Would anyone like to grade the performances from our Hawks (both current and those that have graduated) over the weekend?
Grades
- Thread starter hawkaeg80
- Start date
Not a complete list, by any means, but to start things:
Marinelli B+ nice semi win vs an AA
Young A looked undersized, but still came close to winning it all
Burak B
Telford B both the big guys in the HWC are putting in good performances
Ramos A (yeah, I know)
Glynn C+
Shaw C
Happel C- not convinced he'll do much for us at 141
oh yeah...
Nelson Brands A+ (GR and FS champion Western Regional)
What are this boards' thoughts on your senior 61kg and 65kg Dardanes boys, who both finished 7th?
One took a slap like a pro and tried to unleash hell on the other guy.
Our favorite SJW journo (Foley)/UWW Lackey tried to make it into a race thing.
Deshazer did the same thing to Brewer after he was teched. He should have been DQd. Brewer just pointed at the scoreboard.
Lol @ how DeShazer ran like a little punk when Dardanes came after him.
So, would it be that this past weekend was OKish? And who do you think will approve the most, who might be a surprise hit, and lastly, who has the biggest upside? I know that freestyle is a different sort of cat altogether, so it doesn't always translate to folkstyle, but who has the biggest freestyle upside? Thanks for all comments.
I'd say Alex Marinelli...I believe that was his first freestyle tournament ever so I was pretty impressed that he got some turns in par terre and kept good freestyle positioning. AM's style is made for freestyle as he is not a scrambler or a leg diver. Still, it was cool to see that he didn't look like a fish out of water. He was uncomfortable in upper body clinches so he needs to improve on that. Taller guys at his weight will try to exploit height and reach.
They wrestled at end of season and the score was 6-5 Marinelli.
I was really impressed with both Young and Marinelli. I feel like Young has improved a lot since he stepped on campus. Extremely solid and rarely out of position. His finals match was a bummer as I felt he was the better wrestler but got outsized/outmuscled. A little more experience, and I'm not sure he would have been shooting with a lead, that late in the match. Covaciu took one shot the entire match. He did all of his scoring off of Young's shots so I wish he would have just stayed solid and made Covaciu take him down.
Marinelli looked good as well. The McFadden match should have never been that close. Hall is just a different animal altogether.
Both need to get bigger. I'd like to see 10 lbs of mass on each and then roll them out there at 165/174. Both appear undersized for those weights right now.
Marinelli looked good as well. The McFadden match should have never been that close. Hall is just a different animal altogether.
Both need to get bigger. I'd like to see 10 lbs of mass on each and then roll them out there at 165/174. Both appear undersized for those weights right now.
Ha, but the prediction engine says Young by 9-5.
https://www.wrestlestat.com/compare/wrestler/44574/marinelli-alex/44572/young-kaleb
Hoping this isn't a troll question, because I'm going to answer honestly, and it's a long answer.
First, for context, when I wrestled for the Hawk Club 30 years ago I was not close to AA when I arrived and only borderline AA when I left. So I appreciated the opportunity to wrestle at Iowa and get a lot better and have my tournaments paid for and my workout laundry done for free and have a spot in the room that could've gone to someone else. I owe Gable and Johnson a lot for letting me come there and be part of the program. I worked my ass off, for the record. That was my contribution.
We have a different situation now with regard to level of talent in the club, level of talent in the room generally, and funding. There is positive movement on the latter two fronts with new recruiting classes and an influx of donations, particularly the $1M donation by our friend and the additional contributions that has generated.
The questions to be answered with regard to the club are:
1) Do we have enough Olympic-caliber talent there? The answer is pretty clearly no. The club roster is similar to the NCAA roster of recent years in that it is primarily mid- and low-tier AAs. In the late '80s we had Barry and Penrith and Kistler and Alger and Lewis and Rico, in addition to the fringe guys like me. Jack Griffin was also there for the '92 cycle. We don't have that caliber of talent in the club now.
2) Does the lack of high-end talent in the club impact the rebuilding of the NCAA team or the perception of Iowa as a whole? That's subjective, but in my opinion, everything counts, from how many NCAA champs you had last year to how many multi-time champs you've had in the past few seasons to how many titles you've won recently to how many Olympic medals your club guys have won to how big a splash your club made at freestyle nationals. We have work to do on all those fronts, but the club has clearly declined in prominence.
