NC State head wrestling coach Pat Popolizio coaching Kevin Jack in the NCAA semifinals against Logan Stieber at 141 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The current NCAA season is just not fashioned to the wants of the television audience. Tournaments don't sell on television because the early rounds can feel meaningless. If the championships are converted to something more modern and television friendly the sport could receive a much-needed bump in televised interest.
Cinderella sells, and unfortunately, for lazy sportswriters around the world, that means a team, not an individual. NC. State, in a position where more was at stake, could have grabbed much bigger headlines. But also the speed at which Popolizio led this turnaround could tell other athletic directors that an NCAA championship in the sport of wrestling is within reach.
The X's and O's on how to change the schedule of the season is difficult and political, but change is needed to keep up with funding needs of the sport and to generate interest among fans.
We've seen the ceiling for the individual tournament system, now it's time to explore how much further the sport can rise under a team-base NCAA championship.
To your questions …
Q: The word is Myles Martin is out of redshirt and will wrestle 174 for Ohio State, with Bo Jordan going 165. Nathan Tomasello is a returning NCAA champion, Micah Jordan looked fantastic in Las Vegas and Hunter Stieber could be returning next semester. Thoughts on Ohio State as a title contender? Too many question marks?
-- Mike C.
Foley: There are certainly way too many question marks to predict that Ohio State will win the NCAA title. Myles Martin, despite early season redshirt success, would be chief among those concerns. While winning in the background isn't easy, there is certainly an added pressure in wrestling as the starter. Martin likely won't be rattled, but we wouldn't know until his first match in a Buckeye singlet.
There are a lot of questions left to answer in the Buckeyes' year, but it's safe to say that after an NCAA team title and a World champion in 2015 you shouldn't underestimate head coach Tom Ryan or any of his wrestlers in 2016.
Q: How highly can a Cornell team with three national championship contenders, (Gabe Dean, Brian Realbuto, and Nahshon Garrett) but possibly zero other All-American candidates (other than Dylan Palacio if he can get healthy) place at the NCAA tournament?
-- Pat S.
Foley: Wow. I can't think of any team that has won three individual NCAA titles but not also taken home another individual All-American honor.
Rob Koll, much like Tom Ryan, is apt to get things done at the end of the year. His programs churn out four All-Americans a season, on average, for the past decade. That's really, really impressive. Playing the law of averages, he may slide in with three, but to think all three win the tournament would be statistically improbable.
Everything considered, Cornell would need a lot of bonus points from their winning wrestlers, a fourth and fifth All-American and probably a sixth and seventh wrestler to score wins in the early rounds.
Q: Is NC State a stepping stone job for Pat Popolizio? Clearly he has taken that program to new heights in short order, but do you see him becoming a head coach at a traditional wrestling power -- or Big Ten program -- when a head coaching position opens up?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I'm not sure. College athletics are strange in that NC State could offer him as much money as Michigan State or Oklahoma State or Iowa. After a big win against Oklahoma State he's proven that you really don't need that tradition to be successful.
There is no competitive disadvantage to wrestling in the ACC, and looking at it in three years, or four, I don't see why Virginia Tech or NC State wouldn't be in the title hunt. They are already within reach of a trophy in 2016.
The only premier jobs in the country are Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Penn State and Iowa. The rest, even places like Michigan and Arizona State, are probably not marquee enough for a coach to start over.
However, if one of these jobs opens up and they offer Popolizio gobs more money, then of course he'd need to consider his family and his future.
After success at Binghamton and N C State the wrestling world knows that success will follow Poplizio -- just how much that is worth to another school has to be determined.
Q: Henry Cejudo recently tweeted that he's spending time at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Currently he has no fight lined up. Following his match with Tony Ramos he said that he may try out for the 2016 Olympic team. Do you think it's likely we will see him at Gallagher-Iba in April or is USA Wrestling spending resources to advance the career of a UFC fighter?
-- Scott M.
Foley: I don't think it's "likely" -- but from what I've heard (and seen) he does seem to have a little more substance to grand plans he proffers to the Interwebs. If he makes an announcement to wrestle off for the team, I'd take him very seriously. If instead they find him a title fight, I could see him taking that opportunity.
