Most of the attention will be focused on Kyle Snyder, who is making his first international trip since winning bronze at the 2019 World Championships then promptly moving to Penn State to train under Cael Sanderson, Casey Cunningham, and the rest of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.
Though a small and local sample size, Snyder's Bill Farrell performance seemed to indicate that he was being prodded to be more open with his attacks. Perhaps most ironic for a wrestler new to training with Cael Sanderson and Jake Varner, Snyder wasn't spending much time in New York City attacking ankles. Instead the stocky upper weight chose a variety of mid-level attacks with quick finishes (and at a much larger volume than usual).
Snyder's new strategies will be tested at the Alans International where he is likely to face Vladislav Baitsaev, the 2019 European champion at 97 kilograms along with former nemesis Alan Gogaev and Olympic bronze medalist Magomed Ibragimov. The lineup is stacked and for Snyder that equates to an opportunity to expand on what's working in the circle and dismiss what has become stale.
To watch Snyder and the rest of Team USA, check out the streams on YouTube:
Saturday, Dec. 7 (local times):
10 a.m. Qualification Round.
6 p.m. Semifinals
Sunday, Dec. 8:
10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Consolation and bronze-medal matches
7:30 p.m. Gold-medal matches
Free live streams:
Tape A | Tape B | Tape C | Final
To your questions …
Questiion of the Week (InterMat T-shirt winner): Will the college wrestling season even be more exciting than in past years because we have a new No. 1-ranked team this year?
-- ponderosad
Foley: A new top-ranked team has an immediate impact on the interest of the public! To even think that Iowa can come back into the fold after all these years and perhaps win a national title is exciting for hardcore fans and of course the Iowa faithful. However, don't discount the national sports appeal. Most casual sports fans still think Gable and Iowa when they think of wrestling. The Hawkeyes winning another national title would get massive national coverage.
Maybe it's less important, but the fact that Iowa has the most interesting cast of characters is also helpful in driving interest and a narrative that the wrestling community can follow. An enigmatic head coach, the turnaround of DeSanto, transfers -- it all adds up to clicks and viewing hours.
I can say in all honesty that this is the most excited I've been about college wrestling in December.
Sebastian Rivera after beating Iowa's Spencer Lee to claim a Big Ten title (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)Q: I heard Northwestern wrestler Sebastian Rivera is competing for Puerto Rico. Do you think he will make the Olympic team? If so, how do you think he will qualify?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I don't think Sebastian Rivera is competing against any other wrestlers on the island who can stand with him, which means he'll likely win the opportunity to attend the qualification events of behalf of Puerto Rico.
In terms of earning Puerto Rico an Olympic credential Rivera has a pretty decent road at 57 kilograms. He can earn seeding points at the Ranking Series tournament in January and the Pan American Championships the week before the Pan Am Qualifier. If he earns points at both and the USA representative and Cuba's Reineri Ortega don't, then he would be on the high side of the bracket with a very clear road to the finals. His biggest hurdle would then be Oscar Urbano (if he's on Rivera's side).
If Rivera fails to earn his qualification in Canada, he will have one more opportunity at the Last Chance qualifier in May. That will be a much tougher road since any/all unqualified nations will send a representative making for some highly competitive and crowded brackets.
If I'm Rivera I'm all in on goosing the system to ensure I'm the top seed heading into the Pan Am Qualifiers. Really, really helps the chances.
Q: In the cases of wrestling being dropped at various schools over the years, there have been an assortment of reasons. Two of which are greedy athletic directors and football coaches who believe all money, resources and space needs to be for them. Yet, in all cases, even those that had absolutely nothing to with Title IX, the wrestling community blames Title IX. Not saying it's completely innocent but it gets scapegoated all the time. Why do we allow this inaccurate information to be thought of as fact?
-- @StonebrakerS
Foley: The Title IX storyline revolves around the implementation of Title IX from the 1970's to the mid-1990's and the (shockingly abysmal) inability of wrestling's leadership to quickly and appropriately respond in a manner that would achieve their stated outcomes.
Let me be as clear as possible about the cause of the cuts to programs over those 25 years.
Until as late as 2004 the philosophy for combating Title IX was to dismantle it through the court system and the executive branch. To those ends, wrestling spent millions of dollars taking the EEOC and Department of Education to court in order to upend their enforcement prongs. They also employed George W. Bush to create commissions and think tanks to come up with palatable solutions for the women on those commissions who (rightly) saw these encroachments as the first step to an unequal system. In terms of failure, it was absolute. There was no discernible achievement made to stem the tide of programs being cut. That means 25 years of abject failure.
It wasn't until the early aughties that individual programs sought to reach out to their athletic departments to finance solutions -- either through the creation and support of other women's sports, or the setting up of endowments to preserve and ensure funding for the sport -- that some programs were saved from the chopping block. These solutions were cash-intensive but when used have done well to protect programs.
The most powerful remedy to Title IX exposure has been … wait for it … abiding by Title IX by offering women the opportunity to wrestle! To think, if wrestling had taken that tact in the late 1980's maybe there would still be men's programs across the American South and California.
Football and Title IX aren't to blame. The blame is solely on wrestling for its inability to view the situation in terms of real politics and adjust to larger societal changes in a timely fashion. The rules were in place and instead of creative problem solving we chose to be intractable. The influence of football on the reduction of program numbers only happens because of Title IX and its rules prompting schools to counter balance their 90-plus scholarships and outrageous spending with equal opportunities for women.
Today, the sands are shifting again, albeit in a good way. Women are giving wrestling the upper hand at enrollment-hungry schools due to low cost, equal representation for Title IX, and a passionate fan base. However, those successes could be short-lived. As the student debt crisis gets worse, the NCAA becomes more equitable for the student-athletes, and a recession looming, there is likely to be new challenges in our sport that require strong mobilization and a long-term outlook.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Frank Chamizo at NYRTC
Musukaev is the man. Jump to 6-minute mark for the scoring.
Brandon Sorensen is fighting leukemia and needs support.
Q: Who do you see as a breakout wrestler in Las Vegas? Someone people are kind of sleeping on that will perform above expectations.
-- Mike C.
Foley: Can I choose Sammy Sasso? Seems like he will be placing higher than his seed (sixth).
My boy Cam Coy at Virginia is actually pretty tough. Unsure where he's at this season, but always thought he had a high ceiling.
There is also a better-than-zero chance Tariq Wilson puts on a show in Las Vegas. NC State wrestlers show tremendous year-over-year improvement and I'm thinking Wilson will be shaking up the rankings after this weekend.
Abdulrashid Sadulaev wore a T-shirt with an image of Imam Shamil during his award ceremony at the World ChampionshipsQ: I saw Abdulrashid Sadulaev was suspended. Can you elaborate on this decision to suspend him? Do you have an opinion on it?
--Mike C.
Foley: This is a pretty straightforward opinion from the international federation for wrestling. No wrestler is allowed to mix political or religious beliefs into the competition, and it looks like Sadulaev is no exception. I can appreciate his beliefs, but from where I'm sitting the decision isn't particularly controversial. Very cut-and-dry.
Q: Do you see it as a two-team race between Iowa and Penn State for the national title?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Yes, but it might be a one-team race if Iowa keeps wrestling the way they did against Wisconsin. Good gravy, they are wrestling like a team destined to achieve something special. It's early, but it's awesome to watch.
Q: Should Pilates and Pirates be pronounced the same, and if so, is it two or three syllables?
-- @ADChandra
Foley: Well, now that you mention it, yes. My wife is about to get a whole new set of Dad jokes, and I'm ever so appreciative to you for the opportunity to make her miserable.
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