We are loaded in the US at the lower weights. This kid is great. I am assuming he will end up at Oklahoma State but can't find out anything about it. Does anyone have info on where he will wrestle in college?
Dayton Fix?
- Thread starter Besthawkfan
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I think the dad was a teammate of John Smith in college. Would take something extreme to keep him from Okie State. Though I would not be shocked if he went to ASU given his freestyle background, aspirations and the presence of Jordan Oliver/Zeke Jones. The time Zeke spent as US coach is huge in recruiting for the teenagers with international goals. If not for the credibility at least for the contact time he already had with them before ASU. 2016/2017 classes should be the last he has that advantage with.
This seems to be true. Why was this not the case for Jackson and ISU? I'm sure the ISU administration and fans hoped it would have a more positive effect. In reality they heard a lot about how he hadn't coached folkstyle in years and would struggle to coach mat wrestling.
Seems odd to me how similar the situations, yet different the results.
Maybe because Zeke also had success as a d1 head coach before the U.S. freestyle team
Or maybe ASU is a good locale, warm year around, and plenty of cash and finally committed to their program and hired a top line coach. Great turnaround from when they almost dropped the sport. We need more of them. Oh yea...but those girls down here...
Yeah it might be a little early still. Besides if Fix, Lee, and Suriano were in the same wrestling room the Brands would be
I wonder if the ASU coach might go to a more prestigious wrestling school and combine classes like Brands, and Sanderson. I would hate to see the valencias at ISU.
There are a couple people on here who really dis Zeke Jones every chance they get. His tenure at Penn was successful, his tenure as US coach freestyle was successful, he goes to ASU and immediately has them front and center in the college wrestling world, very successful recruiter, very technical wrestler and coach, etc.
What is the issue with him?
I think some of the guys on here know that Zeke Jones success at the OTC was due to outside sources training the U.S. guys and had little to do with Zeke. In some circles Zeke gets a lot of the credit. Past Gold medalists, Cejudo (Terry Brands) Varner (Cael Sanderson) Burroughs (Mark Manning). That is where the credit should be.
Just my opinion but I think Zeke's teams will wrestle very similar style to Okie State. Lots of backing up, slick style of wrestling, try to keep it close and strike late in the match or on the edge of the mat. I really don't think they will be exciting to watch at all. I'm confident that 9 times out of 10 a Hawkeye will be able to physically and mentally break an ASU wrestler at some point in the match.
Terry Brands, Cael Sanderson and Mark Manning get plenty of credit for the gold medalists - I'm not sure where this is coming from. Cejudo is always linked to Brands, Varner always to Sanderson, Manning always to Burroughs. I'm not sure what you are seeing here.
From an Iowa perspective - Terry Brands is pretty much universally acknowledged as one of the top freestyle coaches in the country. He won the McCann award in 2014. A guy is only as good as the people with him. It's to Jones' credit that Brands, Sanderson and Manning have made such contributions during his tenure.
Again, every program he has led has improved. Shown the ability to manage a program. Acknowledged as a top technical coach (as well as wrestler). Great recruiter.
What am I missing?
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This is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. Ed Ruth went to AZ because of MMA. Is anybody surprised at what happened to him after the US Open? I'm not. You can't be half in on this stuff.
Not sure what you are talking about with Oliver. He's behind Metcalf and has been for a while. He was pretty banged up at the US Open and the trials. Next year will be a good opportunity to judge where Oliver is - although he is another one with one eye on leaving the sport. Not sure where Jones can get any of the fault on either of these.
Where would you come up with that opinion? Where you an avid follower of UPenn? Or are you just trying to transpose wrestling under the old FILA rules for the most part to what he will do at ASU?
And the physically/mentally break an ASU wrestler 9 out of 10 times? You're living in the 80's and 90's. Take a look around the landscape of D1 today.
