JVStateChamp

I think there are many factors as to why the transfer portal has developed the way it has in the landscape of college wrestling. 1. The COVID free year has really shown its teeth with more grad transfers than I can remember, is it the athlete's fault? Absolutely not but in typical years we would not have as many grad transfers as we are seeing this year. 2. The timing of the transfer portal and the timing of NIL. Both of these features of college athletics were introduced very close to each other. The idea was they were going to be two completely separate factors for college athletes, but we are seeing them hand and hand with each other.

I understand where you are coming from and the conflicts that are going to continue with the transfer portal, but this is also what people have been begging for and promoting more athlete freedom to leave. Seems like a situation of cant have it both ways. Should the athletes be restricted from transferring because someone else has a commitment?

I would add Collin Gaj (PA) to the list of big recruits in the class of 2025. Kid is an absolute stud, excited to see how he does at US Open U17, him and Rath (if they meet) could be a great match

I agree, I find this instance very similar to Dean coming to PSU even though they already AA Beard. I know Teske does not have the same credentials but just a similar example. It did not harm PSU with recruiting in other weights and I am going to assume that it will not hurt Iowa with recruiting at other weights either.

No, I was not suggesting that whatsoever, it was more of a relative term. I worded it poorly but it winning in this instance is very broad.

Going back to the original post and question, I believe Iowa would and should recruit Nagao over Teske if they feel that gives them the best wrestler at 133. Every school in the country will recruit over their guy if it gives them a better shot at winning, college wrestling is a business and coaches treat it as such.

Take away the headgear, I am tired of seeing teams deducted a team point for someone throwing their headgear in celebration (i.e Andrew Alirez)

Just out of curiosity, how are these teams formed? This event is great and spot lights a ton of high caliber wrestlers just wasn't sure how these teams are put together

I would say the level of competition that Lee used his cross wrist tilt on was better than any of the Pepplemans accomplished combined.

Cornell and Princeton definitely do not have the chops to make it in a B1G institution

Also, just saw on twitter that there was UFC london which the main event was happening around the same time as the NCAA finals which probably took out a lot of the casual MMA fans that would tune in as well.

This theory is a shot in the dark and I have absolutely no data to support it but in today's drive of sports gambling a lot if not all other sports are able to gamble on which pushes viewership. Barstool sportsbook allows you to gamble on anything from football to cornhole, when the casual sports fan is looking for something to watch I am sure that they find something that they are able to place wagers on. Even if it were just the finals that they would set lines for and allow the casuals to bet on would add some excitement and attraction to the sport.

Those are just tv cable ratings which from my understanding does not include any streaming platforms that could be watching. I may be wrong but I think that when including streams it may have a big impact on the numbers or at least I sure hope it does.

I think its a stretch to put him above Dake and Burroughs. Although a different weight class we already saw Marstellar beat Starocci, but I could easily be eating my words in a year. Just not ready to give him that bump yet.

Ya I do not disagree with you at all. I was just stating a possible reason why so many wrestlers transfer from NC State, especially when dealing with 18-20 year old kids.

Agreed that may have a good bit to do with it as well but up to this point it is difficult to argue with the results.

Mason Parris sticks out to me as the Hodge winner. Very impressive resume and wrestled a full season this year.

I dont mean PIAA. I mean compete at ALL. We have had prep wrestlers from SEM and Malvern represent Team PA. But Kasak was not ineligible to compete he opted out this year. Being ineligible and opting out are two separate things. Someone that wins a state title or a national prep title this season should have the right to represent their state if they wrestled this year.

Where is the correlation? Those are two separate topics. The PIAA has no impact or say on the PWC because its an all-star match and an exhibition.

NC State having wrestlers in the portal is nothing new, I think the reason for this is that they typically bring in large recruiting class numbers.

Im not an Iowa fan in the least. I posted earlier that I believed any team would be smart to take advantage of the portal. In the landscape of wrestling today any head coach that does not try to take advantage of the transfer portal is doing a disservice to his program. And now for devils advocate Iowa has a fantastic recruiting class coming in that includes Ben Keuter, Codi Chittum, Gabe Arnold, and Ryder Block. I think both programs have done a great job at balancing talent that they have recruited as well as being able to fill holes with the transfer portal to optimize points.

I remember specifically being at the national tournament in Cleveland when Kyle Conel pinned Kollin Moore and the crowd went wild including the Penn State fans because of team race implications. Very cool being able to see mid majors achieve at the big stage and the coaches get to share the glory for all the hard work that goes into it.

My point was without them they still win. With Beard only scoring 4 points and Nevills most likely scoring similar we can say its a 17 point difference.

Very difficult to balance. We know how difficult and demanding the schedule is for a D1 wrestler, then add on the football schedule and demands it is a tough balance and the athlete usually ends up playing football. Ben Keuter is no average wrestler/football player so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

A school that I have noticed not only this year but just recently trending in the right direction is Cal Poly, they utilize the transfer portal and recruit well. Seems every year they are well represented at NCAAs and they are building a culture there.