The_KC_Godfather

Yep. I think he was a true freshman too. He also beat Nahshon Garrett and pinned Gilman in route to the finals! I think injuries killed his career after that...he took 8th and then never AA'd again.

This sounds wayyyyyy too much like a Schwarzenegger/Stalone rivalry from the 80’s….

Your take reminded me of when Brian Smith first took over at Mizzou. They had Scott Barker on the team, who was a national finalist, but the dude was toxic (not AJ toxic, but still). Smith booted him from the team. A national finalist. i gained a ton of respect for Smith with that. Would rather have a good culture that builds good men than allow toxicity into the program he’s trying to build, even if it meant losing team points. Not to say other coaches aren’t trying to do the same with allowing AJ into their program, but makes you wonder how important winning is.

Obviously not my decision and he should follow his passion, but...life after college as a wrestler vs. a football player seems like a no-brainer to me. If he's truly good enough to play football at the next level (I don't know if he is or not...just saw he was one of the top LB's coming out of HS), I'm surprised he's spending any time not getting better at football. I'm sure that's a big consideration with putting on weight for wrestling. If he puts on an extra 20-30 pounds to compete better with the big Hwt's, does that impact his speed/explosiveness/agility/etc. as a linebacker.

Did I miss something about him not competing at conference, or is it just speculation because he was "injured" against Little Rock?

That's sad...they know that comments will be unfavorable for someone's birthday, so they turn them off. And they're paying the guy tons of money to run a program... So what is the problem, really? Is it truly Bono, bad administration, or lack of NIL funds, or...? Meaning, will replacing him make a significant difference for the program (with, say, Max Askren)? Or do they need better administration? More NIL money? What would it take to make them relevant and fill the seats? Clearly they'd have a great pipeline with AWA down the road, but is it culture or money that is turning those kids to other programs?

What is Max’s home life? Married, kids? I can’t remember the exact reason but why was it that people think Ben wouldn’t coach at Wiscy? Was it that his wife has a job where they live and their family is settled, or more so that he doesn’t want to “report to” anyone, has AWA and doesn’t need the money? Obviously I’d be ecstatic if one of them took over at Mizzou after Smith retires (no idea when that will be and not pushing for it), but would think Wiscy would be a much more convenient place than Columbia.

On the Mirasola's, I'm not sure they'd fit into any of the "big money" programs for transfer if they stick together. Iowa has Kueter, tOSU has Geog and Feldman, OSU has Merrill, Ross, Thompson. What other programs would have the money to throw at them to lure them away from PSU?

The Mirasola's are an interesting thought. Cole obviously slots into Hwt. next season after Kerkvliet leaves, but does Connor have a place with Barr and Ryder in the mix? My initial thought was that, as a package deal, they would be a great fit for OSU with Plott/Surber/Hendrickson graduating. Connor may have to cut in 2026 with Deshaun Ross coming. but Mirasola/Ross/Mirasola would be a nice upper weight lineup. Brayden Thomspon would have to fit in there somewhere too (imagine if he could make 174?! with Lockett at 165. Murderers Row!).

Any chance Mendez uses his redshirt next year so that the "Young Bucks" finish together? That leaves 141 open for Bouzakis.

It’ll be renamed “The Red Rose”, perfect for Bachelor Bo to win 4 years straight!

Maybe I’m wrong, but is it not early to assume BB sticks with his commitment? Is he liable if he switches in the next 14 months? tOSU, PSU, OkSt can produce alot of NIL money…not saying he’s after money by any means and hope it’s true that he wants to be a legend/take a program to the top. But…what are the odds he’s convinced to switch in the next 14-15 months? Thread title is to generate discussion…but honest question….

I can’t speak for others, but I don’t have a dog in the fight or care who they wrestle for…I just like to watch good wrestling. Maybe by good I mean aggressive, but my assumption is that most spectators enjoyed the Lilledahl and MM matches much more because they went after it to get their team as many points as possible. In my opinion, Starocci was more focused on winning his match than team points. Would he have been more aggressive and tried to score more if they were the first match of the night instead of after the team points didn’t matter so much? Who knows. But as someone else said, I would have thought a four-timer would have taken it to a true frosh more. But to your point, it’s just his style. For me, as a spectator, it’s not enjoyable…but he gets the wins. When I say artificial stalling, I guess I feel like edge wrestling and push out stuff shouldn’t be called stalling. Call it something else, I say. Stalling is when you’re not wrestling because you’re tired or not trying to score. Ferrari was active and attempted a few shots, but because he wrestled near the edge, he was called for stalling. Do I think edge wrestling is ok so that you have an “out” in case your opponent takes a shot? No, and it’s the right call. I just don’t like it being called stalling. Maybe call it edging?