Metcalf has widened the gap against Oliver this past year and I don't see him ever closing it again. This could be a factor of many things. It's clear Metcalf keeps adding new dynamics to his game. I just figured you would have seen Oliver and Ruth try todo the same when they went to train with Zeke. Like I said I didn't see it. Saying there just not that into it is a piss poor excuse. You don't go to the WTT to represent ur country if ur not that into it. I don't think Ruth or Oliver have taken a step back at all, but they surly didn't move forward by going to train with Zeke.
calm your self dice ,papa said zeke had a recruiting advantage maybe because of his time as u s coach, I asked who had better international resumes zeke or john smith-answer not evan close.and I dislike ok. st. papabear is correct zeke is pulling off his time as u. s. coach.
A big reason: Zeke Jones is a better coach than Kevin Jackson.
This...And its not even random ISU bashing. I would take West Virginia and Sammie as well. I think Zeke will do a good job cornering the market on the Cali kids (better keep his mitts off of ours) and attract just enough talent from back east to survive. The only problem I see with ASU is this: Distractions. Charles Barkley had a theory on this...He said in Philly, it was easier to play tougher because when you woke up it was cold and gloomy and he was pissed. When he went to practice, he was pissed. When he had to drive through the snow to get to games...he was pissed. When he went to Phoenix, it was tough to keep that edge because everyone was happy with the sun shining all the time. And with girls and the Tempe party scene, its going to be tough to keep a young man's attention. Even worse in a sport where the coach has to depend on the discipline of the individual for the most part.
Prior to Kevin Jackson these other schools aren't in the same stratosphere as Iowa State.
Okie State yes. First I've heard about UVA. I comfortably can say UVA has probably chance. Honestly don't see any schools with much chance outside of Ok. State.
Debatable. But I thought we were talking about coaches and schools that give you the best chance to win. That's what I said when I made the initial comment.
I agree with this. A buddy of mine was a mega blue chip recruit and was in a ridiculous recruiting class that went to ASU. All but one of them was done after 1 year, he said it was due to all of the fun and partying they did.
Princeton Review: of best party schools
IOWA
2015 #2
2014 #1
2013 #2
2012 #4
ASU
2015 not in top 20
2014 not in top 20
2013 not in top 20
2012 #17
IOWA
2015 #2
2014 #1
2013 #2
2012 #4
ASU
2015 not in top 20
2014 not in top 20
2013 not in top 20
2012 #17
My data is several decades out of date, but for what it's worth, I attended both ASU (as a freshman) and Iowa (as a grad student), and despite what Princeton Review says, ASU was much more of a party school than Iowa! And I did my share of partying at both. But I'm not sure I buy the line of reasoning that says ASU will never be a top wrestling power because its athletes will be too distracted by sunshine and hot chicks. Recall that ASU won the NCAA championship in 88, was runner-up in 89 and 90, and had several additional top-5 finishes in that era. They had 8 AAs in 90! So I think it's wishful thinking to say that the Valencias, Shields, Benick, and Maruca are all going to phone in their wrestling performances because a hot Kappa Kappa Gamma smiled at them in English Lit. There are hot women at Iowa too. (I married one.) I think ASU is going to be a powerhouse under Zeke and I think you write them off at your peril.
With the exception of Iowa State and the entire state of Wisconsin, there are hotties pretty much everywhere
When a recruit visits ASU it is understandable why they love the school, the campus etc. Zeke can tout his tenure as USA Freestyle coach, and guys like Ruth also lure top kids as well. Now, compare that to visiting ISU. Tempe vs Ames... Zeke starts with a recruiting advantage based on the locale, and student body at that school. Mix in that ASU is the closest big program to the hotbed of CA talent and I see Zeke building a very successful program. Whether or not all of his top recruits, Valencia brothers, Olivas (only a sophomore now) etc. can stay focused and stay in school remains to be seen etc. However, there is no reason to believe at this time these types of recruits aren't focused and disciplined. They wouldn't be where they are if they weren't already.
Not lying around in bikinis in November by the pool on campus...haha. I am not writing ASU off...In fact, I live an hour and half down the road and plan on going to see them wrestle to get my fix. I am very happy (even if I hate ASU in everything else) that Zeke is resurrecting the program....great for wrestling to maybe add another elite program. Just saying that the challenges will be different. How about Tom get on the horn w/Zeke and schedule some duals down here...first beers and tequila shots on Mill Ave are on me fellas.
I think this is a great idea! Let's get ASU on the schedule ASAP.
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