Hillbilly Jim

They certainly need a HWT. Some good young ones in the portal too.

Well....Webster is registered for the U20 US Open at 70 kg and not 65. Just sayin'....but IL is hurtin' at 125. I tend to believe Attasauov's post that he will be 125

What is the status of Ryder Block?

Why the RS for Zargo?

I looked on WrestleStat to check out these two teams and a couple other Big 10 teams. I know it is transitioning to next season but Wrestlestat is a mess right now…

Uhhh....$1M for HS recruit?

Looking at recruiting lists, seems like Storniolo brought in several 2023 recruits and several more coming in 2024. not blue chip top 25 P4P types, but they rarely get those…. similar situation with Poeta’s recruits except Webster of course!

Seems Illinois has maneuvered their lineup for one big year in 2024-25. They will be very solid but after that it is the Kannon Webster show and looks pretty thin to me as Poeta tries to get things established. Northwestern will have a few lineup additions that will help, but seems like basically a rebuild. Great coach and great school. It’s gonna take some big time recruiting….I defer to any of the NU experts for more insight.

Beau Mantanona will be quite a change of pace for UM fans—crazy!

Catrabone seems like a 157/165 to me. I haven’t seen little Mantanona recently so not sure. But with Catrabone’s Dad an alum, Adams on board for the greco at CK, Gilcher a local boy and Mantanona’s brother on the roster—none seem likely to transfer. The logjam may be up in the air long term.

He is legit. And I agree, not a huge 141 at all….sets up nicely for a great career at UM.

I would defer to your insight, but I can’t see how Adams would make 141 for a whole season. I can’t see Gilcher up at 157. Not sure who wins between the two considering Adams basically had a year away from folk and Gilcher had mixed results and that is generous. It is possible Adams could fill out to 157 by now—but not sure I see Gilcher succeeding up at 157 with his frame.

Screw Bormet and Michigan. I will openly root against them at any event.

I am no college sports expert so Help me understand your point. I hate nil and how stars from small and medium will get poached. I hope Michigan’s model crashes and burns somehow. But if I am the AD at Little Rock and Nasir Bailey leaves—why will I cut the program? I may not like it…but the program costs the same as it did before Bailey came there. Most of these programs have no expectation of beating the power schools—same as all sports. In fact, wrestling offers them a better chance to get an AA than say basketball does. Don’t laugh at me if I am missing the obvious—just sincerely asking why nil will cause programs to be cut? I ask because we the wrestling community are rightfully angered by what Title ix did to wrestling. But when we scream about how we expect wrestling programs getting cut all the time, I think it almost gives AD’s the go ahead and do it. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. So I am not apt to scream about the sky falling for reasons that maybe isn’t the cause unless I can understand why. And again, we agree—nil does suck.

What’s the word on Hamiti? Is he gonna take his time and negotiate for the best deal? Or does he already have it narrowed down to a couple specific destinations?

I don’t know about that—I tend to doubt it. They bumped him up to 149 against Northwestern true freshman and it seemed to me too much for him. Also, they have the Bennett kid from Ohio coming in who is a 149/157. Seems like best case scenario is if Byrd can stay at 133. Baysingar takes over at 141 when Pucino is done?

Facundo and Kennedy are the interesting ones. Do they leave programs that they seem to love? i don’t see Talshahar leaving. Coming off medical redshirt at a premium school with a so-so record and so-so hit list. I mean what’s his market? Where will he go and be the starter that would give and be a better situation? Taye to Michigan makes sense though.

I would love to see the stats on the at large bids. Which conference’s at large bids did the best (and hence maybe deserved more love from the selection committee). I realize maybe there aren’t enough AAs in the at larges to be statistically relevant so maybe just win %?

To be honest, I don’t see a ton of upside on this roster. Feldman has some. 125 has some I suppose. But I think Welsh overachieved in a very weak weight class. And by no means will Birden ever see 149 again. He is like 6 ft tall and I think went 165 this season. I suppose he is an upgrade over Hepner. PSU will kill them in the Tournament.

Maybe--but Chittum doesn't look that big to me. And Paniro doesn't look like a 157 either. And it is hard to say where Paniro will be in the fall after being out all year. Will be interesting....

They got some guy named Chittum there....

A little generous, but I will give Illinois 165, 174 and HWT. Minn 23 - Ill 9.

Keep going! 149, 157, 165???

Well they will also get a boost with Talshahar coming back next year. The medical RS would give him two more years if he wants them.

Depends on who the top wrestler is