2024 - Will Dake and Taylor be too old?

[buckeye97 15]

Both will be 33. JB was 33 this year and looked like a shell of his former self. Who is coming up in the ranks that could possibly take their spots? Nolf at 74? Brooks at 86?

[BigTimeFan 1,141]

I would quibble with the shell of his former self statement. People improve a lot in three years and people over thirty - in wrestling - generally start to decline (with the possible exception of Dake with his self-proclaimed age reversal magic). It wasn’t too long ago that Coon handle Gable at the US Open (or Trials?) and Gwinnett was comfortably ahead. But Gable kept improving. We all knew he had the stuff to get there. So who’s in the mix now?

I think David Carr is one to watch. So much raw talent. Right now it’s hard to picture so bookmark this. 


 

[scribe 1,824]

It’s been said Dake cannot age 

[denger 339]

Does Dake know that men in their 30s love potato chips and beer?

[DocBZ 190]

Unfortunately probably...you also have to keep in  mind that there will be new names to emerge in 3 years that no one has currently heard of by then.

Edited August 8, 2021 by DocBZ

[denger 339]

They've both continued to improve, and JB set a very high bar for them in their 20s. They're certainly the high bar now.

They'd probably be wise to compete a little less. Injuries and recovery are different with age. 

I think they could both be reps in 2024. Internationally, I wonder if they'll still be contenders. 

[Broomstick 74]

I think it will be David Carr at 74 in 2024.  At 86, not sure but think it will be someone else besides Taylor due to his age, the injury risk and potentially a shift in his priorities.

[Billyhoyle 2,472]

I think both will make the Olympic team, but I’m more confident in Taylor staying near the top internationally. Dake’s style relies on overwhelming strength/athleticism, so I think he will be more prone to regression.
 

It’s really just a question of what new monster  emerges from Dagestan and what weight he is. In Rio it was Sadulaev at 86 (84?). In Tokyo it was Sidakov.  Somebody new will be on the scene by 2024. 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Billyhoyle

[NJDan 1,070]

And, of course, you have to remember that Chris Taylor DIED at 29. 

[Red95 79]

Hey, Chris Campbell won an Olympic medal at 37. Certainly an outlier but it can be done. 

[Drew87 349]

JB has used his head as a battering ram for ten years now.  I have to imagine his spine is a little cranky.  You can’t wrestle through a bad neck.

[ShakaAloha 418]

1 hour ago, Broomstick said:

I think it will be David Carr at 74 in 2024.  At 86, not sure but think it will be someone else besides Taylor due to his age, the injury risk and potentially a shift in his priorities.

Carr and Zahid

[fadzaev2 545]

4 hours ago, BigTimeFan said:

I would quibble with the shell of his former self statement. People improve a lot in three years and people over thirty - in wrestling - generally start to decline (with the possible exception of Dake with his self-proclaimed age reversal magic). It wasn’t too long ago that Coon handle Gable at the US Open (or Trials?) and Gwinnett was comfortably ahead. But Gable kept improving. We all knew he had the stuff to get there. So who’s in the mix now?

I think David Carr is one to watch. So much raw talent. Right now it’s hard to picture so bookmark this. 


 

I like your David Carr scenario.

[wrestlingnerd 2,999]

The gap between Dake and Carr is too wide to be closed in just 2.5 years or so, which is all there is until the next OTT (remember, things were delayed due to COVID). I like Carr thereafter but he's still a kid and you need full man strength and prodigious technical tools to beat Dake in a best of 3. I agree Dake may lose ground to the field by then, though, but I don't see Carr challenging him. I think Nolf is way more likely to narrow the gap than Carr, but that will take DT-level post-grad wrestling focus. I was surprised to hear Nolf was considering a move to Stanford before they dropped the program. He may want to maximize his value as a coach now before the next 3-timer emerges from PSU. It's hard to get a good coaching job with so few programs now, and an RTC job is only as good as your career, which is woefully short in this sport.

I think Zahid has a decent chance of catching DT in 2.5 years if he takes his training and conditioning more seriously. He has incredible talent. 

