What is the answer?

[OptionalStart]

I have a few thoughts but one that keeps coming up is $ and the constant nudges in every thread that alludes to, you want improvement—donate, but who is the steward of those dollars?

I donated to HWC and realized some decisions were a bit frustrating. For years the club was non existent including the last Olympic team trials, the pinnacle of the sport. For example, how long was Sam Stoll rostered? Never competed, how many donations covered his expense? Then we signed Glynn and Moody on, who with all due respect, probably were not the direction. Now we transitioned to a graduating class in which Marinelli has a ceiling, DeSanto could be a factor but also needs to be a 57, Eierman who knows but MMA imminent? Kemmerer was a keeper. Summarizing the better part of a decade where we need more $ but who invested the old $ for those 10 years and chose the club expenditures? Because it seems like personal favorites stick around as a priority to success in competition.

How much is the Soldier Salute costing? Not a great ROI considering the value of testing the team at Midlands, Scuffle or Vegas is de-prioritized . Who is making the call on program decisions and more importantly who is keeping them accountable? Because the staff, remaining graduates and immediate accessible media seem to be part of the “club”.

Alienation of alumni just adds so much more smoke to it all. Question the club, no constructive criticism welcome, instead the door is over there. Yes men wanted.

 

[UndercoverHawk]

I have a few thoughts but one that keeps coming up is $ and the constant nudges in every thread that alludes to, you want improvement—donate, but who is the steward of those dollars?

I donated to HWC and realized some decisions were a bit frustrating. For years the club was non existent including the last Olympic team trials, the pinnacle of the sport. For example, how long was Sam Stoll rostered? Never competed, how many donations covered his expense? Then we signed Glynn and Moody on, who with all due respect, probably were not the direction. Now we transitioned to a graduating class in which Marinelli has a ceiling, DeSanto could be a factor but also needs to be a 57, Eierman who knows but MMA imminent? Kemmerer was a keeper. Summarizing the better part of a decade where we need more $ but who invested the old $ for those 10 years and chose the club expenditures? Because it seems like personal favorites stick around as a priority to success in competition.

How much is the Soldier Salute costing? Not a great ROI considering the value of testing the team at Midlands, Scuffle or Vegas is de-prioritized . Who is making the call on program decisions and more importantly who is keeping them accountable? Because the staff, remaining graduates and immediate accessible media seem to be part of the “club”.

Alienation of alumni just adds so much more smoke to it all. Question the club, no constructive criticism welcome, instead the door is over there. Yes men wanted.

You have no idea how much any athlete employed by the HWC is receiving. And also Stoll and Glynn were not being paid to compete they were being paid to fundraise.

 

[OptionalStart]

You have no idea how much any athlete employed by the HWC is receiving. And also Stoll and Glynn were not being paid to compete they were being paid to fundraise.

Don’t suggest that I do but I have a perception that the $ didn’t go towards getting guys competing for Olympic and world team spots, because nobody was. Suspect then that a donation used to fund fundraising lead to said funds being used for something else as well.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

I have a few thoughts but one that keeps coming up is $ and the constant nudges in every thread that alludes to, you want improvement—donate, but who is the steward of those dollars?

I donated to HWC and realized some decisions were a bit frustrating. For years the club was non existent including the last Olympic team trials, the pinnacle of the sport. For example, how long was Sam Stoll rostered? Never competed, how many donations covered his expense? Then we signed Glynn and Moody on, who with all due respect, probably were not the direction. Now we transitioned to a graduating class in which Marinelli has a ceiling, DeSanto could be a factor but also needs to be a 57, Eierman who knows but MMA imminent? Kemmerer was a keeper. Summarizing the better part of a decade where we need more $ but who invested the old $ for those 10 years and chose the club expenditures? Because it seems like personal favorites stick around as a priority to success in competition.

How much is the Soldier Salute costing? Not a great ROI considering the value of testing the team at Midlands, Scuffle or Vegas is de-prioritized . Who is making the call on program decisions and more importantly who is keeping them accountable? Because the staff, remaining graduates and immediate accessible media seem to be part of the “club”.

Alienation of alumni just adds so much more smoke to it all. Question the club, no constructive criticism welcome, instead the door is over there. Yes men wanted.

HWC funds have absolutely nothing to do with the Soldier Salute.

Some guys who have been with the HWC have cost zero dollars. Don’t assume everyone working with and/or competing for the HWC is being paid by the HWC.

The HWC is there to build World and Olympic medalists and to mentor the Hawks. Alumni relations is more under the purview of the Iowa program but I’ll also say that Chad Beatty (who has done a hell of a good job) has been working to foster relationships with alumni. As for the Iowa program, Chuck Yagla has been working hard to keep in touch with alumni and strengthen those relationships.

Kemerer wanted to pursue his interest in finance and Spartan Wrestling Club, right near NYC, made sense. His departure was no fault of the HWC.

