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The interview will be hilarious Mr President what do you think of this event? "Huge Event. Lots of spandex. Never seen more tight spandex. A little gay but these gays are tough. What do they call it? Cauliflower ear? It tastes terrible but you have to eat you vegetables. What do I know. This is a lot of big strong guys. I got here and said Wow that's a lot of big strong guys. A lot of people are telling me this guy Kale Sanderson is the best. I don't know. Is that a vegetable. What do I know. Hulk Hogan. I know the man. Great guy. Really great guy."

He's there to tell Spencer Lee that he actually won.

No, because it's not as simple as you think it is. Having reffed, your mind is conditioned to red/green, right/left and connected to the scorers table, the scoreboard, and the ankles of the wrestlers to insure you have the right wrestler scoring. It might seem cool to the fan, but changing out colors every match at a tournament would be an absolute nightmare. People would be yelling all day long that the score was wrong and coaches would need 17 bricks to get things right.

C. Schultz is dressed for a sleepover.

Looking at the brackets I am always interested who lost their first match and made it to AA. It appears that only one person did that this year. 184 (11) Gavin Kane UNC - took 8th. There were a number of folks that AA'd after winning their first match but losing their second. But I am only listing the guy that went the furthest after losing their first match. I say congrats to Gavin in his Herculean effort to come back from a 1st round loss and come back to AA. mspart

Well, I'm 58 with no speed, skills, discipline, or flexibility. My eligibility is exhausted, and while I think it would be cruel to force others to seem me in a singlet, I really want this. Oh wait, I just read past the topic title. Never mind. And if my wife asks, I was never here.

A few of the finalists seemed to cast their vote for wrestlers named Jesus or God. One gave a penalty point to a fellow named Mohammed (Brooks). One voted for his balls (Starocci). One voted against himself (Yianni, who said he has to get much better). Several voted for their parents or the genetic lottery. One or two gave a partial vote to their coaches. One may have voted for his losing opponent (O'Toole). And a celebrity with body guards in the stands voted for himself. In fact, I think he gave himself a dozen or so votes. And said they are still looking for the rest of the ballots.

What an old school throw back. Felt like I was watching a post match interview from the 1970's. He looks like he can go back to working in the steel mill next week a champion. Good stuff.

He plays fast and lose with the truth. Everyone who is on this board knows that Spencer was not favored to win the Olympic Gold in 2020 or 2024. Why do people need to stretch the truth, the story is compelling enough without the exaggerations. I made it half way through and he kept piling on more untruths. Specner was not going to be the first and 4X PA champ. He was not undefeated in college until his tournament. After 5 minutes I could not take anymore

https://wvusports.com/news/2023/3/24/blog-cardinales-toughness-and-persistence-leads-to-another-all-america-season.aspx Not only did he AA as the 28 seed, coming off major shoulder injury from last season he started the season finding out he had stress fractures in both big toes . After some time off he returned around midlands and immediately tore his acl, after sitting out a few weeks he came back to practice and immediately had a complete bucket handle meniscus tear , he had the meniscus repair surgery just 2 weeks before big 12s and 27 days before the start of nationals . He wrestled all matches at ncaas including the meaningless 7th/8th match…guy is an absolute warrior and he did all this while in medical school this guy should be the one selling excuses are for wussies gear

Well, I will try to keep this as non-controversial as I can and stick to facts: 1. He is not the current President 2. By any reasonable account, he is an extremely divisive and controversial figure. 3. It can easily distract from the mat action. 4. It can pose security risks. 5. He is widely known for making things about himself. 6. By his own account (as well as journalistic reports), he is about to to be arrested (indicted) next Tuesday, and he has called publicly for protests. Do you want to see protests (or worse) break out in the arena when wrestlers (their families, friends, fans) have spent much of their entire life preparing for this evening and moment?

The speed he calls the fall for Haines compared to not calling it for Andonian earlier is awful. Congrats to Haines, but that's absurd from the ref.

First graph here shows national qualifiers by home state, grouped into three seeding groups. Blue is seeds 1-11. Red is seeds 12-22. Yellow is seeds 23-33. These are the top 18 states in terms of total qualifiers so that the image doesn't get shrunk down too small.

