Don’t understand why Warner came back if this is how he’s going to wrestle
Minnesota Meet Thread
- Thread starter LIV4GOD
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I'm not even sure what this mess is. Certainly not what we are used too as Iowa fans.
I agree on all points. But also feel he is not mentally where he should be at this stage. And either way, if not ready enough to go the question becomes why the coaches put him out there. Do they think his knee and mind are ready to go hard? Give his knee/mind a break if not and let someone else step in. It was more productive and fun watching Riggins/Rhodes/Hill battle and lose than Warner.
Dislocated elbow, tore all the ligaments, and shattered the radial head in his elbow. His forearm was basically only being held to the upper half of his arm by skin. I watched it in person and it was stomach churning. Feel horrible for him, probably lost a good 9 months of mat time.
Terry was not happy with Warner. They were having some words. Warner refused a water from him.
Warner also didn't walk through the line at the end of the meet.
Warner also didn't walk through the line at the end of the meet.
I understand everyone is focusing on Warner's disappointment after disappointment match this season and the fashion they were lost. But, my question is, how did our depth of our squad get so depleted that we had to start 3 true freshmen wrestling at least one weight class above their actual weight that aren't even close to being ready to compete at this level? Are all 3 starters at those weight classes hurt-Brands, Assad & Cass? Or were they just giving them a break? Spencer Lee was the first wrestler to ever compete as a true freshman at Iowa on the varsity squad ever, at least under TB, and he is once in a generation type wrestler. He will go down as the best Iowa wrestler of all time with 4 natty's. Before him, we never had a true Freshman compete on varsity. Now we are throwing out three true fr guys and even worse, they are wrestling at least one weight class above their own actual weight. Rhodes is a 165 lb wrestler, wrestling up two weight classes at 184 & it's clearly shown. Riggin's is a 165 lb wrestler, wrestling at 175 and Hill is a 197 lb wrestler at a huge weight disadvantage of heavyweight. Did we really think any of these three had a chance wrestling as true FR at weight classes above their actual weight? Is it a sign of our bad recruiting showing up from missing on so many guys from the past couple recruiting cycles before this freshman class? Or what is the best explanation? Because, this is unheard of with Iowa wrestling to have to start 3 true FR at not even their actual weight class. Iowa starting wrestlers used to take the mat every match or at least every B1G or big match.
I agree it's a bit strange. One obvious factor is the five free competition dates for true freshman. We probably don't see some of these guys without that rule change. I think another factor is the free Covid year, plus medical or Olympic years for some teams, jamming up lineups and scholarships at some weights. Spencer was the first true freshman under Brands, but I believe Gable had a few too. McIlravy for sure, can't recall the possible others. Brands has had Assad and Ayala as true freshman too, might be missing one or two. This sport is tough, but I really don't like the decreasing pitch count for NCAA wrestlers. Does anyone get close to 150 matches anymore?
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I think it’s smart to throw true fresh out without burning redshirts..we were in control of the dual.
Not taking away from your points but Hill is a 285 now, inexperienced and undersized but a 285.
I believe J. Williams and McGinness wrestled as true freshmen and then red-shirted later in their careers. Also, maybe true for Marty Kistler, but that is going back 40 years.
He was 6th once. Also was seeded 4th the covid year. They can call it whatever they want but he's a 1 time AAI give you 6' 5" Ben Darmstadt, 2x AA in his two college seasons.
That sound you heard was the point whooshing over your head.
JWar is not wrestling to where he was at the end of last season for whatever reason. He is a much better tournament wrestler than dual wrestler. He is our only and best option at 197. I hope he can fix whats ailing and live up to his Mr. March reputation.
He's definitely struggling this year with his body and his confidence. But to say a 3xAAA D1 wrestler sucks shows me how little you know about this sport and how big of an a$$hole you are.
What I saw from Riggins last nite was a huge positive. He will be a good one by the time he finishes his career at Iowa.
And has the body to add weight, imo.
And has the body to add weight, imo.
You don’t understand how illness would be rampant in a hot humid room full of people rolling around with each other for hours on end every day?
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We've rarely had great depth since the Gable era, when we often had top-8 backups (e.g. Terry Brands behind Martin, Zaputil behind Martin, Streicher behind Terry Steiner, Ryan behind Reiland, Alger behind Kistler, Riley behind Davis, Catalano behind Brinzer....).
(In the Brands era I can only think of Gilman behind Clark when they were both RSF.)
It would be great on a night like last night, but I've been one of the biggest complainers on this board about getting one top-10 P4P at each weight vs. multiple guys ranked #30+. I'd rather place a bet on a superstar, and if he gets hurt, you live with a hole. In short, I don't think depth should be a top priority so long as you're all-in on a superstar as the starter.
Alas, neither Nelson Brands nor Assad are superstars (Assad was #29 P4P, Nelson was #93). Nor, unfortunately, are the true freshmen who filled in last night (Riggins #30 P4P, not sure Rhodes & Hill were on the Big Board).
The only true 174 backups are Swafford (ranked #29, fun to watch, but injured and/or redshirting) and true freshman Jude Link (ranked #224 and 0-2 career).
The only true 184 backups are true freshmen Aiden McCain (2-6, ranked #169) and Mickey Griffin (6-4, ranked #170, and possibly injured).
I tend to agree with you that it's unfortunate to have to wrestle 3 true freshmen backups, 2 above their natural weight class. While it didn't affect the outcome of the dual, it's bad for optics and fan morale.
Like Brands and everyone else, I want the best team on the mat at B1Gs and NCAAs. Minnie dual is a minor blip.
FYI re true freshmen, Ayala and Assad both started as true freshmen in the past 4 years.
The transfer portal has obviously taken a lot of the high quality depth from most of the top teams, and I believe that SDSU and NDSU being bumped to D1 has taken a lot of recruits from the area that would have been great depth wrestlers from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin etc. over the years as well.
Are you able to wrestle for 7:00? Guessing not
I don't understand posts like this...
I wrestled, we never had illness all year in our room every year. This illness excuse gets old. Penn State wrestlers sick every week? Injured?
Obviously injuries happen but we seem to have more than many top tier teams. Bad luck every year?
I actually believe the illness thing is more message board chatter trying to come up with reasons why our wrestlers aren't performing at the level "we" expect.
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Absolutely, I'll just move really slow. Lol Could when I was 21 years old.Are you able to wrestle for 7:00? Guessing not
Talking about the illness thing, I don't believe these animal 21 year olds in peak condition are sick every other week. Many on this board have wrestled. Do you remember your room being sick all the time?
JMO- I think at this level being off a bit is more obvious since the opponent is always a B1G level wrestler. I don’t know why these guys are out. Assad and Cass were there? Brands has been in and out? Our lineup is a mystery at some weights. I don’t have any answers.
What I think is completely bizarre as many have posted, is our lack of quality depth. Just crazy we have so little depth. I don't remember it this bad several years ago.