I’m not familiar with anything having to do with “yes men”.

I can tell you that the HWC is under tremendous leadership with Chad Beatty and Brad Eldeen. Funds are being put to good use. The HWC can’t get stronger without sufficient funding, and a stronger HWC means a stronger Iowa program. It’s no coincidence that the NLWC, the best-funded club by about a factor of 10, has the best senior-level wrestlers. They have money coming out their ears.

I suggest you call Chad, identify yourself, and ask all the questions you want. He’ll answer them in a direct manner, I’m sure.

The fact is that money is critical to the success of the HWC and Iowa wrestling. They go hand in hand. I encourage anyone interested in donating but hesitating based on questions to contact Chad and ask away. I guarantee you’ll be impressed with Chad and feel satisfied with the information he shares. I assure you that he’ll be happy to accept constructive criticism. He’s a first-class person and executive director and would welcome the call.

 

[Redm18]

Wow another person bring race into it. Pretty pathetic. You don’t think Iowa recruited hall or Kerk? Seriously stupid argument.

How is it pathetic? I'm saying it could be something to look at. I'm not saying that the staff or the program is racist because I highly doubt they are. I'm saying that at a university that just settled a 20 million discrimination lawsuit in the athletic program and who has not had a black regular starter in way over a four year cycle it could be a good move.

 

[Illinois-hawk1]

How is it pathetic? I'm saying it could be something to look at. I'm not saying that the staff or the program is racist because I highly doubt they are. I'm saying that at a university that just settled a 20 million discrimination lawsuit in the athletic program and who has not had a black regular starter in way over a four year cycle it could be a good move.

So now you want to recruit based on color and not talent? That will go far

 

[78HKEYE]

How is it pathetic? I'm saying it could be something to look at. I'm not saying that the staff or the program is racist because I highly doubt they are. I'm saying that at a university that just settled a 20 million discrimination lawsuit in the athletic program and who has not had a black regular starter in way over a four year cycle it could be a good move.

I’ll take the best wrestler regardless of color. Stop being racist.

 

[rossel 33]

The answer is Penn State is on an elite level that no one in the sport has ever seen. And that includes Iowa and Oklahoma State. Their recruiting, coaching, and wrestling club are a lethal combo to the rest of the wrestling world right now. Hell, they’ve got Iowa’s best international wrestler, and Ohio State’s and Cornell’s too! Throw in the best college wrestler of all time as your coach (his coaching ability which is fantastic is different) and put it in the best wrestling state in the country.

The funding for the NLWC is lethal to the competition. That has to be emphasized.

Having a single donation of $5m put them in a position to pay lots of athletes/coaches for years. Haven't seen numbers recently, but a few years back the NLWC had more money than the next 10 programs combined... more than double the HWC.

Creative ways to pay wrestlers to work at clinics or promise funds after graduation through the wrestling club seem like a big grey area. Hard to know how much of this goes on, but what is undeniable is that PSU has gotten so many top 10 p4p recruits out of HS - far more than other schools.

 

[KCLion]

Interesting and compelling take.

Except where do Zain and Nick Lee fit into that equation? And truthfully Suriano was at PSU until he wasn’t ok’d to wrestle on an injured ankle.

 

[Lambertt]

HWC funds have absolutely nothing to do with the Soldier Salute.

Some guys who have been with the HWC have cost zero dollars. Don’t assume everyone working with and/or competing for the HWC is being paid by the HWC.

The HWC is there to build World and Olympic medalists and to mentor the Hawks. Alumni relations is more under the purview of the Iowa program but I’ll also say that Chad Beatty (who has done a hell of a good job) has been working to foster relationships with alumni. As for the Iowa program, Chuck Yagla has been working hard to keep in touch with alumni and strengthen those relationships.

Kemerer wanted to pursue his interest in finance and Spartan Wrestling Club, right near NYC, made sense. His departure was no fault of the HWC.

I’m not familiar with anything having to do with “yes men”.

I can tell you that the HWC is under tremendous leadership with Chad Beatty and Brad Eldeen. Funds are being put to good use. The HWC can’t get stronger without sufficient funding, and a stronger HWC means a stronger Iowa program. It’s no coincidence that the NLWC, the best-funded club by about a factor of 10, has the best senior-level wrestlers. They have money coming out their ears.

I suggest you call Chad, identify yourself, and ask all the questions you want. He’ll answer them in a direct manner, I’m sure.

The fact is that money is critical to the success of the HWC and Iowa wrestling. They go hand in hand. I encourage anyone interested in donating but hesitating based on questions contact Chad and ask away. I guarantee you’ll be impressed with Chad and feel satisfied with the information he shares. I assure you that he’ll be happy to accept constructive criticism. He’s a first-class person and executive director and would welcome the call.

No doubt that money is critical but your statement in regards to “money being critical to the success of the HWC and Iowa wrestling “ made me wonder if there was a HWC during the Hawkeyes string of consecutive NCAA championships under Gable.

