Jon_Kozak

Man thanks for all of the kind words guys - genuinely means a lot. Planning on doing more of this type of video - especially rolling into the Olympics. It's tough during the regular season (college) cus our video guys travel most weekends and then I practically spend all day Monday on rankings but the new studio will help with pumping these out with more frequency. And for the record, Christian, JD and Tyler are some of my closest friends (so I'm obviously biased) - they do a great job with FRL. I understand the rabbit trails and jokes aren't for everyone but idk of another wrestling podcast that puts out the content they do with the same level of competitence and consistency.

Judging a new coach by his first year doesn't make much sense. Dubuque has the team that coach Ayres built. What would have been different this year if Ayres stayed?

Alejandro Valdes Tobier is listed at 65kg for Cuba - he'll be the toughest guy in the bracket for Nick Lee to get past IMO. Valdes is a two-time world bronze medalist (2017 and 2018) and had a really close match with Yianni at Pan-Ams last year https://www.flowrestling.org/video/10957823-65-kg-gold-yianni-diakomihalis-usa-vs-alejandro-valdes-cub He also has notable freestyle wins over Khinchegeshvili, Bekbulatov, Haji Aliyev, Franklin Gomez, and even Coleman Scott. Valdes is listed at 35 years old though so definitely past his prime but still super crafty. That said, if Nick Lee gets rolling early, I wouldn't be surprised if he wins handily.

Hey sorry I just saw this. Yes - the wrestle off is still happening on Saturday. UWW has deadlines for their initial entry list and USA Wrestling can change entries up until a day or two before the event.

I don't think Nokhodi was ever registered but Savadkouhi lost round one at 86kg to Tazhitin Akaev who's really solid. Akaev just beat Amanulla Gadzhimagomedov last month - that's who beat Artur Naifonov (world/Olympic bronze) last year at Russian Nationals. So not a bad loss for Savadkouhi but he's not the same guy he was at 79kg. Savadkouhi also lost to Hadi Vafaeipour in December at Iranian nationals. His chances of making the Olympic team right now are pretty slim.

Hey friends, haven't seen any Yarygin discussion on here so I figured I'd start it up. I've got full results with some matches embedded here: https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/11957042-2024-yarygin-wrestling-tournament-brackets-results Nothing too crazy has happened but Sadulaev is back and wasn't really challenged in any of his matches on his way to the finals today. 74 kg finals should be really good between Kadimagomedov and Baev.

lol...nah, Palmer majored Maida at NCAAs last year

Yeah I hope he gets healthy too - he's dangerous when he's wrestling well. I wonder how much he's hindered by the weight cut. The problem is, and the reason why he's going to drop, is that he hasn't wrestled much and doesn't have any ranked wins this year.

Lol...yes, this result will be counted. Palmer is going to drop significantly

Thanks for your advice. What part of my post was defamation? Also, why did you join this board two hours ago and only comment on this thread?

A few things to add here that haven't been covered: -His videos (of minors) are embedded on porn sites -Many of his most viewed videos have large portions that don't feature wrestling (wrestlers walking around during injury time/blood time) -He films and uploads videos without having permission/rights to the events Most recently he wasn't credentialed for Midlands and filmed anyway before he got kicked out by Storniolo. We've tried to strike his channel for copyright infringement because that's what we can actually prove. We're still working through it but things have gotten tricky where we've had to bring in legal.

