Do Fix and Vito finish the tournament if they don't make it to the finals?

[BigRedFan]

16 hours ago, Eagle26 said:

That’s not necessarily true… Starocci just forfeited out of B1G and is competing in NCAAs in less than two weeks. It may not even have to be that bad of an injury to cause them to forfeit out if they are already in the consolations. It comes down to how much they value an NCAA medal… and if it’s not gold, I doubt those two value it very high compared to their Olympic dreams. 

FWIW, Fix and Vito have qualified for the OTT this year.  Starocci has not; he needs to win the NCAAs this week to qualify for the OTT.  Extra incentive for him to compete.

[NM1965]

24 minutes ago, BigRedFan said:

FWIW, Fix and Vito have qualified for the OTT this year.  Starocci has not; he needs to win the NCAAs this week to qualify for the OTT.  Extra incentive for him to compete.

Starocci could still try out for OTT even without winning NCAAs though, right? He'd just not get an auto invite and he'd have to work his way through the other guys, right?

[BigRedFan]

2 minutes ago, NM1965 said:

Starocci could still try out for OTT even without winning NCAAs though, right? He'd just not get an auto invite and he'd have to work his way through the other guys, right?

There are no "auto invites," except for those who earned them.  Fix via being a 2019 World Team member, Vito via being a Senior World champion in 2023.  Starocci has no such palmares.  His only way in is by being a 2024 NCAA champion.  There is a Last Chance qualifier on 4/5-7, which would give Starocci  less than two weeks to make 74kg.  So go from 179lbs to 163 in twelve days.

[CHROMEBIRD]

6 hours ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Fix also seems to draw more ire from fans.  Oklahoma State; 26 years old; perception that he is not willing or able to fire off leg attacks in big matches; PED suspension.

Idk about that. Fix get more than his fair share of hate, but if he loses this week it won't be anywhere near the shade that Spencer got. Fix has been killin it this season but he's been flying a little bit under the radar (in terms of buzz, I mean). Part of it is also the fans. The Hawkeye fanbase, myself included, had Spencer anointed as the chosen one and assumed he'd cruise his way to 4 titles. My jaw was on the floor when he lost to Ramos. OTOH, Fix could finally win a title or finish without one, either outcome wouldn't be very shocking to anyone. So, not much fuel for haters to burn him at the stake.

[Hammerlock3]

fix gets less ire than Lee because the only thing preventing Fix from being a walking meme is that Vito beat him in the semis.

[alex1fly]

2 hours ago, Hammerlock3 said:

yeah but wheres the line between trying to define him through one decision and refusing to acknowledge it was at least sort of gross? I think this is what makes it hard to talk about. Any fair minded person knows this is a gray area situation...

For me the line is crossed when as a fan you feel entitled to certain results, damn the context.

It'd be different if he just dropped out after losing, 100% healthy just butthurt.

[Hammerlock3]

1 hour ago, alex1fly said:

For me the line is crossed when as a fan you feel entitled to certain results, damn the context.

It'd be different if he just dropped out after losing, 100% healthy just butthurt.

Well you first sentence doesn't quite hold, because I'm not aware anyone who was entitled to specific "results," but you could argue that fans should be entitled to watching the thing they are a fan of.

The hard question would be, if he was healthy enough to wrestle for himself, why not wrestle for the team? No one has ever claimed he was hurt during the match.

I'm not saying you're wrong or I'm right, just trying to flush out the core of a tough situation.

[NM1965]

1 hour ago, Hammerlock3 said:

Well you first sentence doesn't quite hold, because I'm not aware anyone who was entitled to specific "results," but you could argue that fans should be entitled to watching the thing they are a fan of.

The hard question would be, if he was healthy enough to wrestle for himself, why not wrestle for the team? No one has ever claimed he was hurt during the match.

I'm not saying you're wrong or I'm right, just trying to flush out the core of a tough situation.

Over the years I've seen many, many instances of guys just forfeiting the rest of their matches after losing in the semifinal (not just NCAAs but other tournaments). That one Ness kid did it constantly back in the day. I think some guys just lose motivation if they can no longer contend for a title and 3rd place to them is no better than 6th place and they think they have something better to do with their time than wrestle 2 more matches. I don't know if that was Lee's motivation for defaulting out last year, but I have to admit I lost a bit of respect for him, especially after all that "warrior has no excuses" chatter from the year before. But ultimately it's not up to us, the fans, what those guys do and it's probably crazy of us to sit here and speculate on the whys and wheretofores on all this stuff

Edited March 19 by NM1965

[BIGTENFANBOY]

8 hours ago, alex1fly said:

Folks should cut Spencer Lee some slack. He was majorly hurt and probably shouldn't have competed in the tourney at all but he gave it a shot. Leaving the tournament doesn't "define his career" unless you didn't actually watch the guy wrestle over those 4 years. He was an absolute stud top to bottom and a real joy to watch. 