As a note please be advised @Husker_Du has explicitly stated everyone used their one free transfer this year to this board. If you do transfer to another board we will do everything possible to block the transfer and not sign the paperwork.

Is Downey’s locker still available?

This would be the perfect situation for you to pay down your debt. Donate your debt to the Robb family.

With the great American Hero Wyatt Hendrickson someone is getting pinned most matches, it's just not Wyatt.

He owes you an explanation? Seriously?!?!!? Okay, I'll bite......why would he owe anyone--you, me, Brands, Gable, The Man in the Moon---anything? Premier athletes compete to satisfy themselves. I for one don't believe he--or any one else who toed the stripe last weekend--owes anyone anything. Just my view from the cheap seats......

RB "Why did I come back for one more year"

I could not love his post- match interview any more. Hanging out with mom and dad. Arm around his dad. Dad with a big goofy grin. The two of them busting each others chops just a bit before crediting mom. And the kiss on top of dad's head to end it. Perfect.

The 4-timer stuff is so compromised and fetishized. It doesn't account for the level of competition and other variables. A 3-timer like Nolf (who only barely lost in the finals to an NCAA champ his freshman year whom he earlier pinned) is actually better than a 4-timer like Yianni. And he was absolutely more dominant than Yianni or Dake. Steiber won some finals he arguably should not have given the calls. Luck, draws, and other factors play so much of a role. Most people are only capable of thinking in terms of simple causality. The world doesn't work that way. It's a mental blindness of the worst kind and attributable in large part to evolutionary psychology.

Cohlton Schultz !

Well everyone, I generally don’t post much and come here often after the college season ends. I wish all of you and your families health and happiness over the next 8 months and I’ll see you back in November. It’s always a pleasure to interact with everyone here.

The worst thing about this is the effect it will have on Spencer Lee himself. Unwilling or unable to face the wrestling public, he forfeits out. Unwilling or unable to compete for third place, he turns his back on the Iowa squad, which he has constantly cited as his reason for wanting to win it all. Psychological problems could be avoided by putting on the singlet and wrestling in the consis. This is called moving on with life. Forfeiting out is the wrong thing to do; it allows the loss to fester and calcify. Spencer should have chosen to wrestle to cleanse it and himself.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have been to the Great Wall of China, I have seen the Pyramids of Egypt, I've even witnessed a grown man satisfy a camel. But never in all my years as a sportscaster have I witnessed something as improbable, as impossible, as what we've witnessed here today!

https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2023-03-07/ncaa-announces-large-selections-2023-division-i-wrestling-championships

I’ll go with Ryan Jack of NC State. He’s the little brother of Kevin Jack, a 3 time all American. Ryan is 23-3 on the year. Losses were by a combined total of 4 points. 2 losses were to Cole Matthews, and he went 1-1 against Brock Hardy this year. I don’t think he’s gotten a ton of national love, but he’s a guy you don’t want to see on your side of the bracket either. He feels like a lock to at least AA and has the upside to make a run to the finals.

Kyle Burwickk, now just here me out...this explanation is going to take about 30 pages.

Actually PSU gave up 125 for Lent. Every year.

I have a pretty robust background in working with infectious diseases and the anti-climactic answer is it’s impossible to know (especially without access to Peyton’s medical charts to get further insight into what the doctors were seeing and doing). Infections can get really unique in every individual and there are so many cases that don’t end up being “textbook” and easy to solve. I initially started typing a whole bunch of medical reasoning and then realized no one will want to read all of that to get a non-answer. I wish Peyton all the best in his recovery and am hopeful he can make a 100% recovery.

They have Marc Anthony McGowan , #3 overall recruit , highest recruit since Kolodzik ( higher than glory and Monday) they have 1 other top 100 recruit and 3 more top 150 coming in and just had a national champ which always boasts recruiting …they have a pipeline to delbarton and Blair in state , a great multiple time ncaa champ as assistant coach I think they’ll be just fine moving forward

