CHROMEBIRD

I'm likewise Big Ten biased. Was Sasso taken down during the regular season? Aside from that outlier Realbuto match he may have otherwise been perfect on his feet, and he didn't even win the title. Or Parris? I don't know how to find this information. But I agree that not giving up a TD is quite a feat, even Spencer and RBY couldn't do it. I think RBY was taken down in his first dual (probably more screwing around, but I digress).

Kharchla. He says he doesn't cut much though.

RIP Meister Brau

No idea what his training or mentality was like, but I don't remember Brooks showing up overconfident, shuffling his feet, and thinking about MMA either.

I'm not sure if wrestling at Iowa would help or hinder Jesuroga from becoming a Navy SEAL. He would gain strength, conditioning, and mental toughness for sure (and a degree) but a wrestling career with the Hawks can come with some hefty physical tolls. Best of luck to the kid.

Gotta show up ready if you wanna win, doesn't matter if you're the best or the worst.

Vougar, as in a Vito Cougar?

Calling it now, Starocci doesn't win a title if he wrestles a limited season. It'll be a repeat of RBY this season, wrestling when he felt like it, cocky, unfocused, never pushing himself or improving. He won't get a 4th title with that attitude, nor will he deserve one.

Not to take anything away from AOC but his weight was not as loaded as 165, 285, 149, 133, etc. Not getting taken down during the regular season sound impressive but not when the field is comparatively soft.

If Heimselman was in the bracket at Big Tens or Nationals, Ramos may never have made it to Friday night's match with Spencer Lee. Malik should get some credit in the history books for that butterfly effect magic.

I didn't mean to deride Bartlett and apologize if it sounded that way. I'm not exactly the brightest bulb, lol. Was just trying to say that it was refreshing not to get the boilerplate soundbytes, particularly from a PSU guy since they get asked a lot of the same questions often. No surprise that he made the Big Ten and NWCA All-Academic lists.

Wow, Jimmy's serving up some spicy pastries. So sassy! While I think Brands is the type of coach that can get the Ferrari bros in line, Iowa doesn't need to be shopping around for damaged goods. I'm sure there are better choices out there.

Not to change the subject, but that was a really great interview by Bartlett. I didn't know he was so articulate. You can really tell he's of a generation that has grown up on social media, comfortable in front of cameras and sharing their story. Very high EQ.

This got kind of washed over by Ramos decking Lee but IMO when Spencer tilted him in the 2nd period it looked like he Dean Heiled himself and almost self-pinned. The Purdue coaches could have challenged it and got backs for Ramos (and Lee's nearfall negated) but in the end it didn't matter.

For sure. I think RBY was being showy against Nagao and wanted to show everyone that he wasn't going to be ridden again. Hubris like that can be very costly. I also seem to remember you pointing out a bunch of other tactical mistakes throughout the tournament but I don't know how to find the posts.

I was saying that Vito needed to lift during the regular season but someone sent a video of Vito picking up and dropping Mendez in the tOSU fakedual, and an interview of Vito talking about his training. I'm sure he's fine. Top of my "guys who need to lift" list last year was Hamiti and O'Toole. This year off the top of my head, maybe Haines, Siebrecht, and Ayala.

We all knew Bartlett was wrestling up at 149 but it still sounds crazy that he can make 133. He looks short but not really small at 141.

Whoever it was here that described Vito as a viper yesterday was spot on. It gave me anxiety watching him slither and glide around the mat before a deadly lighting quick strike! I thought I read that he does a lot of lifting, maybe it's just genetics and doesn't show?

Yianni's hug with Kyle Dake was heartwarming but I was kinda hoping he'd jab Dake in the gut for calling him the chubby kid on national TV lol

This is 100% true. But why do I get the feeling that RBY would have that exact same expression even if he won last night? He didn't take the season seriously either way.

My advice to Aaron Brooks is to watch Season 9 of Curb Your Enthusiasm

Ramos pinning Lee was the bigger news by far. Friends who don't know anything at all about wrestling were commenting and reposting the vid on socials. We walked by a restaurant and saw it on a TV news channel, I think it was either CNN or Fox News. The Ramos match would be an even bigger deal if he wrestled his usual gutsy style and gave Glory a match in the finals. Vito beating RBY and Fix weren't exactly upsets IMO but is the bigger news for those who follow wrestling.

The smile on Vito's face and stoic RBY looking like his mind is elsewhere, as usual (Photo is Tony Rotundo's, more on his website: https://tonyrotundo.smugmug.com/WRESTLERS-ARE-WARRIORS/NCAA-Wrestling/Div-1-National-CShips-All-Years/23-NCAA-D1-CSHIPS)

It was interesting how Starocci minimized college wrestling in his post-match interview, like oh another NCAA title is cool and all but I'm interested in bigger things. He's said before that he wasn't interested in becoming a 5x champ but I think he'll eventually go after it too, especially when he really considers how much it'll raise his stock going into MMA. If he decides to do a light schedule next year (or after), I hope he learns a lesson from RBY. I have a lot of respect for RBY's wrestling but it just looked like he phoned it in all season. Wrestled when he wanted, cruised through matches, did some MMA training on the side, got cocky. He didn't really push himself to improve his wrestling and ended up paying for it in the finals last night. Cave quid volunt for Starocci.