wrestle87

Please help, I'm not wrestling dumb but I have no idea what this means.

I will give Mesenbrink a bit of a break, especially as a freshman, there have been very few people who have been able to figure Hamiti out. I don't know regular season results, but the list of guys he's lost to in the Big Tens and NCAA tournament over the past two years are: Cam Amine (2x) Shane Griffith (2x) Quincy Monday Alex Marinelli The only one of those matches that, at least based on scores, really got away from him, was his 2022 quarter against Griffith, which was 10-4. All the other matches were 1 or 2 point decisions. I would not assert that Hamiti has evolved in anyway, but he must have a very goofy feel, and be surprisingly strong to be able to execute what he does on so many guys. For any wrestler to notch a "W" over him in their first meeting is a big deal, and I haven't seen any evidence of Hamiti turning the corner so to speak. He either beats you, and does it regularly, or you beat him, and that's kind of that. Long way of me saying, I think Mesenbrink is still on the upswing. To be able to tangle with Hamiti and come out on the upside in scrambles, especially when it matters, is not a small achievement.

Haha, sometimes the spirit finds me so to speak. I was referring to one C Piles.

I just realized I subconsciously assumed they would still throw Ben and CP in a closet somewhere and let them gab and gossip at each other.

But...but what would knobby mbknobbenstein and the cross country bunch do then... This is the best Flo wrestling piece I've heard in a long time. If they were actually smart and gave this guy the mic most of the time, they'd definitely earn a subscriber back in me no question.

This is what makes 165 so wild. Wouldn't disagree based on styles necessarily, but didn't Caliendo wipe the mat with Olejnik when they wrestled this year? Just did a google to remind myself of this score, this year it was 7-2 for Caliendo, but I had no idea they wrestled each other for 7th/8th last year at nationals.

Obviously hidlay the younger is not cutting much if anything this year. Hayden back in the day must have really been putting in the work with the plastics though, he was enormous for 157, I'd bet that's what ate away at him. Same vein, kemerer must have been cutting truckloads, considering he took a year off and then immediately jumped to 174, being arguably the biggest guy at that weight class. Bo Nickal was a rail getting down to 174 his first year. Lucas Davison mentioned in his interviews that he would easily bounce back to the 230's without even thinking about it while he was wrestling 197 at Northwestern. This is my favorite example of these stories, Mark Munoz tells a heck of a story, one of my favorites about being a wrestler for John Smith:

Reading that, I finally figured out why AD's and Higher Ed in general have always made me feel gross when listening to them talk. They all sound like the offspring of corporate HR whenever they say anything.

125: #18 DeAugustino over #2 Stanich #20 Poulin or #13 Surtin over #4 Ramos #9 Mckee over #1 Davis 133: (somebody already said it) bouzakis over fix Vito not making the quarters, he's both hurt AND in his own head about it right now. 141: Cole Matthews over Beau Bartlett 149: None, this weight is really up for grabs 157: Chittum over shapiro Andonian over Downey and Scott to make the semis 165: Two guys not named Ramirez and and Caliendo making the 6-3 quarter 174: This is the worst seeded bracket in the tournament in my opinion. Kennedy to the Semis, beating Conigliaro and Griffith Edmond Ruth and Cade Devos holding their seeds will be upset outcomes in my mind 184: Foca over plott (this shouldn't be a major upset, but based on seeds it is) Fishback or Stewart over Salazar in the quarters Rogotzke doing magic things to the entire bottom side of the bracket 197: I don't think anything in here other than brooks losing is that big of an upset, and I don't think anybody has it in him to give Brooks any sort of challenge. Bottomside bracket - Poznanski to find some old form and make the semis. Glazier putting on his work boots and pulling one out of hidlay just with size and "wrestletown usa" grit HWT: Bradley Hill to the Quarters over Trephan and Feldman Konner Doucet to make his semi Lewis Fernandes pulling out the ultimate leg ride to give Bastida more trouble than he was ready for

That is a great point, I couldn't agree more. Retherford and Nick Lee actually kinda looked that way in their first few years. Retherford still does, moves like a robot, he's just so strong that it takes an exceptional individual to get him out of position.

Mesenbrink may win a title by not having much defense, and instead just having a bottomless gas tank.

