Old wrestler

Thanks for the heads up! I'll definitely be watching the heavyweight finals closely. Hypothetically, would this be Kentucky's first MAC champion?

***Insert Michael Jackson eating popcorn meme***

Heck of a coaching staff! Great opportunity.

Let me prerequisite this post by saying whoever wins the 220 lb. weight class deserves their state championship, without question. Having said that, I was wondering if there was another weight class in recent memory that had the preseason ranked 1 and 2 not wrestle in the state tournament? I remember in '05 when Jordan Lewis ('03 SC, then gave Jacob Murton his closest match in '04) transferred from Ballard to Trinity and was declared ineligible. Also, I recall John Wolsifer (Fern Creek) not being able to compete for his 3rd state championship his senior year back in '08. Once again, this isn't to detract from the competitors at 220, but I've followed wrestling for a number of years and can't recall a similar situation.

Haha literally heard this earlier in the week on The Best of Bob and Tom. He mentions wrestling quite a bit in his routines. Definitely worth a listen.

Wow... I'm really impressed and slightly jealous. In the 4 years of my HS wrestling career, the AD never attended the state tournament (or any match for that matter), let alone a send off like that! Having that level of support is so important. These kids earn that recognition. Hopefully, some schools can use this as a blueprint. Thanks for sharing!

Merritt was before my time, but that resume is incredible. Jumping nearly 40 lbs in one year is pretty wild too. Thank you for sharing. I remember Harrison Courtney's run his 8th grade year. Joey Sanders (Wayne County) won a questionable match in the semis. I believe that was at 130?

These are the types of stories we need to hear more. Im very sorry to hear about the injury, but your son sounds like an incredible young man. Ian will be in my thoughts and prayers. You've obviously raised a special young man. Good luck on your road to recovery, Ian.

Not sure if anyone watched the Minnesota Iowa dual yesterday or not. For the most part, the dual was pretty lackluster, excluding the 125 bout. If you have an opportunity to check it out, I would highly recommend it. Lizak caught lightning in a bottle and took it to Gilman for 2 periods. Gilman somehow erased Lizak's 8 point lead, putting on a takedown clinic in the third, prior to sticking Lizak. Lizak's leg riding ability is extremely solid and he'll be a tough out for anyone he meets at the NCAAs. Even through victory, Gilman was certainly humbled.

I see both sides of the argument. As athletes are increasingly forced to become specialized, I think it becomes essential to wrestle year around to remain competitive at a high level. Obviously, there are certain athletes that can maintain a high level without wrestling year around, but that's more of the exception. I've seen kids burning out being brought up, which is true. Another element to consider is just how physically demanding our sport is on the human body. Wrestling year around puts a lot of wear and tear on the body.

You're right about OSU PSU being an excellent dual, but we've got a great one this Friday on B10 Network at CHA. There will be a number of excellent match ups, including 133, 149, and 184. I'll take Tomasello right now. He's looked excellent and his explosiveness will give Clark a lot of trouble. I think a healthy Clark would still struggle with Tomasello. I firmly believe Sorenson turned a corner last Friday against Retherford. If Sorenson gets on his offense early on, I think Sorenson will walk away with the W. If not, this could be problematic for seeding purposes I.e. meeting Retherford in the semis at NCAAs, due to his loss against Heil (OK St). Martin is an excellent athlete, but I see Brooks taking this match. Brooks made a costly mistake against a very dangerous Nickal. I think a senior Brooks leaves no doubts in CHA on Friday. Ahhh can't beat wrestling season!

