Though a weekend (relatively) free of drama was disconcerting to some fans, the Pac-12 Championships sit on the horizon, a promising West Coast appetizer for the following weekend's packed menu of conference action.
I'll be on the call for the ACC Championships, a tournament that allows me to stay connected to my alma mater, conference and the totality of East Coast wrestling. While the Midwest still hosts the sport's most powerful colleges and universities the success of Penn State, NC State, Virginia Tech, Lehigh and Cornell has reinvigorated East Coast wrestling fans. For a local it's been fun to watch (and celebrate) that progression.
The increase in attention for the highly competitive programs on the East Coast certainly helps the growth of the sport, but nothing this season was more powerful than the Fresno State program's immediate success on the mats, and in the stands. The once-shuttered program welcomed an average crowd of more than 4,500 fans for home matches -- testament to how the passion of a community can drive and maintain ANY program, and should be the standard-bearer when it comes to motivating your core population.
To your questions …
Q: Any initial thoughts on the NCAA Division I qualifier allocations?
Mike C.
Foley: The Big Ten is nails, improving from 77 to 80.
The SoCon took a beating, losing 5 of their 17 qualifiers from last year to land at 12.
The EIWA is still more-than-relevant but lost five qualifiers to slump into 42.
The MAC was the worst performer, losing 11 spots to go from 36 to 25. (Much had to do with UNI's departure.)
The ACC captured five more spots and moved to 34, no doubt propelled by a nice depth of teams.
The Pac-12 had some highlights and added a qualifier to close at 22.
The EWL gained a spot with 18 overall.
The Big 12 also had a massive improvement, moving up seven spots from 38 to 45. (The conference added UNI.)
These were all general movements that you might expect year-to-year. The biggest concern is the loss of qualifiers for the SoCon, which is a conference that has schools in need of qualifiers and All-Americans who can propel their programs. Alumni and respective administrations need something to latch onto, and without more qualifiers those opportunities and accomplishments are even more unlikely.
Q: I had to laugh week when Mike C. asked you if Missouri could compete with Penn State. It isn't that difficult for Missouri to be undefeated when they have only wrestled one team ranked in the top 7. Which brings up a bigger point. The Big Ten seems to always be overloaded with most of the best wrestling teams in the country. Too bad the Big Ten couldn't be split into an East and West division. As the Big Ten is extremely tough and the win/loss records can be very deceiving compared to wrestlers in other conferences. Just an observation.
-- Bruce C.
Foley: Bruce bringing the heat this morning!
I disagree that his question was that crazy. Why not let Mizzou take on Penn State in a dual meet? That is classic appointment-level TV drama. Undefeated teams squaring off for … oh wait, you're right, as of now dual meets don't mean anything.
Assuming our community allows this most basic tribe vs. tribe tradition to pierce the veil of American Exceptionalism I think you'd find the match to be competitive and compelling to fans and outsiders alike. If the national sport can be compelled to make their NCAA Championships into a series, why can't wrestling? Is there a general lack of will? Or are we too scared to POTENTIALLY lose out on one well-attended event a year?
Jared Prince reached the semifinals of the Southern Scuffle (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)Q: I heard the Navy seniors threatened to boycott the EIWA Championships if Coach Sharratt started Jared Prince (15-3 record) over Corey Wilding (23-7 record) at 149 pounds. Both are solid wrestlers, but Prince seems like the better option. However, it sounds like they are going with Wilding and not using a wrestle-off to decide the postseason starter. Is this true? Or just a rumor?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I don't have any way of verifying the selection process at Navy. However, with most rumors there is often more to the story than what appears on social media.
As the son of a Marine I find it highly unlikely that the head wrestling coach at a military institution would succumb to insubordination, or threats made by senior leadership. I have four brothers and at no point did our joint protests yield anything except extra manual labor on the weekend. I've read the post by Prince's father and, as with all things, there are elements that I'm sure are truthful and some that it would be wise to consume with skepticism.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Snyder Sliding into DM's … kinda
@TheNotoriousMMA if you are ever going to fight Khabib, let me know. We can work on techniques to defend all of his takedown attempts. Best of luck.
�" Kyle Snyder (@Snyder_man45) February 22, 2018
This is WILD
Link: Russia's doping whistle-blower goes on the lam
Gottta Love Bonne
Q: I know we are in the heart of folkstyle season, but I have been wondering if you can answer this for me. What exactly happened to Espoir Nationals? I was proud to become a two-time Espoir All-American many years ago in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, I even kind of brag about it professionally as I market my wrestling past in a "get to know me" tidbit for my business. But I notice that the Espoir division is long gone, seems that now a days young wrestlers go from Junior level right into University and Senior thereafter. Was there no need for Espoir internationally as Juniors was expanded in age to meet University minimum age? Any explanation you can provide on the history of these changes would be appreciated if you can respond personally or in your mailbag for all to read.
-- Gus V.
Foley: In 1997, FILA changed its age levels. The Espoir level was eliminated and the FILA (now UWW) Junior level was adjusted to include wrestlers 17-20 years old.
You are a two-time UWW Junior Nationals All-American!
United World Wrestling added the U-23 category in 2016 and held the European U-23's, which was then expanded to a U-23 World Championships in 2017.
Q: Will NCAA Division I wrestling still exist 20 years from now? If so, what will it look like?
-- Matt R.
Foley: The NCAA Wrestling Championships will be around in 20 years! My gut tells me that the tournament will be team-based and that women will either have their own NCAA tournament, or will be incorporated into a joint dual team format.
The rules? Well, I think that the rules are gravitating towards something closer to freestyle and I wouldn't be shocked to see that trend accelerate.
Mark Palmer wrote a great feature on the days of a no-limit heavyweight class. Would you like to see that return?
-- Mike C.
Foley: No. Seemed like more of a circus sideshow than something meaningful.
That said, I do LOVE open weight class tournaments as a stand-alone venture, and would gladly pitch the idea to anyone you know interested in funding it.
Q: Iowa weighed in their 197-pounder and forfeited to ISU, giving the Cyclones their only win of the dual meet. Coach Kevin Dresser called it a "chicken-blank move."
Do you think he really believes that? Or do you think he's just trying to build some excitement in a rivalry that has not been competitive in years.
-- Mike C.
Foley: I think that Dresser both believes it and was speaking in a way that he knew would get press. He's a good promoter and has never shied away from the opportunity to speak his truth in front of a camera.
Cornell coach Rob Koll at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: I was listening to a podcast with Cornell coach Rob Koll and he said if he's a recruiting a kid and doesn't like the parents, he won't recruit the kid. I thought that was pretty interesting. Thoughts?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I'd agree. There is always an exception, but for the most part these teenagers are either mimicking their parents (not a good thing in this example), or they would rebel from their parents' teachings and be somewhat difficult to discipline.
That's high-minded. The real reason is that no coach wants to take in weekly or daily phone calls with a parent who is less-than-pleasant.
When it comes to coaching philosophies, Koll's theories always pique my interest.
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