (which would elevate everything here & give US fans more athletes to cheer for). Imagine how much more interesting the college season could be if a school lands a bunch of English-speaking Cubans or Indians or Russians. freestyle open up coaching positions to the rest of the world (which would elevate everything here) freestyle opens competitions with Canadian colleges

Maybe sustaining unnecessary brain damage is cool to some people. But certainly not everyone.

Folkstyle and freestyle both developed from catch wrestling. The difference is that different governing bodies were in charge of regulating the sport. Catch wrestling was popular at American carnivals in the late 1800s and early 1900s. That's why the US won five of seven freestyle gold medals in the 1904 Olympics.

According to reports, when Geno was only 11, he was kidnapped by unknown men in South Ossetia — a conflict zone — and kept in a basement for three months. He was given just enough food and water to not die. At one point he was chained to a wall and beaten. When he released, he was hardly able to walk due to malnourishment and mistreatment. I can only imagine that coming out of something that horrible puts a sport into perspective. And yet, even with the bigger picture in mind, and even with the trauma he almost certainly carries with him to this day, he became an Olympic champ. Just an incredible story.

Do Zain and Seabass wrestle again today?

The solution is to cheer for Japan. They are firing on all cylinders. EDIT: Firing on most cylinders.