After the huge announcements of Lee and Teasdale, I had said that I didn't think there would be room for Alex, since we also had Mejia and Rent. I'm really hoping now, that we can land him. Ideally he ends up at 141. I know his national success is not what some of these others have had. But, I still feel he is special and in the Iowa room would end up being a monster.
Alex Thomsen .... room now
- Thread starter Brandsfan
- Start date
The kid is going into his Jr. year. He is going to be one of, if not the best, Iowa kid in his class. He wrestles a style that we absolutely need more of at Iowa. I think he could end up being a 41 or 49lber, weights that we could use some more firepower.
I sure hope Brands and Co don't give up on him. We need Iowa kids that wrestle like him to think there is no other place to go than Iowa. Our rosters have had plenty of kids that if you asked them as sophomores in high school they wouldn't even have had Iowa on their list.
I sure hope Brands and Co don't give up on him. We need Iowa kids that wrestle like him to think there is no other place to go than Iowa. Our rosters have had plenty of kids that if you asked them as sophomores in high school they wouldn't even have had Iowa on their list.
I agree, also. You never know what's going to happen in two years.Is Teasdale a lock in for sure?
What's the deal here? Alex not an Iowa fan? I haven't seen where he's leaning...or even his favorites.
I think the focus needs to be more on Warner and Berge right now. These two guys will have better college careers then Thomsen. Not to say Thomsen won't have a great career, but the other two have 4 time AA potential with a chance at a couple of titles a piece. I don't see those good of results in Thomsen's future.
Isn't Thomsen a year behind those two? Am I wrong?
You are correct. My point is both Warner and Berge have more upside then Thomsen. If Iowa lands the two of them this year Iowa fans should be thrilled!
Understand that that outcome won't come cheap and there probably won't be to much money left over to get another high profile recruit in the 2017 year. Brandon Sorenson will be the only one graduating and the money they get back from his departure will all go to Teasdale.
Thomsen will most likely get better offers from other schools being a top ten recruit in his class and I don't think he loves Iowa enough to take a discount.
I'm not sure why everyone is convinced that Thomsen is a must get or that he would even be a good fit at Iowa. He is an explosive athlete, but that's about as far as it goes for me. He is over reliant on a duck under and isn't particularly good on the mat. He certainly has upside, but I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe he is some type of can't miss must get.
With Iowa's new recruiting strategy, you aren't going to get heavily recruited unless you fill an area of extreme need or are truly elite. The board has supported this but still gets upset when good Iowa kids go elsewhere. We really can't have it both ways.
Agree, I'm interested to see how he does at Fargo and super 32. Anyone know what weight he's going? Is he still cadet or junior? I think right now he is a better freestyler then folk. Would like to see him ride and turn some people at Super 32. If he does that and beats some good kids I'll start to be a believer that he's a top 10 recruit.
It's not the fact that we need to recruit good kids from Iowa, we need recruits from Iowa to be elite status.
A few years ago, I wasn't high on Marlin but wanted to go after Daniel Lewis (who probably would have went to Mizzou anyways). I was told that to not recruit a 4 time Iowa champ is bad for business. Plus, Lewis was one dimensional with his cradles and that it would never fly in college wrestling and that him pinning Marlin was a fluke.
This is not an I told you so post but we need to look at Iowa guys if they are near even with elite talent outside of the state and have been tested elsewhere. I'll take a guy like Young who has faced elite competition and is battle tested even if he has a few losses. When you have Nolf, Kemmerer, Cenzo etc as workout partners, wrestling s top college guy will be no big deal. You can clean that guy's technique up and have him progress quicker than a Marlin type who won everything in Iowa but finds out that he is not that elite once he gets in our room. BTW, not busting Marlin's chops...just an example.
This is not an I told you so post but we need to look at Iowa guys if they are near even with elite talent outside of the state and have been tested elsewhere. I'll take a guy like Young who has faced elite competition and is battle tested even if he has a few losses. When you have Nolf, Kemmerer, Cenzo etc as workout partners, wrestling s top college guy will be no big deal. You can clean that guy's technique up and have him progress quicker than a Marlin type who won everything in Iowa but finds out that he is not that elite once he gets in our room. BTW, not busting Marlin's chops...just an example.
