Kyle Dake defeated David Taylor at the U.S. World Team Trials in Madison (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)To review, the top seven finishers in each of the six Olympic weight classes qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which will be held April 9-10 in Iowa City. In all likelihood Taylor and Dake will qualify, but who they wrestle and how they wrestle is of incredible interest to wrestling fans.
Since both are coming up a weight class, neither will be seeded, making it possible that they could meet early in the competition. However, Ruth, the 2014 World Team member at 86 kilos who recently made a very impressive run at the Bill Farrell International in November, will forgo his freebie and compete at the Open.
Keith Gavin, a 2013 World Team member and current assistant coach at the University of Virginia, will also be also entered at the weight. Jake Herbert will not be entered.
Though it seems like anyone's tournament, the safe money is that come Monday morning the wrestling community will be talking about the resurgence of a refocused Ed Ruth more than they are the performances of Dake or Taylor.
To your questions …
Q: Has a true freshman ever pinned the defending NCAA champ in his first ever college match out of redshirt or was this a first?
-- Seth D.
Foley:I think Kaid Brock might have grabbed a little bit of history when he decked Cody Brewer on Sunday. I'm sure Coach Smith won't let him lay back and retire. There is a lot of wrestling left this year and he'll see Brewer again, probably multiple times, and it's likely the senior won't give the double overhooks as easily in a rematch.
Q: What is going on at Bloomsburg? They seem to be in an ever increasing free fall since John Stutzman left for Buffalo. They can't keep any new recruits on the team for more than a semester and at this point and time wouldn't be a top 30 Division II program. Is there hope for them to regain relevance, and if so is it under the leadership of Jason Mester?
-- Jake M.
Foley: I can't speak to the validity of the first two statements, but I have received a few emails filled with rumblings.
Truth is, there is almost never enough information available to the public, which would lend to a strong assessment of a team like Bloomsburg. However, like you mentioned, there is evidence of a fall in productivity on the mats. Maybe that's the turnover, or maybe that's culture and coaching. Tough to say. We'll see if any of Coach Mester's young guys can make it through the conference tournament.
If not, then the wrestling community needs to take note and if need be, action to see if there is a problem that money or support can solve. Despite being down this year, the sport of wrestling needs each of their Division I wrestling programs to remain intact and attractive to administrators.
Q: So, a few friends and I decided that we would start our own fantasy wrestling teams using NCAA wrestlers. We had the draft and picked our team members. I was wondering if you would be interested in giving me your opinion of my team? I'm sort of Bo-heavy, but that's not a bad thing. And, although I don't have a lot of No. 1-ranked guys, I think it's a strong team.
125: Joey Dance
133: Ryan Taylor
141: Joey McKenna (I was surprised no one wanted him)
149: Jake Short (OK, maybe not my strongest pick, but I like the guy)
157: Jason Nolf (this one has great potential)
165: Bo Jordan
174: Bo Nickal
184: Jack Dechow (if you are not in the Big Ten, people can forget about you. Dechow is great.)
197: Morgan McIntosh (my only current No. 1)
285: Brooks Black
So, have I got a shot?
-- John G.
Foley: You "having a shot" depends on the scoring system your commissioner implemented before the draft. How many points are you given for taking a lower ranked wrestler? Are you incentivized to take risk? (I think that risk is how a number dweebs at daily fantasy sites like DraftKings make their cash.)
I'd say you are collecting on no better than 20 percent. You have man-children McKenna and Nickal who could do the deed and a top-ranked McIntosh, but the rest seem a little reach-y for my tastes. Joey Dance is a personal favorite, but I don't see him beating Nathan Tomasello or even Thomas Gilman. Bo Jordan would have been a great pick to win had he stayed at 174 pounds.
Jack Dechow is a fantastic wrestler with the unfortunate luck of sometimes being overlooked given his 757 area code. Though I doubt Dechow will beat returning champ Gabe Dean, I do think that he is a favorite to beat Vic Avery and make the NCAA finals. Who knows, once you're in the finals anything can happen.
