i ain't midway between shit. i'm the goat.
Questions for Willie The Brain
- Thread starter Wrestling-04
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1) i talk like that in my daily life often as well
2) it's really difficult to do a show by yourself
3) i have to make sure i word everything as precisely as possible so snowflakes won't bitch
4) i have to make sure i don't elude to sources
but yeah, i should work on that.
@smalls103 serious question that hopefully has a free answer. Do you think Iowa recruits as well as it could?
Curious what you think.
Curious what you think.
Where the Men are Men and the sheep are nervous.
At least you didn’t tweet Gilman to Turkey because Spencer tweeted his knee again like Mineo. Being 1% like Mineo would offend most. Carry on.
@smalls103 will the new wrestling room at Iowa help us land some top tier recruits? Who is Iowa staff first phone call to on June 15th?
i got use to it. So much better information than you can get most places. Bros and Throws does a nice job also but not as much insider information.
Just joined the Hawk/Lion threads last year and find your insights here and on Basch & Brain to be objective and well-grounded. Not seeing the bias that some others claim, so keep doing you.
Sidebar: Flying to Spokane this fall to drive to hikes in Alberta. We’ll honk the horn when we pass the only CdA house with a front yard of grass-green Resilite.
to be honest, i think it could be considerably better, and i'm not quite sure how anyone could disagree with that.
of course the efficacy of the big 2023 class is still TBD and they lost Nate.
but, imo, they should have gotten more in '24 and all the '25's are already gone.
Edit to add: I think Iowa should look at Anthony Mutarelli (PA) and Ronnie Ramirez (CA) for 2025
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the new room certainly won't hurt. i don't know that it will be the difference-maker though in kids' decisions. but it is exciting. can't wait to see more of it. perhaps i missed them but i haven't seen photos or video of anything but the room so far (locker room, lounge, etc)
Iowa's first call should be to the Raney's. While Bassett and Forrest dominate the headlines, these two are right there with them in terms of ability and ceiling and I think they are the more realistic options. + They need 33/41 bad.
Of course Dreshaun should be of the highest priority. Others in state: Jake Knight, Alex Pierce, Nolan Fellers and Jaxon Miller. (Iowa has a couple studs in the 2027 class, too).
some of the more under-the-radar guys I think are good fits for the Hawks are
Waylon Cressell, IN
Jaxon Penovich, IL
Zach Stewart, IL
John Murphy, MN
That’s 83/17 in cesspool years. Quit exaggerating your calm demeanor.
Unfortunately out of the Iowa list only Ross is a high impact high AA type guy which is what they need to keep up.
@smalls103 What does Iowa need to do to turn the recruiting pool around and get back to getting more of the top tier kids? How do they get that Young Guns pipeline back like they had with Spencer, Max, Kem, and Kaleb? Who should they be targeting as far as the younger prospects(Current 8th-9th graders)? Any young Seabolt kids they should be on?
@smalls103 Do you know if the Raney brothers are interested in the Hawks? I know you said that's who the Hawks should be on immediately, but are they interested in being a Hawkeye?
Lol, that's good sheittt. I come across your post on X, you are comedy chief. Beers with you, have to be a blast.
they are on a short list, yes.
Thank you for your insights Willie!
I love that you point this out. Helluva lot of kids that are tremendous that don't draw the same attention. If I'm a college coach/recruiter, I'm calling you for the "diamonds in the rough".
Is this a real question? Just look at Willie and then look at Pyles. One shoots pool in seedy bars for free tequila shots. The other drinks espresso from a machine. You do the math.
That reminds of one FRL where they were talking about how many of them it would take to beat up Ben. I think the settled on an O/U of 3.5, but I'm not so sure.
it's difficult to diagnose. not sure what their recruiting process/objective/priorities are without hearing it from them.
so although i posted that i think they should have gotten more the last two years, i don't want to 1) be overly critical (bc i don't know what their plan is) or 2) suggest that it won't get better going forward (bc they've gotten good classes before and perhaps they have a plan mapped out.)
ultimately though, i don't agree with the 'let's tap a pipeline from XYZ wrestling club'. clubs are often cyclical. they are also, by definition, coached up/prepared the best by 12th grade. there are potential superstars everywhere if you put the time in and evaluate correctly.