Let's start with the team race. Expectations We all know who won and by how much. But who made the seeding process look flawed? Well clearly that is American, Clarion, Drexel and Northern Colorado. They just need a few more wrestlers. Sometimes it is more about how you perform relative to expectations, than how you perform outright. But seriously, the out-performers of the tournament were Ohio State and Michigan. Of course, there is more room to out-perform when you start with lower initial seeds, but Ohio State's rise was enough to take them from a pre-tournament predicted 9th place finish all the way up to an actual fourth place finish. Penn State? Right on seed. For all the drama of a 2 for 5 Saturday night, really no drama thanks to guys like Bartlett and Van Ness beating their seed (and to a lesser extent Dean). Missouri over-seeded? Not so much. Can we put that one to bed? No. Never. That was foolish of me. Sorry. Bracketology Most busted? You got it. 125 was the most busted, but not for that reason,. For the other reason. We can credit App State's five seed for the biggest contribution followed by Oregon State's seven seed. That Iowa kid was only the third biggest contributor. On the flip side, 157 went closest to chalk. Seven of the top eight seeds finished on the podium and the won who did not, made it to the blood round (where he lost in SV to another top eight seed). For standard deviation though, it is actually 174. Take your pick. But Why Is It Always About the Big Dogs? After all, who doesn't love an under dog? The biggest out-performance always comes from the guys with the most to gain. Stand up and take a bow, gentlemen. Starting with Northern Colorado's Vinny Zerban who came into 157 as the 32 seed, but made the blood round for a Rocky Mountain High out-performance of 23 slots (I give him credit for ninth. Because). Next we have Virginia Tech's Eddie Ventresca who tore up his bracket, screamed at the Wrestling God's and said, "seeds don't matter." He came in as a 27 seed, but left as an All-American (7th). Not to be outdone, West Virginia's Killian Cardinale said, "yes, please, and thank you. I will take some of that." As he came in as the 28 seed at 125 and finished finished on the podium (8th). (OK, he was slightly outdone in that Ventresca beat him 7-6 in the seventh place match, but come on, why ya gotta be like that?) And not exactly bringing up the rear (but coming from there) Cal Poly's Dom Demas exemplified the "chip and a chair" mentality. When given a second bite at the apple by being awarded the 33 seed at 149 after an injury to another wrestler, he made it all the way to the blood round's blood round (let it be a thing) for a healthy 20 slot jump. Last on my arbitrarily sorted list, but first in Sparty's heart is Caleb Fish. The 165 pounder was seeded 29, but made the blood round. That Fish is a keeper.

Not to sound crass, but that’s kinda what you’re supposed to do.

Apparently, a(n) (in)famous celebrity will be in the house tonight. Wrestling doesn't need this distraction. https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/trump-to-attend-ncaa-wrestling-tournament-as-guest-of-mullin/article_30f9a914-c45a-11ed-8dc1-d36da706da16.html

This is half speed! Faster than Holy Smoke.

A few mistakes from memory... Brands picked down on Foca to start the second after having won neutral in period 1 and holding a 1m+ riding time advantage. Elam picked down on Sloan when Elam is better on his feet and Sloan is good on top. Not atrocious given the 2-2 score but neutral was the pick there. Hendrickson picked down on Kerk after having won neutral in the first and getting ridden in the second. Monday picked down on Carr after getting ridden in the second. RBY picked down on Nagao after having been ridden in a previous match. In hindsight, the freshman Haines shouldn't have picked down on the brute AOC. (the only one of these that seemed worth the chance to score first in a 0-0 tie) On the smarter side Nino smartly chose neutral to start the third period. He was down a point, had the riding time advantage on Sloan, and knows that Sloan is good on top. Lee picked up to start the second period while losing to Ramos

get over your disease presidents and FORMER presidents do this stuff all the time.

Jeez, I hope not. I want the finals to be about the finals.

Uber maybe taking awhile to get him to the arena. Mom wasn’t cleared to legally drive him in this morning.

It's weird to relish in Spencer and his mothers misery so much. Iowa fans? Obviously. Brands brothers? I get it. Maybe even Larry Lee with the binder thing. But full grown adults mocking the young man's (and that's not everybody here mind you) is always weird. It'd be one thing if Spencer was a cocky kid, but he's almost boring in his good-guyness. Like Metcalf earned that kind of reaction in college. Anyway, there's a fine line in celebrating seeing something crazy (which I don't think is weird) and mocking somebody's (or their mother's?) pain. Again, I would say there's no problem mocking Iowa fans (we earn it) or the coaches (they seem to crave it), but the athletes themselves unless they court it? Seems weird. And a mother feeling pain for her son? Yeesh. Just one man's opinion.