 

[bourbon n blues]

I'm simple terms be Pennsylvania. They had 46 tournament qualifiers , 23 from NJ, 22 from Ohio, and 18 from NY. That's 119 D1 qualifiers from Pa or states bordering Pa.
It's geography combined with other factors . Now that PSU is rolling and they're an attractive destination geography can matter. I could drive to see 1/2 of my son's matches at PSU saving a lot of money on travel for example compared to iowa which is like a 13-14 hour drive from my house.

 

[UndercoverHawk]

No doubt that money is critical but your statement in regards to “money being critical to the success of the HWC and Iowa wrestling “ made me wonder if there was a HWC during the Hawkeyes string of consecutive NCAA championships under Gable.

HWC celebrating 50 years this year so yea it was around. But the wrestling landscape as a whole is completely different than it was back in Gable’s day. Heck it’s completely different from 10 years ago. The amount of money in wrestling is exponentially higher than it ever has been.

 

[Lambertt]

HWC celebrating 50 years this year so yea it was around. But the wrestling landscape as a whole is completely different than it was back in Gable’s day. Heck it’s completely different from 10 years ago. The amount of money in wrestling is exponentially higher than it ever has been.

Thanks

 

[PSU Mike]

Have you watched Real Woods? Or Cobe? Clark? Lugo? Spencer? Kemdawg? Jayden? None of which wrestler anything like what you branded the coaches as trying to mold. Just another example of seeing what you want to see that can be filed in the smaller, weaker, out of shape, never win rematches cabinet.

Not sure citing one mid-career and two late-career transfers fully makes your point, but I do get it.

And as weird as it sounds, I have a real soft spot for Cobe because of his “rebellious” style like I had in other sports, he’s my size and looks just like I did in HS.

 

[paednoch23]

Keuter is not Jack Campbell and won't be.

I watched hus AA bowl game. He doesnt have the speed at linebacker. He is way way better at wrestling than football.

 

[sdvike]

Will the schedule be released soon?

 

[Redm18]

I watched hus AA bowl game. He doesnt have the speed at linebacker. He is way way better at wrestling than football.

Of course he is. He only has a chance to be a national champion in one sport however he will probably earn more money with a fringe NFL career vs a great wrestling career.

 

[Novakht]

<<made me wonder if there was a HWC during the Hawkeyes string of consecutive NCAA championships under Gable.>>

Gable had the richest club in the nation for his career-- Roy Carver donated a couple million dollars early on to fund the club.. in todays $$ that would be like 10mm or more.

 

[98lberEating2Lunches]

Gable had the richest club in the nation for his career

I don't think so. Team Foxcatcher lured the Brands Bros, among other Iowa, Iowa State, and other wrestling greats, to Pennsylvania.

It's a pretty sad statement on those times that elite wrestlers felt the financial and training benefits were worth the risk of subjecting themselves to the whims a wealthy psychotic. And yet despite apparent risks, many remained part of Team Foxcatcher until Dave Schultz was murdered.

This memory is one reason I fully support all university affiliated RTCs, and oppose proposed restrictions to them.

 

[Novakht]

<<I don't think so. Team Foxcatcher lured the Brands Bros, among other Iowa, Iowa State, and other wrestling greats, to Pennsylvania.>>

Foxcatcher was a different beast--guys were out there traininh in "bursts" --plus it did not impact Collegiate recruiting... No other collegiate program based club had anywhere close to the $$ that Roy Carver donated to HWC for Gable.

 

[cidhawkeye]

The funding for the NLWC is lethal to the competition. That has to be emphasized.

Having a single donation of $5m put them in a position to pay lots of athletes/coaches for years. Haven't seen numbers recently, but a few years back the NLWC had more money than the next 10 programs combined... more than double the HWC.

Creative ways to pay wrestlers to work at clinics or promise funds after graduation through the wrestling club seem like a big grey area. Hard to know how much of this goes on, but what is undeniable is that PSU has gotten so many top 10 p4p recruits out of HS - far more than other schools.

I believe I read somewhere that NLWC had 1.15M in salaries in 2020 and HWC raised 1.3M the disparity is large. That is the high water mark for the HWC as far as I can determine.

 

[thom67]

<<made me wonder if there was a HWC during the Hawkeyes string of consecutive NCAA championships under Gable.>>

Gable had the richest club in the nation for his career-- Roy Carver donated a couple million dollars early on to fund the club.. in todays $$ that would be like 10mm or more.

Roy was quite A guy. Iowa wrestling dominance was a result of Roy Carver. I knew him well.

 

[MitchLL]

Easier said than done, so many Iowa wrestlers are "short", height wise for their weights.
I know you recruit the best p4p guys you can get, but too many times our guys get stuffed when they shoot tds.

I use PK as an example of small for 165, and I hope Gabe is successful, but just look at the Iowa high school tourney match vs TN.