What we know is the outcome of the matchup, but what is less clear is how we got to a place where two teams from the ACC are ranked in the top five in the nation.
Pat Popolizio (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)Virginia Tech, who is the only team to beat NC State this season, is ranked No. 3 in the nation in the tournament rankings and No. 4 in the dual meet rankings. Rutgers is ranked No. 10. Lehigh is ranked No.11. Three of the top five teams are East Coast and five of the top ten are within a car drive of each other for the first time in … well, forever.
So just what is going on? Has the East Coast become new the center of the collegiate wrestling universe?
There are many factors in deciding where to fall on this issue. First, there is an undeniable trend that the East Coast teams are doing a much better job or curating local talent. The "why" seems to be an increase in budgets and higher wrestling acumen of all first-year wrestlers.
The second might be the rules. Funk and the ability to roll around for extended amounts of time skews toward benefitting the East Coast wrestler. Iowa, Oklahoma and Minnesota don't encourage "spaghetti wrestling" whereas the East Coast has all but lived off a technical approach to this new trend in the sport.
The third reason might be luck. Cael Sanderson, Pat Popolizio and Kevin Dresser have their competitive roots in the Midwest but have journeyed eastward to pursue coaching opportunities. Add in Rob Koll, Scott Goodale, Pat Santoro and there seems to be an entrenched talent pool of coaches that is stationary for years to come.
Whatever the reason, the shifting of power eastward is likely good for wrestling in that it expands the media reach of the sport and accelerates the acquisition of new fans.
Still, nothing is concrete until after the NCAA tournament in March, which this year is being held in, coincidentally, New York City -- the media capital of the world.
To your questions …
Q: Do you think Iowa looked past NC State?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I don't. I think that NC State showed everyone they were capable of winning any match when they rode into Stillwater as underdogs and came away with a win.
The wrestling community has continued to underestimate the Wolfpack, despite their ranking. At first blush you may assume that a team from the ACC is ranked high and boasts a big record because they don't compete against a tough schedule. However, even a cursory glance at the NC State schedule shows that isn't the case. In fact, they wrestled THE toughest schedule in the country.
Iowa wasn't over-confident or under-prepared. They wrestled a better team and where in previous years they've muscled past these type of competitors, The Skip's team is not one to be bulldozed by anyone.
An incredible team, but I'd caution people from assuming the success at NC State is lightning in a bottle. There is a future to this success. The Wolfpack will be in the top 10 for years to come.
Q: I see that Adam Batirov is back competing. Do you see him winning an Olympic medal, possibly gold, in Rio?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Adam Batirov was a star for the Russians as recently as 2011, but has spent the past few years off the mats, likely deep in the bowels of Russia wrestling a bear.
I don't know why he took time off from the sport, but I do know that the recent changes to the transfer rules allows for a more lenient transition of athletes to new nations. The rules, which were adopted two years ago, make it easier for nations to purchase athletes from other federations, but limits those purchases to one per year, per style.
Batirov looked formidable against a weak field at the Asian Championships, but has a tough road to even making the Olympic Games. Now that he wrestles for Bahrain he will need to qualify for the Olympics at the Asian qualifiers in mid-March, or at one of the two World qualifiers.
Assuming Batirov qualifies, he would have an uber-difficult bracket. He may follow the leader all the way into repechage, though, where he would be even money to beat anyone in the world.
Still, that's a lot for Batirov to manage. Let's check back with this question when/if he qualifies.
Q: This has been the best season I can remember for the ACC. Both Iowa and Oklahoma State lost to an ACC team (NC State) for the first time ever. In the final dual team rankings NC State was ranked No. 2 and Virginia Tech No. 4. VT is also No. 3 in the tournament rankings which brings me to my questions … Has an ACC team ever won a team trophy (top four) at NCAAs? Which ACC team had the highest finish and when? (I know VT and UNC have been in the top 10 before.) Even as a diehard UVA fan it would be kinda cool to see a ACC team take home a trophy.
-- Dan C.
Foley: The 1982 UNC Tarheels finished fifth!
I'm sharing the same bandwagon boat as you in wishing to see a huge performance from Virginia Tech and NC State at the NCAA tournament in three weeks. Though I doubt they can win the NCAA title -- Penn State seems too mighty -- I see both teams making a push for the runner-up position. Of course, Iowa will have a say in the matter, too, but if these teams wrestle like they have all season I think you'll see the two best-ever finishes in the ACC happen in the same year.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Tom Brands post-loss press conference
Q: I really hope that Flo lays an egg with their coverage of this year's Pan Ams and UWW never utilizes their live streaming for their events. Call me a cheap skate, but the international tournaments that are UWW sponsored should be made available free of charge. Any chance you know if the matches will be made available outside of the FloPro pay wall after the tournament is over? It would be a shame to have the matches archived behind a pay wall.
-- Jacob R.
Foley: Yes, the Pan Am Championships and qualifiers livestreams will be behind the paywall and the archived matches will be available within a week of the competition.
