BAC

Would that still be your choice if you or your daughter were Muslim, or you had Muslims in your family? Honestly, I like Brooks, a lot, and respect his religious views, but I'd need to know his proselytizing wasn't going to put undue pressure on my kid to conform to his worldview to be contemptuous of other religions. Otherwise its disqualifying. I don't think DeSanto deserves to be lumped in with A and B. Three or even two years ago, yes, but to my eyes, he has grown and matured a good bit.

Link? Curious to read that.

I'm not suggesting Brands is suddenly going to get weak-kneed just because a recruit threw a punch and flipped the bird. Or even that it was an Iowa guy he did it to. Brands has always operated on the periphery, on the outer edges of the ethical, recasting unsportsmanlike conduct as merely being "passionate." Just look at his vocal defense of Rathjen's antics. I think the bigger issues are (1) he did it to the crowd, turning the entire Iowa crowd passionately against AJ., and (2) he just wasn't that good. The whole reason that Brands was willing to take a chance on AJ is he wants to win at all costs, and he wants to win at all costs because that keeps Iowa fans and admin on his side. But if Iowans do NOT want AJ -- and as of now, clearly they won't -- then the wins AJ brings won't matter. Brands now risks having his own guy get booed if he puts AJ on the mat, and that's worse for Brands' job security than losing. Maybe Iowa fans could get over it if AJ was suddenly the key to winning NCAAs, e.g. that Iowa was just one stud away from beating PSU, and the antics happened after AJ just finished tech-pinning Glazier. But in fact, AJ was barely a rounding error better than Glazier. He likely wouldn't create many if any new team wins, and sure wouldn't going to put them over the hump against PSU. In short, I'm not putting Brands on a pedestal and thinking he'll suddenly get all moral on us, but his cold "win at all costs" calculus no longer helps AJ.

Completely reasonable. Though I suspect Anthony leaves with AJ, and that Angelo decommits in fealty to his brothers, I do hope Angelo stays. You but have to think he'd be better off far from home, with his brothers not there, so he's able develop his character without their (especially AJ's) influence.

I think I won the internet yesterday.

Local Iowa media aren't exactly know for their hard-hitting journalism. They know Tom will block them from future access if they ask something he doesn't want to answer. So instead they nibble at the edges, to see if he wants to "go there," as when he was asked about Glazier's match, and about Glazier "making a statement." Plenty of room for him in that open-ended question for Brands to speak to the elephant in the elephant in the room, but he ducked it. All the feeble Iowa "reporters" took their cue and went back to lobbing softballs.

You can always count on Tom to stand up for what's right, tolerate no BS, and tell it like it is: Haha just kidding! He totally ducks the AJ fiasco, and only mentions the Anthony/Caleb R match to commend Caleb for his post-match antics.

I mean, the scandal would be if he *didn't* get DQ'd. I mean, what else do you have to do?

That's a pretty good diss of Ferrari right there. It was obviously *intended* as a punch, but the fact that you found it too pathetic to even register as an *actual* punch is pretty awesome.

Not a great look!? That's by FAR the best tan Iowa has ever seen.

Here's the reality folks: 1. That's the last college wrestling match you'll ever see AJ wrestle. Not just Iowa, but anywhere. If the punch wasn't bad enough, he gave the bird too, and then gave the bird to the whole stadium -- full of HIS supposed fans. No one is taking him now. He's done. Its straight-to-MMA now. 2. Anthony's leaving too. He's clearly not a favorite on the team with Caleb so gleefully shoving and clowning on him. They're probably still bitter about him causing Chittum's departure. Even if he might have stuck it out after his scuffle tonight, there's no way he's staying after AJ's antics. There will be lots of spillover on him, and he won't want to stay. 3. Angelo decommits in solidarity with his brothers. Not that Iowa is going to run him out of town the way they will AJ and Anthony, but here's the problem: (1) after tonight, the Ferrari name is pure poison in Iowa City, and Angelo will pick up on that real quick, and (2) blood is thicker than water, and if AJ/Anthony storm out of Iowa City in disgust, it would be an insult to his brothers if Angelo stuck around. That's it folks. End of the Iowa/Ferrari experiment.

As a not-Iowa fan, I'm VERY disappointed in the Ferraris' behavior. Not that it happened. But that it happened so soon. I would have FAR preferred it if they had actually committed scholly dollars to AJ, built their recruiting around AJ and the other Ferraris, and THEN they started their inevitable implosion. It was always astounding to me that Brands's blindly craven desire to win would allow him to let such cancerous d-bags on his team. But not being an Iowa fan, I've always seen it as a true gift... like your biggest enemy willfully injecting himself with cancer cells. Because what would Iowa do if this happened AFTER all three Ferraris were in the lineup, with untold scholarship dollars tied up in them, no real backups, and who knows now much NIL investment? The fallout would be GLORIOUS. But sadly, tonight, that ship has sailed. Iowa will now escape, and with minimal damage.

No reason? Might want to rewatch the video. FIFY

When Vak is defending him, you *know* the whole "AJ-to-Iowa" thing must be a done deal... J/K. I don't think I'm "dismissing" him though. Just suggesting that his hype outstrips his accomplishments and ignores what's happened since.

C'mon now Anthony, you aren't going to let Caleb flex on you like that are you? (Am I a bad person for thinking it's fun watching the cancer grow and spread?)

