npope

Sports fans are generally all about the won-lost column, and this especially describes wrestling and its fans, where after a handful of minutes of competition a winner - and a loser - is declared. The success and/or failure of an athlete is very black-and-white in our sport. With the arrival of NIL and the ability of a mere handful of teams to compete for the raw talent in that market, the pools of premiere talent will congregate in a very few schools (we already are seeing it). This concentration of talent will lead to a competitive imbalance, i.e., the strong teams will increase the distance between themselves and the weaker teams (whose numbers will far out-number the teams with money and talent) will fall away and fan-interest will wither and dissipate. In time, you will literally only have a handful of powerful, sustainable teams who will only have each other to compete against - a small cluster of maybe five to ten teams who nobody else other than their own respective fan-bases care about. There won't be enough teams against which to compete in order to have a "season." I can't think of any other sports model where this is sustainable. This concentration of money and talent will surely kill our sport as part of the collegiate experience; it will be lucky to continue even as a club sport because it is such a grueling experience for the wrestlers themselves. The club version used by the rest of the world may be the only sustainable version, but that is a significantly foreign model for Americans to swallow as much of our sporting system has been integrally tied to our educational system. Sadly, I think we are in the midst of the end of our folk style sport as we have known it for the past century.

Okay - let's get this part right. Jordan graduated from the University of WISCONSIN in 1986 where he was a two time national champ. He later picked up a law degree at tOSU. You guys make me doubt that you know anything about what you are saying.

You are the only one saying that I only lost by pins - no one else said that. I said I learned to never quit while there was still time on the clock. Obvious that you aren't reading what is posted and writing your own narrative so you really don't need anyone responding to you - so I'm out - go for it.

Please reread the post. I think you are just being deliberately dense now. What was said was that one of the most poignant learning moments from my wrestling career was that I never quit trying - no matter the score. I have lost many times by a variety of scores - but that has nothing to do with the post that was made.

I understand that you didn't say that no one ever comes back near the end of a match, but you also said that when the "writing is on the wall" wrestlers at the highest levels are more likely to simply accept the beating and get off the mat ASAP...and that's the part I have trouble with. I don't really know if that's a true assessment of the competitive nature at that level (and I did indeed wrestle in college) but even more, I hope like heck it isn't accurate. I count among the many valuable lessons I learned from the years competing is that a person should never quit when there is still "time on the clock." I buy into the value of believing "It ain't over till its over" and it colors all aspects of my life. So, to think the many greats of our sport think otherwise on this point "ruffles" me a bit and I resist accepting your premise.

Tell that to Rob Rohn

After watching a few of Gable's matches here (and note that I am in my 60s) I find it hard to reconcile my memories of him with the fact that he is a far older man now - his legend always precedes him in my mind. He was a force of nature during his time.

Doesn't the wrestle-off system allow for the postponement of matches if one of the participants is injured? I think one of the women's matches was postponed for that very reason and will be wrestled at a later point in time. Am I missing something?

I would agree, it simply is time to take the next step, whatever that might be.

Yes, the cupboard does indeed look pretty bare at the moment, but also remember that the Badgers are are only two seasons removed from a 12-2 campaign, so I wouldn't report the program's demise just quite yet.

Here's the box summary: 125: Eric Barnett (WIS) over Kyle Gollhofer (UNI) (Fall 0:30) | 6-0 133: Taylor Lamont (WIS) over Kyle Biscoglia (UNI) (SV-1 3-1) | 9-0 141: Cael Happel (UNI) over Joseph Zargo (WIS) (Fall 3:25) | 9-6 149: Adam Allard (UNI) over Felix Lettini (WIS) (Dec 7-3) | 9-9 157: Garrett Model (WIS) over Derek Holschlag (UNI) (Dec 5-2) | 12-9 165: Dean Hamiti (WIS) over Austin Yant (UNI) (MD 13-2) | 16-9 174: Lance Runyon (UNI) over Josh Otto (WIS) (Dec 6-2) | 16-12 184: Parker Keckeisen (UNI) over Drew Scharenbrock (WIS) (TF 22-6 6:37) | 16-17 197: Braxton Amos (WIS) over Noah Glaser (UNI) (MD 10-2) | 20-17 285: Trent Hillger (WIS) over Tyrell Gordon (UNI) (Dec 2-1) | 23-17

Hells' Bells, flyingcement, I thought you had posted the actual results of the meet. So the meet is currently going on? I live in a pumpkin

Thank you.