 

[southend 239]

Yes

[Billyhoyle 2,472]

38 minutes ago, wrestlingnerd said:

The gap between Dake and Carr is too wide to be closed in just 2.5 years or so, which is all there is until the next OTT (remember, things were delayed due to COVID). I like Carr thereafter but he's still a kid and you need full man strength and prodigious technical tools to beat Dake in a best of 3. I agree Dake may lose ground to the field by then, though, but I don't see Carr challenging him. I think Nolf is way more likely to narrow the gap than Carr, but that will take DT-level post-grad wrestling focus. I was surprised to hear Nolf was considering a move to Stanford before they dropped the program. He may want to maximize his value as a coach now before the next 3-timer emerges from PSU. It's hard to get a good coaching job with so few programs now, and an RTC job is only as good as your career, which is woefully short in this sport.

I think Zahid has a decent chance of catching DT in 2.5 years if he takes his training and conditioning more seriously. He has incredible talent. 

 

You are probably right, and the odds are low anybody domestically catches him over the next 3 years.  However, every cycle somebody develops enough over 2.5 years to become one of the best in the world.  Cejudo, Burroughs, Snyder, Gable.  So just because it probably won't happen, doesn't mean that it won't.  We have seen it happen, and we will continue to see it happen.  

[Perry 1,423]

Will Dake be age eligible in 24? Thinking he might be on the Cadet team by then..

[Drew87 349]

I never thought I’d say this, but I think Dake is more likely to get caught than Taylor.  

[IronChef 1,077]

Nolf was pretty far ahead of the rest of the field at the 74 trials, but things can change. Of Wick, Massa, Gantt, Carr, Marsteller, and Joseph, it seems like Carr is most likely to make a jump. Will he be big enough, because he seemed undersized in April? Who else is there? Hidlay, Deakin, Teemer, O'Toole, Wittlake, Brayton Lee, Mekhi Lewis (maybe can't hold 74?).

Valencia is the obvious pick at 86, though Aaron Brooks is just 21 and has a cadet gold and junior silver. Nickal will certainly be in the mix if he wants to but I'm not sure he does. Downey will be 32 by then. Myles Martin is still just 25. Of the 2021 NCAA guys there's Hidlay, Keckeisen, and Poznanski. Starocci may be caught between weights again.

I know someone could emerge that nobody expected, but that's less likely with only 3 years to go instead of 4.

[ludwigdmd 29]

So what does the 2024 Olympic team look like?

57 - Spencer

65 - Yianni 

74 - Dake or Carr

86 - Zahid

97 - Ferrari???

125 - Gable

[tigerfan 221]

I think at 74, O’Toole will make the most progress in the next 2.5 years, but whether it will be enough to catch all of the guys currently ahead of him is questionable. 

[de4856 370]

Well 2024 is just around the corner but it’s still a long ways away in terms of wrestling. I have no idea who will be on that 2024 team, it could be a few of our regulars like SnyderMan, but then again it might not be. I think that Gilman will be one of those that retires on top with his Bronze and the tournament of his life. At 65, who knows, but I am pretty sure it won’t be Jordan Oliver. Could it be Yianni or Zain, maybe, but it could be a bigger RBY. At 74, I doubt it will be Dake, he has kids now and he has the accolades. But as I say that, Dake being Dake, he may want to try and go for the Gold on more time. Taylor, made it all look so easy aside from the finals with Yazdani, so I guess it’s possible that he ramps it up one more time. SnyderMan I am pretty sure that he will be there. I don’t think that Bo Nickal, Kollin Moore are going to knock him off or wait around that long for Kyle to hang it up. I also have no idea about J’den, he might be there, or he might not be, but I kind of think it’ll be the latter. Gable, it’s there if he wants it, he’s a bonafide superstar, but we have all heard of the talk about him going to the WWE, which I think he will probably do, but maybe, ( and hopefully ), this Gold medal changes his mind. Bottom line is, that all our Olympians have to figure out where they are in life, and what they want going forward, and do they still possess all the physical and mental tools as well as the raging inferno in their belly to give it another shot. 

[scribe 1,824]

2024 is less than three years out 

[NJDan 1,070]

4 hours ago, ludwigdmd said:

So what does the 2024 Olympic team look like?

57 - Spencer

65 - Yianni 

74 - Dake or Carr

86 - Zahid

97 - Ferrari???

125 - Gable

You have Snyder retiring or losing to Ferrari?

[Perry 1,423]

Next cycle I imagine it will be Lee, Yianni, Dake, Taylor, Cox, Gable. If Dake/Taylor quit in the next couple years (I doubt) then plug in Nolf/Carr and Zahid.