Excluding freestyle takedowns sounds like you're cherry-picking, and its an odd question since he hasn't wrestled *anyone* in 2 years. That means our sample size is mostly 2021, in a weak weight class. No doubt Ferrari's stats in that modest sample size are excellent. Not sure of the answer and not sure how to look it up, but I'm pretty sure Noah Adams took him down. Also pretty sure he couldn't take down Warner, or Adams either. How would you rate Warner and Adams against Aaron Brooks? Look, Ferrari obviously was really good. He's a 2021 NCAA Champ with only one loss. If he'd stayed out of trouble and improved at the same rate as Brooks from then until now, it'd be a different conversation. But the truth is even in 2021, he was the best of rather unexceptional group, and failed to distinguish himself on the senior level -- and since then, he's almost certainly regressed, while Brooks and others have improved by leaps and bounds. He's a physical specimen, but even if he has the maturity and humility to get back to where he was before (a really big "if"), Brooks has passed him by.

Yeah, that's probably right, but I'm talking more about scholarship money, and whether AJ wrestles right away. Seems to me the safer route for Brands is to let AJ do what Anthony's doing -- wrestle unattached, see if he behaves, and let him join the team in the fall if all goes well. AJ may want to compete right away, but I have a hunch his performance this weekend, if he competes at all, is going to weaken that argument.

I agree in part but mostly disagree. Yes, he has elite strength and speed, but he's never had an elite offense. It is his defense that's made the difference in close matches. Keep distance, use his strength/speed to keep opponents at bay, and sneak in for a score. Lots of 3-1, 4-2 type matches, against Jake Woodley type guys. Has he ever beaten a top-20 guy by more than 5 points? I don't think so. I'm not faulting him for that approach. It's the best winning formula for him until he learns to diversify and open up his offense. But it's risky at best against someone with an equally stout defense (e.g. Trent Hidlay), and won't work at all against someone with a dynamic offense. Someone like Brooks. Remember, a couple weeks after winning NCAAs in 2021, Ferrari entered WTTs, where he promptly lost to Macchiavello, and then Ben Honis. Brooks, meanwhile, lost only to David Taylor at 2023 WTTs, and convincingly beat Zahid Valencia along the way -- who ended up bumping up a weight and winning a world medal. These guys just aren't on the same level. Maybe AJ's defense would keep him from getting majored by Brooks, but I think a Brooks MD is far more likely than a Ferrari win. Even at AJ's best I think Hidlay beats him 8-9 times out of 10.

A couple thoughts. First, I think Ferrari is crazy to register for the Soldier Salute. For it to be worth Brands freeing up the coin to give AJ the scholly money he's probably seeking, AJ would need to be *significantly* better than their current options. And he won't be. He's been out of competition for a year and a half. If he makes weight at all, he may well lose to Glazier, and even if he wins it won't be by more than a point or two. Then everyone will rightly say -- dang is it really worth Brands taking on this cancerous loose cannon if he's only a rounding error better than current options? Normally I'd think his registration was just a ruse -- a teaser to amp up his social media, before he no-shows -- but if that were his game, he'd have registered a week ago, not last-minute, and hyped it up. Either way, bad move for AJ. He's going to lose whatever leverage he thought he had. Second, even if he DOES take the mat, spare me the "can he beat Brooks?" stuff. Brooks wins 10 out of 10 against Ferrari. People are forgetting how weak the 197lb class was the year AJ won it. He squeaked by Warner 3-2 and nipped Bonnacorsi in the finals. And now, after 2 years flexing in the mirror while he awaits trial, he's going to knock off one of the best wrestlers in the world at the weight? Yeah... no. Brooks picks him apart. Hidlay is the only legit threat here.

Its razor thin. On Starocci's side, he hasn't lost since his freshman year. Brooks has taken a loss each of the last 2 years. On Brooks' side, he's been a bit more dominant, and he also has the Big 10 title from 2020 to his resume, even before he ran off his 3 titles. If I'm guessing what I'd say at year end, its Starocci. To me, it looks like Starocci level-jumped, and will be even more dominant than Brooks this year. I wouldn't be shocked if he majors both the former NCAA champs at his weight, while I think Brooks struggles to beat Hidlay by more than a point or two.

Of the other names mentioned, I might need to add Fleming and Evans to my team. Fleming was as good a choke artist as the East Lansing Strangler himself. His "OMG how did THAT happen!?" facial expression when the opponent went out was priceless. And didn't Evans miss the state tournament one year in high school for taking a dump in some kid's baseball glove? Even if its not true, the rumor alone is enough to burnish his heel reputation.

Aw come on, he's just a back-up. AJ's the starter. :] But I agree, not really a heel. I was a fan. Just not many D1 guys to have been DQ'd more than once for unsportsmanlike conduct. That's gotta get you at least an HM.

That's fair. But hooo boy, if you messed with his eyes...

Here's my team. 125: N. Simmons (starter); T. Gilman (backup); C. Fleeger (backup) 133: A. DeSanto (starter); T. Ramos (backup) 141: J. Wilson (starter); T[om]. Brands (backup) 149: B. Metcalf 157: B. Jenkins 165: J. Hendricks (starter); B. Fernandes (backup) 174: B. George (starter); C. Starocci (backup) 184: P. Downey 197: AJ Ferrari (starter); J. Trenge (backup) 285: S. Mocco (starter); J. Henselman (backup)

Cornell recruits top talent and proves they can develop it. Expect to see 3 guys on the World team. I thought there'd be a dropoff when Koll left but if there's been one, it has been pretty minor. Props to Grey. But yes, Stanford may now be their top competitor for more academically inclined wrestlers. Per Flo, the #2 recruiting class for 2024, with PSU at 1 and Iowa at 3.