Konquest

I can say with absolute certainty that there is a room in Wisconsin that has highly ranked wrestlers from Mizzou, Minnesota, UNI, and Penn State all wrestling with each other in the offseason.

Both Big 12 finalists at 133 transferred FROM Nebraska.

BTN saw the the popular viral content with Lucas Byrd and his girlfriend, so they decided to hop on the trend.

FWIW the Minnesota wrestlers say that Salazar, and not Gable, is the strongest p4p on the team.

Obviously things are a little different now with NIL and everything, but when Nazar Kulchytskyy from Ukraine moved to Wisconsin, he was allowed to compete at Fargo as a high schooler (he got 3rd) and at NCAA D3 (3x champ), but couldn't compete at WTT type events until he got citizenship. I've got to imagine a guy like Rin at Oklahoma State is kind of in the same situation, where he can rep an NCAA school but can only rep Japan in international competition unless his citizenship status changes.

JW got arrested multiple times for alcohol related incidents, something Williams takes personal responsibility for and doesn't dispute. At a certain point, a coaches' hands are tied when it comes to dismissing a student-athlete. Much better wrestlers, including national finalists/champions, have been kicked off their teams.

"Steveson" There is only one "n" "McEnelly" NOT "McNelly" "Keckeisen" there is no "h" even though it sounds that way.

Oakley from UNC has had some pretty nice wins in the last several weeks. Minto from Nebraska came out of nowhere as well.

Stephen Little would like a word

All time is Zain Retherford, Mike Sheets, Ethan Lizak, AJ Schopp. Currently Ridge Lovett (his teammate Brock Hardy ain't too shabby either).

184

How impressive was it that Cael Sanderson called out people who beat Sasso this year flexing like they beat the previous version of him. He's not the same and it is what it is, D1 sports is a big business, no room for sentimentality. Wrestling is tough as hell for someone in perfect health, and the fact that he came back to wrestle division one after a close range gunshot wound to the abdomen is absolutely insane. The closest thing I can think of is when Doyle Trout lost his leg in a car crash and wrestled a dual for Wyoming a few years later. The little social media thing where the buckeyes said who on the team would make the best coach, and damn near EVERYONE on the team said "Sasso" was telling of how highly his teammates and coaches think of him.

I think an interesting question is this: If Parker Keckeisen loses a close NCAA final to Carter Starocci, where does he rank all-time among 1x NCAA champs? I'd certainly put him up there with Alan Fried, Andrew Howe, etc. as one of the best ever 1x champs. Also, if PK were to beat Starocci and stop him from becoming 5x champ, is he in Hodge contention with guys like Gable, Mesenbrink who have no legit challengers? Or does the winner of this match get MOW at the tournament and Gable gets the Hodge?

No. Most were AWA attendees well before high school. Also, right now I'd give the edge to Max (Mequon/North Shore location) as far as D1 wrestlers. But all these kids have been training with each other for a long time. It's not surprising that Mesenbrink's closest match recently was with Scoles. Agreed on the "late bloomer" stuff, too, with some of these guys. Scoles would've whipped Mesenbrink in high school. Aeoden Sinclair or Connor Mirasola would've whooped Keckeisen in high school.

You say this sarcastically but it literally happened to Peyton Robb a few years ago...

NCAA finals? Psssh. Tech-heisen would feast on Arnold's legs.

There hasn't been a weight with as much separation between the top 2 and the rest of the field since the year that Dake and Taylor were both at 165. The wildcard though is McEnelly as he has smashed everyone, too, and they don't hit Penn State or UNI (or Oklahoma State) to see how he stacks up. I am a Husker fan/Allred fan and I have no problem admitting that he got smashed by McEnelly and Starocci and made into a meme by Keckeisen. I could see an Allred/Arnold rematch for 5th or 7th at NCAAs. It would take some crazy events for anything other than Starocci and Keckeisen in the finals, with McEnelly and Plott for 3rd.

Lincoln McIllravy sat for a good portion of his final championship season with concussions.

Barraclough?

He's a true tweener. I feel bad for these guys who walk around at 220-230 and can't be themselves at either weight.

If I were choosing a wrestler for young wrestlers to emulate it would be Parker Keckeisen. Every match of his has multiple things you can point to in terms of hustle, toughness, AND mat IQ. I always loved the guys who were one trick ponies...dudes who do one thing, be it a move or a position, so well that you know exactly what they're going to do and they just dare you to stop it. Jake Patacsil, James Flemming "The Snapper", AJ Schopp, Hell, Dylan Ness had a ton of success and he didn't know how to sprawl!

The Nolf-IMAR NCAA final was amazing. When I was a teenager the Joe Wiliams/Ernest Benion NCAA final was a pretty awesome one. Also loved the NCAA final when Steve Marianettii upset MacIllravy at CHA.

The Panther train literally built their own practice facility at an off-campus warehouse last season. Yesterday they whooped #4 Nebraska. Case closed.

When David Taylor and J'Den Cox were opponents at 86kg, Taylor started HS at about 90 lbs, and Cox started HS wrestling at 215. Interesting Trivia.

If you look at the Instagram accounts of college wrestlers, there are plenty of pictures of them at parties and bars, but rarely holding drinks. It's possible to go out and socialize without partaking, you know. Do the "dry" team rules mean that athletes can't go out? I heard a Bo Nickal interview where he said that he went to the bar a lot because his GF (now wife) worked there but he never actually drank in college.