One thing that might be biasing us against Brands it that over the last....23 months we've seen a lot more of Kennedy on the mat than Brands. Make's him feel more relevant...
I almost said this myself, but I made myself check and he beat Dustin Plott, Micheal Mocco, Ethan Smith, and edmond ruth. Thats not a brutal road to 5th but there is nothing fluffy about that run.
I feel like kennedy at least in theory has enough offense to pull a few upsets, Brands seems very average to me, solid, but he's not outstanding anywhere. I think he was in last night because he is big an physical enough to slow down hamiti.
Yeah letting arnold speak for himself has been a great idea....the only thing I take from that is that Ferrari is gonna sit.
Your timeline makes sense but for me feels a little weak because it relies on the idea that Brands>Kennedy, which I don't think....but maybe I'm assessing them as wrestlers and not taking into account that Kennedy is just too small....
I don't think this i gonna be a good look for Iowa ultimately. I'm feeling no placer at 174 (plus getting crapped on for nepotism if they start Brands) and a low AA finish for Arnold, making him the most overdiscussed wrestler in the NCAA.
Brands at the press conference usually says, "we're going to put the best team on the mat", it shifted to "we're going to put the team on the mat that makes the most sense given all the circumstances"