Winners Circle

I’d imagine Welsh-Ryan Arena. Where Northwestern holds their dual meets, also where Midlands used to be held.

Stole my joke…

Fair point. I just didn't know if there had been rumors about Ayala from actual credible sources.

I've gotten tons. It's almost unbearable. I'm using Safari. Let me know if anyone has any tips.

Does Ayala to OSU actually have any legs? I kind of assumed that was just silly message board rumors. He seems like a Hawk through and through. I don't hate the Hamiti over Brands pick. Especially with DT in his corner. I think his results will improve tenfold. But I'm taking the wait-and-see approach on him.

Good point. In that case you take 6 away from the Hawks and give 6 to the Clones. That makes it 19-12. Even if both Carroll and Johnson both got pins, it's still 19-18 Hawks.

Improved from playing football at Monmouth University to wrestling AA. Haha

Dual predictions in bullet points, NCAA predictions in sub bullet points. IOWA vs OSU 125: Spratley md Cruz 4-0 Pokes Spratley: AA (top 6) Cruz: 1-2 133: Ayala md Witcraft 4-4 Witcraft: 1-2 Ayala: AA (top 6) 141: Hughes dec Block 7-4 Pokes (I wouldn't fight you if you had Block by dec) Hughes: R12 Block: R16 149: Parco dec Jamison 7-7 Jamison: R16 Parco: AA (6-8) 157: Teemer dec Fish/Travis 10-7 Hawks Fish/Travis AA (6-8) Teemer: AA (top 4) 165: Caliendo dec Amine 13-7 Hawks (But I wouldn't be surprised if a change of scenery brings out the old Amine and he pulls the upset) Amine: AA (top 6) Caliendo: AA (top 4) 174: Brands dec Hamiti 16-7 Hawks (I wouldn't fight you if you had Hamiti by dec here though) Hamiti: AA (top 6) Brands: AA (top 6) 184: Plott dec Arnold 16-10 Hawks Plott: AA (top 3) Arnold: AA (6-8) 197: Buchanan dec Surber/Merrill 19-10 Hawks Surber/Merrill: R12 Buchanan: AA (top 4) 285: Hendrickson dec Keuter 19-13 Hawks (I wouldn't fight you if you had Hendrickson bonus points here) Hendrickson: AA (top 3) Keuter: R12 Close dual but I think we can all agree Hawks would be favored. NCAA tournament is interesting. Pokes have 6 AA's, Hawks have 7. Pokes have big bonus points from Hendrickson and Plott. I'd give the edge to the Pokes. IOWA vs IOWA STATE 125: Grice dec Cruz 3-0 Clones Grice: R16 Cruz: 1-2 133: Ayala dec E. Frost 3-3 E. Frost: AA (top 6) Ayala: AA (top 6) 141: Block dec. J. Frost 6-3 Hawks (I think this as much of a toss us as it gets) J. Frost: R16 Block: R16 149: Echemendia dec Parco 6-6 (I wouldn't fight you if you have Parco here. I just really liked what I saw from Echemendia at NCAAs and expect him to progress moving up a weight). Echemendia: AA (top 6) Parco: AA (6-8) 157: Teemer dec Johnson 9-6 Hawks (I think this is a toss up honestly, but I'll go with the returning runner-up) Johnson: AA (top 6) Teemer: AA (top 4) 165: Caliendo tech Rojas/Riggins 14-6 Hawks Rojas/Riggins: 1-2 Caliendo: AA (top 4) 174: Brands tech Gaitan/Riggins 19-6 Hawks Gaitan/Riggins: R16 Brands: AA (top 6) 184: Arnold dec Bockman 22-6 Hawks Bockman: R16 Arnold: AA (6-8) 197: Buchanan dec Carroll 25-6 Hawks Carroll: AA (6-8) Buchanan: AA (top 4) 285: Yonger dec Keuter 25-9 Hawks Yonger: AA (top 4) Keuter: R12 Hawks heavy favorites in dual format and NCAA tournament format. Hawks have 7 AA's, Clones have 5 AA's. Clones do have a good bonus point getter in Yonger, but I don't think it's enough. I think it comes down to Pokes/Hawks for 2nd & 3rd.

I think it's pretty understood Bob is leading this charge.

Is that how it works? Thanks for letting us know. I just meant I doubt Mr. Nichols is going to be thrilled to write a 1.5 milly check when the team still only finishes 3rd.

Going from 5th to 3rd (at best) is worth 1.5 milly?

I agree with you. He last went 1-2 at NCAAs in Tulsa (2023). Hasn’t AA’d since 2022. Didn’t wrestle a match in 2023-2024 season. Have to wonder if he’s the same guy he was over 2.5 years ago.

No

Love this take.

Kyle Parco.

I could definitely see it benefiting Ronna to train with Seth. But I don't see it benefiting Seth to train with Ronna.

Who do they plan on training with? Each other?

SHOULD NOT****

It’s official via his Instagram.

Sorry, that came off wrong. I just meant I feel SDSU is reaching their ceiling and should consider coaching changes. Did not mean to put them in the same tier as LHU, although I can see how it did sound that way.

I think it depends on the school and their expectations, combined with how they are doing relative to their expectations. For example, take Lock Haven. Small school. I'm not sure of their NCAA team finishes over the past few years, but seems like they're consistently a top 20 finish. Producing multiple AA's/blood round guys every year. I think that is about their ceiling, and they're reaching it. So I don't think they should make any changes. Same with SDSU. On the other hand, look at Wisconsin. I'm not here to throw jabs. But I think we can all agree they have not been reaching what we all think their ceiling is. Same with Indiana. I don't think a coaching change or two would be bad in these cases. Even though Lock Haven is on the same tier as Indiana/Wisconsin, we look at one as excelling and one was hurting.

I’ll be surprised if he’s not the guy for Iowa at 141 this season.

I think Brands bros are pretty high on Ryder Block, and rightfully so.

Yes, I get your point. But my point is, what major program would take him over their current roster/incoming recruits? A lot of mid majors would, obviously. But if that's the case I'd imagine he'd stay at UTC. I'm sure some major programs have reached out to him, but I doubt the offer has been lucrative considering they see him a depth guy.

I get your point, but his best win was Dylan Chappell, and he had losses to Hunter Mason (by fall), Danny Fongaro, Mendez, and Cole Matthews. He went 4-3 vs national qualifiers, and his wins were Todd Carter (3x) who was #32 seed at NCAAs, and Chappell who was #16 seed. Not exactly a killer resume. The 25-4 is a bit inflated due to schedule.