Also, if you can please post in the comments and let us know how you, or the commissioner, structured the league we'd be very grateful.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Seems like a sweet kid (unless you wrestle at 133 pounds). What an inside trip! YIKES!
So I guess you're getting Netflix …
Classic wrestling match in Lahore, India (now Pakistan)
Wrestling Match (Dangal) in Lahore c. 1944A Rare Video of Wrestling Match (Dangal) in Lahore won by Mangal Singh c. 1944Lahore - The City of Gardens - Collection of Rare Videos of Lahore: http://goo.gl/8WrFsD
Posted by Lahore - The City of Gardens on Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Guys in Russia are trying to stop people from driving on the sidewalk. A noble cause. Fastforward to the 4-minute mark to see a very nice hip toss.
Q: Two guys who desperately need to switch weight classes: Bo Jordan and Cody Brewer. Why on earth would Jordan go from 174 where he was ranked No. 1 to 165 where he's miles behind Alex Dieringer and would have to wrestle his cousin? Particularly as Ohio State just dropped a meet to Mizzou and didn't even try to wrestle the full squad. Meanwhile, Cody Brewer bumps up at the NWCA All-Star Classic and beats consensus No. 1 Dean Heil. Now he's struggling mightily at 133. Why not go up to 141 where a national championship is a sure thing?
-- Rick J.
Foley: I totally agree that something is off about Cody Brewer, though I'm just as willing to say it's an injury as it is cutting weight. What in the hell Bo Jordan was thinking is well past my pay grade, maybe it's a vendetta, or to help build the team? Or maybe he thought he'd wither away by NCAAs and not have as good a shot as he would at 165 pounds. Willingly giving up a top spot to take on Dieringer takes some stones.
Back to Brewer. Yes, he should move back up to 141 pounds, but not to run from Kaid Brock or anyone else at 133 pounds. I don't know if the weight cut is that difficult (he's obviously a tough human having won an NCAA title), but he is so tall you would assume that he could fill that frame and be healthy. We need more wrestlers to stay in the game, and while there is probably little doubt that Brewer is a lifer I'd hate to see him burn out, or fade away in the years to come because he was sick of the "other" sport of weight cutting.
Q: So Indiana beat Minnesota in a tiebreaker this past weekend, which raises some questions to me for the Big Ten. For as long as I can remember, Indiana, Purdue, and Michigan State have been in a race for who's lowest in the conference. With Indiana beating national powerhouse Minnesota (granted the Gophers are in a down year), and Purdue having success already with their new head coach as far as their current guys improving and the amazing recruits they have coming in next year, how much more scrutiny does Michigan State have coming their way over the next few seasons considering they have shown the opposite of the latter teams' growth?
-- Nick B.
Foley: Michigan State has charted their course with incoming head coach Roger Chandler. How effective will an internal hire be after almost a decade of lackluster results? That's unclear. Chandler may be able to adopt a new vision and hire assistants to improve the team's technique as he pitches big recruits. There is obviously something that Chandler brings to the table that the Michigan State athletic department believes can make them successful in the years to come.
Still, that will be a slow process and there will be plenty of wrestling fans willing to criticize Coach Chandler's every decision, every result.
On the other side of the coin there are plenty of other programs to look at in the Big Ten. As you mentioned, Minnesota is in a down year. How long will that last? What happens if Michigan underperforms given all the support they've enjoyed the last 10 years? How will Northwestern do with Matt Storniolo at the helm?
This Big Ten season will be one of the most compelling in recent memory, if only for the off-the-mat developments.
STATEMENT OF THE WEEK
By Andy L.
While I appreciate the new stalling rules and the officials zeal for following them, I have to question the calls against the bottom man. Time and time again we see the top man straddling, both legs in, or riding parallel not working to score and the bottom man gets called. Both men should be working to improve, but holding your opponent in a position where he is unable to gain his base while making no attempt to score yourself is stalling on the top man not the bottom. The top man should not be rewarded with stalling calls or riding time for simply immobilizing the bottom man.
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