I saw that! I'll be honest, I'm pretty shocked they decided to pull his shirt. 174 is pretty stacked and with Stoll out for the season, Iowa lost all chances of winning a title. I'm assuming they made the decision based off OK St., but I don't think they have enough firepower to be a legitimate threat. However, Sanderson has forgotten more about wrestling than I'll ever know, so I'll let him make the decisions. Gilman and Suriano were closer than expected. Suriano seemed to gain confidence as the match went on. Gave up an early takedown, then gave Gilman all he could handle, including some deep shots in the third period. Gilman isn't a sure fire lock anymore. Clark tore in to a 1-7 backup and got the tech. Cortez being out for the season probably forced Sanderson to pull the trigger on Hall. Wow... No excuse whatsoever for a senior to allow himself to be taken down FOUR times in the 3rd period at CHA. With a record of 7-6, Guilbon needed that win in a big way. This one hurt. Sorenson has clearly closed the gap on Retherford. I expected a more competive match than their '16 NCAA finals match up, but I never expected a double overtime thriller. Sorenson was in it until the end. Nolf is an absolute beast. I knew this before, but he shut down an excellent Kemerer. Normally, Kemerer's takedown defense is too much, but Nolf clearly had him figured out. Apparently they were on the same club team up in PA, so this may have contributed to Nolf's dominance. 165 went as expected. Joseph is a tough customer. The top 3 at 65 are too far ahead, but Jospeh is definitely a threat for a top 5 AA finish. Definitely keep the shirt on Maranelli. Seasons lost with Stoll, so let Maranelli fill in to the weight class more. When I saw Hall run out to the mat, I was floored! Risky call for Sanderson, but Hall will be a high AA contender come March. Meyer has to be one of the most agrivating wrestlers for me to watch. The talent is definitely there, but his inconsistency can be frustrating. Either way, he got a great win tonight. Hopefully Meyer can keep the momentum going and get himself another AA finish, which was looking doubtful before this match. Wow, again... I was banking on a back and forth street fight. Instead we got Brooks getting sloppy and stuck in spladle in 40 seconds. I can honestly say I NEVER saw that coming. I've got to take Dean in March, but Nickal won't roll over. I think Nickal's recklessness will ultimately cost him... Again (see '16 finals against Martin OH St.). Im a BIG Wilcke fan. Kid is a grinder and epitomizes the Hawkeye toughness. Had a chance to win in the 3rd period, but got sloppy. Dropped a close one in double over time. Kid has great upside and will be a force down at 84 next year. Nobody will touch Nickal, but Wilcke has the upside to be top 5. Hate it for Stoll. 2 years in a row. I hope we see him back next year, but these types of injuries (ACL) are tough to recover from, especially for the big boys. Holloway is undersized, but he can't give up the tech in CHA. 165 and 285 are gaping holes for the Hawks. All I can hope for now are individual titles (Gilman, Clark, and maybe Sorenson). Altogether, this was by far my favorite dual, despite the outcome. We learned that 25 and 49 are not a forgone conclusion at the NCAA tournament. These are the types of duals that wrestling needs. Don't sit out studs for seeding purposes, dodging studs for strategical purposes, etc.

Big duel coming up in Stillwater this weekend. I thought it may be fun to post a couple of predictions. Admittedly, I think my Hawkeye bias is coming out a tad, but I do like their chances of stealing a win in Stillwater. 157 will be worth the price of admission alone. Kemmerer might be my favorite D1 wrestler, outside of our Kentucky boys. Gilman's dominant season will continue. Clark and Brock should be a heck of a matchup. Brock's dominant win over Brewer (OU) still resonates, but Clark must win this for NCAA seeding purposes. 125-Gilman Iowa maj. Piccinni Oklahoma St., 4-0133-Clark Iowa Dec Brock Oklahoma St., 7-0 141-Heil Oklahoma St. maj. Carton Iowa 7-4149-Sorenson Dec Collica 10-4 Iowa157-Kemmerer Iowa dec Smith Oklahoma St. 13-4 165-Rogers Oklahoma State dec Gunther Iowa 13-7174- Crutchmer Oklahoma St. dec Meyer Iowa 13-10184-Brooks Iowa dec Boyd Oklahoma St. 16-13197- Wilcke Iowa dec Weigel Oklahoma St. 19-13285-Stoll Iowa Dec Schafer Oklahoma St. 22-16

This isn't a knock to Trae, but I'm pretty shocked by his record. I certainly don't have any inside information, so the weight cut may be to blame? Keeping it within 3 of Brock (Oklahoma State) is a testament to his skill set. Hopefully with the addition of Roselli (assisted with Steiber at Ohio State), he will progress.

Fingers crossed nobody gets banned. There are only 5 of us as it is haha.

As a life long wrestling fan, I know wrestling can use all the allies we can get. Today, I was watching Nebraska vs Michigan, and to my surprise, they had the Nebraska gymnastics team performing at the same time. While the music was a tad distracting, it got me thinking about marketing our sport. Mark Manning may really be on to something. During olympic years, gymnastics is extremely popular. If we can create a partnership, this could be extremely beneficial towards exposing wrestling to a new audience. The gymnastics team finished shortly before the wrestling team. To my surprise, they came over to the edge of the mat and watched the dual. If I was still a young man (heck, even now) having the Nebraska women's gymnastics team watching me wrestle would provide just about all the motivation I could ever need... Is this something that we could do at the NAIA level, high school level, etc.?

