Leaderboard

Dear J'den Cox, Thank you. Sincerely, The USofA

Good ride, Cowboy. https://okstate.com/hidden/news/2024/4/11/cowboy-wrestling-oklahoma-state-legend-john-smith-announces-retirement

John opens with a reading from the book of weight cutting is all I know.

Just looking at some stats from the team scores that I found interesting. 2024 Penn State vs. 1997 Iowa For those wondering about the 3 pt. takedown and 4 point near fall and how that affected bonus points. Penn State gained 11 extra team points via bonus that they would not have received had it not been for a combination of the above scoring changes since 1997 although you could argue some of their tech falls might have still come as some came like 5 minutes into the match. They had 8 total tech falls so that accounts for 4 of those points (tech falls going to major decisions = -0.5 team points) Team Over-performers and under-performers - looking at how teams were projected to score based strictly on seeds (advancement and placement points) and how many placement and advancement points they actually scored (no bonus) Over-Performers 1. Ohio State (+16.5) 2. Michigan (+16) 3. Stanford (+15) 4. Little Rock (+10) 4. Lock Haven (+10) 6. Virginia Tech (+9) 7. Oklahoma (+8.5) 8. Penn State (+7) 9. Navy (6.5) 9. Arizona State (6.5) Over-Performers / Number of Qualifers 1. Lock Haven (3.33) 2. Stanford (3.00) 3. Little Rock (2.00) 4. Ohio State (1.83) 5. Michigan (1.78) 6. Oklahoma (1.70) 7. Navy (1.30) 8. VMI (1.00) 8. West Virginia (1.00) 10. Virginia Tech (0.90) Under-Performers 1. NC State (-46.5) 2. Lehigh (-27) 3. Purdue (-12) 4. Northern Iowa (-10) 5. Harvard (-8.5) 6. Binghamton (-8) 7. Illinois (-7.5) 8. Oklahoma State (-6.5) 9. Cal Poly (-5.5) 10. Air Force (-5) Under-Performers / Qualifiers 1. NC State (-4.65) 2. Lehigh (3.38) 3. Harvard (-2.83) 4. Illinois (-2.50) 5. Purdue (-2.40) 6. Binghamton (-2.00) 7. Air Force (-1.67) 8. Northern Iowa (-1.43) 9. Cal Poly (-1.00) 9. Brown (-1.00) 9. The Citadel (-1.00) Bonus Points - Which teams scored the most? Total Bonus Points 1. Penn State - 34 2. Cornell - 19.5 3. Iowa State - 17 4. Iowa - 15 5. NC State - 13.5 6. Northern Iowa - 12 6. Nebraska - 12 6. West Virginia - 12 9. Missouri - 10. 5 10. South Dakota State, Michigan, Ohio State - 9.5 Bonus Points per qualifier 1. Penn State - 3.40 2. North Dakota State - 2.50 3. West Virginia - 2.40 4. Cornell - 2.17 5. Air Force - 2.00 6. Iowa State - 1.89 7. Northern Iowa - 1.71 8. Iowa - 1.67 8. Ohio - 1.67 10. Wisconsin - 1.60 Conference Stats - I wanted to look at this as a whole since there was a lot of debate about how conference place changed seeding Overperformance or Under-performance - Actual points vs. projected points just looking at placement and advancement (no bonus) Total Performance 1. Pac 12 (+27) 2. Big Ten (+26) 3. MAC (+16.5) 4. SoCon (+2.5) 5. Big 12 (-4) 6. EIWA (-31.5) 7. ACC (-36.5) Total Performance / Number of qualifiers 1. Pac 12 (+0.90) 2. MAC (+0.66) 3. Big Ten (+0.27) 4. SoCon (+0.15) 5. Big 12 (-0.06) 6. EIWA (-0.52) 7. ACC (-1.01) Conference Bonus Points 1. Big Ten (106.5) 2. Big 12 (81.5) 3. EIWA (41) 4. ACC (34.5) 5. Pac 12 (23) 6. MAC (12.5) 7. SoCon (4) Conference Bonus Points per qualifier 1. Big 12 (1.25) 2. Big Ten (1.11) 3. ACC (0.96) 4. Pac 12 (0.77) 5. EIWA (0.67) 6. MAC (0.50) 7. SoCon (0.24)

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C414xsKsuXO/?igsh=d2Fsc3M5OTdpcWI= Love it. More sports hate!

.... Toned it down, and is actually waiting for the final whistle before sticking the mike in a wrestler's face, as he's done in the past.

Thanks for the great coverage Peacock!

Carr should be considered for OW since he went through Hamiti, O’Toole, Mesenbrink

It went so quick. Now I understand how my wife feels.

