silver-medal

Great work Sludgeworth. You flash literary skill and insight with equal measure. IMO, the Illini are the next "sleeping giant." I have admiration for Jim Heffernan but if you replace him with the right coach and keep the best Illinois studs home, you can catch up to Michigan and possibly Iowa.

There are currently three collegiate wrestling capitals in America: State College, Iowa City and Columbus. The competition among these three for top recruits is ridiculous. If the Bucks land Kharchla, they will be a year away from having the deepest roster in college wrestling and be in a position to win several team titles. Or so I think....

Heard his knee is shot.

Russ Hellickson never AA'd in college although he did win Olympic Silver. Had a solid coaching career with about 40 AA's including 7 NCAA champs.

I think it's complicated and we all need to sit tight and wait until we learn a lot more.

PSU has put astonishing talents on the mat in recent years. Joseph, Hall, Nickal and Nolf will all be returning and not one of them had more than a couple close matches last season. Retherford just finished up one of the most dominant careers in NCAA history. Ruth and Taylor were equally spectacular. I don't have a clue who to pick as best of that bunch although Joseph can "win" the argument if he ends up a four timer. Cael does amazing work with his prize recruits. He's as impressive as a coach as he was as a competitor.

Personally, I'd love to see him get one more world level medal and hang em up while he's on top. Of course, he's welcome to win Olympic Gold too if he chooses to continue. I just think he's a bit tired. He's been going hard for a long time.

Dupont then and Trump now.

"Some of you gents what aint reel good at math chinese or not..." That's funny.

Karen Carpenter tops this list. She loved drumming and only reluctantly agreed to be the lead singer for the Carpenters. Her death from anorexia shocked the country as it took place when eating disorders were almost unheard of as a medical issue. Personally, I think she's one of the greatest American pop singers of all time. Here she is singing my fave Carpenters song:

Wrestling's biggest problem is lack of media coverage. There are tons of potential wrestling fans who don't follow the sport post-high school because it's almost non-existent to them. This event has great potential and could attract a lot of attention if rightly timed and managed.

Assuming the online audience comprises more folks than those in attendance, I liked Final X. It went fast and each one featured a couple matchups I really wanted to see. It also gave me a better perspective on the women's sport as I'd normally skip some of the women's matches if they were 15 matchups to view. Plus no wrestler got the insurmountable advantage of waiting until the finals to wrestler the winner of a mini tourney. Count me as a fan of Final X.

You're correct if you think I don't understand people goofing around with firearms. I do understand hunting and fishing.

I've always thought of a "hammer" as wrestlers who overwhelm opponents with their physicality. Brent Metcalf would be one example. Zain would be another. Currently, I see Alex Marinelli as this type of wrestler.

Looking at Dake's chest lock when Valencia was in on a double, it appeared that he was close to exposing his own back. Curious if Valencia might be able to use his length to stretch out Dake a bit further in that position should they meet in the future.