I will not be quitting my day job... Rough day for the Hawks. Kemmerer came up clutch against a very game Smith. Wilcke showed promise, but just got outhorsed by a tough Weigel. Interesting note, Micic (Michigan) took it to Montaya (Nebraska). Makes Clark's narrow victory against Micic even more impressive. Unfortunately, Clark lost a barn burner to Brock, but I firmly believe he will make the necessary adjustments to get the W in March. Great call by crazyotto on Sorenson coming up short. I thought that a Hawyeye win was a forgone conclusion, albeit close, due to Sorenson's style.

A lot of D1 teams do a really good job of updating their schools website. I checked out Cornell's roster and they have each individual's accomplishments broken down. Also, I either didn't realize/forgot that Cornell has Damian Hahn on their staff. He was a beast in college. Heres the link to Sweeny http://www.cornellbigred.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=42597

Sweeny was a 2x California state champion and dropped a 6-4 decision to Walz (Virginia Tech) last season. He's also 6-13 against NCAA qualifiers. I know Austin is probably his own toughest critic, but Sweeny is hardly a slouch. Austin keep pushing. You are representing Kentucky very well. I wrestled a year in college (NAIA), hardly close to the D1 grind. However, even at the level, EVERYONE is good.

Congrats to you and Austin! Would be awesome to see him qualify for the NCAAs all 4 years. Outside of Kyle Ruschell, I believe he'd be the only Kentucky wrestler to accomplish this feat.

Smith hasn't looked overly impressive this year. He lost a 7-1 decision against Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) a couple of weeks ago. Kemmerer has a lot of momentum coming in to this match with his incredible 4 OT win over Berger (Nebraska) and Murphy (Michigan). Either way, this will be a heck of a match. 165 is intriguing. Gunther gutted out a tough win against Michigan State on Sunday. Unfortunately, he may have sustained a shoulder injury, which may force Maranelli in to the lineup. If so, Rogers will still be favored, but he will have his hands full. If I remember correctly, Stephen Myers nearly beat Maranelli a number of years ago. A testament to Myer's ability. Has Sorenson lost to Collica before? Collica is more than capable of pulling off the minor upset, but Sorenson's defensive ability is incredible, excluding against Retherford (Penn State). I know the Brands/McIllavry urge Sorenson to utilize his offensive attacks earlier in matches, but it's hard to argue with Sorenson's success. Nike Man, I can't believe this isn't on B10 Network. I may have to break down and subscribe to FloPro.

I think you're probably right about Clark. I frequent the Hawkeye messageboard and initially heard it was his shoulder, but recently heard it may be his wrist? 133 is stacked this year, only behind 184 in depth. Either way, I hope he goes out on top. Starting the NCAA finals off with 2 Hawkeye champs would be awesome! Wilcke is is a slight underdog at 97. However, he impressed me against Michigan. Athletic kid, who's wrestling up for the team. Pretty sure he'll cut down to 84 after Brooks graduates. Next year will be a rebuilding one for the Hawks. However, the 2019 season looks very promising with Lee, Teasdale, Kemmerer, Maranelli, Warner, Stoll, and company. All 6 are more than capable of winning a national title/s by the end of their respective careers.

Totally agree on Dean bumping up. These are the big time match ups that wrestling has to provide to help turn our sport more mainstream. How many heavyweights are projected to qualify for the NCAAs out of the MAC?

Austin has Jake Gunning (Buffalo) next, followed by a dual w/ Cornell. It appears Gunning was a MAC runner up in '16. I saw him wrestle Fletcher Miller (IU) in December and he pulled out a close victory. This matchup will be pretty big for MAC seeding. Hope Austin can pull out the win in New York. Obviously, J'Den will be wrestling Cornell too. It would be incredible to see a Cox Dean matchup. I realize this won't happen, but I think it would be a lot closer than people expect. Dean has turned it up a few notches. In fact, I believe he's still in the running for the Hodge.

I remember Goldman (IU) did the same tactic for his son, too. Still an an awesome win for TJ.