Crotalus

Nice controlled win by Rocky. Some strategic stalling but he took the life out of Beard. Now to do the same to Brooks so that O'Toole can win the Hodge and OW.

Hidlay is not a given over Sloan. Sloan is looking tough.

I'm a fan of Lewis and would love for him to beat Star, but if we're being honest, this is only an interesting match because Star is not 100%.

Mizzou had a horrible first day, especially with three seniors (two returning AAs) going 0-2. But the 5 remaining actually all have reasonable paths to AA. Edmond (21) has Composto (22), then would have the winner of Crook (20) v Owen (30), followed by Vombaur (26) in the blood round. Now, I think he'll lose to Composto, but there are no major roadblocks. O'Toole (1) will have an opportunity for bonus vs Taylor (8) (glad Taylor beat Hall who always wrestles Keegan tough). Hawks (11) has Hopkins (28), followed by the winner of Conway (19) v Anderson (29). Then he would have Key (25) in the blood round. If Hawks is ready to wrestle, he can do this. If Rocky (12) loses to Beard (4), he would have Stout (16)/Stemmet(18)/Urbas(24)/Smith(26) in the blood round. Hopefully he can step it up against Beard, but it would be a big disappointment for him to not AA either way. I suspect Elam (6) the Bigger will lose to Hendrickson (3), then he would have to beat Catka(26)/Hill(25)/Szuba(18)/Griess(17). No AA for him would also be a big disappointment.

Defines him? Relax, dude. At this point, there's maybe a handful of people that even care (and they're all on this board). If he wins an Oly gold, there will be even fewer.

Agreed. Boulevard Wheat is one of my favorite beers and who doesn't like a good brewery tour.

I'm not a true local as I'm from Columbia. I haven't (yet) eaten at either of the places you mentioned. Perhaps others can comment on them. I will say, all the places I mentioned are famous for a reason. A lot of my local friends swear by Joe's and Arthur Bryant's is usually my go-to when in town. They are all excellent and you should eat at as many as possible. None of them should be avoided just because they are "tourist" spots.

I think MM would have to absolutely dominate his half of the bracket, which he is capable of doing (and then beat O'Toole, of course), to have a chance at OW. Reluctantly agreeing with JC that Starocci's path is actually set up for an OW run with two former champs in the way. O'Toole's path is difficult enough to compete with that depending on who is more... outstanding...

Cody Brewer was the 13 seed. And he dominated his way through the bracket. He should have been seeded much higher, though.

For food, just eat at all the BBQ joints. Arthur Bryant's, Gates, Joe's, Q39, Jack Stack....man, now I want BBQ.

This is actually not an uncommon occurrence. And the seeding won't be manipulated because of it.

Yeah, 5 would be the max, but that's not likely. Keegan is the only lock (knock on wood). Big Elam has been the next most consistent guy all year. Dominated by Bastida twice, but still a pretty solid chance. Rocky is hopefully rounding into form. After that, Surtin has a chance, but 125 is crazy. Mocco has not been wrestling great, but if he turns it on, he is the only other opportunity for an AA. I've given up on Mauller.

Am I behind the times?

Seeing on Twitter that Rocky got the 5-4 dec over Buchanan. Seems like there's been something going on with Rocky this year, so that's a big win over a guy he's struggled with in the past.

Anyone watching this that can provide relevant updates?

Ah, yeah. I was misremembering. He was rd 12 the previous season, though. So actually a bit of an underperformance last year. He needs to get on the stand this year.

This remains to be seen. Wasn't he round of 12 last year? And he's ranked right around there this year. He could finish anywhere from high AA to DNP and it wouldn't be a surprise.

They both lost to guys they should have beaten. Can't really blame USAW for that.

I was high on Yianni for a while, but he just hasn't made improvements for several years now. I'm over the Retherford/Yianni/Lee era and ready for Alirez to take over.

Yeah, you could potentially wrestle in a little as a week after a meniscus scope. With an ACL, you either have to hold off on surgery like Spencer or Kerk, or you're out for the season. That said, I've seen people walk (or continue to wrestle) immediately after an ACL tear. If a knee locks up from a meniscus tear (torn part folds up in the joint), you aren't walking until you can get it to unlock.

Since I currently live in Maryland, I'll add the obvious choice: Kyle Snyder.

TJ's grades were the problem. He was only able to get academically eligible for that one season (as heard through the grapevine). His size cost him in his two losses at NCAA as he couldn't escape from bottom. I heard he weighed in ~120 lbs, and he might have been 5' with shoes on. His arm spin was ridiculous. He would have been a contender if he could have stayed eligible.

I grew up wrestling with his older brothers. J'Den was born a monster. Wrestled up in age groups and weight class in youth tournaments to try and get competition (and the parents of the bigger, older kids would complain). I don't think he ever lost a state tournament after his first year of wrestling. He also had endless energy, at least as a kid. The bouncing around he does in the mat would continue all day long. No surprise J'Den is my pick for best from Missouri when looking at the full career, followed by Henson. High school-wise, I definitely got to see some incredible wrestlers in the late 90's- early 2000's, but TJ Hill was legendary (those Farmington kids were takedown machines). I believe he teched or pinned everyone his last 2 (or more) seasons.

Technically, he would be RS,1,1,1,1,1.......

It's a unique opportunity he has, for sure (as well as Brooks and Star, should they take it). And should he complete the feat, it will be part of the discussion for decades when discussing the greatest college resumes. I just strongly disagree that it would count for less than all the other 4 timers as you proclaim. All the other guys other than Dake took a redshirt at some point to accomplish the feat. It would be easy to argue that third as a true freshman is more impressive than redshirting (i.e. 3,1,1,1,1 > RS,1,1,1,1).