Don't ever change. Pauses are.............. power.
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Pyles would gas Willie from bottom obviously.
Well, with all due respect, we have been relying on the diamonds in the rough approach up until now. And it hasn’t been working as a main recruiting strategy. We end up REALLY liking our guys who seem to max out at r-12/low AA but this approach has been our downfall, imo.
We need certified hammers and should be positioned to get our share. But that hasn’t been happening, imo:
disagree. what 'diamonds in the rough' have you relied on?
125 - Spencer / Drake / Gilman
133 - Clark, DeSanto - Schriever, Petersen
41/49 - Vince Turk (there's one) Murin, Lugo, Eierman, Real, Voinovich, Block
57 - Kaleb Young, Siebrecht (there's one), Anthony Ferrari, Rathjen
65 - PK, Caliendo
74 - Nelson (there's one), Kemerer, Gabe
84 - Abe, Riggins, Nelson
97 - Warner, Glazier (there's one) (and that's only b/c Franklin has been what they thought)
285 - Stoll, Cass, Keuter
almost every one of those guys were top 50. there are only a few spots you had sub-Top 75's and they were 1) short lived and 2) probably not because you were relying on them but b/c stuff happens and because you miss on a guy here and there.
perhaps our definitions of 'diamond in the rough' are different.
in which case, please indicate who iowa RELIED on as an anticipated starter that you consider 'diamond in the rough'.
i could make a case that they don't rely on them or target them enough. and/or certainly not the right ones.
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Hasn't it been known and proven for a while now that "top 50" doesn't cut it. That's good for a lot of programs, but it doesn't win titles these days.
Max Murin is an example of relying on a low ranked recruit to be a multi year starter. Started 5 years and he was a one time all American only placing 6th.
well, that's why i asked for the definition of 'diamond in the rough'
it sounds as if you two are saying there are just two categories
Top 20 Blue Chippers
and everything else is a 'diamond in the rough'
if your argument is that Iowa would win more if they only got Top 20's well....duh.
that could be said for every program in america.
it sounds as if you two are saying there are just two categories
Top 20 Blue Chippers
and everything else is a 'diamond in the rough'
if your argument is that Iowa would win more if they only got Top 20's well....duh.
that could be said for every program in america.
And that’s exactly what Cale and company are doing. And when they need to filling holes with transfers.
Iowa need to identify and recruit athletes better. There’s a difference between a top 10 recruit and a top 10 recruit that’s athletic. If Iowa has lacked in the past 5-10 years it has been with athletes. Kemdawg, Lee, Caliendo are athletes that are also good wrestlers. Murin, Warner, Bull, are more grinding, positioning, and defensive wrestlers. But those guys have a hard time getting takedowns past the second round of NCAA’s.
HF86, i think that's shifting topics. we're talking about 'relying on 'diamonds in the rough'' and what the definition of that is. I don't think Iowa has ever 'relied' on 2nd tier recruits.
(i'd love to have that convo though, b/c i disagree and i think the iowa system produces their style the same way other schools produce their style. but anyway...)
a program of iowa's legacy should certainly want to have/expect a Top 30ish Big Boarder at each weight. But there is also (tremendous) value in identifying the right guys from 51 to 100.
first of all, there is a significant miss rate among even the Top 20. + weight unexpected weight changes, + injuries, etc)
case in point - I had Nelson like 93 or something. (and people roundly criticized me telling me i only did that b/c i was being nice to iowa and b/c his dad, which was bs).
you can certainly say 'ok well his 10 pts at nationals doesn't win titles like Carter Starocci's 25'
fair. however his 10 pts was about 9 more than anyone else on iowa would have scored.