Anybody willing to post final results on this meet?

Burwick and Lamont this weekend - let's start a new thread!

Despite all of the forum "noise" around this 21 page topic , I am only sure of one thing - glad to see Burwick back on the mat and competing this season. Good luck to all involved.

Got something else better to do with your time?

I think you put too much stock and significance into the match results of a couple of relatively average (for the BIG Ten) wrestlers. I am sure that Bono and crew have much, much bigger fish to fry than worrying about a possible loss in a relatively meaningless matchup. That said, if indeed you are right that Bono is hung up on Burwick's transfer then I think Bono should see a psychoanalyst - would definitely reflect some screwed up priorities.

But those multiple reports all seem to trace back to one source - Manning (maybe, if second hand information is to be believed - still haven't seen it in the news). And too, one thing that you have failed to address is any possible rationale as to why the UW program would be willing to take such a big PR hit on this situation where, by most all accounts, the UW made an upgrade. Why in the world would the UW make a stink of it when there is not really much of anything to be gained? So, while I can understand how you think some pieces line up to support your position, there are some big gaps in the potential motivation for UW to do anything other than to say "Good luck, Kyle!"

A couple of things that would seem to be evident to me: Burwick's eligibility this year does not rest with the UW signing some paper - this is a matter solely in the hands of the NCAA regardless of what the Badgers want or don't want (the kid is not enrolled at the UW, he is no longer on scholarship at the UW - assuming he was at one point, etc.). So, people saying that the UW needs to sign something before Burwick is free is most likely erroneous - this is obviously an NCAA issue. The fact that some attribute this statement to Manning makes me 1) doubt those posters' familiarity with the situation and/or 2) think that Manning might be a pumpkin - he should know better than to make such a simplistic statement...if he ever did. Would still love to see the explicit quote from Manning on the matter rather than secondhand references. That said, I don't expect posters to spend all sorts of crazy time trying to dig out some statement that may never have been documented to begin with, even if Manning might have indeed said it. I cannot believe Bono really cares whether Burwick is in Nebraska's line up at any time this year; the PR damage associated with trying to block Burwick's release is far greater than any negatives that would be associated with Burwick possibly beating Lamont at some point during the season. I can't believe fear of a Burwick win is driving any of this. When the UW athletic department took the opportunity to publicly address the matter it provided a clumsy statement that appeared as if the UW lawyers drew it up to provide as little substantive details as possible - damned by simple omissions that could have put the whole thing to rest. Last, I sure hope Burwick gets his chance to wrestle this year - the sooner the better...and I will eagerly be awaiting the UW-UN dual

That's some pretty good support for your contentions. But I am not very big into Twitter, etc., can you provide a little background as to who "Inside Nebraska" is? Are they affiliated with the university or something? Thanks in advance.

Where did they say it? Is this what Askren is reporting?

Yeah, but what people hear and what people actually said are often different things, intentional or not. That's why I am trying to willow-out the third-party component. Would love to see a direct quote from Snyder on the matter.

I hear you. That said, of these other "reports" all are delivered second hand or via hearsay - only the UW athletic department come out and posted something coming directly, officially, from them (other than the Burwicks themselves, which at times has been inaccurate). Can someone point me to something specific from the Nebraska camp, e.g., athletic department or coach (not hearsay or second hand reporting), that says something contradicting the UW statement?

Wouldn't be much of a conversation if everyone agreed