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A couple things that seem odd (or defy logic)

Topher Carton runs the Eastern Iowa Wrestling Club - according to their website. I know McDonough coached at the EIWC as well for a bit - a few years back.

I think Slaton was also involved with HS/Club level coaching, and may still be, but I'm not sure of the extent.

I think Cash Wilcke is doing some HS coaching. And there are probably others I'm missing. Wouldn't be surprised if Happel is involved with HS/Club coaching at some level.

(Just looked) Apparently there is a 'McDominate Training Center' ran by McDonough, looks to be a Club type training center for the offseason. Carter lists himself as a coach there in his twitter bio, and they just started up practices again.

A good start, but always room for improvement. I'm sure we both want to see Iowa get better, I can already tell you guys are sick of winning.
Carter is also a full time assistant at Cornell (Mt. Vernon).
 
If any of these continued to mattered to recruits, PSU would have never elevated to what they are today. I think coaching and program style is the biggest factor, and I would agree that our training "style" just isn't appealing to younger generations, especially if you couple that with the success other programs are having with much different approaches.
Once again, you clearly have no idea what actually goes on in the room, or what the training "style" is.

TnT have evolved a ton in their coaching over the years. It isn't bang your head against the wall run until you're dead every single day like many of you seem to think. They of course do go through harder training phases and lighter training phases, but this whole "TnT need to stop overtraining their guys it's a brutal grind" thing is a total myth. That's why it's so important to get recruits to come visit and see what training for the Hawks is really like.

Could they evolve further? Of course they can. I think one of the biggest ways we could do better is to get a little more scientific, technological in the weight cutting/recovery aspects. Monitoring all the different stats you can monitor, supplements (legal), etc.
 
Yikes. That’s a hard sell to get someone to walk on for that. Why is 9.9 the limit anyway?
Nobody has to sell walk ons. They come into the program freely due to desire to be part of winning tradition. At the end of the day, their point production will probably be similar to the top 50 guys currently getting money?
 
That wouldn't have been an issue at the time of O'Toole's commitment. He committed before his jr year of hs. The pre-Covid timelines would have matched up perfectly with Marinelli graduating and O'Toole taking over after a RS.

This is if you assume that 165 was the target weight for him at that time. Iowa was in the same boat at 57 with Young.

So probably safe to assume that probably wasn't part of O'Toole's thoughts when/if he was considering Iowa.

I just used O'Toole as an example. It could apply to many of the top guys that don't choose Iowa/PSU/etc.
 
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My best guess would be that the best wrestlers expect full rides and maybe we don’t handy those out like candy.

But I still contend having top ten to twenty pfp guys on full scholarships and the rest walking on might be a direction to consider.
I do not think many schools hand out full rides. If a kid will only come to your school for a full ride, then he probably is not going to be worth it. He has to want to go to the school for other reasons also. I am guessing the best kids are getting 2/3 to 3/4 and an occasional 83% here and there.

That being said, a Kent State or UVA might offer a full scholarship to a guy that PSU or the Hawks would only offer 50% or so. if the kid chooses Kent State or UVA (nothing against their programs) then he probably is not driven enough to be successful at PSU or Iowa. That is assuming his brother isn't at the other place or the family is dead broke etc...
The flip side of the coin is there is usually academic money and other things kids can get at a lot of schools. For example - my son got 17,000 academic aid to go to Mizzxou from the school when he applied. That would have helped with the 48,000 price tag, had he chosen to go there. If a kid was a scholarship wrestler and they could have come up with 10-12K which is less than 25%, it would have made Mizzou an attractive alternative. I think Iowa can do a lotto the same things.
 
I do not think many schools hand out full rides. If a kid will only come to your school for a full ride, then he probably is not going to be worth it. He has to want to go to the school for other reasons also. I am guessing the best kids are getting 2/3 to 3/4 and an occasional 83% here and there.

That being said, a Kent State or UVA might offer a full scholarship to a guy that PSU or the Hawks would only offer 50% or so. if the kid chooses Kent State or UVA (nothing against their programs) then he probably is not driven enough to be successful at PSU or Iowa. That is assuming his brother isn't at the other place or the family is dead broke etc...
The flip side of the coin is there is usually academic money and other things kids can get at a lot of schools. For example - my son got 17,000 academic aid to go to Mizzxou from the school when he applied. That would have helped with the 48,000 price tag, had he chosen to go there. If a kid was a scholarship wrestler and they could have come up with 10-12K which is less than 25%, it would have made Mizzou an attractive alternative. I think Iowa can do a lotto the same things.
How many top 10 pfp recruits sign up for anything less?
 
Once again, you clearly have no idea what actually goes on in the room, or what the training "style" is.

TnT have evolved a ton in their coaching over the years. It isn't bang your head against the wall run until you're dead every single day like many of you seem to think. They of course do go through harder training phases and lighter training phases, but this whole "TnT need to stop overtraining their guys it's a brutal grind" thing is a total myth. That's why it's so important to get recruits to come visit and see what training for the Hawks is really like.

Could they evolve further? Of course they can. I think one of the biggest ways we could do better is to get a little more scientific, technological in the weight cutting/recovery aspects. Monitoring all the different stats you can monitor, supplements (legal), etc.
Sometimes perception and reality do not match. That is the whole point of the thread.