I understand your frustration and know that it's hard to pay for a service after it's been provided for free since its inception. As you can imagine there are an incredible number of things on the agenda of an international federation that requires investment. Primary among these investment areas is sport development, which includes opening and staffing training facilities around the world but also extends to research studies, meetings and the facilitation of athlete participation. There are a myriad other ways to spend money on development, and that's only one of six departments.
Media, or the ability to provide photos and videos of competitions, is something UWW put on their own shoulders after the Save Olympic Wrestling campaign. Livestream, social media, photography, highlight videos, and an upgraded website are only a few of the items added to the user experience. That stuff costs money -- a lot of money. Whereas other sports have substantial coverage and usage agreements for these items, wrestling is forced to do all the heavy lifting internally, which costs money.
The Flo partnership will allow UWW to explore the cost/benefit analysis of putting select tournaments behind the paywall. All matches will still be made immediately available to coaches and within one week for fans outside the paywall. The immediacy of a livestream is costly to produce and seen increasingly as a premium. With less to take on and a burgeoning partnership, the perspective of UWW is that this may allow for an incredible growth of viewership opportunities around the world, including non-UWW events ranging from the Klippan to the Medved to the Yarygin. In the end a huge increase in the amount of wrestling available to the fans.
After the weekend you should be sure to let Flo and UWW know what you think of the arrangement. I'm sure there will be plenty of opinions, and all of them should be heard.
JohnMark Bentley (Photo/Rob Moore)-- Mike C.
Foley: I don't know all the ins and outs of Coach Bentley's situation, but I think that his results are speaking to the quality of his coaching. Nothing can directly influence the outcome of a wrestling program's season more than solid leadership. Coach Bentley seems to be leading a great class of wrestlers.
Also worth noting that the SoCon, with the addition of Chattanooga at No. 23, has two teams in the top 25, a first for the conference.
Q: Do you think Henry Cejudo has what takes to become UFC champion? Why? Or why not?
-- Gregg Y.
Foley: At times I've been a harsh critic of Cejudo for his lack of professionalism and career ambition. There was odd, lackadaisical behavior and the constant missing weight, but his behavior seems to be changing.
In his previous form I don't think there was much evidence to show he could punch, or wrestle, his way to a UFC title.
But now? My views have changed. To my knowledge, Cejudo's PR team hasn't been subbed out, which makes me think his recent spat of caught-in-the-moment training sessions only lends credibility to the fact he's a hard-working, dedicated-to-gold MMA fighter. If I remember correctly, only a few months ago he was seen in the background of a UFC Behind-the-Scenes living and training in the mountains of Mexico alongside current UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum. For me, it was an insight into where Cejudo wanted to take his MMA career.
There is little question right now that Cejudo has the tools necessary to be a UFC champion. However, I think that the 2008 Olympic gold medalist is up against an incredible challenge when facing Demetrious Johnson. Cejudo can certainly wrestle, but his talents will likely be neutralized by Johnson who can also wrestle and has incalculable quickness in the cage.
Can he be champion? Yes.
Will he be champion? I'm not so sure.
Q: What's your most anticipated matchup at the conference tournaments or NCAAs?
-- Mike C.
Foley: The ACC tournament. Period. No question. Some of that is homerism, but the competitive dynamic between Virginia Tech and NC State is must-watch wrestling. I'll be in Charlottesville to see it up close and will be sure to tweet images of these maniacs in battle.
On my NCAA excitement scale I'm logging in at a 10.
Q: So, can you explain why Penn State won the NWCA National Duals without wrestling Iowa? I don't understand this dual tournament thing. Another question about National Duals: shouldn't NC State now wrestle Penn State for the championship? Or am I just not getting it?
-- @german663
Foley: HEY! YOU! You just don't get it!
The National Duals are like the BCS pre-2014 where they are meant to have the top teams compete and the top two of those are competing for the national title. It seems that the NWCA was unable to place Iowa vs. Penn State due to the fact that they required non-Big Ten teams to wrestle Big Ten teams.
Maybe some changes will be made for the future, but your confusion and some bad press seem to be affecting the viability of events past 2017. The dual meet concept is the bee's knees, but there needs to be a wider publicity push made by the NWCA to ensure that fans know exactly what is happening and what this all means.
Q: Has @PackWrestle ever beaten Iowa before?
-- @caroten_158
Foley: First time!
Query of the Week
By Nick M.
I enjoy your work and look forward to it EVERY WEEK! As for the singlet, I was speaking to a high school coach in Oklahoma and his school is cutting nine teaching jobs! There are a lot of districts in Oklahoma that are doing the same thing. He said that he was told if they go to a "different" uniform option that requires them to replace what they currently have, the program will not be able to survive. Now I understand that this may just be a smoke screen for a different problem that does not involve the wrestling program. I just wonder how many other teams/clubs would be or already are strapped financially.
I disagree with you that youth participation numbers would go up if we get rid of the singlet. My experience has been that the kids/parents that are worried about the singlet are not be lifelong fans. After Johnny doesn't get a medal in EVERY tournament that he goes to, they will quit and go play a team sport where they can go eat pizza after every game. What happened to using wrestling as a way to combat childhood obesity?
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