Double Fargo AA following his FR year of HS (including the freestyle finals), Super 32 placer, he's had Drew West in his bracket at state, so he's faced some decent competition on the way to his state titles, also blew a PA state champ out of the water at Night of Conflict.
I would say his credentials are on the same tier as Jason Renteria.
If I am interpreting your post right...
There are exceptions to everything, but the two states that come to my mind are PA and CA. To be a champ in CA you are literally the best wrestler at your weight in the entire state. CA usually has a couple top HS programs, so winning it is a good indicator of a quality wrestler.
PA because there seems to be a large contingent of kids from that state that are ranked and there are only two classes. IA and IL produce good kids, but with three classes being a state champ can be watered down.
Unless Teasdale thinks he can make 120 again, we could see the two run into each other at Fargo.
It's tricky for sure.
As Iowa fans who are primarily Iowa natives in a small population state known for it's wrestling, you always want some representation from your in-state kids, as a matter of State pride if nothing else. But you also want your College team of rooting interest to hopefully win Championships, for sure be competitive in that pursuit, and in order to do that you need very good to great athletes in whatever sport it is. The State of Iowa has clearly held it's own in College Wrestling representation in our lifetimes. In reality it could have hardly been better.
I don't doubt that between Iowa, Iowa State and UNI, there isn't an Iowa kid who wrestles and is very successful, that they haven't been in their ear in some regard, at some point in time. Then it comes down to the 9.9 scholarship game. Tough gig. You make an offer and cross your fingers that it works out for "the plan". Wrestling is a sport largely defined by the sacrifices one has to make to be great at it. That pretty much stays the same until the end, and money has always been a part of that sacrifice for most as well.
I don't doubt that Iowa will continue to want and pursue the best wrestlers the state has to offer. We'll get some and we'll miss out on some, and fans will be pissy about the ones we miss (especially if they thrive somewhere else, which frankly hasn't happened to a disparaging degree). We've locked down this state for decades, look for that to continue when and where warranted.
If you think about it, it really is amazing how the 3 DI Universities in this state have kept Iowa wrestlers close to Home (being very good programs didn't hurt, and the small numbers game comes into play as well). In all those years, we "lost" David Kjeldgaard, Brandon Mason, Mack Reiter, Josh Ihnen, more recently Willie Miklus (my apologies to anyone I missed). In pretty much every case Iowa had it covered without them.
Iowa has always had a mix of Iowa kids and out of state kids. That isn't going to change.
Teasdale told me 2 weeks ago he was going 120 for Fargo.
He looked awfully sucked out at 121 at JR Trials so we'll see. but that's what he told me.
He looked awfully sucked out at 121 at JR Trials so we'll see. but that's what he told me.
Try this on for size--money. The cost of attendance for out-of-state students at Iowa is double what it is for in-state ($40K v $21K).
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1767
Iowa has a limited number of scholarships to give (9.9). So, just in raw numbers, a half scholarship to an Iowa high school kid is that much cheaper for the program than someone from out of state.
But, more importantly, Iowa can offer a smaller percentage of a scholarship to an Iowa resident than an out of state school. Cost of attendance at Penn State for an out-of state student is $49K. http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=59
So, if PSU offers an Iowa kid a 50% scholarship, Iowa can just offer the kid his books, and Iowa is the much better deal. Hawkeyes get that kid and have more scholarships left to give out to others.
Whomever told you this is ill informed. Not to mention, the comparative list of accomplishments for 4 time Iowa champs is pretty short.
Am I missing something, or has no one explained why Thomsen won't even consider Iowa, other than to just say he won't?
1. Thomsen said in an interview that he likes the way Penn State wrestles, which some took to mean he has no interest in Iowa, and which others probably took to mean "Plllltttt."
