CHROMEBIRD

Mesenbrink could get Carvered, but not in the way Jimmy is thinking. Mes is used to competing in high pressure environments, but CHA is CHA and it'll be his first time in that sort of atmosphere. He might get a little shell shocked and lose focus. Not that it happens to PSU kids often. The Carl vibe is strong.

I'd be surprised if Cooter doesn't go this week. Winning the dual is important, but "getting out there, wrestling hard, testing yourself, seeing where you're at" is a bigger priority to Ol' Tommie. The postseason is just around the corner and he wants his boys battle tested. If he wants Ben to be the guy, he'll suit up and go. Similar to Rathjean, though Brands made it sound like he and Voinovich are still competing for the spot. Same with Riggins and PK... as much as I want to see Gabe wrestle, I'm not holding my breath. Ol' Tommie will want his starters to put in the work.

Jimmy doesn't honor his wagers, and if PJ loses he's got betting credit from the old board. Nothing really at stake here.

Lotta folks are down on Iowa since the UM dual, but I think it gives Ol' Tommie and his boys the kick in the ass they all need for this week. Plus they'll be wrestling at CHA and extra fired up. I won't go so far as to say the Iowa takes this one but I expect much more competitive matches, no going through the motions like we saw in Ann Arbor. 125 - Ayala dec Davis 0-3 Hawks 133 - Nagao dec Schrievske 3-3 All 141 - Woods dec Bartlett 3-6 Hawks 149 - Rathjean dec Kasak 3-9 Hawks 157 - Haines dec Franek 6-9 Hawks 165 - Mesenbrink maj Caliendo 10-9 PSU 174 - Starocci maj PK 14-9 PSU 184 - Truax dec Riggins 17-9 PSU 197 - Brooks tf Glazier 22-9 PSU 285 - Kerk maj Hillcoot 26-9 PSU If Arnold suits up at 174, it'll be worth the price of admission no matter what happens.

I think Jombo exhausted himself after Franek-Lewan

What happens to business that make too much money?

There's too much money in football, and less so basketball. What if the NCAA were to drop football and become the college athletics association for just the Olympic/non-revenue sports? Not that it would happen or do much to save the small sports.

I think they'll be tempted to compete at home in the US for more hardware in 2028, but they're both pretty long in the tooth and will lose a step or two. They may not be our world team reps between Paris and LA.

You're drunk. Woods will be fine.

Shane's passion and hard work cannot be denied, but he simply isn't the type of wrestling analysis geek that a lot of diehard fans are. He even admitted as much on Flo's NCAA bracket show last season when Pyles and Askren were deep diving into seed placement, record, hypothetical matchups, etc. and Sparks was like "okay, guys!"

Agreed. Thing to remember about Sparks though is that he's not really for us. He's the hype guy to keep more casual fans engaged while we nerd out and analyze strategy and technique.

I'll take the field

What if Gabe Arnold takes them both out

Endorsed by Logan Stieber

Thanks... my next guess was nephew It's been a minute since Brandon wrestled

Robbie Precin... I assume he's related to Brandon Precin? Cousin? Brother?

The sad truth is, it'll depend on how much NIL money he can get. I don't think Starocci makes the 2024 Olympic team. An NIL payday at PSU might be his best option, plus being a 5-timer (if he gets it done) will give his MMA/WWE stock a huge boost.

Any word on how Elor is handling the weight cut?

That's always been the rub for him, no?

How tall are Hamiti and Truax? They both seem tall for their weights.

No Rags-Teske? Not that it would change the predicted outcome. Big test for Amine. This dual could be a real confidence booster or turn him into a total head case depending on how things go. I hope he doesn't sit this one out.

Likely helping more than fully officiating. Baseball piloted technology in the minors to accurately call strikes/balls. It did a better job than humans at making the correct calls, but everyone hated it because the robot umpiring made games last a lot longer. Like laws, many sports rules are subject to interpretation. I do agree that the reviews in wrestling really slows down the action, for better or for worse. It was especially bad at NCAAs last year. Officials burnt a ton of time with reviews.

Hmmm, I haven't been sued yet. STALLLLING!

Looks like the Northwestern is past their internal medical issue from last week and are good to go against Nebraska tomorrow and Iowa on Sunday. Storniolo says the make-up date for the Illinois dual will be on 2/28 following their Indiana dual which has now been moved up to noon local time. https://nusports.com/news/2024/1/25/northwestern-wrestling-announces-schedule-changes