Given all of the above, the Dardanes would not have been my top choices to bring in and support financially. Just like NCAA recruiting, we need to attract the best of the best. I don't know them personally, so it's not directed that way. Hopefully the new influx of money will provide more latitude in funding, so that we can have a range of talent on the club, as we did in the '80s. Hopefully everyone on the club right now is dead-set on becoming a national and Olympic champ, regardless of where they placed last weekend. I'd love to see the Dardanes be at the top of the ladder in '18, '19, '20. Truly.
Nope, not a troll question, but I can now see where that may appear to be one. Sorry. I appreciate your lengthy answer. You sort of answered the hidden question in the back of my mind. If you rebuilt the HWC, would the Dardanes be on it. I'm sure they are fine young men, and I'm not trying to disparage them, but I'd think you'd want more out of key weights. I haven't necessarily been happy with our lightweights, but that seems to be correcting over time, and I'm sure it will for you as well.
I don't think there's any question that the whole point of fully funding or endowing the club is to attract more top end talent.
Again, you hit the nail on the head.
As much as I love TnT and our coaching staff, I feel like what they lack is a hard down to earth realist in the room like yourself. It's great to be positive and be yes men and say things like "I like our guys" but a different perspective would be a plus. Anyone know who on the coaching staff would be the closest to a tarp hawk voice in the room?
I feel like dresser can switch to that mind frame, and I think that's why he's been able to move programs in the right direction for so long.
Great to be a romantic, but practical to be a classical mind too
I don't think there are any illusions going on in the Iowa room. At the moment, the resources aren't there to attract some of the very top-level talents out there. This is going to change in a hurry. As it does, and as Iowa constructs the top wrestling facility in the universe, more elite talent will make its way into the Iowa room -- for the Hawks and for the HWC.
This.
Also, while down to earth realism may have been somewhat lacking and "I like our guy" may have been too dominant a strategy, it seems pretty clear there has been a sea change with regards to caliber of recruits. We're actually getting top ten guys for several consecutive years now...something sorely lacking in past.
Better late than never. Next year will be a struggle. After that....
I'll add a little to that.This.
Also, while down to earth realism may have been somewhat lacking and "I like our guy" may have been too dominant a strategy, it seems pretty clear there has been a sea change with regards to caliber of recruits. We're actually getting top ten guys for several consecutive years now...something sorely lacking in past.
Better late than never. Next year will be a struggle. After that....
I'm all for realism and agree with Tarp's take, which is typically spot-on, but I'll also throw in that I admire Coach Brands' philosophy about "liking" our guy. I don't think he's necessarily saying he thinks our guy is the most talented or the best guy he could possibly have at any given weight. But he still "likes" our guy, because he's dedicated to his athletes. He, like Terry and the rest of the staff, cares deeply about each of his wrestlers. He goes to bat for them in every sense and is 100% committed to helping each of his guys develop into the best wrestler -- and man -- he can be.
So don't mistake "I like our guys" for "I think our guys are the best in the nation up and down the lineup and I'm not interested in upgrading the talent level in our room". The cool thing, IMO, is that Coach Brands genuinely "likes" (i.e., takes a sincere interest in his success on and off the mat) each and every kid in the Iowa room. We can be proud that our coaches truly care about these kids and will quite literally do everything they can to help them thrive, athletically and personally.
And as for the talent level, that's gonna be f*** to watch. Folks, it's on the rise, and that ain't stopping any time soon.
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I also think there is a high priority on integrity...getting guys in here that not only want to do right by themselves but by their teammates as well. Don't mistake that for having the same exact mindset as TnT because they are willing to adapt to each individual's personality and their vision of personal growth...as long as its being done the right way. As for recruiting, I think they will take a chance on a guy if they can see him wanting to fit Iowa...two way street.
I think a lot of folks preach integrity but I do think TnT walk the walk. For example, remember the article written on Gilman about how Tom wasn't calling him etc and he didn't think Iowa was interested after getting CC? Tom didn't want to bug Gilman because he knew Gilman was getting ready for freestyle stuff and didn't want to interrupt his training. This is a great example of Brands thinking of the wrestler first above his own needs. Unfortunately, it almost cost him a recruit but how many coaches would lay off a kid because of that?
I think a lot of folks preach integrity but I do think TnT walk the walk. For example, remember the article written on Gilman about how Tom wasn't calling him etc and he didn't think Iowa was interested after getting CC? Tom didn't want to bug Gilman because he knew Gilman was getting ready for freestyle stuff and didn't want to interrupt his training. This is a great example of Brands thinking of the wrestler first above his own needs. Unfortunately, it almost cost him a recruit but how many coaches would lay off a kid because of that?