I am sure the majority of people on this board have never seen an actual practice at iowa. But that does not prevent those same people from having an opinion about the iowa program. Some of those people might even have kids who are being recruited.

If Iowa cant get recruits in because of their preconceived perceptions of iowa wrestling, then iowa need to chage how they portray the program. Simple as that. (i bet brands doesn't think this is a problem though)

In todays world, perception is reality. if you dont like the way people view the program, then change our minds.
 
Once again, you clearly have no idea what actually goes on in the room, or what the training "style" is.

TnT have evolved a ton in their coaching over the years. It isn't bang your head against the wall run until you're dead every single day like many of you seem to think. They of course do go through harder training phases and lighter training phases, but this whole "TnT need to stop overtraining their guys it's a brutal grind" thing is a total myth. That's why it's so important to get recruits to come visit and see what training for the Hawks is really like.

Could they evolve further? Of course they can. I think one of the biggest ways we could do better is to get a little more scientific, technological in the weight cutting/recovery aspects. Monitoring all the different stats you can monitor, supplements (legal), etc.
While I have no idea what’s going on in the room, I do see the results of what goes on in the room. The rest is just details.
 
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Only so much scolly money to go around and some schools can offer bigger rides.

Add Drake to the weight room routine. I think he will be a beast with about 6 more pounds of muscle.
I'm with you...I think he is going to be a bad ass! A healthy, seasoned Drake is going to big problems for most, if not everyone he faces.
 
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Once again, you clearly have no idea what actually goes on in the room, or what the training "style" is.

TnT have evolved a ton in their coaching over the years. It isn't bang your head against the wall run until you're dead every single day like many of you seem to think. They of course do go through harder training phases and lighter training phases, but this whole "TnT need to stop overtraining their guys it's a brutal grind" thing is a total myth. That's why it's so important to get recruits to come visit and see what training for the Hawks is really like.

Could they evolve further? Of course they can. I think one of the biggest ways we could do better is to get a little more scientific, technological in the weight cutting/recovery aspects. Monitoring all the different stats you can monitor, supplements (legal), etc.
I 100% agree with you that the perception of how TnT conduct business is totally different than reality. I'll also say TnT are not doing a good enough job of getting that out into open. We can always go back to the Lee's black binder. Outside of a little work at the time to change the perception of Iowa wrestling, not enough has been done lately to get that message out.
 
Sometimes perception and reality do not match. That is the whole point of the thread.

I am sure the majority of people on this board have never seen an actual practice at iowa. But that does not prevent those same people from having an opinion about the iowa program. Some of those people might even have kids who are being recruited.

If Iowa cant get recruits in because of their preconceived perceptions of iowa wrestling, then iowa need to chage how they portray the program. Simple as that. (i bet brands doesn't think this is a problem though)

In todays world, perception is reality. if you dont like the way people view the program, then change our minds.
TnT recognize the perceptions and have put a lot into changing them, but the negative recruiting other teams use is a lot of what fosters that.
 
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I 100% agree with you that the perception of how TnT conduct business is totally different than reality. I'll also say TnT are not doing a good enough job of getting that out into open. We can always go back to the Lee's black binder. Outside of a little work at the time to change the perception of Iowa wrestling, not enough has been done lately to get that message out.
They spent a ton of effort into transforming the "work hard, play hard" mentality into one of family and brotherhood. You also hear people use words like f*n a lot more often as well. Honestly I think people have such strong preconceived notions ingrained into them from years of watching and hearing about Iowa wrestling from the past that no matter what TnT do or say, people are going to think Iowa operates a certain way.

That being said I'm sure they could do a better job of portraying it, and hopefully they'll continue to learn and adapt as they have in the past.
 
Once again, you clearly have no idea what actually goes on in the room, or what the training "style" is.

TnT have evolved a ton in their coaching over the years. It isn't bang your head against the wall run until you're dead every single day like many of you seem to think. They of course do go through harder training phases and lighter training phases, but this whole "TnT need to stop overtraining their guys it's a brutal grind" thing is a total myth. That's why it's so important to get recruits to come visit and see what training for the Hawks is really like.

Could they evolve further? Of course they can. I think one of the biggest ways we could do better is to get a little more scientific, technological in the weight cutting/recovery aspects. Monitoring all the different stats you can monitor, supplements (legal), etc.
And what is your experience/resume to say you know more about what’s going on in the training room? Am I speaking with Tom or Terry?
 
How many top 10 pfp recruits sign up for anything less?
My kid is a JR in high school and just went through the recruiting process. Most of the top 20 teams reached out. The school that was chosen offered the following…

1. Financial aid based on our families income. FASA score. We don’t make much money, so this will be around 50%
2. Academic scholarships. #1 in the High School class. This will be around 40%
3 Athletic scholarship, Top 5 position recruit in the country. This will cover the remaining 10%

Most Div 1 programs stack scholarships.
 
My kid is a JR in high school and just went through the recruiting process. Most of the top 20 teams reached out. The school that was chosen offered the following…

1. Financial aid based on our families income. FASA score. We don’t make much money, so this will be around 50%
2. Academic scholarships. #1 in the High School class. This will be around 40%
3 Athletic scholarship, Top 5 position recruit in the country. This will cover the remaining 10%

Most Div 1 programs stack scholarships.
Wrestling?
 
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