I don’t have a dog in the fight…I just enjoy watching good wrestling. I think it says more about the sport than about Carter, but, the strategy to push Angelo out because he’s a rookie and doesn’t grasp the concept of “artificial” stalling isn’t fun to watch as a fan. Even without that, Carter won with the riding point because Angelo wasn’t able to get out on bottom (needs to be worked on more in HS). From my point of view, the entire team went balls to the wall to try to score as many points as possible with tech’s. Nothing against Carter, but I guess I expected him to do the same against a true freshman instead of just squeaking out a win. He could have taken more shots, but it felt like he was just doing enough to win. Again, nothing against PSU here, so the faithful can pi$$ off with that talk. Just my opinion as a bystander. For someone that is great, I expected more. Sans the fact he could be under the weather, which I don’t know. Regardless…great match by Angelo.

I don’t know if any of the Flo guys are on the forums, but I’ll be honest in that I really enjoyed the “Young Bucks” FloFilm, and have watched it several times, It would be really cool if Flo created a similar doc/flim as the crew of the original is exiting college. Feldman, Mendez, Bouzakis, Geog. Shumate, etc. Make it happen!

Yea, but if he would turn down $200k that could go to his program/athletes to prove a point, that's just stupid. And tells me that there's too much money in college sports as it is...

Someone else said it before...since he came back from the "incident", he hasn't been the same. I'm honestly shocked he's still the starter, but maybe the guys in the room can't beat him...idk.

Talking about rankings prior to NCAA's is a very skewed look. Half of the team s*** the bed at nationals. #12 Surtin went 0-2, #30 Moore went 0-2, #11 Gioffre went 0-2, #15 Mauller went 0-2, #22 Mocco went 0-2. Rocky took 6th. Edmond, Hawks, O-Toole, and Z. Elam were the only ones that performed as expected. Surtin was expected to AA, Mauller and Mocco were prior AA's. I agree that the future looks bright with the recruits coming in, but it's very fair to question what is going on. Why are there so many injuries? Why do we underperform when it counts? Is there a concern that these high level recruits like Mendoza and Rath will underperform? For years, Mizzou took non-highly recruited wrestlers (Lavion Mayes, Drake Houdashelt, Joey Lavallee, Mark Ellis, Nathan McCormick, John Erneste, Daniel Lewis, Grant Leeth, etc.) and turned them into AA's and/or NC's. Now, they get wrestlers from prestigious HS's or have a solid HS resume (ie. Allan Hart, Dylan Wisman, Clayton Whitting, Sean Harmon, Jayden Eirman, Brock Mauller, Jarrett Jaques, etc.) and they underperform or regress as they go through the program. Maybe it's just bad luck, but it seems like decisions made about starters (ie. Whitting vs. Hawks) and the constant injuries and lack of depth are increasing. My question is...when did this start? Did losing Clemsen to Maryland hurt? Was it when Maple came in? Not blaming anyone...just wondering why this is happening all of a sudden, and again, think it's a very fair topic and question...

Brian Smith...

Agree. Matt Manley is a great announcer, imo...

It’s on ESPN+ 9-7 going into 157. Walker got a pin; Edmond got majored by Saunders

I was thinking more of how we fit Hawks/Sinclair/Elam into the lineup next year. If he RS’s next year, he comes back with both of them gone and more mature. But, I really doubt we see Rocky in a Mizzou singlet again….

I agree with all of this. Where my mind went with him not redshirting this year was…you fill a hole in the lineup (agreed team points don’t matter…more about experience), but it sounds like he may be better served at 184. If he goes this year at 97, then RS’s next year, Hawks will be a RS SR, as will Rocky. Then Aedon comes back after they graduate with 3 years of eligibility, a more mature body and plenty of time to get to 184 comfortably, and fills the 184 spot for his career. My official guess, though, is Rocky retires, Sinclair stays in RS, and we see Hawks and him at 84 and 97 next year. Unless Aedon pushes Coach Smith hard to compete this year

If Rocky was considering medically retiring when Surtin did, it’s hard to imagine he would come back next year and go through the grind of a season again. He seemed burned out last year as it was, at least to me. IF he comes back next year, and we sit Sinclair this year, I can’t imagine they don’t bump Rocky to heavy or send Hawks to 174…don’t want to take a chance of Sinclair being unhappy by not getting into the lineup (see: Clayton Whitting). What I’d like to see is Sinclair come out of RS now, get the experience of B12’s and Nationals and hopefully run into AJ (and kick his a$$). Then, RS next year and be Rocky’s training partner and settle into whatever weight he’s going to go. Then come back with Walker, Mendoza, Rath, Steed, and Stillwell all in the lineup…

So I wonder if this means Rocky is done done, or if he’s coming back next year…