I have been reading posts on this forum for around a year now, but have only posted just a few times but figured I would speak my mind.
I for one thought the Hawks wrestled pretty well this past weekend. Could we have done better at certain weights? Sure of course, but who can't say that. Could we have won the tourney? Sure, if everything had gone perfectly. I just believe PSU is better than us right now, but not a lot better.
I know this point has been made and subsequently argued non-stop, basically since I have been reading the past year, so I will try not to bring up old arguments.
But with that said, I do want to make a small point to put things in perspective. As good as kids as PSU is getting in, and as much as they have been winning the past 5 years, they aren't the unbeatable force that many of the "sky is falling" and "we need a new coach" posters have said. Nor are we that far off of winning, at least historically.
While looking at the tournament program this past weekend, I read the records page and saw that 6 times, Iowa has won the big ten by 74.75 points or more, with the '83 team winning by an amazing 118.5 points(PSU won this week by 23.5). That is more than 11 of the big ten teams SCORED total this past weekend. That is domination, to a ridiculous level. That same team had NINE big ten champions. Now granted, D1 wrestling was a different world then(more scholarships and more teams)and so was the big ten with an actual ten teams vs 14, but still, those results are sick.
Are we the Hawks of '83? No, clearly not, but neither is PSU. We aren't looking at our "nemesis" the way the Clones and Cowboys were looking at us back then because PSU isn't the unbeatable team as Iowa was. Maybe no one ever will be again. I guess my point is that those Hawk teams were virtually invincible. Practically no one thought they had even a chance to win the Big Tens, much less nationals when competing against those Iowa teams. I for one don't feel that way about these PSU teams and I don't think anyone should. I saw progress with our current team over the weekend and liked what I saw at most weights and during most matches. Are we going to win nationals? I don't know, but I know we if we wrestle well we are going to have a chance and in today's college wrestling, maybe that is all we can ask for.
Go Hawks!!
I for one thought the Hawks wrestled pretty well this past weekend. Could we have done better at certain weights? Sure of course, but who can't say that. Could we have won the tourney? Sure, if everything had gone perfectly. I just believe PSU is better than us right now, but not a lot better.
I know this point has been made and subsequently argued non-stop, basically since I have been reading the past year, so I will try not to bring up old arguments.
But with that said, I do want to make a small point to put things in perspective. As good as kids as PSU is getting in, and as much as they have been winning the past 5 years, they aren't the unbeatable force that many of the "sky is falling" and "we need a new coach" posters have said. Nor are we that far off of winning, at least historically.
While looking at the tournament program this past weekend, I read the records page and saw that 6 times, Iowa has won the big ten by 74.75 points or more, with the '83 team winning by an amazing 118.5 points(PSU won this week by 23.5). That is more than 11 of the big ten teams SCORED total this past weekend. That is domination, to a ridiculous level. That same team had NINE big ten champions. Now granted, D1 wrestling was a different world then(more scholarships and more teams)and so was the big ten with an actual ten teams vs 14, but still, those results are sick.
Are we the Hawks of '83? No, clearly not, but neither is PSU. We aren't looking at our "nemesis" the way the Clones and Cowboys were looking at us back then because PSU isn't the unbeatable team as Iowa was. Maybe no one ever will be again. I guess my point is that those Hawk teams were virtually invincible. Practically no one thought they had even a chance to win the Big Tens, much less nationals when competing against those Iowa teams. I for one don't feel that way about these PSU teams and I don't think anyone should. I saw progress with our current team over the weekend and liked what I saw at most weights and during most matches. Are we going to win nationals? I don't know, but I know we if we wrestle well we are going to have a chance and in today's college wrestling, maybe that is all we can ask for.
Go Hawks!!