I know some have complained about the broadcast on Peacock, but I thought the quad box was great aside from the issues with mat 3 for a bit, especially during the JB/Facundo match. But I thought Shane deserved his own thread. He just went 5 hours broadcasting by himself and stayed on top of all of the action. Very impressive! Thank you Shane.

Put the bottle down Mr messenbrink

Cormier is the right choice for commentator at the NCAA championships. He’s comfortable on the mic. He’s a relatively big name. He understands people who do not follow wrestling. He’s funny. And for casual fans (as well as plenty of wrestling fans) he’s a good story teller and entertaining. The NCAA championships are a time to showcase the sport to a wider audience, and technical commentary is not the right choice. Cormier is.

Messenbrink was acting all Desanto in that match. Several times he was a little extra. Shove was not unwarranted.

Sorry but it looked like MM was trying to bully JB and get into his head, and then drove low into JB's legs when they were already out of bounds (which can result in an injury). If that's the case then JB was 100% right to show MM what he thought of that.

To ensure you don't miss any of the action, you need to add fifteen (15) items to your watch list in Peacock. Brackets and mat assignments will be in Track. Times in the table below are Eastern Daylight Time: Times shown below are Pacific Daylight Time, since I live in Vegas:

Spelling is in honor of Fleetwood Mac's legendary album. But in terms of actual rumors, there have been posts suggesting that: 1) An Ivy coaching change could send ripples through the coaching carousel 2) Virginia Tech will be announcing a former head coach as a key hire for them (rumor is its Roselli) 3) Oklahoma State will be finalizing their head coach announcement next week. Probably will be Coleman, but a few desperate last minute conversations will take place (and will be unlikely to materialize) 4) Connor McGonagle rumored to be headed to Virginia Tech with Latona bumping up to 141 and Crook redshirting

Deutesaunamy Chapter 6

Lifetime sport where anyone can pick up a ball and throw it into a hoop (not necessarily well) vs. a combat sport with nuance rules, multiple styles and a sports culture that didn’t grow up competing it it. We can learn some things but ultimately, it’s a tough sell to convert people without prior experience in the sport and we have this habit of turning off our own people to it as well.

Ugh...please don't post again

is there a debtors prison you can take lame swipes at Iowa from?

Ah yes, David Taylor. Always most humble in victory and gracious in defeat.

The missed opportunity was Carr not wagging a 1 pt finger in Messenbrinks face at the end.

In 4 NCAA Final appearances, Daton Fix has not scored a SINGLE OFFENSIVE Point! Only escapes and "penalty" points.

Can we assume that basically the entire roster shifts up a weight class or two for next season?

