Awfully thin at HWT
- Thread starter hwkwrestlingaddiction
- Start date
I remember hearing a report from particular year during the Gable reign that the Hawks roster was 3-deep in state champs at every weight class. Can't document that, but it sounds plausible (and cool)
Can you ever be thin at heavyweight? 
Here we go:
Name CountOf285
Navy 7
North Dakota State 7
Missouri 6
Old Dominion 6
Cal Poly 6
Air Force 5
Army 5
Edinboro 5
Iowa State 5
Lock Haven 5
Purdue 5
Minnesota 5
Northern Illinois 5
Ohio 5
Ohio State 4
Oklahoma 4
Oklahoma State 4
Michigan 4
Penn State 4
Duke 4
Eastern Michigan 4
Binghamton 4
Arizona State 4
Campbell 4
Virginia Tech 4
Wisconsin 3
Wyoming 3
Cornell 3
CSU Bakersfield 3
Chattanooga 3
Clarion 3
Appalachian State 3
Buffalo 3
Gardner-Webb 3
George Mason 3
Kent State 3
Lehigh 3
Oregon State 3
Pittsburgh 3
Princeton 3
Rutgers 3
Sacred Heart 3
Stanford 3
Virginia 3
Michigan State 3
Nebraska 3
North Carolina 3
Northern Iowa 2
Northwestern 2
Northern Colorado 2
Utah Valley 2
Rider 2
Pennsylvania 2
Maryland 2
Illinois 2
Harvard 2
Drexel 2
American 2
Bloomsburg 2
Boise State 2
Brown 2
Bucknell 2
Cleveland State 2
Columbia 2
VMI 2
West Virginia 2
Davidson 1
Central Michigan 1
Hofstra 1
Indiana 1
Iowa 1
Franklin & Marshall 1
The Citadel 1
South Dakota State 1
Southern Illinois Edwardsville 1
North Carolina State 1
A team can have a lot of numbers in the room, but that doesn't always equate to "depth". My interpretation is "can the backup be competitive against D1 talent".
If you're looking for NCAA titles, depth is basically irrelevant. If you have a guy sitting on the bench who can score points at Nationals, that's a problem in itself. If your guy on the bench can't score points at Nationals, then you're screwed if the #1 guy goes out no matter what.
I would put the full court press on Gable Stevenson. If he's not on board then go for the next best guy whoever that is. Then we can shore up some in state talent for depth.
Depth isn't irrelevant, as you point out in your second sentence. Last year, PennState had a 165 starter that couldnt hold weight. His backup scored 1/2 team point. OSU had a 174 get hurt. His backup scored 5 team points. Some years, that could be the difference in a team title.
Most don't have a back up that could beat anyone. I would put an undersized Holloway against almost every back up Hwt out there. Not saying it is an ideal situation by any means but you will rarely find two capable Hwts. We were lucky to have Telford and Blake. It is too bad Bradley didn't work out unless it was a money issue and means we are getting Berge and Warner. Than we can bring in a Hwt that can take over after Stoll is finished.
FWIW - Costello's official visit with Iowa is 10/22.
149 #4 Collica, Anthony (starter) SR 0 - 0
149 #6 Martinez, Geordan JR 0 - 0
149 #30 Blaylock, Jonce SO 0 - 0
285 #19 Schafer, Austin (starter) SR 0 - 0
285 #76 Allen, Tanner SO 0 - 0
285 #106 Andersen, Ethan RS FR 0 - 0
285 #106 Andrews, Blake JR 0 - 0
Quality depth vs people in the room. Not that our other bigs cant prove themself, but there is a much larger dropoff.
149 #6 Martinez, Geordan JR 0 - 0
149 #30 Blaylock, Jonce SO 0 - 0
285 #19 Schafer, Austin (starter) SR 0 - 0
285 #76 Allen, Tanner SO 0 - 0
285 #106 Andersen, Ethan RS FR 0 - 0
285 #106 Andrews, Blake JR 0 - 0
Quality depth vs people in the room. Not that our other bigs cant prove themself, but there is a much larger dropoff.
I take the fact that Gable has never listed Iowa as a bad omen. At least I've never read or heard that he is interested in Iowa other than message board rumors.
g6 our footballers are busy until after new years
Any other 2017 Iowa heavies worth looking at? I'm assuming he's the top remaining guy after Wriedt committed to Nebraska.
I haven't seen his list of college choices. I have no idea whether he has any interest in Iowa or any other team. It has been widely speculated that he's a Minnie lean based on his brother being there. The current state in Gopher land may hurt their chances. I'm hoping having a couple of Minnesota biggins (Stoll and Berhow) in the room as well as a loaded roster will convince the big guy to keep rockin the black and gold.
Doesn't help much if he's our starting 197 pounder. And football players are busy until after New Years.
I agree with the quality depth comments but my expectations aren't that high. I'm talking about another body in the room. A possible developmental guy to roll with the starter that can at least prevent a FF in a dual. It is surprising that we don't have that guy on the roster. This isn't the first year this has been the case.
We had that guy. His name was Aaron Bradley. Now he decides he doesn't want to do it anymore. His presence could have also kept that "developmental" guy from coming aboard having to leapfrog two legit DI HWT.'s.
Can you ever be thin at heavyweight?
I am sure that Lou Banach would attest to the fact that as long as Tab Thacker is around, no.
I do know Gable has been on Takedown Radio and has expressed interest in ISU, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Penn State (I believe those are the four). He's also said he's a package deal with Roman Bravo-Young and I think RBY has had some interest in ASU.
Costello is probably it. Iowa City's Jared Brikman and Valley's Rocky Lombardi are both going to play college football.
There are a couple in the 2018 class who have nice potential with Cooper Lawson and Spencer Trenary.
Not quite true. Bradley wasn't in the room last year with Sam as our only HWT. And I disagree about the last comment--other teams have "room guys" at HWT. Just look at the list. And, for the record, this isn't a complaint. I just find it very surprising.
There is only one current/projected wrestler at both 197 and Hwt. Additionally, there appears to be a large drop off next year at 133, 174 and 184. Will be the same at 125 if Lee Redshirts. 1017-18 could be brutal from a Hawkeye expectation management perspective.
We've had Bradley, Lance Evans, and TJJ all leave the program within the last 2-3 years. Hard to generate depth when they keep running out the door
In that case I hope the big boys enjoy their NOC experience. Thanks for the info.
That's part of the point. That said, I don't think the eras of these guys overlapped except perhaps Evans/TFF for a semester...two years ago.
I wonder if his presence also kept Isley from being offered more? Carter and his family are Hawkeye fans.
At some point it has to be a factor. You've got X amount of money, and only 1 Starting spot. Some guys will come for nothing and be happy to have a shot and go to College at a Big Ten University and all that entails. Others will want a little something more, have a better chance of participating under the lights, maybe more scholarship money, etc., even if at a smaller school.
Every time I looked Sam Stoll was out there, so I don't recall if or whom we had for "depth" last year. As it turned out it didn't matter, whomever it was (or wasn't) on paper wasn't going to do any better than Sam when he got hurt again at NCAA's.
Still certainly prefer a Quality backup at every weight for sure. Losing Bradley sucks on many levels. His "situation" was going to work out pretty good from a timeframe standpoint, assuming his projection worked out as one would hope when Big Sam was done (or took him out in the process). Doesn't matter now however.
Why yes I do. The coaches are too serious and don't have a sense of humor. They work the wrestlers too hard and burn them out, sometimes before they even get started. They don't play dodge ball often enough. They make everyone wear camouflage and hunt. Them there's the reasons Iowa has never had a very good wrestling team.
