billyhoyle

Even though it worked this year, it's a terrible idea to do it for the Olympics. If it weren't a terrible idea, you'd see guys like Dake, Burroughs, and Taylor wrestle duals every week leading up to their trials. Also, the Olympics are 1-2 months before the WCs, so there is less time to recover.

I don't buy that 74kg and 97 kg would be stronger than 86 kg in terms of depth, unless people are actively avoiding Yaz and Taylor. Why is Russia so good at producing 74 kg and 97 kg wrestlers, and all of a sudden so bad at producing 86 kg wrestlers? This lack of 86 kg wrestlers despite decades of being the best at 84 (now 86) kg. Maybe Yazdani and Taylor are just much better than the field, and the field itself isn't really that weak.

People gloss over this point with Dake. How many years was he the best in the world at an Olympic weight? It’s not his fault that the Russian team hasn’t been able to compete, but we aren’t asking if he is a great wrestler, we’re asking if he’s top 10 of all time. We all thought he would run through the Olympics, but his loss was a reality check. He showed this week that he is right there with the best in the world, but I don’t think you can put him above guys like Monday, Jackson, Tom Brands, or Kemp yet. He 100% can get it done on the biggest stage. I’ll root for JB in the trials, but of the 6 that I expect to make the team, Dake is the one I’d like most to see win because of this.

I agree with 1980 and 1984. For the sake of these type of rankings, Kemp is on par with the Olympic champions and most of the 1984 golds don’t carry as much weight (unless they won in 83 or 85 as well). 10 vs 6 Olympic weights is a good point as well, so if Taylor wins he has a strong argument for #1. I just wouldn’t put him there until he hits 2 at Olympics and 7 overall. For me at least it’s a bit of projection/eye test. If both of their careers ended today you’re right I’d say Snyder should be ahead. 1984 and HWT being less deep of a weight. There’s a strong argument to still have him 3.

Was this a controlled demolition too? How do you expect a building to collapse? 1. Osama Bin Laden says he's going to attack the U.S. and does so repeatedly overseas. 2. There is video of both airplanes hitting the buildings. Thousands of eye witnesses saw it happen. People got on those planes and never were seen again. 3. Osama Bin Laden takes credit for the attacks. 4. Somehow people still think it was a controlled demolition and CIA coverup? If this is a conspiracy, that means Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and many others are all in on it. Wouldn't Trump have blown the lid on this thing the second he took office? I don't get how people can see just how incompetent the CIA repeatedly is (no WMDs in Iraq, Bay of Pigs, can't control regime change in Latin America), and yet still believe they have the miraculous power to pull off the greatest conspiracy in the history of earth that involves all the news channels and thousands of witnesses lying.

Smash Burgers: great if you love your steaks well done and your pizza with pineapple on it.

The way he dispatched Snyder reminded me of how Mavlet Batirov outclassed Abas. Such smooth counters to redirect the attacks.

Like OP, this is my opinion. I consider the Olympics to be significantly more important than the world championships in terms of legacy, especially now with non Olympic weights. I also think 1980 and 1984 need to be considered on an individual basis. 1. Smith 2. J.B. 3. Taylor (he moves to second after winning in Paris) 4. Snyder 5. Bruce 6. Monday 7. Jackson 8. Mark Schultz 9. Lee Kemp 10. Dan Gable Dake is absent from my list but moves to 6 if he wins next year. Gable would be 4 if he comes back and wins.

Who else is chasing history? Or do you mean they are as a team in the potential run they can go on in the next 4 years?

Yes, he absolutely has something left to prove if he wins in Paris. If he were to win a third Olympic gold he’d unquestionably be the greatest American wrestler to ever live. Now, I understand if he retires and is happy with his career-it’s amazing-but there is still motivation to come back.

What are you smoking When has a team ever had every weight populated by a former world champion?

Olympics are a different level compared to non olympics weight WC. He looks like the best for 57 kg that the U.S. has-it would not be a great idea to risk getting hurt and go through all the weight cutting/travel of a full folkstyle season. Why don't Dake, Taylor, Snyder, etc wrestle a full season of duals prior to the olympics?

Interesting. Maybe he will do the Kyle Snyder partial folkstyle season approach? A full folk season is a terrible idea, but nothing wrong with using the conference tournament/NCAAs as part of his training. Seems more logical than being 26 years old post olympics and taking classes in year 8 on a college campus.

There is a questions of whether he can make it in a way that keeps him competitive.

And in freestyle you get points for flipping the other guy over. I agree that folk is more watchable now than it was 10 years ago, but freestyle is still the better product.

86* Happy?

According to what you posted: https://cornellbigred.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=75191 It sounds like this is the plan? 2017-2018: Redshirted 2018-2019: Competed 2019-2020: Olympic Redshirt 2020-2021: Covid 2021-2022: Competed 2022-2023: Competed 2023-2024: Olympic redshirt 2024-2025: Competition/graduate from undergrad

Wasn't he unenrolled for two covid years? Or he did the unenrolled redshirt first?

The following would be the greatest U.S. freestyle olympic team of all time (on paper going into the Olympics) if it were to happen next year. 57. Vito 65. Zain 74. Dake 84. Taylor 97. Snyder 125. Gable Can Vito and Zain make the weight? Does Gable finally realize that WWE is about Logan Paul and Pat Mcafee while he's an afterthought there-while also being one of the most dominant freestyle wrestlers alive? We have a lot to look forward to.

Unless the rules have been changed you can't compete as a graduate student in the ivy league, so he should be 8 years into his undergraduate degree. I think the rule was something like you have four years of enrollment to compete, so to retain eligibility they drop out of school for a year. But again, maybe things have switched since covid.

Why does somebody get a point in folkstyle for being let up from bottom? Or for running a spiral ride for a minute straight. Or from fans influencing the ref?

It depends on what his goals are with the move. He talks about the move as a quality-of-life decision (larger house, connecting with fellow alumni, and family familiar with the area) rather than the situation that will allow him to build the best program possible. Yes, he will still be nationally competitive and win team trophies at UNC, but it will be more challenging than at either Cornell or Stanford. Based on everything that has happened, it seems like leaving Cornell was more about souring with the place and needing to leave and go somewhere else than really being 100% sold on Stanford.

How much is the UWW+ tournament pass? Man, this news really kills my joke.