wrestle87

Anybody know where Cardenas sits with his degree credits? Woods muscled through in 3 years if I recall correctly. Cardenas could be ready for a masters in tidepool basket weaving (instead of the traditional underwater variety)

This is really timely, because this is the first time in a really long time that I couldn't give half a rat fart about what happens through most of the year. Is PSU good? Yes. Is Okie State an interesting story line? Yes, maybe, hopefully... But entirely to the point of what @Hillbilly Jim said, we have 4 months of season that really serve no purpose at this point besides...anything. The regular season simply doesn't matter anymore, at all. And coaches recognize this. We all also know that wrestling is a terribly punishing sport, and if you make it to the point of being a meaningful part of a D1 roster, your likely have hopes for wrestling beyond the NCAA on an international stage. We are seeing that, if athletes remain injury free, they can continue to compete well into their mid 30's. IF they stay injury free. Iowa-grinding yourself into oblivion by age 20 isn't the path forward, and it also turns out that it removes the fun from the sport, and hinders peak performance. This is why athletes are checking out of this. Also, important to note, the de facto college season isn't 4 months, it's more like 11 months long for the very best athletes. If you go to a top D1 team and you AA and compete for a title, you are also expected to make at least an age group world team and be competitive on the world stage. Age group and senior world medals are part and parcel of the RTC model. This is not a bad thing by any stretch, US wrestling has improved enormously since the implementing RTC's, but managing milage really matters. So, this might just be the price we have to pay for more spring, summer, and early fall success and excitement. Regular season folkstyle is just a snoozefest because...folkstyle is less important than it used to be even to college programs.

Came here looking for this. Also...hate to ask it but we have to leave room for these being cough [payme!] cough injuries. I haven't heard anybody bragging about Mizzou's bankroll, and obviously ASU losing theirs led to near total dissolution of their roster.

He discussed it in one of his interviews, he’s able to wrestle but is still healing in some ways. Cutting weight is too leg intensive, and would run the risk of unwinding or limiting his broader recovery.

Sounds silly, but I did actually find that this was true after years of full on gatorade. Gatorade is sweetened to commercial liking, not to hydration efficiency. Diluted gatorade and chocolate chip pancakes were the best post-weight cut food I ever had. It took a few years to figure out, but it led to the best wrestling performances of my life hands down. Of note, it was only effective in caloric depletion.

It must have been particularly out of bounds for you to be watching a wrestling interview at your polo grounds

Just read the match notes...the only loss being the #8 guy losing 4-2 to the #1 guy at 133. Techs across the board would still be "vulnerabilities" apparently.

At this point flo is to wrestling what NBC is to the olympics. Occasionally good, usually bad, but definitely in the way.

Concussions are just one of those things you don't mess with. Saying a kid is faking is 1) impossible to prove, and 2) extremely bad faith and the ultimate adult child response. We had a kid on our team in college, absolute world beater, built like a brick sh*thouse, total monster in the room, and on the mat for the two occasions we were able to get him out there. Problem was, he had an issue with concussions. Flick him in the forehead the wrong way and congratulations, he can no longer retain anything that he reads for the next six months. This is not to be messed around with. Wrestling is a sport. It is of zero significance against the livelihood and wellbeing of the people who participate in it as athletes.

I can see this oddly working out for him. He’s stubborn as an ox and has a gorilla grip. Free and folkstyle might just have been too gentle for him.

I'd just like to say, not everyone will appreciate the level of excel-ing that's going on here. But I see you. Much respect for your sheet enthusiasm.

This is awesome. Hearing one or two of his interviews over the years, I was blown away by his level of understanding of the sport and the degree to which he understood both the technical and mental side of wrestling in his own way. The only person I've heard discuss wrestling in that level of detail and nuance is Ben Askren. I felt similarly while he was at OSU, but the more I look back the more I feel like he really didn't have an option, "expected behavior" so to speak. Iowa State seems to really be turning into one of those programs for coaches and wrestlers who just love wrestling.

Though rare, there are people who simply perform better on these diets. Really comes down to the individuality of the gut biome. I personally despise a vegetarian/vegan diet. Makes me feel like trash. One of the biggest dudes I've ever met said eating vegetarian helped him sleep better... We pretend we know why this diet stuff works, but we really don't. Commercial science just makes aggressive claims for commercial purposes.

If you go watch the Bader Show the Chance just did, the editing makes a lot more sense. Part of it is about not rehashing old childhood stuff, but Chance also takes a ton of accountability in that interview, and it sounds like he intentionally wanted to highlight his own missteps and his own process back. He has received a ton of outreach from people, and sounds like he was pretty aware that he might well kickstart this sort of outreach. Understanding that he was going to be kicking off a new community start point, he had a choice to emphasize accountability and positive process, or to make the film a source of commiseration and "woe is me" introspection and ruminating. After listening to his interview, I feel like this whole exercise was about accountability and sharing his story of substance abuse to recovery. His interview with Bader is just as good as the film itself.