Now that we know the entire field and who will be competing where, in respects to byes to the semi-finals, how do we think seeds will play out? Nomad had gone in to great detail, mind you with obviously opinionated picks as to how he thinks they should go, but how do we think they're going to go? Here are who is qualified as of now, with their 'projected' weights... I have taken the liberty of putting who I think will NOT show up in italics. Some thing to consider with this is that once you are qualified, you are qualified. There is no stipulation as to what weight you can wrestle once you are qualified. Meaning Daton Fix could go 65 KG or Aaron Brooks could go 97 KG. The stipulations are only with the 'byes' that are earned. For example, a bye to the best-of-three finals is stipulated upon you having earned a medal at that Olympic weight the year prior. A bye to the bottom semi-finals is stipulated that you earned a medal at an adjacent weight the year prior (technically Snyder could have gone 125 KG if he chose, with a bye to the bottom semi-finals). The guys waiting in the best-of-three finals and the bye to the semi-finals gents are locked in as of now, though, as they had to declare their intentions by the end of last month. Again, here are the currently qualified gents for MFS... 57 KG Challenge Tournament Zane Richards - 2023 World Team member Thomas Gilman - 2020 Olympic Team member Daton Fix - 2019 World Team member Marcus Blaze - 2023 U17 World champion Spencer Lee - 2023 Bill Farrell champion Nico Megaludis - 2023 Senior Nationals 2nd place Liam Cronin - 2023 Senior Nationals 3rd place Daniel DeShazer - 2023 Senior Nationals 4th place Luke Lilledahl - 2023 Senior Nationals 5th place Richard Figeroa - NCAA D1 champion at 125 lbs Vitali Arujau - 2023 Senior World champion 61 KG Joe Colon - 2018 World Team member 61 KG Nick Suriano - 2024 Pan Am Championships champion 61 KG Jax Forrest - Last Chance Qualifier 65 KG Sitting out to Bottom Semi-Finals Zain Retherford - 2023 Senior World champion at 70 KG Challenge Tournament Nick Lee - 2023 World Team member Yianni Diakomihalis - 2022 World Team member Logan Stieber - 2018 World Team member Kaleb Larkin - 2023 Bill Farrell champion Andrew Alirez - 2023 Senior Nationals champion Beau Bartlett - 2023 Senior Nationals 2nd place Joey McKenna - 2023 Senior Nationals 3rd place Seth Gross - 2023 Senior Nationals 4th place Austin DeSanto - 2023 Senior Nationals 5th place Jesse Mendez - NCAA D1 champion at 141 lbs Caleb Henson - 2024 NCAA D1 champion at 149 lbs Nahshon Garrett - 2018 World Final Trials champion 61 KG Tyler Graff - 2019 World Team member 61 KG James Green - 2021 World Team member 70 KG Alec Pantaleo - 2024 Pan Am Championships champion 70 KG Matthew Kolodzik - Last Chance Qualifier 74 KG Sitting out to Best-of-Three Finals Kyle Dake - 2023 Senior World silver medal at Olympic weight Challenge Tournament Jordan Burroughs - 2019 World Team member Mitchell Mesenbrink - 2023 U20 World champion Keegan O'Toole - 2023 U23 World champion Jason Nolf - 2023 Bill Farrell champion Quincy Monday - 2023 Senior Nationals champion Alex Marinelli - 2023 Senior Nationals 2nd place Alex Facundo - 2023 Senior Nationals 3rd place Jarrett Jacques - 2023 Senior Nationals 4th place Tyler Berger - 2023 Senior Nationals 5th place Levi Haines - 2024 NCAA D1 champion at 157 lbs David Carr - 2024 NCAA D1 champion at 165 lbs Carter Starocci - 2024 NCAA D1 champion at 174 lbs Meyer Shapiro - 2023 U20 World champion 70 KG Ladarion Lockett - 2023 U17 World champion 71 KG Vincenzo Joseph - Last Chance Qualifer 86 KG Sitting out to Best-Of-Three Finals David Taylor - 2023 Senior World champion at Olympic weight Sitting out to Bottom Semi-Finals Zahid Valencia - 2023 Senior World bronze medalist at 92 KG Challenge Tournament Patrick Downey - 2019 World Team member Aaron Brooks - 2023 U23 World champion Trent Hidlay - 2023 Bill Farrell champion Alex Dieringer - 2023 Senior Nationals champion Mark Hall - 2023 Senior Nationals 2nd place Max Dean - 2023 Senior Nationals 3rd place Connor Mirasola - 2023 Senior Nationals 4th place Evan Wick - 2023 Senior Nationals 5th place Parker Keckeisen - NCAA D1 champion at 184 lbs Chance Marsteller - 2023 World Team member 79 KG David McFadden - Last Chance Qualifier 97 KG Sitting out to Best-of-Three Finals Kyle Snyder - 2023 Senior World bronze medalist at Olympic weight Challenge Tournament Isaac Trumble - 2023 U23 World champion Michael Macchiavello - 2023 Bill Farrell champion Kollin Moore - 2023 Senior Nationals champion Nathan Jackson - 2023 Senior Nationals runner-up Jay Aiello - 2023 Senior Nationals 3rd place Eric Schulz - 2023 Senior Nationals 4th place Anthony Cassioppi - 2023 Senior Nationals 5th place J’den Cox - 2022 World Team member 92 KG Christian Carroll - Last Chance Qualifier 125 KG Sitting out to Best-of-Three Finals Mason Parris - 2023 Senior World bronze medalist at Olympic weight Challenge Tournament Gable Steveson - 2020 Olympic Team member Hayden Zillmer - 2022 World Team member Nick Gwiazdowski - 2021 World Team member Wyatt Hendrickson - 2023 U23 World champion Christian Lance - 2023 Bill Farrell highest placer Dominique Bradley - 2023 Senior Nationals champion Gary Traub - 2023 Senior Nationals 3rd place Demetrius Thoms - 2023 Senior Nationals 4th place Trent Hillger - 2023 Senior Nationals 5th place Greg Kerkvliet - NCAA D1 championat 285 lbs Jaron Smith - Last Chance Qualifier Disclaimer: If Steveson does show up at 125 KG, I expect Zillmer to be at 97 KG.

As soon as I read the tweet i imagined some old korean lady stepping over the collapsed body of a gassed out downey in the frozen food section.

Man, what a fall. Hamiti used to live in Madison. Then we thought he was going to be in Ann Arbor and fat and happy at 174. Now he's living in Stillwater and he's Daton Fix's replacement at 133.

Seriously, down 2-3 with 30 seconds left in the match, Kelly sticking Penrith with a spladle in the 1987 championship match was the ultimate.

He went out, bought the bottle, got all of the way home, put it on ice, set out his glass, got the lighting just right, sat down, popped the cork, filled his glass, lifted it to his lips, and Larry Owings swiped it from him and drank the whole thing.

Not a big Fix fan...but this is a good post match interview.