Cejudo isn't too old, but he'll be 29 by the Trials and that, in wrestling years, can prove to be a little too long in the tooth for major success.
All that said, I think that his involvement in the event would be a very big positive for USA Wrestling and the media profile of the sport in general.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Fight preview
Weidman interview
Chris Weidman not thinking about 'Jacare,' Romero, New York or...UFC champ Chris Weidman knows Luke Rockhold is feeling the pressure ahead of his shot at the belt. Why? Well, Weidman now admits that cool exterior previously hid some nerves of his own.
Posted by MMAjunkie.com on Thursday, December 10, 2015
Panda has serious coordination
Real-life "kung fu panda" shows stunning skillsPandas are clumsy? 7-year-old Meng Meng will not agree. The giant panda demonstrated her climbing skills and performed various stunts on a five-meter-tall tree in snow that recently fell in northeast China's Jilin Province. This is her very first winter in the new home there.
Posted by China Xinhua News on Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Q: Let's hear your UFC 194 predictions on the final three fights …
Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor
Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold
Ronaldo Souza vs. Yoel Romero
-- Mike C.
Foley: Yoel Romero is my guy, but Jacare is scary with his submission game. Pretty sure we'll see a late first-round submission by Jacare off a takedown attempt from Yoel. Leg lock possible, arm bar likely.
Weidman will beat Rockhold in a unanimous decision, four rounds to one. I like Luke, but Weidman is much too crafty on the ground and has one of the sport's best coaches in John Danaher.
I think that I want Jose Aldo to win -- and I'm pretty certain that he can submit Conor McGregor -- but there is something about his behavior this week that reminds me of Anderson Silva when he started losing his touch and going batty. He sat down on stage yesterday with his legs crossed and answered questions. I know that he's not as outgoing as McGregor, but it still seemed odd.
I also think at times that I want McGregor to win. He's a watchable human and a big draw for the sport, but I just don't see that complete skillset for him to be a long-serving champion, like Weidman could be. He has zero ground game and in a sport where things go wrong all the time, I don't like his chances.
Aldo by second-round TKO.
Q: I heard Adam Coon is focusing on Greco-Roman this year in an attempt to make the U.S. Olympic team. Do you give him any shot at beating out Robby Smith for the spot?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Any chance? Sure. I'll give him a five percent chance, but I really couldn't ever see him beating Robby.
Oddly, like McGregor, I may have doubted Smith's abilities in the past, but each time he takes the mat I'm more impressed. He has an incredible front head lock, but as he's diversified his attacks, improved conditioning, and tightened up his defense he's won some big matches. I haven't seen that from Coon at the international level, though I'd be interested to see how he develops for 2020 in Tokyo.
By the way, though I disagree that he "won" the match against Makhov, I did hear a story -- through way of rumor -- that Makhov was telling people that he thought Smith was much more talented than he expected. Coming from a Dagestani wrestler, that's a large compliment.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
By Justin L.
When it comes to generating interest in the sport, especially from outside the wrestling circle, it's been apparent we have some work to do, but after streaming the finals from the Cliff Keen Las Vegas tourney I can really see an issue. As a former college wrestler and now high school coach, there is nothing I look forward to more than Saturday and Sunday streaming the college matches and tourneys to tune into the big matchups, but honestly even after being hyped about the Cliff Keen Las Vegas tourney it was hard to continue watching, not because of the matchups, they were fantastic but the way it was presented. Part of what made the "Grapple on the Gridiron" so successful, in my opinion, was seeing and hearing the crowd and the energy of the stadium. I definitely appreciate the coverage and what Flo does for the sport, but having an overhead view, and only hearing commentary with no other sound during matches honestly turned even exciting matches into snooze fests, and I'm a huge fan. We are trying to attract outside interest, so what does it do for them? I understand that the mainstream won't have a Flo account anyway most likely, but what are we doing in terms of promotion? Even tennis matches, you hear the crowd and feel the energy from the stadium when just viewing on TV. Shouldn't we feel that as we watch? Just a thought, not so much a criticism.
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