Yeah, I’d love to see hendrickson best kerk just for pride, but steveson is the best hwt in the world, he just to not apply himself. If he somehow doesn’t win, this weight will get the trenge asterisk next to it.

Is Mizz really bad at NIL, or has NIL really tanked the culture in that room? I really wonder what’s happening down there, they used to be world beaters.

Was very well crafted and structured, really a bit of a harrowing story, but you could also sense that, whatever the actual meat of the story is, they danced around it at Chance's request. It's an incredible story of vulnerability, resiliency, and the power and importance of relationships in our lives. No question, without his wife, Chance likely isn't alive today. She is the epitome of love the universe gives to you that simply won't go away and won't give up on you. Chance has done incredible things, most importantly, he is, unwittingly, the buffer between generations, and has been tasked with doing the work of turning whatever anger and pain he had fed into him from a young age into something more positive, kind, and caring. Seeing how much his wrestlers love him (his wife too) was an incredible testament to who he is despite his trials. What is so important to acknowledge here too is that it only takes one person, one helping hand to step in and show compassion in those early years to help Chance sidestep many years of anguish. Never underestimate the impact you can have by simply showing up and demonstrating that you care.

80% of the guys I saw take the mat in Okie State orange over the past 10 years finished their careers with a considerable amount of unrealized potential. J Smith was not building athletes, he was breaking them to try to grind out AA's. I don't care which team or athlete won, the enjoyment is in the surprise outcomes, but I do feel for guys who left a lot on the table, and who didn't realize their dreams for one reason or another. Especially guys who ran into coaching situations where the coaches were more about their own ego and legacy than doing what was necessary to progress the kid in a way that worked for the kid. In his final stanza, J Smith as a coach was not a positive influence on his athletes or his program. I respect what he did as an athlete, and the accomplishments he pulled together in his career are impressive, but he succeeded by standing atop the broken bodies and psyches of his athletes. Break 5 so one can succeed. That is the ultimate selfish endeavor.

Nothing, he’s just trying to invite people aboard the troller-coaster. The upper lower case is how little kids mock people online.

Jesus christ. Give the boards a rest and step out of the clown car my guy. You picked an interesting person to throw a fit at. There are few people who have rooted harder against fix in his NCAA tenure, and concurrently more for penn state, than me. No matter how you put it, J Smith/the culture of his room was an albatross around the necks of his athletes at the end of his tenure, he made them worse, not better. For fix to stay steady in that environment across that long of a tenure is extremely impressive because virtually every guy had a good first year or two, got injured, and then hated life bc of weight cut and mentally quit, or were too injured to compete. DT brings a penn state training ethos, which is much more centered around enjoyment and a balanced, emotionally stable approach to life, whereas J smith (and the brands/gable of old) were just rage, piss, vinegar, and lots of booze to numb your emotions. That’s basically how the entire sport was for most of its existence. The new guard is changing that, and absent that sort of a negative environment, I believe fix would have thrived far more than he did, and with the creativity of DT, would have innovated a great deal. That said, RBY came to cowboy rtc with taylor, ostensibly the coaching contingent there now is of meaningful importance to him. Minus taylor and friends, I don’t think RBY progresses above 3rd. And with DT, I think fix has the creativity and mindset, plus a better gameplan, for at least a 2-2 record in his finals matches.

Keuter is a classic heavy tweener, he has to push calories because being 215 is a liability at HWT. Tervel gave a great interview about this back in the day, he was a 220-30 tweener kind guy and really put on some mass after missing out on the olympics in '08. It immediately helped, but was quite onerous for him. Powerlifters, Strongmen etc also give major insight into what this is like. If you're REALLY putting in the time to be hwt competitive, eating is a full time job, and becomes pretty unpleasant.

Probably 2-3x champ if taylor is his coach. Fix regressed throughout college, carrying the brand, a struggling coach's career, and the ENTIRE Okie State brand is a really tall order for any person.

Even Zahid left.

VT is always a sneaky tough room. Stewart looked stale, maybe weight is an issue. I’m a jersey boy, gotta pull for hometown a bit, but not a lot to pill for. Poz is my favorite wrestler from rutgers in a long time. He looked like he was ready to hang up the shoes. The bump to 197 has not been positive for his performance. I get the weight thing, and he looks like he’s in much better shape this year, but he also looks like he mailed it in. He also practically just doesn’t have the style to make his smaller frame work against super lanky dudes. It’s a really tall task to attack the hips straight on at the big boy weights. Maybe he can give mark hall a ring and get some pointers about what to do when you are always the smaller dude.

The UFC broadcasts college wrestling matches on fight pass.