this team seems different.

[icu81222]

I am a fairly casual watcher of wrestling so certainly not very knowledgeable compared to most everyone here but I do feel I know sports and athletes in particular.

This team has something different than any of the past 3 or 4 years. I generally have watched a half dozen or so matches per year and the tournaments and this group has something special.

I am not sure exactly what it is. Seem to be better athletes than the other groups, seem to be more tough physically from top to bottom.

Cant pin point it exactly but there seems to be something brewing here if a couple weight classes can ....pull their own weight. (Har dee Har har)

Does anyone else see that too?

 

[icu81222]

Was going to add that the new stall rules and tweaks appear to me that they will greatly benefit this group and their style.

 

[Sandor45]

You're right on both counts!
The added out of bounds stall calls will greatly benefit the Hawks this year.

 

[HawkeyeDenny]

You will have more aggression at 174 and 285 and 141 when Grothus gets there and Brooks is so much better than #12 and will prove it...I'm sorry but I would rather see Meyer lose 11 to 10 than see another Evans 2 to 1 match...should be a more fun and exciting team than in the past...

 

[SCstunners]

I would agree with you that this team is different. Yesterday while watching the dual, I noticed how much they have become hammers on top and have been turning people. Which makes the 4 pt. near fall rule changed benefit greater than the others.

 

[artradley]

I agree. I think in particular our "hammers" are actually, well, hammering people. The stats might not back this up, but in the past I felt as if our hammers seldom scored back points or major decisions, but simply ground-out 4-2 wins even against much lower ranked opponents. Now it seems that unless the opponent is a top-4 guy there's a good chance we're either getting a MD or at least fighting towards one.

I think the new stall rule could have a much more dramatic affect that I had expected. I'd love to see our SW statistics in the OSU and ISU meets. Clearly very one-sided, but I'd be interested to see the actually numbers. I'm also amazed at the "suck backs", which I usually think of in Middle School matches. Did they all get together and work on that during the off season?

 

[andegre]

I agree. I think in particular our "hammers" are actually, well, hammering people. The stats might not back this up, but in the past I felt as if our hammers seldom scored back points or major decisions, but simply ground-out 4-2 wins even against much lower ranked opponents. Now it seems that unless the opponent is a top-4 guy there's a good chance we're either getting a MD or at least fighting towards one.

I think the new stall rule could have a much more dramatic affect that I had expected. I'd love to see our SW statistics in the OSU and ISU meets. Clearly very one-sided, but I'd be interested to see the actually numbers. I'm also amazed at the "suck backs", which I usually think of in Middle School matches. Did they all get together and work on that during the off season?

Queso's post has all of the stall numbers etc for the past 7 or so years...but only against ISU.

 

[Knight563]

Agree on all fronts. However, we've looked solid the last few years to start the season. I'm much more interested to see if we can "be on point aka peak" at nationals this year.

 

[artradley]

Queso's post has all of the stall numbers etc for the past 7 or so years...but only against ISU.

Thanks. I'm mainly interested in our two meets this year -- OSU and ISU -- with the new stall rules in place. It seemed to me that the ratio must be at least 5 to 1 stalls against our opponents.

 

[Squarehat]

In regards to the stall calls, you rarely see our guys backing up.

 

[319hawkfan]

I think the new rules play right into our favor. Opponents won't be able to take the action to the edge of the mat....which was one of the best ways to slow us down scoring wise. More wrestling in the center of the mat will lead to better results for us....and at the same time take away one of the ways our opponents have negated our aggressiveness.

 

[minnhawkeye]

I believe this team believes in Brands method of coaching if that makes any sense.
They just seem more into what he has wanted all along. They seem to if the major is there
they go after it. Hope they keep building up on this.

 

[icu81222]

Hopefully the referees consistently officiate it the way it was vs Iowa State. It would be a shame to get to the national tournament and see teams getting the benefit of the doubt because the refs don't want to become a part of the match

 

[lookleft goright]

The last few years the Iowa teams have had more question marks than sure things. Ramos and St John seemed like sure things. McD was a sure thing when he was healthy. Evans, Lofthouse, Burak, even Telford were question marks. Last year even Gilman, Clark, and Sorenson were question marks. Were they a top 3 guy or a 4-7 guy.
This year you have 3 sure things. Gilman, Clark, and Sorenson are in my mind all solid top 3 guys. Burak is less of a question mark. That is huge. Sammy Brooks will probably not be a question mark by the end of the year. I would say he is now, just because he hasn't proven beyond a doubt he is a top 3 guy.
Anyway, my point is, there is a lot less uncertainty with this team and more than likely, they can feel it. More than likely they are wrestling with that kind of confidence. Guys have been saying that you need the horses to win titles and it seems like you have quite a few horses this year. That to me makes all the difference.
Buying into what Brands preaches and being able to execute it are different things. I think the teams of the past few years bought into Brands. I just don't think they were able to put it into action. This group of kids has the talent to put it into action.
As always, we are in for an exciting ride!!

 

[TarpHawk]

From what we have seen so far I agree with you, lookleft. Our top guys are more solidly near the top. At the end of last season we had no one among the top 20 P4P, which basically explains everything one needs to know about our lack of recent titles. As of today we have 2 in the top 20 (#12 Clark and #14 Gilman)--still not where we need to be, but better.

 

[86_90]

I believe this team believes in Brands method of coaching if that makes any sense.
They just seem more into what he has wanted all along. They seem to if the major is there
they go after it. Hope they keep building up on this.

This.

New team with a more "focused" attention to the big picture. More action, less talk, less BS , more points scored.

We will see how tough this team is as they compete at Midlands. I would like to see a continuation of the scoring into that tourny. I want to see guys on the consolation bracket rack up some bonus points--something which was lacking in the last 4 years.