Crotalus

My assessment was that he went in ready to control the hand fight, but his opponent was super quick on the shot and finish and was able to get an early lead. This seemed to surprise Lee, and he wasn't able to make any adjustments to his game plan and mentally crumbled. Lee is pretty one-dimensional, as he relies on a plodding, methodical control of his opponent. But the one dimension allows him to dominate 99% of his opponents. It clearly didn't work here. I think Lee is one of the best wrestlers we've had at 57kg/125lbs in a long time, but unfortunately I don't think he has "that dawg" in him, as the cool kids would say. He doesn't seem to handle adversity well, due in part because he always expects to be the better guy, and he struggles mentally when challenged. We've seen the intense self-criticism during interviews, but I think that we even see that creep in mid-match and turn into self-doubt when things are not going his way. There are a lot of calls for him to change training locations, but I'm not sure anyone can really fix this for him (not to mention the other top locations have domestic challengers). If things go his was, he can tech his way through the best in the world. If not, well, we saw what happened.

At least visually, this is quite an improvement over a few days ago. The haircut and shave help, but his face is fuller.

J'den Cox won gold in 2018 and 2019 when he would have been 23 and 24. He also had two bronze at 21 and 22, and a bronze and silver at 26 and 27, respectively. Just adding another data point. Seems to be plenty of examples on both sides of age 25. Time will tell about Carter. Personally, I don't think his age matters much, but don't think he's dynamic enough to become a dominant force of the senior level scene (but wouldn't be shocked if he got a medal before all is said and done).

Starocci scored a similar 2+2 against Marsteller. It's not wrong, technically. But I always thought it was strange that if you expose them right after the takedown (but they have not yet gotten to a defensive position) you get 2+2. But if you expose them first and then secured the "takedown", for example a chest wrap where the opponent then bellies out and you spin around on top, you only get 2 for exposure and no takedown points are awarded.

Or a future rapper.

It's crazy that a D1 AA beating two high schoolers in a row is considered impressive. You have a good point regarding Bo using his physicality to overwhelm other high school kids. He's not a slick wrestler, seeming to prefer snap down-go behinds. That will be tougher to do at higher levels in both folk and free. Will he plateau or continue to develop? I wouldn't say that Chance is a good comparison, though, as his issues we more off the mat. His career would have been very different without all that, in my opinion.

Is Barr staying at 197? If so, are the Mirasolas really going to stick around?

Did it? I'm at my in-laws for dinner, and none of them even knew the NCAA tournament was this past weekend. Didn't see anything on ESPNs main page or on social media, either. He was only there to make a spectacle, as that's all he is good for.

Yeah, it sounds like it should be a big deal. But does anyone care?

The big criticism I remember of Lee was that if he had won, he would have still wrestled the finals. Is that not true of Kerk? It did not appear that his injury worsened in the semifinals match..... (For the record, I'm not a fan of criticizing any of these wrestlers. Except AJ.)

Yeah, not so fast. AJ, after placing third, stated in his Flo interview that he is going to win three more national championships, maybe four more if they award him a fifth year. I also suspect he is not good at math. Hell, maybe that's too generous. He's not even good at counting.

Ferrari giving out free colonoscopies.

That was certainly Seymour's approach. But the officiating was fine. Perhaps the nerves got to LL. He didn't fully commit to his attacks and didn't push enough to earn a stall call. An unsatisfactory match to watch all around. Reminded me of every Jason Tsirtis match ever.

DT trying to break his knee in frustration leaves a bad taste in your mouth with J'den? OK, dude.

He may not top the list, but J'den at least needs to be mentioned (other than in WKN's list). Not quite as dominant or dynamic as some of the others, but he won his first as a true freshman and did not take a RS at any point. And he is one of the few to win an Olympic medal while still in college. Only five career losses, one of which was a questionable DQ (in my opinion).