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Well Yianni looked pretty good against Zain and his opponent from Azerbijan. In his semi finals match he didn't look so good until his opponent absolutely ran out of oxygen. Credit to Yianni, and the coaching staff to have our guys ( and our one gal ), in great shape and prepared for this tournament. I am looking forward to seeing how Yianni does in the finals as well as how Zain does in Repechage tonight.

Well, I am not sure if this thread is being hyper critical, or if some of the points are spot on. Thinking about some of the example mentioned above, I can say that Zain probably thought he would prevail in these situations. However, we all know that he didn't in these aforementioned examples, but I would ask if they have worked in other situations, and perhaps they did. It's hard to believe that after all this time Zain is unfamiliar with these situations, but perhaps he is, and he does need more Freestyle experience.Now on the flip side of this, I think we all would agree that Yianni is no ordinary wrestler, and that fact alone should cut Zain a little slack. Zain is a tremendous talent, so for his sake as well as the benefit of USA Wrestling, we can hope that Zain can find a way to navigate through these situations against World level wrestlers. As I type this tonight, I have no idea how it will work out between Zain and Yianni, and if it turns out that Zain becomes our number 2 guy going forward, and never beats Yianni again, it's still always better to have a guy who is capable of winning a World/Olympic Title/medal in reserve. We don't have to look to far in our past to see the benefits of having a strong bench, with the examples of Joe Colon, Kyle Dake, and David Taylor just to name a few.

Well I think Downey has a decent draw, and I wouldn't that be surprised to see him get into the finals. Hopefully he does and it's a big confidence booster for him.

Well, the Yianni Zain thing is a mess, and I am not sure how or if it needs to be resolved. But let's wait and see what happens tonight in repechage with Zain. If he wins the Bronze, great, if he can't go because of his knee, I guess they will have to determine how serious it is and whether or not he can proceed. As far as last night's match between Yianni and Zain, I thought Zain was going to be a lot more offensive, but he wasn't and I believe it cost him, because Yianni had the better attacks in the first part of the 2nd period, and with Zain getting his leg caught around Yianni's waist and tossed for four didn't help matters either. But as I was watching the match and looking at Zain, I kind of thought that he looked like he had lost some muscle size, and I was wondering if the cut to 65, is getting to him. Anyway best of luck to the both of them tomorrow.

Well tonight we will see Zain v Yianni again, I have no idea about the outcome, but I am pretty sure we are going to see a lot of action. I guess it will come down to two things, can Zain finish his shots, or will Yianni be able to counter and score. It's unfortunate in my opinion that these two have to face off in the first round, but there isn't anything to do about it now except watch these two go at it.

Well, I understand what Bader said about the draws, but it still sucks in my opinion. We send guys halfway around the world to wrestle each other. I understand that's how it is, but I am still not happy about it. Anyway, Snowflake Molinari, looked like a hammer last night, hopefully she can come home with the Gold. I am not sure what to think about JG, but I am hopeful that he can put it together in time for the World's. I think Gwizz has a decent draw and hopefully he can meet Akgul in the finals. Ringer looks like he will be tested early and often, but if he's going to get past KD and go to the World's, this is the kind of stuff he's going to have to do. Hopefully everyone does well, and the loser between Zain and Yianni, can bounce back and get a Bronze.

Good question, but at the moment I think the Hawkeyes have the advantage with who they currently have in their stable, and I am sure the recent additional of Gavin Teasdale is only going to help that. Meanwhile Coach Dresser and staff is doing a very good job as well. This may seem like common knowledge, but the race between the Hawkeyes and Cyclones will probably always be decided by recruitment, development, and the ability to avoid the injury bug.

Well Andrew Long was a great collegiate wrestler, and it's to bad that someone(s), or something could've gotten him to change his behavior. Hopefully conversations like this helps families, friends, fellow wrestlers, and coaches recognize potential behavior issues in time to get the individual the help/care that they need.

Well I know this have changed over the years, and with our top wrestlers being able to get stipends, sponsorships and what not, it is still kind of amazing to see a guy like JB to stay on top of the mountain for so long. Perhaps with the increase and availability of financial support this trend will continue and we see more guys/gals have extended careers. But even so, I have to think that JB is a rare bird not just with his success, but also the longevity of his post college career. I don't know what the typical length of a post collegiate career is, but I would have to say that typically if your are not the elite of the elite, it can't be that many years. And if you look back through our history, I think that with a lot of our medal winners/champs, I would say that the average would only be two or three ( World/Olympic ) medals in their career. Now obviously there are outliers like Bruce Baumgartner, John Smith, Dave Schultz, ( and a few others ), but I guess my point would be that JB is also one of these outliers as well. Additionally, I would also have to mention that Adeline Gray who has a long and successful career would also be in this category as well. It may be that Adeline Gray may be our greatest Women's wrestler, at least up to this point in time.

Well best of luck to Gavin, hopefully he finds success and happiness in this new environment. I have no idea about where he might fit into the lineup, but as I was typing this I thought one possible option might be that Spencer takes an Olympic Red Shirt next year and Gavin makes the cut to 125. But as I think about it further, I think that is probably unlikely. If Penn St. Is projected to have a rebuilding year, I would think TnT, will want to do everything they can to win the title next year, and I don't see how they will be able to do that without Spencer in the lineup.

Amine beat Gostiev 3-3 on criteria for the Bronze. Micic dropped his finals match but still earns a Silver. Congrats to both of them.

Pamela, my bad I completely forgot about Stephen Neal. Yes I agree he should be included as well.

Well I am not sure what Fix will do next college season, personally I think that he will Redshirt, but if he doesn't, I think we see him at 133 again. Meanwhile with Spencer, I am not sure what he will do either. But if he does wrestle next collegiate season, I believe that he will wrestle 125. So I believe that we won't see these two going head to head until next summer. When these two do meet, I know Spencer has a fireman's and near arm far leg dump that is very hard to defend, and I know he has a good lace, but Fix, is a muscular warrior, so I am not sure how vulnerable he will be to Spencer's gut and lace. Fix however, has looked very good of late, and I expect that to continue through the year, so when these two do face off again it should be a wild one.

Spencer Lee

California Dave Schultz, and Mark Schultz, Jake Varner, Henry Cejudo, and a fifth bust would be Stephen Abas.