The reason why Spencer gets so much flack is a reaction/response to how he was put on such a pedestal. Literally every prediction made that involved him was prefaced with "if hes healthy." Every under performance was prefaced with "hes not 100%" or "he doesnt look like himself." "Spencer Lee is a once in a generational, greater than sliced bread, master of the universe." Pretty much adnausim.  Vito, the returning NCAA and World champ, has obviously been injured all year and you dont hear nonstop how he would be dominating the universe if he wasn't. Most of the hate is not directed to Spencer himself, its mostly to the annoying "If Spencer is healthy, he will walk on water" sentiment.  

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

14 minutes ago, BIGTENFANBOY said:

The reason why Spencer gets so much flack is a reaction/response to how he was put on such a pedestal. Literally every prediction made that involved him was prefaced with "if hes healthy." Every under performance was prefaced with "hes not 100%" or "he doesnt look like himself." "Spencer Lee is a once in a generational, greater than sliced bread, master of the universe." Pretty much adnausim.  Vito, the returning NCAA and World champ, has obviously been injured all year and you dont hear nonstop how he would be dominating the universe if he wasn't. Most of the hate is not directed to Spencer himself, its mostly to the annoying "If Spencer is healthy, he will walk on water" sentiment.  

AgaveMaria begs to differ. So does Rassling.

Edited March 19 by Interviewed_at_Weehawken

[Hammerlock3]

45 minutes ago, NM1965 said:

Over the years I've seen many, many instances of guys just forfeiting the rest of their matches after losing in the semifinal (not just NCAAs but other tournaments). That one Ness kid did it constantly back in the day. I think some guys just lose motivation if they can no longer contend for a title and 3rd place to them is no better than 6th place and they think they have something better to do with their time than wrestle 2 more matches. I don't know if that was Lee's motivation for defaulting out last year, but I have to admit I lost a bit of respect for him, especially after all that "warrior has no excuses" chatter from the year before. But ultimately it's not up to us, the fans, what those guys do and it's probably crazy of us to sit here and speculate on the whys and wheretofores on all this stuff

Yeah but I believe Lee didn't weigh in the next day...the importance being they lost his team points.

Is this not true, I'm only certain it is or was a rule in high school. 

[gimpeltf]

6 minutes ago, Hammerlock3 said:

Yeah but I believe Lee didn't weigh in the next day...the importance being they lost his team points.

Is this not true, I'm only certain it is or was a rule in high school. 

Kept place and points. Only a rule if no good reason like injury. 

[Lunaticfringe]

Fix will 100% wrestle back. Guys I can see defaulting on the backside………

Vito Arujau

Real Woods

Austin Gomez

Carter Starocci

Shane Griffith

 

 

[Wildcat92]

18 hours ago, Hammerlock3 said:

yeah but wheres the line between trying to define him through one decision and refusing to acknowledge it was at least sort of gross? I think this is what makes it hard to talk about. Any fair minded person knows this is a gray area situation...

Agreed that it wasn't a good look, but that one decision doesn't define Spencer for me.  He's a great wrestler who I think was clearly not 100% but wanted that 4th title.  It didn't happen so he ff'd out.  i'd like to think I wouldn't have done that, but who knows.  I'm sure if Iowa needed his points to win the tournament he would have wrestled back.  But regardless, I choose to look back on his career at Iowa and see the absolute hammer that he was and I'm really looking forward to the OT's and hopefully the olympics for him

[1032004]

I saw Minnow just say on Fb Vito has a herniated disc?  Anyone else see this anywhere else?

[PortaJohn]

7 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

I saw Minnow just say on Fb Vito has a herniated disc?  Anyone else see this anywhere else?

I've heard about the back issue from posters on our forum a few weeks back

[Crotalus]

He quit, plain and simple. I believe he regrets it but the fact is it now defines him no matter what his career brings in the future.

Defines him? Relax, dude. At this point, there's maybe a handful of people that even care (and they're all on this board). If he wins an Oly gold, there will be even fewer.