wrestle87

Ben Askren to the Oklahoma State Head Coach position is exactly what college wrestling could use right now...

A Pennsylvania school is very due. The small schools are hanging on by the skin of their teeth, and their programs are as low as they have ever been. I’d call either Clarion or Bloomsburg if I had to be that guy. Either that or a Cali school, much as I hate to say it. That state seems to hate fun, and any venture that is low overhead high return for that matter? ”Yeah…we can’t manage the overhead of some floorspace and a coaching position…[spends a million dollars annually on football gear]”

A question I’d love to find a way to craft some criteria around would be “who was the best in their prime?” Internationally, I think the best American to take the mat was probably ‘72 Gable, followed by 2011-12 JB. 100% unstoppable outmatching everyone in the weight by a country mile. Domestically, ‘02 Cael by a country mile. I’m a bit too young to be able to speak to what it was like watching Gable in college, that would be really cool to hear about if anybody on here was around for some of that.

You’re right, the actual hire happened when they told Esposito to move aside. I was just thinking about what someone else said about it being a state position. With an organization that big, 11th hour shenanigans always have a seat at the table, despite what we would all ideally hope for.

Or to see if a big whale name is interested in the position. ”Oh no Casey Cunningham/Kyle Dake have decided they want to be a head coach…thanks for making the trip Coleman, we appreciate the enthusiasm of all our wrestling alumni”

She is the greatest…to ever do what precisely? Score points in Big Ten women’s basketball? I’ll go with that. Getting carried away with equivalencies, despite being in vogue as a headline structure, doesn’t work because people subconsciously understand total parameters to performance. Respecting and discussing performance within the bounds that exist is respectful to the audience, not disrespectful to the players.

This is the right sort of question to be asking, but it's overall opposite ends of the spectrum. WBB is like Canadian Football, middle-tier interest in a high participation sport. Wrestling DOES have a lot to learn from combat sports and other niche sports that are growing quickly around the world, ultra-running, bouldering, etc. The competitive nature of wrestling gets in the way of the potential community aspect of the sport. Wrestling will see success as things continue to be more collegial and less of the zero-one "unless you win it might as well be death" mentality. This is changing with the younger crowds, which is excellent, but broadly speaking, coaches who are willing to be assholes for the sake of winning will always be an albatross around the the neck of the sport. Also, let's give the "it's homo" justification a rest. Wrestling enjoys its greatest popularity in the most conservative and religious corners of the world where homophobia isn't even sufficient to describe local stances towards differing sexual orientations.

You should get a better girlfriend...

I just went to check it out, I didn't see any availability through or mention of flo. It looked like a separate subscription service...which would surprise absolutely nobody...

125 - Lilledahl 133 - FIX!! jk...Crookham 141 - Bartlett if he comes back 149 - SVN/Kasak 157 - Haines/MM 165 - Haines/MM 174 - Foca 184 - Keckeisin 197 - Marisola HWT - Kerk

Mekhi has a LOT of wear and tear on his body, not to mention he's a pretty heft 'tweener. He's got the skillset to be very good in freestyle...but I don't know how many joints he has left to sacrifice at the alter of wrestling.

Well, at least we know where the gold is coming from...

Didn't Fix's dad get a Strength and Conditioning position or something like that at OSU when Daton signed?

Is the Cardinal & Gold collective the Iowa State NIL pool?

I'm not disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing, but cormier had five seconds of success in that entire match off a snapdown go behind, cael was in on his legs that entire match. Cael didn't do a great job finishing that, but that's a match cormier loses 19/20 times, maybe 29/30 times, the one standalone being him just bullrushing and getting a throw for points or a pin. It was the closest match he had in the finals...maybe in college even, but the match was not close. Cael had a number of leg attacks that were deep but he ran out of time on or got stalemated. I would also put DC in there as a guy who could give brooks a run for his money. DC lacked the leg offense to do anything purposeful against super top tier guys, but dude was a brooks level bruiser.

This is a very interesting idea, if they are planning on sending Hamiti 174 he definitely should consider the Redshirt year, filling into that weight class more completely would be very good for him. Maybe his weight cut has been too much the past couple years. That stuff can really add up mentally over time.

Thanks. That is pretty ballsy that he wore a shirt like that. That shirt doesn't exactly mince words. I've always been under the impression that the UWW is effectively an extension of Russia's wrestling bureaucracy, or at least heavily influenced by it. Is there any shred of accuracy to that?

I did not know that...and that is wild. Do you know which level he was suspended at (Russian team/UWW/IOC)? So many wrestlers who make it onto the Russian team have to navigate wild circumstances to do so.

The IOC seems to have strayed just a bit from these motives... The IOC and the NCAA seem to inhabit the same aisle at this point. For any who are unaware, when you compete at the olympics for a country like, Russia, North Korea, or China, you place yourself under the thumb of the government for the rest of your life. The trade off is a potentially more comfortable life for you and your extended family, because everybody in your family tree gets taken care of, but you also are required to stand at attention and do as asked when asked. It is a tradeoff that these athletes make to improve the lives of their families domestically. They also, have no choice in the matter. Once they realize success, they also immediately forfeit the right to have an opinion of any kind (what little was allowed) other than whatever the government's is at the time. So, they can either say nothing, or, if they are hoping to get a little more money from the next olympic cycle, they can be more outspokenly patriotic like sidakov. But do them the human favor of realizing they have no choice at this point. Athletic success in these countries perches them at the edge of a very high cliff. The view is spectacular, but they are also one wrong word away from being pushed off that ledge, their families with them. So, they have no choice. They can say nothing, or be supportive of whatever the party line is at the time, but to do anything else is literal jail time if not suicide for them, and their families. This is not an exaggeration.

I think '02 Trenge gives brooks a real run for his money. Some of those '97's in that era were absolute monsters.

I...I am never going to say that word ever again... It really is the WHOLE kitten caboodle

Penn is home to the premier Business School in the world....and has been surrounded by crappy neighborhoods for at least the past 50 years... Have you checked where Columbia is located?

Thank you, and my bad, I completely forgot about Dubuque.

Would be cool if he did, NU has a history of some pretty darn good heavyweights...but this is the problem NU will face with Michigan in their (relative) backyard. NU vs Michigan in terms of degree value...effectively equal. Michigan as a whole athletic department seems to be bought in on investing in the transfer market, this is going to be something that propels them long term. They have a department that gets it, their degrees carry weight, but they also seem to have a faculty that is actually supportive of the impact and importance of athletics on campus. Nothing is more valuable than faculty and academic departments that are flexible with class structure and supportive of making academics fit into a lifestyle that propels athlete success.

Sweeet, more the merrier, let's keep it going.