Final B1G thoughts?

[HawkGold]

Spencer Lee isn't bypassing Folkstyle when he has a chance to do something few ever accomplish, or the Team aspect of his participation.

I prefer Folkstyle by a wide margin, but agree that Freestyle would be easier on some joints due to the exposure risk. That said, guys get hurt wrestling Freestyle too, and I absolutely abhore the leg lace rolls that end a match in 10 seconds. That part is ridiculous.

Relative to Iowa injuries, I'm a firm believer that Iowa University has all the tools at it's disposal to limit the injury carnage, and yet guys still get injured. Tom and Terry Brands have been in this game a LONG time, I'm confident they're not risking their Wrestler's health by putting them through things that would inherently increase their odds of getting injured. They need all hands on deck and nobody knows that better than them.

Shit happens and you deal with it as best you can.

Do you prefer yesterday’s product over freestyle? Everyone has their preference, but between the conference finals and last years NCAA finals I have seen a very boring product. I believe it was @smalls103 who had offensive stats from the finals last year. They were atrocious.

Inheriting freestyle more won’t eliminate injuries. That’s impossible. The goal is to reduce the injuries and I think freestyle does that.

As far as Tom and Terry know what they’re doing. They absolutely do in regards to wrestling. But there is so much more to it than that. They are not ST coaches by any means. I’ll use football as an example. There’s a reason why millions and millions of dollars are invested into nutrition and ST. You won’t find a single D1 program that doesn’t have specialists in those areas. It’s critical.

 

[natchrlman]

I’ve said on here before and found it to be an unpopular opinion ..... I would like to see the our kids wrestling freestyle from the get go..... in high school and college

especially since the rule changes eliminated the old ball grab and they started calling passivity.... imo the freestyle rules make for a more exciting match..... there is too much stall riding and playing the edge of the mat in folkstyle for my taste

plus our wrestlers coming up in freestyle from the beginning you would think would be better prepared for international competition..... honestly the notion it’s less likely to cause injury never occurred to me

I’m pretty much admittedly a Brands apologist when people criticize their methods right or wrong cause I think they’re the best guys for the job.... but it is becoming pretty hard to not notice our wrestlers rate of injuries and it’s always shoulders and knees..... show me a team that has more guys wearing shoulder and knee braces than us and it’s a valid concern

you know what they say about opinions and assholes though

 

[poorwrestler]

I’ve said on here before and found it to be an unpopular opinion ..... I would like to see the our kids wrestling freestyle from the get go..... in high school and college

especially since the rule changes eliminated the old ball grab and they started calling passivity.... imo the freestyle rules make for a more exciting match..... there is too much stall riding and playing the edge of the mat in folkstyle for my taste

plus our wrestlers coming up in freestyle from the beginning you would think would be better prepared for international competition..... honestly the notion it’s less likely to cause injury never occurred to me

I’m pretty much admittedly a Brands apologist when people criticize their methods right or wrong cause I think they’re the best guys for the job.... but it is becoming pretty hard to not notice our wrestlers rate of injuries and it’s always shoulders and knees..... show me a team that has more guys wearing shoulder and knee braces than us and it’s a valid concern

you know what they say about opinions and assholes though

I really like this idea. The only thing I would modify, and this is more geared towards high school where kids are inherently worse wrestlers, is the ability to end a match in 15 seconds with four consecutive leg laces or gut wrenches. Maybe limit it to 2 turns and then on your feet again or something. Not sure if that needs to be applied in college if the switch were to be made though.

 

[natchrlman]

I really like this idea. The only thing I would modify, and this is more geared towards high school where kids are inherently worse wrestlers, is the ability to end a match in 15 seconds with four consecutive leg laces or gut wrenches. Maybe limit it to 2 turns and then on your feet again or something. Not sure if that needs to be applied in college if the switch were to be made though.

yep good points

 

[GoHawks1996]

I’ve said on here before and found it to be an unpopular opinion ..... I would like to see the our kids wrestling freestyle from the get go..... in high school and college

especially since the rule changes eliminated the old ball grab and they started calling passivity.... imo the freestyle rules make for a more exciting match..... there is too much stall riding and playing the edge of the mat in folkstyle for my taste

plus our wrestlers coming up in freestyle from the beginning you would think would be better prepared for international competition..... honestly the notion it’s less likely to cause injury never occurred to me

I’m pretty much admittedly a Brands apologist when people criticize their methods right or wrong cause I think they’re the best guys for the job.... but it is becoming pretty hard to not notice our wrestlers rate of injuries and it’s always shoulders and knees..... show me a team that has more guys wearing shoulder and knee braces than us and it’s a valid concern

you know what they say about opinions and assholes though

2 years ago I would've showed you nearly the exact same team of guys with nearly no shoulder or knee braces. Once again, just turned out to be a cursed year injury wise.

