steamboat_charlie v2

Amazed you guys are still willing to bet against O'Toole. I learned my lesson last year. I'll match any cinna-bet on O'Toole/Hamiti, if anyone is willing to go straight up.

I mean, whatever the case, we all know what happened here. He was never going to be in the lineup, so they did what they could to get him an extra year.

WrestleStat has him with an injury RS in 2018, although he wrestled 20 matches that year. By the letter of the law he probably shouldn't have qualified for one, but we've seen liberal interpretations of that rule in the past, so it's not completely shocking.

The only thing I expect from Hoffman is that he'll continue to be a tough out. AA potential but I'm certainly not penciling him in. Sonny has more going for him than just his name. He's an intriguing prospect because of the speed of his improvement in high school, despite being a two sport athlete.

I wanted him in Columbus, but I'm not surprised he went elsewhere. Their remaining scholarship funds are being held in reserve for high profile targets in weights they've deemed as higher need. They could make the finances work with NIL $, but there are promises that Ryan can't make that Robie can. Great pickup for the Hokies. I'd be surprised if he's not a multiple time AA, and also surprised if he doesn't outperform Shumate specifically.

Pretty much my feelings on the matter. I don't think this has a meaningful impact on most wrestling programs--they will be asked to operate on similar budgets and continue to fundraise for any facilities. Big 10 wrestling and other Olympic sports will continue to largely be available on the Big 10 network (and their streaming platform), which Fox owns.

Yes and that was a concern about Kolat as well. Doesn't mean it won't work out.

He left there a couple years ago didn't he? He's been all over the place, that was my point. That's not to say he can't do well for MSU, hopefully he does.

Monday makes sense for the hire on paper. But if it were me hiring, I'd be at least a little worried about how often he's moved around. This is a new build from the ground up... it needs a long-term commitment with long-term vision.

I think we sent stronger teams in '19 and '21, but with Russia not being there a few of our lesser known guys are bound to surprise. Iran looks very, very tough.

Borrego is a can who was in there specifically for this purpose. There's a reason Nickal was going off at -3000 or worse. He'll be offered another sacrifice in the contender series, and then he'll get signed and they'll have to think about how they want to bring him along. I'm not advocating a "throw him to the wolves" approach by any means. My point was just that he may actually be too good to bring along slowly.

Boxing is a slimy business. MMA is just bad business. Bo can make a decent living out of it, anyway. Not sure how many cans he can fight before they stop signing up, but it looks like Dana and his manager both want one more before they give him anything resembling a challenge.

There are plenty of wrestlers that have been successful in all three facets. It's just about being reasonable and picking your spots. Nothing wrong with a program that wants to go true zero tolerance. That's their prerogative, but I think in the long run you'd be better off running a program that recruits and develops individuals that can be trusted with a little more rope. If your athletes are intelligent, disciplined and goal oriented, it shouldn't be a major issue.

Ah, yes. Don't know why I wasn't following you there. I blame lack of coffee.

I'm a little confused what you're getting at. These schools (by and large) aren't breaking the law. They're breaking NCAA regulations. It's the NCAA regulations themselves that have been found to be unlawful. That's precisely why the NCAA isn't seeking punishment, because they're scared of additional court rulings stripping back more and more of their power. The jig is up, so to speak.