No, I equated that to your logic of ignoring quality of competition in favor of tournament placement. No one would say a Maine State champ should be ranked ahead of a PIAA state 7th place because of placement at a tournament. Unless of course that Maine state champ defeated a bunch of nationally ranked wrestlers. That logic doesn't work at any level - high school through senior level. It's especially problematic at the senior level when there's 1 tournament a year with all of the best wrestlers and there's a random draw. You have to take into account other results outside of that tournament to properly rank a wrestler. Otherwise, a wrestler will rise unjustifiably in the rankings for defeating poor competition. I already acknowledged Marsteller could drop slightly but his results (wins and losses) over the past year are objectively better than Mykhailov's. Again, saying I don't value placement at worlds is just wrong. Since you won't look into what you're saying I did it for you. Below are all the senior world medalists from 2023 with their rankings: 57: Gold: #1 Stevan Micic Silver: #4 Rei Higuchi Bronze: #5 Arsen Harutyunan Bronze: #2 Zelimkhan Abakarov 61 Gold: #1 Vito Arujau Silver: #2 Abasgadzhi Magomedov Bronze: #4 Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu Bronze: #13 Shota Phartenadze 65 Gold: #1 Ismail Musukaev Silver: #15 Sebastian Rivera Bronze: #4 Shamil Mamedov Bronze: #16 Vazgen Tevanyan 70 Gold: #1 Zain Retherford Silver: #2 Amir Yazdani Bronze: #3 Ramazan Ramazanov Bronze: #4 Arman Andreasyan 74 Gold: #1 Zaurbek Sidakov Silver: #2 Kyle Dake Bronze: #14 Khetik Tsabolov Bronze: #6 Daichi Takatani 79 Gold: #1 Akhmed Usmanov Silver: #11 Vladimeri Gamkrelidze Bronze: #2 Mohammad Nokhodi Bronze: #12 Vasyl Mykhailov 86 Gold: #1 David Taylor Silver: #2 Hassan Yazdani Bronze: #3 Myles Amine Bronze: #6 Azamat Dauletbekov 92 Gold: #3 Rizabek Aitmukhan Silver: #4 Osman Nurmagomedov Bronze: #7 Feyzullah Akturk Bronze: #5 Zahid Valencia 97 Gold: #1 Akhmed Tazhudinov Silver: #10 Magomedkhan Magomedov Bronze: #3 Kyle Snyder Bronze: #11 Givi Matcharashvili 125 Gold: #1 Amir Zare Silver: #3 Geno Petriashvili Bronze: #2 Taha Akgul Bronze: #4 Mason Parris Of the above 40 medalists only 8 are ranked outside of the top 10. Those 8 wrestlers all have recent losses to someone ranked above them or outside of the top 20. If you think using wins and losses to establish a ranking is terrible, then I don't know what to tell you. Again, I say this all respectfully and to try to help you understand the ranking process.

It'd be nice if it were a legit formula - then I could just blame it on that. The "methodology" we use is based on head-to-head results and a wrestler's "overall resume". There's increased subjectivity at the beginning of every season because we have to weigh this year's results against prior years. Ranking gets especially chaotic/subjective when early season results contradict results from last year's NCAA tournament or the season in general. Nico Provo is a great example - he just had an incredible tournament beating 4 ranked guys including last year's NCAA Runner-up. But last year Provo went 0-2 at NCAAs and even suffered a loss during the regular season to a non-qualifier. We chose to bring Provo to #1 while Earl kept him #4. Who's right and wrong here? It's very subjective now but will likely clear up as the year progresses and we have more data (at least I hope so!).

Your statements are once again an exaggeration and simply not true. You're digging your heels in on this one example and extrapolating it to the rest of the rankings without providing any other examples. To say, "they rely far too much on fantasy" ignores why Marsteller, Burroughs, Savadkouhi, Nokhodi, etc were/are ranked high in the first place at 79kg. It's not fantasy - it's results...exactly what you said there's not enough of. Also, earning a ranking is relative to the competition you defeat. Your logic is similar to saying that someone who wins a Maine State Championship should be ranked ahead of someone who wins PIAAs. Once again, I'm fine with having a friendly dialogue about rankings but you seem to be putting a lot of your own opinion here without backing it up with data.

So you value finish at the tournament more than quality of competition? Mykhailov was on the objectively easier side of the bracket at worlds...it's not close. Usmanov, Nokhodi, and Marsteller were all on the other side. I had them ranked #1, #2, and #3 respectively coming into worlds - Usmanov won and Nokhodi took bronze. Mykhailov was ranked 10th and Gamkrelide was 19th. So Mykhailov should rise in the rankings for losing to #19? Honestly, Abasov kind of came out of nowhere because he had been wrestling primarily at 86kg. I can understand the perspective thinking Marsteller should drop slightly because of his loss to Abasov. I chose to keep him higher because Marsteller's quality wins over the past year are far better than anyone ranked from 5-20.