Glazier had a bad NCAA but i had him 80 something and he had a fantastic regular season.
me suggesting Waylon Cressell and Jaxon Penovich (who are not diamonds in the rough just b/c you've never heard of them)
is not me suggesting not to go after Top 20's.
it's money ball.
(i'd love to have that convo though, b/c i disagree and i think the iowa system produces their style the same way other schools produce their style. but anyway...)
a program of iowa's legacy should certainly want to have/expect a Top 30ish Big Boarder at each weight. But there is also (tremendous) value in identifying the right guys from 51 to 100.
first of all, there is a significant miss rate among even the Top 20. + weight unexpected weight changes, + injuries, etc)
case in point - I had Nelson like 93 or something. (and people roundly criticized me telling me i only did that b/c i was being nice to iowa and b/c his dad, which was bs).
you can certainly say 'ok well his 10 pts at nationals doesn't win titles like Carter Starocci's 25'
fair. however his 10 pts was about 9 more than anyone else on iowa would have scored.
Glazier had a bad NCAA but i had him 80 something and he had a fantastic regular season.
me suggesting Waylon Cressell and Jaxon Penovich (who are not diamonds in the rough just b/c you've never heard of them)
is not me suggesting not to go after Top 20's.
it's money ball.
125- they have done well.
133- if not for Spencer getting ADS to come 133 hasn't been great since Clark. You forgot Paul Glynn being a default starter right after Clark.
141/149- recruiting out of HS has been frankly poor with Block a wait and see. Eierman showed up unanticipated to save their butts and then tossed a bag to woods. Lugo had 1 great year as a transfer.
157- again poor recruiting out of highschool, Young sucking down got them a bit of mileage. Kem the lone high end guy while here.
165- some high end recruits here with Bull and PK but both members of the hand fighters of America association and both had/have trouble with the same types of wrestlers.
174-Kem was good, Brands better than expected based on rank, Arnold ranked well and looks promising.
184- another really poorly recruited weight.
197- warner high end and showed up when it mattered for the most part. Really nothing besides him.
285- recruited pretty well with high and talent. Injuries derailed Stoll and Kueter unknown the part-time thing going on.
Top 50 really not going to get it done most of the time. Need more top 20 more top 10 and better athletes with the ones they do get.
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A couple thoughts.
149 is a bit off. We had Sorensen that led directly into Lugo then Max. Now it's a problem. That's a decade with those 3.
And tbf to Max over his final few seasons, was there anyone ranked above him that even considered Iowa other than Austin O'Connor? Outside of him, Max was probably as good as it was going to get.
174 we had several solid years of Mike Evans and an AA run from Alex Meyers before it went to shit with Grothus and Bowman. If it weren't for Kemerer ballooning it would've been a blackhole. So you're spot on here. Kem, Nelson, and Arnold seem to have gotten us back on track.
184 has been the biggest problem since Sammy Brooks Departed. He gave us a few solid AA runs then we got Wilcked and Assaded for 8 years. Assad was a big recruit that just failed and I think that was 100% on him and his mental lapses. But the talent was there. Ol Abe would've been a tough situation for any. Well other than PSU who can just insert the next 4x champ they happened to land.
Likewise 197 had Burak then a rough year with Wilcke before Warner stepped in. Now it's Glazier.
We've had good guys sprinkled into those weights that gave us several worthwhile seasons.
We get mileage out of those lower ranked guys and they contribute, but our problem is striking out on the legit title contenders.
I feel like TNT game plan for a balanced lineup then hunt for the contenders. Perhaps, instead they need to focus on obtaining those 2 or 3 Saturday night bros then fill the rest.
But I wholeheartedly agree we need to recruit athletes. I'd much rather have an athletic freak with raw potential that TNT can teach to wrestle than a technician that's that's stagnant in their physical abilities.
The title contenders should be the guys we want. The rest can be guys who REALLY want to be part of the program, imo.