Matthews wrestles more like Dean Heil than Dean Heil wrestled like Dean Heil lol

S1 - Thu 11a CST, First Round - ESPN+ & ESPNU All 8 individual mats - ESPN+ S2 - Thu 6p CST, Second Round - ESPN+ & ESPN All 8 individual mats - ESPN+ S3 - Fri 11a CST, Qtr's - ESPN+ & ESPNU All 8 individual mats - ESPN+ S4 - Fri 7p CST, Semi's (& Blood round) - ESPN+ & ESPN All 6 individual mats - ESPN+ S5 -Sat 10a CST, Medal Round - ESPN+ & ESPNU All 4 individual mats - ESPN+ S6 - Sat 6p CST, Finals - ESPN+ & ESPN It appears ESPN made it simple this year... nicely done. ESPN+ for hardcore fans who want to see all mats in every session ESPN (evenings) & ESPNU (mornings) will each cover 3 sessions with a single stream

I will have a full list in my preview guide (available maybe as early as Sunday) - i have some extensive stats on the bloodround wins and losses. Never has there been a 4x R12 finisher and as was noted earlier, Murin and Phillippi are 3x R12. 13 wrestlers all time have been R12 3x and never placed. Of note, only one wrestler has ever been 4-0 in the bloodround since the tournament went to 8 places in 1979. Zach Sanders …

I like the ones you mentioned. Also always liked Edinboro:

Let's not lose focus on the fact that this post is dumb on a whole other level, too. As much as I HATE the lazy, copycat, way over used "I enjoyed the ____era", the point of this hackneyed bit is to take a shot at something or someone you feel was over-hyped who then failed to live up to the perceived hype. Dragging out this fantastically unoriginal trope right after your target just achieved massive success is deliciously stupid.

And Alirez hates school, but he’s been putting in the work in the classroom every day 😂

Tulsa. JK, ESPN+

When my kids were little and they would complain about something it usually took the form of "I never get to ____, you always get to ____" and was usually directed at a sibling. Oh, and it was always wrong. So, I would respond with "I don't want to hear 'I never, you always' ". Some of the debates on here can take that form. It is especially the case with NCAA performance. People say some form of "my team always out performs their seed, but your team always under performs". Is that true? At the risk of ending the debate (ha, ha, ha) I present some data on how teams perform at NCAA's based on 2010 - 2022 results. This gets a bit tricky when you span 12 seed, 16 seed, and 33 seed tournaments. To deal with that: An unseeded wrestler can only perform at their seed or better than their seed in my world. Meanwhile, a seeded wrestler has all three options available to them. Not a perfect choice, but here we are, none the less. Also, I use the midpoint of the range for non-All Americans. So, a wrestler knocked out in the blood round gets credit for finishing 10.5 ( (12+9)/2 ), if they were not seeded 9 through 12. If they were seeded 9 through 12, they get credit for “At Seed”. How Often? The first set of three columns shows the % of times a team falls into each category (Better Than Seed, At Seed, or Worse Than Seed) By How Much? The second set of three columns shows the average of the degree of performance. So when Minnesota outperforms their seed they do it by an average of 3.9 spots. Yeah, But Where Did They Start? The the third set of three columns shows what the average seed was by category. The obvious conclusion is that Little Rock is the most under rated tournament team of all time. Do not open your gate for these Trojan horses. With no further ado, the top 20 by "Better" %:

Having done this multiple times in my career, it's the spot that TV wants but it doesn't work great for wrestling given the immediacy of the interviews. You never get good answers, but you always want the emotional response. For every "work hard and get better" response from a "what do you need to do" question, you get the "I just want some ice cream." The networks will gamble to get that ice cream line every time. A few years ago, they did Sparks with breakaways, which gave us the Sam Brooks mullet moment, but that's very rare in television these days. Ray Flores is a professional, but he's got a no-win position there. You have to ask quick question, realizing these are NOT for the die-hard. Everyone watching knows more than Ray does. You will never get that kind of insight from a post-match interview. He's good apparently at boxing (I don't watch boxing anymore), and he's a good broadcaster, but sometimes good broadcasters get stuck in gigs they do a decent enough job at for the networks but will always be reviled by the die-hards. Quint, for example. That role deserves a little grace.