lu1979

57 - S Lee USA 65 - Musakaev Hung 74 - K Dake - USA 86 - H Yazdani or Ghasampour Iran 97 - Tazhudinov Bahrain 125 - M Parris USA

Right now I would put Iowa and Ohio St fighting for 2 with OSU right on their heals - behind them ASU, Nebraska and NC St all have potential to move up into trophy contention.

The greatest example is Bruce Baumgartner - never won the state title in NJ but won NCAAs (3X finalist) and became one of the greatest heavyweights ever in FS. Also I believe both Keith Gavin and Pat Santoro would qualify.

Cael wouldn't be likely to win at any other program unless he got some of his current or prospective N Lions to follow him. If the all of the current and incoming studs stay at PSU the lucky guy who inherits that job will be the next guy to coach his team to a national title. On the other hand if Cael goes just about anywhere and all his boys follow him .....

I certainly would not include RBY on that list - he couldn't have been cutting that much as a 4 year 133 lb. guy when he is wrestling FS at 125.

I know this was around for a long time but I have seen it used by other countries extensively. Bajrang of India was particularly nasty with this move. The problem is that many FS refs will blow it dead before you can use it. Back in Schultz's era you had significantly more time to work in par terre.

That is not true - both Yianni and Vito ORS in 2020 as did Dayton Fix - their focus was on Olympic gold. Alirez did that this year. Jon Trenge ORS back in 2004. Many schools will work with their athletes to do whatever the athlete thinks will help them achieve their goals.

They don't take anyone from the Asian Games - like Pan ams they have a separate Asian Olympic Qualifier (which Amouzadi wouldn't be in as Iran is already qualified at 65kg) - Mongolia sent a wrestler named T Tseveensuren to the AOQ and he lost to Akmatliev from Kyrgyzstan who made the finals. The other guy to qualify there was the Japaneese wrestler K. Kyooka

Mongolia did not send Ochir to the Asian Qualifier they sent someone else.

That guy can't even get where Mark Hall is assisting right.

The book "The Trials" by James Moffatt quotes Mike Farlina who beat Weaver for the FS spot. He also won the GR spot and was a senior in HS at the time. He said he lost to Bill Rosado (who was the favorite) by a 9-8 score in the 1st round. Weaver pinned Rosado in like 20 seconds. He wrestled Weaver in the final round and won 13-7 to take the spot. After the trials he went back to finish his senior year at York HS in Elmhurst Ill. He only won his State once as a senior in 1976. The book is great for any wrestling fan - full of info about all the Olympic trials from 1960 to 1988

There’s a compilation of all of Lilledahl’s matches on YouTube. Thanks Le Duke for posting that. That was impressive - he looks pretty big for 125lbs. The way he moves to improve position constantly is amazing. I expect he will Win Jr Gold if he makes the team - the Japanese guy he lost to last year was born in 2003 so he should be done with Juniors.

I think we see him at the U20 trials at 61kg.

It might not be Yazdani - He will have to beat Ghasampor for the spot. I expect it will be a close contest - they may be Iran's 2 best wrestlers.

Iran is qualified in 5 weights in MFS - they still need to qualify 57KG - they are in on all 6 GR weights - For MFS the only other country with 6 in is Azerbaijan.

Yes for Men's FS - in women's FS I think they qualified in every weight except 57kg & 76kg. In GR they have only qualified 2 weights so far 87kg & 130kg. https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/11254574-2024-olympic-wrestling-qualifiers

If you watch the Tsargush/JB match above the Russian is using the singlet grab as an integral part of his set up - he pulls and holds with his right hand as he drops and attacks the far side single leg. He did that all the time and got away with it most of the time. In his 2010 WC match against the Iranian (same one JB beats the next 2 years) Tsargush nearly pulls the guys singlet right over his head as he shoots and scores his 1st TD - it is so blatant it is hard to believe it wasn't called. It is on Flo and I will try to post the link but it might be behind a paywall. https://www.flowrestling.org/events/5003495-2010-wrestling-world-championships/videos?playing=5230651&search=tsargush

In answer to FN's original question I have seen points given for grabbing the singlet - usually it would be after a warning - the one instance I was referencing above was in a match that involved Ottogura who had his singlet pulled and was scored on - I think it was Asian games.

Not only was that an epic singlet pull that didn't elicit a point but it came at a critical point in the match and could have cost JB the match. That pull allowed Tsargush to score the go ahead point that gave him criteria to win the 1st period (back in the best 2 out of 3 period times - good riddance to that). Obviously JBs corner protested but the gave the point to Tsargush anyway plus the lost challenge point. Since then I have seen them take away scores due to singlet pulls - this one was so egregious that it is hard to believe the point wasn't overturned. Fortunately JB won the next two periods and the match.

That would be 17 NCAA D1 titles - Gonzales may have had 2 more D2 titles but he only had one on the D1 level. If SL & ZR qualify their weights as I think they will the 18 D1 titles will be an amazing record especially as it is from 6 wrestlers - average of 3 each.

I personally think Aaron has a great shot at Gold in Paris this August regardless if Yazdani is in the field or not. However the last time a guy coming out of college knocked off a defending World and Olympic champ (Les Gutches over KJ) he failed to place at the 96 Olympics. The following year he won World Gold but a lot will depend on AB's mindset. I do believe he will be the best wrestler there so I am hoping he gets it done.

I remember in the 1996 OTT when 2 defending World Champions failed to make the team - one KJ was also the defending Olympic Champion. Cross beat brands in a wild best 2 out of 3 series and Gutches beat KJ 2 in a row to back up the win he had earlier at US Nationals. Gutches had just graduated from Org St. and was new to the Senior FS scene. Anything can happen - that's why we wrestle the matches and I for one am glad that the USA picks their team this way. .

Do you have any idea why Crosby went in the portal ? - he will be hard for the Bison to replace

I know in the past they have redshirted people and used 4 years in 5. Andy Rendos did that.

Do you know that Phipps is not coming back to Bucknell to use his last year of eligibility?