Espo is a great coach, I have no question about this, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard him get suit and tie adult style serious, which is something all head coaches must have. I’d think of him as a non-abrasive Mike Zadick. Dude has tremendous pedigree, talent, and connections, but just not the personality to fill the very big shoes that J Smith will leave behind. We have to keep in mind that when coach smith leaves, the success of whoever takes his place will determine career outcomes for a number of administrators at Oklahoma State as well. I love Espo in the wrestling room, but I would not pick him if I were the administrator. Also, gotta love the Okie State derivative tree. Pat pop came out of the same room. Going to have Espo helping him fight the powers that be.

That's not being a turd at all, Coleman has reinvigorated(saved?) that program in a rather clear fashion. Okie State wrestlers look better than they have in many many years. The last time I can remember Okie State wrestlers looking like they actually enjoyed wrestling to this extent was back when Jake Rosholt and Johnny Hendricks were wearing highlighter orange. Those teams had swagger. This team also definitely has swagger and a tremendous attitude (even though I root against okie state more often than not, old habits die hard), it's tremendous to have them back in a place where an electric orange singlet is something you definitely worry about having to deal with.

The freestyle development position has been an interim coaching holdover/placeholder/carousel position for as long as I can remember. Metcalf talked about taking that position before Iowa State pulled him in. In this day and age, USAW is another RTC for freestyle, though I imagine they play a larger role in Greco. Espo wasn’t exactly a freestyle monster, my impression was that J Smith said “yeah, nah you’re not the guy,” which is brutal considering how much he did for Okie State, but he saw the writing on the wall and moved on with grace.

Same, I knew a few who used them in HS as well. I think some of the trick is it’s an individual decision and it also tends to be below the surface and stay to whichever social groups exist within teams. There’s a lot of personal risk involved in reporting a teammate, 1) bc it’s the worst teammate thing you could possibly so, and 2) People know, so when big changes magically happen, and nobody does anything about it, you also as an athlete just learned what kind of atmosphere you are in and what adults care about in winning vs long-term health and safety. Any coach who isn’t completely rock solid at their school also won’t say anything, bc that goes out of their way harm their own career and endanger their position within the school, bc they are the individual responsible for the team in that situation.

Oh, c’mon, we know tren-bolony sandwiches are a staple at the highest levels of physical sport. Especially with NIL on the line nowadays, hells yes PED use will be on the rise, and evident on the faces, of athletes. Dead giveaway is the white t-shirt test. Have homie complete a practice in a white t-shirt and see what color it is after. If it’s on the face, it’s likely on the back and shoulders too. But I would like to be clear here, this is not to specifically point a finger at any one wrestler. NCAA is a for money league now, the stakes have been raised (even more), and we know guys were definitely on before money was on the line, now the percentage is just going to be higher.

Calling it right now, based on the 20% chance that all three of the big hitters are not in top form on the top side, we could see a Ruth vs Kennedy NCAA final. That stuff just happens sometimes, a bigten wrestleback round of 4 match becomes an NCAA final. It would be very on brand for Iowa and the Bigten overall.

At 174 I’m keeping my eye on Baker and Wolak in R1. That is rematch of the EIWA finals in the first round. Those sorts if back to back matches can be real surprising sometimes

Feldman at the 9 and Davison at the 10 is the ultimate “punished for beating your opponent” in these brackets that I can see. Feldman’s going to have a lot of work to do in the bloodround, and Davison has as much of a chance against Bastida as anybody in the bottom half of that bracket.

This right here. Going to be a tough semifinal for him though.

Hamiti and Carr both got brutal draws. That is so overweighted. Caliendo got a very fortunate draw. He can absolutely take out Ramirez on a Friday morning after a weight cut. Iowa doesn’t do a lot great, but one thing they are great at is showing up after a weight cut.

Calling that Stewart vs Rogotzke quarter, Truax pulling some PSU magic and seeing the winner in the semis. Salazar looks big, and I don’t think Rogotzke is a good draw on day 1 of the tournament for him.

Croo(k)ham I think will make short work of the resident geriatric at the weight.

This is for anyone who’s watched big ten broadcasts

Well, this (un)surprisingly feels like another bait and switch move by wrestling media. When do the actual brackets come out?