 

[so cal hawkfan]

Unpopular opinion, but I think the only way to help improve the awkward positions on joints and ankles is to switch to a more freestyle approach, but that’s not happening. Jordan Burroughs even tweeted over the weekend about his fear for injury during every scramble because of folkstyle. Also unpopular opinion, but I wouldn’t blame Spencer Lee one bit if he was done with folkstyle.

I enjoy both styles but prefer folk by a wide margin. Collegiate wrestling for the most part has a bigger emphasis on conditioning. I love OT(Sudden Victory) wins. That TD by Amine over Brooks was crazy exciting. I do wish folkstyke would implement the push out/ step out rules as they reward the wrestler that is taking ground. So many times the action calls are BS

 

[natchrlman]

I enjoy both styles but prefer folk by a wide margin. Collegiate wrestling for the most part has a bigger emphasis on conditioning. I love OT(Sudden Victory) wins. That TD by Amine over Brooks was crazy exciting. I do wish folkstyke would implement the push out/ step out rules as they reward the wrestler that is taking ground. So many times the action calls are BS

going to two minutes SD ot was a good move for sure

 

[HawkGold]

I enjoy both styles but prefer folk by a wide margin. Collegiate wrestling for the most part has a bigger emphasis on conditioning. I love OT(Sudden Victory) wins. That TD by Amine over Brooks was crazy exciting. I do wish folkstyke would implement the push out/ step out rules as they reward the wrestler that is taking ground. So many times the action calls are BS

I like both styles as well. There’s just so much that is broken with folkstyle I don’t know where to begin. And when I’m mentioning freestyle, I’m not saying get rid of everything folkstyle. I like the sudden victory wins over the freestyle format. The push out/step out rule is a must in folkstyle. It would be so easy to implement. The second referee doesn’t do a damn thing as it is. Their new job will be looking for step outs.

 

[24 so far]

Do you prefer yesterday’s product over freestyle? Everyone has their preference, but between the conference finals and last years NCAA finals I have seen a very boring product. I believe it was @smalls103 who had offensive stats from the finals last year. They were atrocious.

Inheriting freestyle more won’t eliminate injuries. That’s impossible. The goal is to reduce the injuries and I think freestyle does that.

As far as Tom and Terry know what they’re doing. They absolutely do in regards to wrestling. But there is so much more to it than that. They are not ST coaches by any means. I’ll use football as an example. There’s a reason why millions and millions of dollars are invested into nutrition and ST. You won’t find a single D1 program that doesn’t have specialists in those areas. It’s critical.

The University of Iowa has the largest medical facility in the State if I'm not mistaken. Surely the Iowa Wrestling Team that exists within a stones throw of those facilities has medical professionals they can consult at any given time, and they do actually employ a Strength and Conditioning Coach. His name is Alex Harmer. I assume he is a real person and actually shows up to carry out his duties. Maybe that's the problem, if his last name were Healthy instead of Harmer we wouldn't be having this conversation...................😏

Tom and Terry Brands livelihood is directly dependent on the health of their Wrestler's. I'm certain they aren't pooh-poohing any aspect from a nutrition, injury or strength perspective. They train warriors for a living, and with that comes pitfalls.

Cory Clark won NCAA's with 1 arm. Jason Nolf with 1 leg. Randy Lewis took 7th with a broken elbow. They dealt with it as best they could, others like Matt McDonough weren't so fortunate. Shit happens in the arena, deal with it as best you can.

Anyone that thinks the University of Iowa isn't up on the latest and greatest technology and available tools relative to ALL their athletes is fricking bonkers as far as I'm concerned. Millions upon millions upon millions of dollars are dependent on it.

I don't have the answer as far as injuries this year or any other, but I know for damn sure it's not because they're not trying.