wrestle87

Yeah, whatever they were working on…it just didn’t work. It was the first time in a LONG time I can remember NLWC guys just look that off. Then watching spencer pull out the Iowa folkstyle playbook, even tougher to see.

The US team laid a bunch of eggs these past two days, plain and simple. Maybe resting on laurels, definitely a bunch of brain farts, and generally just quitting in the big moments. Maybe they all hung out with Noah Lyles and got the ‘vid, that’s the only way I can justify how spotty this was compared to what these athletes have shown they are capable of. At best spencer had a terrible game plan for higuchi, but that’s being generous, he really did nothing all match. Dake wrestled his old “chest wraps or bust” 2014-15 style, and completely forgot what a sprawl was. Parris basically gave up, and brooks stalled for the first time in his life, costing him a good medal. At least Miles Amine remembered how to go after it. It’s impressive to win a medal, but Dake should be in the finals, brooks should be a champ, spencer should be a champ. Parris was getting bounced either way, so can’t do anything about that I guess, but you can see he just stopped trying after he was down 5-3. They all know it and you can see it on their faces.

Single or double?

I do, at least I think so. The one I always think of is their russian nationals videos, one of the greatest videos they ever created. Back in the awesome Joe Martin and Bader days. https://www.flowrestling.org/events/5000279-2008-russian-nationals/videos?playing=5102961

Why is @Jimmy Cinnabon making a thread passing his own feelings off as those of “wrestling fans”….

I’m kind of astonished to hear this. He sounded rather done with the sport when they interviews him after world team trials. Can’t blame him, 99% of wrestlers end their careers that way.

Once we resign ourselves to the fact this is a solidly tier-2 or lower program, this will stop being interesting.

Coaches come in different types, disciplinarians, older brothers/uncles, hands off “that’s his problem” businessmen coaches, and coaches constantly patching up and covering up for their athletes when they do dumb stuff. The best wrestler to come out of ASU in the past couple decades has a documented baking soda problem. So much so that the AD took action, instead of the Head Coach himself. This is an AD at a school which often contends for the title of the biggest party school in the country. The bar for “moving the needle” on remarkable behavior is very high at ASU. There is no way you can be a coach and not know about things like “illicit habits” about your athletes. Dudes on the team just talk too much, you spend too much time together, especially when it is your program’s star athlete. Those relationships are 10x closer than with the backups. For an AD to step in and do something, making the announcement, etc. instead of Zeke, is a reflection of a dynamic that is a coach trying to protect his best kid in the short term (for personal gain), rather than help him in the long term. Both in High School and college I had coaches who would bend over backwards to patch up, humor, or cater to the “favorite son” on the team. It ruined team chemistry, and ultimately was pretty bad for the wrestler too.

This is amazing for Zain. He slayed so many demons today.

Especially in the NIL era. AA-ing is worth a few hundred grand. That’s fat stacks and no kid is going to pass that up. But even before NIL, nobody has ever questioned whether sauce was an integral part of football from D1 on up, yet somehow we just get magically blind and deaf when it comes to US wrestlers. It’s our sport’s version of believing in Santa Claus.

I mean when someone starts tapdancing this hard or peculiarly about adhd meds, it is because the ice is thinner than anybody actually knew. Also, skeptical eye detective finds it odd that said tapdancing is also on the dude with the most built body at all of NCAA’s. Taylor made the same Calavita special bump(hence that killer two car garage hairline), hard to believe he’s the only one. Our primary flaw as american fans is our complete lack of relative perspective. Yes, those big bad eastern europeans and russians would gladly juice to the gills, but our homegrown farm boys get ‘em with patriotism and hard work. [brought to you by NikeKelloggAdidasMorganStanleyMercedesRolexAsicsandNBC]

If I were Trent Hidlay and I was hearing this, I’d really have some strong feelings and questions about what exactly this dude who has been the ceiling to his career has been doing chemically for the past 6+ years. Jesus is great, especially when he gives you that yam-derivative jesus juice.

I was just about to ask “wtf?!” Steiber getting 1/3rd of what bo jordan is getting seemed a tad insane to me unless he is never in the room. Also, goddamn, good for Ohio State assistant coaches.

For any of you that ever had the terrible privilege of getting the funk from a match or tournament, that is worth every window you can possibly throw in. Everybody knows to stay away from the kid with the tube of Lamisil. Most wrestling mat funk (I’m not going to say all bc I am not a microbiologist) gets killed by UV rays, hence those neon deals they push around the mats at nationals.

Cael will keep this open until after the Olympics, then offer it to Dake, in the slyest move ever, limiting the options of the new #2 team in the country.

Oooooh, well that also changes the entire face of him coming in at Okie State too, old head coach throwing him a bone more like.

Oh dude……f*ing yikes. The ol’ “your pocket…now my pocket!” is a great way to get passed over for a coaching job. That sort of thing could be persuasive enough to convince a longstanding coach to retire too.

yeah please, little spark notes action would be great here

Real cop out answer from me here, but DT is the wrestling equivalent of Cael's oldest child. A few mistakes along the way (short-view staying at 74kg for so long), but ultimately 86kg was also a major gamble, there was no guarantee it would work. And, the reality is that whatever DT had to go through along the way are exactly the things that will make him a good coach. Good coaches aren't good just because they are good, they are good because they can identify where in a particular process an athlete, and they have experience overcoming obstacles that they can troubleshoot a way forward for that athlete that fits for their personality and style of wrestling. Cael's "whoopsies" moments with DT are major assets for DT becoming a coach. We think about Dake vs DT, DT has taken way more lumps along the way, and he's way more seasoned mentally in terms of being a coach and relating to others and developing others. DT is more like JB, losing has been so rare, that it monopolizes his mind and dictates everything he will be doing for the next 12 months. A coach needs to be able to digest and move on. So, world and olympic gold aside, the best thing Cael has given DT are the mistakes and hard moments, because they will allow him to be there as a coach. That was what made J Smith (and occasionally Gable) so miserable to be around at times. They hated losing so much that it inhibited their ability to be there for their athletes in a way that connected with them instead of just scared them.

Perfection. Somebody understood the assignment.

Now that’s just being obtuse…

If they keep anybody, they should keep Coleman. Whatever Perry has going on from a "lifestyle" perspective, it's not going to be a good fit for the new show that's coming to town. Perry would probably personally benefit a tremendous amount from being around this new group, but coaches need to be a heavy net positive to justify their position on a coaching staff like the one that is going to be coming in.

If they could do it for tournaments they may well pull off a number of all PSU finals. It would be insane.

Oh jesus, I hadn’t even thought about that. Is adderall on the NCAA list? That feels like something PSU would be all over.

The hawk environment needs someone who is a bit of a dick, has reached the top of the sport, and has enough salt to handle the hawkeye media when they get over their skiis. Jordan burroughs is a great idea. He is as salty as anyone, and would bring immediate relevance to the program that extends outside of the state of Iowa. The number of people nationwide who hear “brands” and think “woah!” has gone down probably 80% in the past ten years. To compete against Cael or DT you need a coach who is truly a gift to be in the room with everyday from the wrestler’s perspective. Jordan is the only guy left like that in the country. Snyder obviously has the mat skills, but he’s too soft spoken.