RegularStalling

Last month Figs lost handily to Maximo Renteria, a backup at OSU who went 4-14 at Illinois last season. I don’t know many champs that took a loss like that in a season, let alone a month before the post season. What a turn around.

Parco showed up to wrestle today. Putting him under Watters was Zeke and co’s worst call of the tournament.

Didn’t pick Schultz to win, but I was dead wrong on how he’d perform this morning. His #SadBoy performance cost ASU a shot at a trophy.

I’d love to see an Iowa rebrand. The Brands have had their time and it’s reached Zelesky territory. Iowa needs to hire outside the fold and bring in someone innovative.

Can’t wait for the imminent Cinnabon thread about how PSU is in trouble because C Star, Bartlett, and Kerk aren’t coming back next year.

Noto, like Davis stayed on his knees for the entire first period. Figueroa rightfully got dinged twice. It’s not pretty but it’s no different than what those two did the entire first. The amount of people that are so up in arms about it is incredible.

Volk goes down!

It’s hard to judge with Jacori. With elite level competition, he usually puts together 2-3 explosive flurries in the first two minutes that dictate the entire match. If they are stymied, you legitimately could see him get majored by the likes of Shapiro/Haines. If he connects on a couple early all bets are off. Despite his gas tank issues, he’s a really hard guy to wrestle from behind, because if you push pace north to south he goes from 0-60 quicker than anybody in the tournament.

The fact that I feel pretty strongly about Kasak making the finals is enough to make me hurl.

Haines. Imo the only one capable of going on a heater and taking him out is Jacori. That said, Jacori taking the infamous “semi slide” is the much more likely outcome.

Yes

Only 9 competed. No entry at 174. They had functional teams under Rivera; I don't think it's ever been near this bad.

Agreed, but he lost to Yonger 4-3. I think he can beat anyone at the weight, aside from Kerk.

ASU looked as good as they have all season. I think another top 10 finish is well within the cards. Maybe even top 7 if the draws are in their favor.

Looks good. I personally think 125 is seeded 1. Kaylor 2. Provo 3. Richie. Richie lost a head to head to Provo and Renteria of OSU, and Kaylor beat Provo. Either way, should be a fun last ride for PAC-12 wrestling!

He was on the offensive for the two and a halfish periods and danced the last 45ish seconds. Was it pretty? No. Was it any different than what 90% of guys do in that situation? No. If he did that against a guy he should be dominating, I’d call it ugly, but he did it against a top 10 opponent. Richie isn’t going to dominate a guy like that. Either way its semantics.

He made 149 about a month ago, so I’d imagine not too big.

Figs can beat anyone at the weight. I haven’t wavered on that. In actuality, he hasn’t been all that bad this season. What’s been glaring, is his inability to finish cleanly against better comp. All of his scores seem to be incredibly high effort and time consuming. This narrows the margins and opens him up for higher variance results like he’s had thus far. That said, I’m confident slotting him in around the R12-6th range, regardless of his draw.

At this stage of the game for Figs, calling any top 10 win “ugly” is sour grapes.

Won the two biggest matches of the dual though!

Good to see ASU pick up some nice wins. Nebraska looks lethargic.

Two things can be true. The lineup this year has had terrible injury luck, and at full strength is a top 8-10 tournament team. That said, from a development standpoint, whatever's going on at ASU must be reworked. They are never pushing the pace, and they are horrendous on top/bottom. They have guys who have spent five years there that still can't figure out a leg ride on the bottom.

Success has little to do with my point. The program is welcoming the circus in out of nothing more than desperation. Now, wherever Iowa goes to compete, the former allure and awe they were met with is reduced to “what rancid shit are the Ferrai’s going to do today?” That’s a sad state of affairs, and it’s an all time low for a historic program.

I guess that’s part of what I’m getting at. This wreaks of desperation, and I don’t think that’s anything Iowa wrestling would ever want to their brand to be associated with.

Iowa has always viewed themselves as the pinnacle of collegiate wrestling. From the way many current and former hawks speak, it’s clear that nobody was, or is bigger than the program. If Brands chooses to go forward with this circus, it’ll tear at the fabric that many poured blood, sweat, and tears into making over the course of many decades. For a number of reasons (many of which are personal opinion), I was appalled that that Brands brought them in to the program. Choosing to go forward after this spectacle will forever tarnish the Iowa program and cement Brands as someone who sold their soul (and his programs) in hopes of securing a few extra team points.