The hawks are going to be circling Bailey and Little from Little Rock. I hope they both stay and help Erisman build that program.

"You got Oklahoma State. You got John Smith in the corner. They're gonna wine like f*cking bitches the whole time."

Jesse Mendez is a dog. He’s be a problem for years to come.

JB is more than the guy who won more golds for the US than anyone else. People forget now, but when JB first won a gold medal in 2011, the US struggled to win golds. In the ten years before he won his first gold -- from 2001 to 2010 -- the US won a total of 3 golds. Then JB came in and raised the bar for everyone.

Classless ass penn state fans. JB is one of our all timers, have some respect.

Can't believe his alarms leaked AGAIN!! Dude better stay out the way of KJ's Buick this year.

Ahahahaha. Folks see Burroughs post on the Flo instagram on Star going 86kg? ‘Gonna be hard to end my career up there champ’ Amusing. Burroughs does well with this social media stuff.

Let's apply some Lobster Logic: Millions of people voluntarily build fences around their properties. Public servants in every jurisdiction wear gold stars proudly and conspicuously. Tattoos are displayed with joy by people. Free food, clothes, transportation, and health care are sought by people the world over. Therefore, if a government were to provide these things we all would be in a form of heaven. Anyone whining about having to wear a thin easy to attach gold star to help each other out needs a swift kick in the ass. Anyone whining about having to get a small easy tattoo to help each other out needs a swift kick in the ass. Anyone whining about having to live in a secure gated community with free food, clothing, health care, and all the exercise you want to help each other out needs a swift kick in the ass. There have been several such a benevolent governments that gave all these things to special people and also gave swift kicks in the ass to whiners with the temerity to complain. Lobster just loves those types of ass kicking governments and the type of people who implemented them.

Need Ragusin's thoughts on this matter.

Maybe because it is a state institution they have to follow certain procedures to fill a position?

I get that Burroughs may be too old now, but lets not pretend that he couldn't of won a challenge tournament to make a team after 2011, he just didn't have to. He sent Dake and Taylor to different weight classes. These are just the list of guys in the challenge tournament which always has multiple time NCAA champs. If JB loses it will be to to father time, not because he had to go through a bracket with Jarrett Jacques in it.

It's a bad look for wrestling in general. MMA/UFC is half WWE, the false bravado, the calling people out. Bo is brining that into his life. It may be a needed piece of his career, now, but it's not necessary in wrestling. And Starocci saying he's going to end Boroughs career... It's all moving to social media click bait.

We were all predicting that 125 this year would be bedlam. And it was. Depending on which service you follow, there were 6 or 7 different #1's throughout the season. And the #1 seed, Braeden Davis, failed to AA. That has only happened five other times in the last 20 years. And it has only happened one other time since seeding was expanded to 16 in 2014. By almost any measure the bracket was pretty well busted. Four of the wrestlers seeded in the top 8 failed to AA (#1, #4, #6, #7). And the sum of the seeds that did AA was 78 (2+3+5+8+10+12+15+23). But that only makes it the fourth most busted bracket since 2014: For this I went conservative and used 17 as a plug number for the unseeded. Unsurprisingly, 2021 with all of its weirdness was the most busted year. edit: fixed year table

Hoping the championships are held here more. A lot more. Great setup. Low cost. Arena was outstanding. Central. Lots of food and drink around Arena. Free tram to get you to fun area with more good food near river. City was clean. People were nice. All around great. Really hoping this city gets the event more often.

Very few like or appreciate Iowa style wrestling anymore. It's unattractive in the 2000s. It's based on some fiction of a tough macho, self-sacrificing man. Marlboro Man. It's low scoring. It's not fan friendly. It is rooted in the Brands' experience at very low weights and doesn't work well in an era scrambling and funk. It doesn't appeal to recruits. It is not enjoyable to watch. The Brands don't get this and they think being stubborn is being resolute and strong. These spark plugs and fire hydrant coaches aren't going to change. And they will only fall behind further while the peanut-crunching crowd gets louder .... in its impatience and disapproval. But the midwest also doesn't like change either and doesn't know what to do. It's more earth than water or fire. It loves authoritarians not innovators.

I don't want to hear any more of this talk about Ben going to Wisconsin. Smith is going to eventually retire at Miz and my ultimate dream is an Akren as head coach and KO on staff. Please...please...please!

Wait, isn't that the NICE thing to do? Attack the wounded leg? Leaving him his good leg for support? I'd attack his good leg and make him hop around on the crippled one.

A bigger easily solved issue: how is it possible when we go from 8 mats down to 4 or especially down to 1 we can't have enough mat border to prevent a wrestler from going off the mat edge when they are technically still inbounds?

“You are currently scrambling for a TD in over time. Right now is the biggest moment in your career. What is making you decide to do that?”