Enter: The Pin Chain.
The Ohio State wrestling team first passed around a large Ohio State "O" to 2016 NCAA champion Myles Martin during the match, but it was Olympic champion Snyder's image which went viral, leading to many outsiders, and wrestling diehards, to weigh in on the idea of the Pin Chain in wrestling.
Of course, the Pin Chain wasn't without inspiration. The undefeated University of Miami football program's "Turnover Chain" has captivated much of college sports. The large, golden (and gaudy) "U" logo is worn proudly around the neck of a player who recovers a turnover. The chain, much like "The U" in general, was met with a range of responses, most commonly a branding of "thugs," or interstellar levels of hype and delight. The former a dog whistle for all those "traditionalists" dolts who linger on the fringes of sport commentary to come down with judgement of player's values and work ethic.
Normally the crossover between football and wrestling is limited to weekly articles about how our sport can help support the development of their athletes, but with the Turnover Chain and the Pin Chain we saw a brackish mix of culture, race and reflection normally reserved for only football. The Pin Chain and connection to "The U" is a confluence of events that would typically send Wrestling Twitter into a hate-spewing cannibalistic gorge.
However, for the most part backlash against the Pin Chain was somewhat subdued, nearly underwhelming. There were fans (there are always "fans") who took issue with the originality of the chain, or the need to celebrate winning with anything other than a dead sprint into the locker room. But mostly it was approval. Kind, enthusiastic, positive approval.
As for Miami? Well, this isn't a column about football, but I'm hoping to see those guys keep celebrating their talents and hard work. Bravo, men.
To your questions …
Q: Why do people put too much on the All-Star Classic and the month of November?
-- @chunkofweave
Foley: Anytime two of the best wrestlers in the nation wrestle fans will buzz about the consequences. The wrestlers put in a lot of work this summer and I think that in this first match there is at least a little bit of insight into how they developed in the past seven months. The emphasis on the match is really just the celebration of the season returning. The All-Star Classic is a kickoff event that builds chatter and gets us wrestling folk firing off late night tweets!
Q: This may prove too difficult due to changing of weight classes over the years, but I thought it would be fun. Adding the old 118-pound class to the current weight classes, what would be your all-time NCAA lineup? Mine is below.
118: Sammie Henson
125: Stephen Abas
133: Tom Brands
141: Logan Stieber
149: Zain Retherford
157: Pat Smith
165: Kyle Dake
174: Ed Banach
184: Cael Sanderson
197: J'den Cox
285: Kyle Snyder
-- Jared W.
Foley: Tough to not have a significant bias for the wrestlers of recent years, but I think that you have a really nice collection of the top wrestlers from a few significant eras. Most of your chosen wrestlers are those with the most titles in the weight category, which is a perfectly reasonable manner by which to weigh them against predecessors.
As you mentioned, there is some issue with weight classes and the shifting over the years. J'den Cox at 197 and Ed Banach at 174 pounds both have credible cases, but then maybe you should also have Cael at 197 pounds? Not an easy task.
What are your thoughts on Ben Askren? John Smith? Jake Rosholt? And is Zain really the best-ever 149-pounder?!
Also, I would put Joe Williams on my list. All-time great.
San Francisco State coach Jason Welch coaching against Fresno State (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: I always enjoyed Jason Welch's approach to the sport, so it's great to see him as a head coach at the Division II level at San Francisco State. Thoughts on him as a coach? Also, do you think he has aspirations of becoming a Division I head wrestling coach?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I'm sure Jason would love to be a Division I head coach, but the San Francisco job was the perfect opportunity to ramp up his CEO skills in addition to refining his mat coaching. Many assistant coaches at the Division I program want to be a head coach someday, but it is very difficult to land one of the jobs, and even more difficult to get one where you can learn all the complexities that go into managing student-athletes, staff and alumni. Going smaller is one of the most effective methods in learning about programmatic leadership.
Q: Is negative recruiting rampant in Division I? Should Tom Brands/Iowa name names of who is negatively recruiting against them?
-- @dunkej01
Foley: The top programs are making the differences in their programs known to recruits. While some schools try to not talk about other schools in a negative light there is always a coach, athlete, alum or stakeholder who spells out exactly what is wrong with another place. What I don't think happens is that someone takes the time to travel to school X and only hears about how terrible school Y is to attend. The negative recruiting is deployed with fewer words -- slight comments meant to show the relative strength of your program to someone else's. This subtle burn is the most effective technique I've seen deployed by top coaches -- enough of the gossip to make you second guess, but not enough to where you think poorly of the messenger.
