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I’m guessing that Ferrari wouldn’t have challenged Brooks.

Starocci has that Kobe mindset. Kobe played to dominate — even when he was injured, and even to his own detriment.

Good point about athletes at public schools not being covered by the NLRA. They’d be covered by state labor statutes if they’re covered at all.

Seems so. The US is actually cleaning up with 12 MFS qualifiers so far: Micic, RBY, Cruz, Rivera, Gomez, Dake, Taylor, Amine, Ramos, Snyder, Parris, and Smith. (Canada gets credit for Dhesi.) Of course, only four of those 12 MFS qualifiers will be repping the US.

Universities can survive without sports. According to PBS, athletic expenses surpass athletic revenue at the “overwhelming majority” of colleges.

No university wants to bargain with any athletic team. But some athletic bring a lot of money in. Michigan's athletic department reported a surplus of $17.1 million in 2022, helped by $210 million in revenue. Assuming the football program makes the most money for Michigan, why wouldn't the football players ask for more? Why shouldn't they want to enjoy more of the fruits of their efforts?

Right. I think for money-losing sports, collective bargaining demands would be met with "you guys lose money, so we're not in a position to throw even more money at you. We might even need to cut your sport." But for the moneymaking football and basketball programs? The players could understandably want a bigger piece of the pie. Then the downstream effects would impact sports like wrestling.

Last month the NLRB ruled that Dartmouth's basketball players qualified as school employees. Today, the Dartmouth basketball players voted to join a union. The Dartmouth players reportedly want to create a conference-wide bargaining unit -- meaning, all Ivy basketball players would bargain together. Dartmouth, I'm sure, is going to get this in courts. So I guess we'll just see how this goes. Article here.

Step outs make so much sense. Criteria also makes a ton of sense. Someone will always be attacking towards the end of a close match. The shot clock is iffy in situations when neither guy does much. Black singlets for home would make sense. The NBA used to have white home uniforms, but I don’t think white is an ideal color for singlets. Also, wrestlers should have the option of wearing shorts and a shirt. Headgear is good because it helps keep students athletes from looking crazy on campus. Wrestling doesn’t need more a stigma.

A number of US-based or -connected wrestlers have already qualified for the Olympics for other countries or territories—including Micic, RBY, Cruz, Rivera, Gomez, Amine, Ramos, Smith, and Dhesi. Where would Zahid be today if he had decided to rep the green, white, and red?

Cruz and Rivera plus Ethan Ramos (86kg) and Jonovan Smith (125kg).

With the Pan Am qualification tournament over, here are the Latin American countries and territories -- plus Canada -- that have qualified wrestlers for the Olympics, and the number of wrestlers who have qualified: Canada- 5 (2 MFS) (3 WFS) Chile- 2 (2 GR) Colombia- 4 (2 GR) (2 WFS) Cuba- 10 (3 MFS) (5 GR) (2 WFS) Dominican Republic- 1 (1 MFS) Ecuador- 4 (1 GR) (3 WFS) Honduras- 1 (1 GR) Mexico- 2 (2 MFS) Puerto Rico- 4 (4 MFS) Venezuela- 4 (1 MFS) (1 GR) (2 WFS) A few highlights: Puerto Rico has qualified more men's freestylers than the other countries with 4, followed by Cuba with 3. (The US has qualified 4 as well.) Cuba has qualified the most in Greco with 5. Chile and Colombia did well to send 2 in Greco each. (The US has qualified 3.) Canada and Ecuador have qualified the most in women's freestyle, with 3 each. Venezuela, Cuba, and Colombia have each qualified 2 women's freestylers for the Olympics. Pretty cool to see these countries developing women's freestyle. (The US has qualified 6.) If NCAA women's wrestling takes off, I wonder if we'll start seeing Latin American athletes compete for colleges here. Language could be a barrier, but many Latin Americans learn English in school and hear it in music and on TV. So who knows?

Honestly if we had a wall it would have kept Olympic qualifiers like Micic, RBY, Cruz, Seabass, Gomez, and Amine in the country.

At 57kg, Olympic qualifiers so far include Micic, RBY, and Cruz. The USA, however, has yet to qualify the weight. At 65kg, Olympic qualifiers include Seabass and Gomez. But again the USA has yet to qualify the weight. Crazy!

As of now we have 6/6 WFS spots qualified. We have 4/6 MFS spots qualified with a shot at a fifth at Pan Ams. We have 3/6 Greco spots qualified.

Thanks for that link. Some interesting items. Cuba has qualified five athletes in Greco. In freestyle, they have zero qualified now, but four athletes have a shot at the Pan Am qualifier. Honduras (!) qualified a wrestler in Greco and they have a shot for another one in freestyle. Puerto Rico has a freestyler qualified (Seabass) and three more still have a shot. Mexico, Venezuela, and Canada each have three alive in the Pan Am qualifier. I haven’t looked at the women’s brackets yet, but I’m sure they’re interesting as well.

Does anyone know of Mexico has qualified anyone for the Olympics yet, and if so who they are? If not yet, who is still in the hunt?

Jimenez — who just won a boys 106 pound state title in AZ and a bronze at Pan Ams — is headed to Lehigh. Lehigh has a club team. Huge pickup for them!

Mineo says it’s a “possible dislocated knee.” Obviously doesn’t sound like solid information though. I’m guessing we’ll all just have to wait and see what happens at the Big Ten tournament.

16 remaining as of 2/25: 133- Fix 133- Crookham 141- Bartlett 157- Haines 157- Zerban 157- Lee (6-0) 165- KOT 165- Mesenbrink 174- Starocci 174- Lewis 184- Keckeisen 197- Brooks 197- Hidlay 285- Hendrickson 285- Kerkvliet 285- Bastida

I feel so bad for the young man who passed, and for his loved ones.

Hopefully everyone on the team is vaccinated.

The UK just absolutely crushed it at the 1908 Olympics in freestyle, winning 11 out of a possible 15 medals—including three golds.

Iowa. I know you don’t feel like it’s your home, but it’s your state.

Who is the best wrestler from your state? Indiana is not a premier state, and some of its best wrestlers have competed in other states for high school. But it’s produced some elite wrestlers anyway. Not sure who the best is, but some of the best are Micic (world champ), Escobedo, Howe, Nick Lee, and Parris. Steveson lived in Indiana for a while but it doesn’t really count. Hildebrandt is the best women’s wrestler.