2. Not sure Iowa has that much reciprocal interest in him, given that we need to focus our limited money on bigger blue-chip guys like Warner and Berge, who are both ranked #1 at their respective weights by Flo; Thomsen, despite a slick style that I personally love, is ranked #10 @ 126. If we're willing to put more money into 133 we could offer Mejia more--he's ranked #3, after all--or pursue Murin, who is #5.
2. Not sure Iowa has that much reciprocal interest in him, given that we need to focus our limited money on bigger blue-chip guys like Warner and Berge, who are both ranked #1 at their respective weights by Flo; Thomsen, despite a slick style that I personally love, is ranked #10 @ 126. If we're willing to put more money into 133 we could offer Mejia more--he's ranked #3, after all--or pursue Murin, who is #5.
Some kids just grow up in families that aren't fans of the Iowa program -- not necessarily for any objectively legitimate reason, but we all have our biases and preferences -- and that can have a huge influence on a kid's choice. Maybe there's a similar dynamic at play in Thomsen's case.
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Same thing happens on the PSU boards and probably every other fan base as well. You follow local kids from 6th grade onward, only to see them go elsewhere at the end. Like watching a movie with a bad ending. See Lee and Teasdale! That said, Iowa's current strategy is the right one to take, and if local kids don't want to be a part of that train, then good luck to them. You have to accept that great kids an hour from your campus will go elsewhere. That comes with that strategy.
Good post. I'll add that for the top programs, the cost to the school is less relevant in the decision making process than the cost to the family. That said, my experience as an outsider watching the recruiting game over the years is that money is less important to the family/wrestler often times than the intangibles. Intangibles being the coaching staff, RTC, program fit, campus/lifestyle, wrestling close to family/friends, friendships, etc, etc. The individual intangibles by themselves can be small, but when added up can tip the scale more than money.
I think we'd be surprised how many "he's good enough for an automatic full ride" kids don't get full rides. The majority of families will accept some discount off a full ride in order to achieve the intangible goals. Great coaching and program health also includes understanding the value of those intangibles to the family and bidding for the kid's services accordingly.
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From last summer - Andy Hamilton:
Future prospects: Recruiting will pick up for Thomsen on Sept. 1 when college coaches are allowed to call high school sophomores for the first time. He listed Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio State as three early favorites. He said he's impressed with Nebraska assistant Bryan Snyder and likes what coach Tom Ryan's program is doing in Columbus, Ohio.
"And obviously Iowa is going to be on there because it's embedded in your brain since day one that you want to be a Hawkeye," Thomsen said.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...owa-target-alex-thomsen-newest-iowa/30614903/
Our follow up after he won his state title:
In the fall you told Andy Hamilton that Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio State were on your list for colleges you liked. Are they all still in play and have any other colleges made their way into some of the schools you are interested in?
Yes I like those colleges, and they’d all be great to go to, but right now I have no idea where I want to go. I have two more years to decide and when the time comes I know I’ll have the help of the coaches and my family to make this decision.
https://iawrestle.com/2016/02/26/overtime-with-underwood-sophomore-alex-thomsen/
Can Spooner give some decent reason to keep posting Iowa has no chance. It's close but I would give Thomsen the slight edge in credibility.
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I just want the best recruits that will come to Iowa. If they were born in Iowa, that's obviously a plus. I want individual championships and team championships. Load the roster that will get us CHAMPIONSHIPS.
I really like how Alex Thomsen wrestles, I'm a fan. If he's good enough for the coaches he's good enough for me. If not, I wish him luck in whatever his future holds. Unless of course we offered and he picked someone else. Then it's war!
I really like how Alex Thomsen wrestles, I'm a fan. If he's good enough for the coaches he's good enough for me. If not, I wish him luck in whatever his future holds. Unless of course we offered and he picked someone else. Then it's war!
That was a year ago. They just aren't into the Iowa program. I've been wrong frequently.
I like Thomsen but if he wasn't from Iowa we wouldn't be discussing him nearly this often. He's very good and should be at least an AA in college. Not sure he's truly elite. Never know.
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