They absolutely should name names and tell the stories. I think that wrestling is ripe for some serious accusations of ethical misconduct. The only concern of course is that whoever fires those first shots be ready to absorb a deluge of criticism about that decision and potentially face the wrath of those they've outed.
Would Tom Brands want to risk damaging his name and that of Iowa wrestling? Likely not. He's a smart guy and he's making adjustments based on new information, but for now he's keeping that three-ring binder close to chest and letting the wrestling community sort out the rest.
Q: Minnesota is bringing in a strong recruiting class that includes top recruit Gabe Steveson. The Gophers signed five top 100-recruits. It seems like Brandon Eggum is really doing a nice job since J Robinson was fired. Are you surprised the drug scandal didn't set the program back further?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I'm not that surprised. Brandon Eggum was always considered a top coach and since what J Rob taught was a system it was repeatable by whoever followed. Would Minnesota have gone outside of the program there was likely to be some shift in their success, and likely downward.
The drug scandal itself really didn't hurt Minnesota's wrestling image anywhere except on forums and some national media. The wrestling community recognized the issue for what it was and seemed to support J Rob. Maybe the circumstances should have been handled with something closer to bureaucratic perfection, but few seemed to doubt the spirit with which J Rob led and disciplined his team. With his reputation much intact it was easy to see a transition to Eggum being easy. I am surprised that they almost seem to be to performing better since J Rob's firing.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
When college signing announcements go slightly wrong (HT Kyle Simmons) ...
#BeaverNation welcome the first new member of the 2018 Beaver Wrestling class, Jackson McKinney!#GoBeavs #BuildTheDam pic.twitter.com/QNfh8ct2xt
�" OregonStateWrestling (@Beaverwrestling) November 9, 2017
This picture is not of Jackson, it's my son Dawson Lieurance. Can you please give credit where credit is due and change the picture to a pic of Jackson! Congrats Jackson, but you may want to reconsider this committment if they don't even take the time to make sure who is who!
�" Denni Lieurance (@admlddb) November 11, 2017
Q: How does someone who hasn't yet wrestled at a weight class this year … or last … end up ranked No. 1 at the weight class to start the new year? Speaking of Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State at 125 pounds. He's certainly likely to end up in this spot in March, but to start the season?
-- The Doc
Foley: Rankings are an incredibly difficult job with a lot of moving parts. Most ranking bodies have guidelines they use to make the decision, but there are times when a wrestler moves weight classes that some ranking bodies force them into the rankings to ensure there is some type of human element correcting their previously made objective guidelines.
Q: I know that technically the All-Star Classic is considered an exhibition match. Some rankings, such as InterMat, considered the matches in their updated rankings this week, dropping Darian Cruz and Mark Hall and upgrading Nick Piccininni and Nick Nevills. One set of rankings ignored the results. What would happen if both Zahid Valencia and Mark Hall run the table this season and go into March Madness undefeated? Who's the No. 1 seed? Will the coaches/seeding committee pretend that the All-Star Classic didn't happen, or will they reward the winner of that match, Valencia, with the No. 1 seed? And this would be pretty important decision with Bo Jordan at No. 3. Speaking of BoJo, he has a lot to say about this. BoJo lost to Valencia last weekend and they could meet again at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. BoJo likely faces Hall in both the dual and the Big Ten finals. So maybe things will be clear. But is there any precedent or NCAA guidance for seeding when it comes to All-Star Classic results? And for the record, I think Bo makes it closer with Valencia if they do meet at CKLV, but likely loses again. I think Bo and Mark Hall will again wrestle close matches.
-- Bob D.
Foley: The NCAA does not consider the All-Star Classic for NCAA tournament seeding, nor do they consult the polls of any website. The NCAA has their own reliable (objective?) system. You're right that many rankings consider the All-Star Classic. I'm on the side of considering the results in the media rankings, but not in the NCAA rankings, since it might keep some wrestlers from competing.
Q: Bellator is doing a year-long grand prix heavyweight tournament in 2018. The participants are Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Roy Nelson, Chael Sonnen, Frank Mir, "King Mo" Lawal, Fedor Emelianenko, Matt Mitrione and Ryan Bader. Who do you see coming out on top?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Ryan Bader! He's been a monster of late and has only improved since hitting the Bellator circuit. But don't get too excited. The last time Scott Coker made a Heavyweight Grand Prix it didn't finish because the UFC bought Strikeforce.
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