Eagle26

I’m not usually one for just throwing around accusations, but I think Russia has earned the suspicions. Check out pics of him from the Olympics and then pics of him later. It’s just really hard to believe a Russian wrestler looking like that is all natural especially when he seemed to begin to look a lot more natural after the doping scandals broke.

As a Burroughs fan, I’m still bitter about a Geduev. I believe there about a 99% chance he was doping, and that there’s about a 99% chance JB wins Olympic gold in 2016 if he wasn’t!

That’s a shame. The reality is though that these colleges are businesses. If a sports team doesn’t bring them enough income, what’s their incentive to add one? Obviously, they need to provide well-rounded opportunities for students to keep enrollment incentivized, but unfortunately wrestling is probably low on that list too

That’s a pretty short list of incredibly talented wrestlers! Interestingly, the only one of those three (excluding Meyer) to not win an NCAA title as a true freshman was Gable Steveson! I think it’s safe to assume Shapiro can compete for an NCAA title right away.

Personally, I would much rather see 12 weights for freestyle and scrap Greco. I imagine the majority of Americans would agree. But I also understand it’s not all about what we want. Greco has be a long time tradition of the Olympic Games. Many countries prefer Greco. It’s definitely a niche sport and the attraction for casual fans is probably never going to be good. But there’s many other Olympic sports that fall into that category too. I think we can promote freestyle and get that more mainstream without taking away from Greco.

That’s a fair point. I wouldn’t have a problem with it if sports betting was illegal period. The thing I don’t like is that for some people it’s perfectly ok and for others it’s so wrong that they take away something that means the world to them.

I personally agree we have to be very careful about how sports betting could affect the integrity of sports. However, what is the difference between an Iowa wrestler betting on Iowa football vs. a random Iowa student betting on Iowa football? The example was given that a girlfriend of an Iowa football player or someone else very close to the team could still bet on the game. I’m not sure I see the distinction in severity? If you make a bet involving your own team, they should throw the book at you. Other than that, what’s the difference? And yes, I understand he knew the rules (or should have). It’s his own fault and not a good look for his family and the program. I don’t think we should go back and change the rules for him. He needs to face the penalty as laid out. However, I do agree with others that it seems the punishment doesn’t fit the crime and it may be something to reconsider in the future

I never thought Sadulaev was a full sized 97 kg. He’s obviously not super lean at that weight. 86 is probably a tough cut for him. I’d guess 92 is about ideal, but he’s not going in a non-Olympic weight. He hasn’t had to make the cut to be successful, so why do it? Now he might need to though. It’s tough competition either way, but I honestly think 86 would be a better weight for him. That’s just by the eyeball test and no inside information though.

But Dake also beat JB multiple times who also beat Geduev and Bekzod multiple times

Equal in what way? If anyone is debating that they are equal in significance to the athletes and our culture, I think they are way off. Olympics are the pinnacle of our sport and I think just about everyone holds them in higher regard. However, you can make the debate that they are fairly equal as far as showing a wrestler’s ability. I’ve heard this argument and it has some valid points (although there’s valid points for why the Olympics are tougher too).

No. They should hire Pete Rose

No, now Sadulaev needs to make room for daddy Taz!

Fun Fact: For the first 10 years of his senior freestyle career, Jordan Burroughs was never outscored by a domestic opponent in an any match! He did drop a few matches by criteria, but I believe Kyle Dake in was the first to score more points than him in 2021 at OTT. It took 10 years and an all-time great to do it!

Yes he is. I’m not making excuses for him or Gilman or anyone else. I definitely prefer our selection process over Russia’s. I am glad the U.S. doesn’t just give the spot to JB or another star. Just pointing out that the downside of that is sometimes the wrestler who is better at beating international competition doesn’t always win the wrestle off.

I always respect your opinion, but I totally disagree with this one. JB won the world championships just last year AFTER dropping a match to Marsteller. JB has not regressed that much from just last year. Richards lost to a guy who lost his next match, and that guy lost his next match, and that guy lost his next match, and that guy lost his next match… I have a hard time believing Gilman couldn’t have done better. This happens all the time. In college I had a teammate who could always beat a guy in wrestle offs but the other guy would always do better in tournaments. Happens all the time. Marsteller is a great wrestler and taking nothing away from him, but he’s a prime example of a bad matchup for JB. He’s studied him, found a way to beat him, but hasn’t found a way to beat the rest of the world like JB has. It’s a lot different to train to beat one guy than it is to train to beat the entire world. Now, JB had a fair chance and I’m not saying we should hand pick the team. But to say whoever wins a wrestle off will certainly be the best against the rest of the world is not accurate IMO.

Exactly! I think some version of this may be the best compromise of getting the best team and controlling your own destiny.

There are pros and cons to their system. Pro is that they avoid the situation we sometimes have where a wrestler can beat someone else in a wrestle off but doesn’t perform as well against the rest of the world. However, it can also lead to a new up and comer not getting a fair chance. Tazhudinov had to change citizenship or he would’ve never been given a fair chance.

That’s fair. However, the distinction is that I was adding it as an afterthought. In other words, I think Snyder is ahead objectively by his hardware, PLUS, he had Sadulaev. I didn’t say it wasn’t a valid point that you made about Yazdani. It is valid. I’m saying it’s my opinion that in this particular situation, it shouldn’t vault Taylor over Snyder because if you apply the same principle to Snyder, he would be like an 8x world champ! That said I agree it’s pretty incredible that Taylor has basically become “Yazdani’s Sadulaev”. FWIW, I think Taylor will pass Snyder next year when he wins a second Olympic Gold. I hope Snyder does too and then he’d stay above him, but I think that’s a lot less likely.

I’m not sure how to do this but I’d like to post a picture of a guy with like six minutes of riding time and the other guy just flat on his belly. Then I’d say, this is why I’ll always prefer freestyle wrestling :)

Agreed. Micic had the tournament of a lifetime. Taz had the tournament of everyone’s lifetime!

I agree. I was making the point that we shouldn’t use that to bolster Taylor over Snyder

If we are going to do the “If not for (fill in the blank wrestler)”, why not do, if not for Sadulaev, Snyder would be indisputable GOAT American wrestler?

Did he just have the best tournament we’ve ever seen? Has anyone else ever knocked off two guys with 4+ world golds who are still in their prime? And in such dominant fashion?! Micic had an amazing tournament too, but not quite that good

All I can say is wow! Kid is legit for sure

I can understand a debate between ranking Dake and Taylor now. However, what is the possible justification for people putting Taylor over Snyder? Margin of victory or recency bias are the only reasons I could think of. Snyder has same number of world golds, same number of Olympic gold and more medals overall. Plus an all time great in Sadulaev that prevented him from winning a bunch more golds. And he did it all at a younger age than DT.