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2021 NCAAs Session 6 (Finals) Thread

I noticed the same thing. It looked like Brands had his panties in a bunch with Spencer right after the bout and it looked like Lee was giving it right back to him. I remember thinking at the time “the kid just won a national title, what could you possibly be pissed about?”


Pissed about not bonusing. Brands did the same thing to Desanto, after the consi semifinals and the 3rd place bout. Then Desanto lost it on the woman shortly thereafter. In both cases it's probably misplaced anger because their class act coach was chewing on them after wins.

You just won a National Championship with a recently destroyed knee and your coach immediately comes to congra....er....lecture you. No compassion at all.
 
A ton of enjoyable moments from a VERY fun evening. From a schadenfreude perspective, the most fun was seeing Nick take out Eierman. Since that post Big 10 interview when he showed absolutely no respect to Nick with the “should have been more” comment, I wanted Nick to get revenge. While Spencer, Kemerer and Marinelli all seem like really good, decent young men, Eierman seems like a real tool. Extremely happy that all of Nick’s hard work paid off and also ecstatic that Eierman lost.
 
I was telling my wife what a great kid Spencer is. Then she listened to his interview and said "really?". He was sounding very ummm...hawklike? A little butt hurt from having their thunder stolen in their moment of glory?
Sounded angry after winning a championship match. Hate to see how he is when he loses.
 
Spencer is starting to sound more and more like the people he has decided to surround himself with. He was pinning Nato and beating Nicky as a true frosh. He isn't any better imo. I don't think he will be the U.S. rep in these next Olympic games. Fix looks very strong and wrestles that tactical style. Gilman has him circled. Vito has used the Ivy pull out to focus on freestyle. Nicky has proven to be pretty good at freestyle. It will be interesting to say the least. I thought Spencer seemed to be lining up the excuse for not winning in a couple of weeks with that interview. He might prove me wrong and tech them all, but I sure wouldn't bet that way right now.
 
... I thought Spencer seemed to be lining up the excuse for not winning in a couple of weeks with that interview ...
Oh yeah? If Spencer had no arms and legs, he’d still win by biting. Dude’s like a knight in black and gold armor! He’s no wuss. :)

black+knight.PNG
 
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When did Cael throw a chair? I guess I need a Flo subscription or something...
That was freestyle. Found a clip of the match (sans Cael chair throwing) on Youtube. I don't follow that as closely as NCAAs. No wonder J'Den Cox is so hard to beat. His sweat is like a superpower preventing his opponent from gaining any kind of foothold or grip.
 
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you don't see the problem with your proposed solution?

as a FWIW, all the medals for the previous weight class are handed out after the following weight class match is completed. So the winner that you are proposing be interviewed is, at that very time, joining 7 others at that weight class to receive their medals on the awards stand. In short, your proposal would not work.

On one hand, I wouldn't miss 99% of those interviews, so they could simply not do them. On the other, we wouldn't have, "That's what we do!"
 
Question for the math wizards
PSU only lost by 15.5 points. A lot closer than I would have thought (due to 4 champs )

For scenario playing , if all things were the same ,

If RH won his last match , and what wouldhave Kerk and beard had to place in order to win.

Guess another way I am saying it , could we have won if Kerk and beard got 3rd - 5th, and if RH won 2 more matches

If things stayed the same , how many pins would we have had needed to get the 16 points to win
 
Ps. Man. If only cenzo could have came back , but I am looking forward to the next 4-5 year run.
 
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I think Spencer's Interview was an interesting glimpse behind the curtain of the differences between the Gable/Brands Iowa Program and Cael's Penn State. The first thing Spencer does is discuss how the wrestlers suffer together. I'm middle aged so I get it. I had a number of coaches across different sports that made practices a drudgery. They beat the hell out of us, verbally dressed us down, preached a lot of the same things you often hear Iowa Wrestlers recount. I understand that the idea was to build character, mental fortitude etc., but at the time there was zero fun being had. Look at their reactions after winning. I don't see elation or joy. All I see is relief that things are over.

Contrast that to PSU. More often than not our wrestlers thank God, their coaches, and teammates before they comment on themselves or their struggle. Time and again you hear our coaches tell them to have fun and wrestle free. The results speak for themselves. Some recruits like Spencer or ADS respond to the old school style of training practiced at Iowa. However over the last decade more and more high level recruits are buying into the ideals of The PSU Program. They got into wrestling as kids because it was fun. Why should that change just because you reach a certain level of competition?

Iowa are the champs for 2021. Well earned. I respect their accomplishment and congratulate them on it. Dig deeper however and it becomes clear who won the perception battle on Saturday Night. Our guys going 4-0 against 3 higher ranked opponents has to be VERY attractive to the generation of elite young wrestlers watching at home.

There are only so many Spencer Lee Types who are once in a generation talents. He wins 3 national titles at Iowa, PSU, OSU, Rider, Cal Poly or wherever. There are plenty more Carter Starocci/Nick Lee Types out there. Elite athletes/wrestlers who when paired with elite coaching and support can become National Champions. JMO but if things were reversed and Penn State had Mike Kemmerer and Iowa Starocci, Mike Kemmerer would be the national champion.

The difference between the two programs and in fairness the rest of College Wrestling couldn't be more obvious. Its the total package our program offers. Elite Coaches, training partners, teammates, & academic/athletic support. It exists nowhere else like it currently does in State College. It's the reason the dynasty will renew itself in 2022. We Are!
 
you don't see the problem with your proposed solution?

as a FWIW, all the medals for the previous weight class are handed out after the following weight class match is completed. So the winner that you are proposing be interviewed is, at that very time, joining 7 others at that weight class to receive their medals on the awards stand. In short, your proposal would not work.
Not only that; the media LOVES these things. They would not allow there to be a delay. We love dirty laundry.
 
Not only that; the media LOVES these things. They would not allow there to be a delay. We love dirty laundry.
Yeah. We love emotions. If we let athletes collect their emotions and thoughts, they could more easily just say, “both teams played hard” instead of “if you call me Francis, I’ll kill you”, or whatever kids are saying nowadays. :)
 
Oh yeah? If Spencer had no arms and legs, he’d still win by biting. Dude’s like a knight in black and gold armor! He’s no wuss.

black+knight.PNG
So you are saying Spencer was the responsible party for Nelson going Hannibal Lecter on AB?

I can hear it. Hey dude, look you got no shot so just start scratching and biting. Its all good.
 
Personal note (after a couple of glasses of red wine): Each year and for quite a while, just before the NCAA finals, I put in a hard timed run of a mile on the track or a measured course on the road (after a number of miles warm up) and imagine what it is like to push it again for seven non-stop minutes on the wrestling mat.

I almost always chose a particular Penn State wrestler to focus on as I run and usually select a guy I know has a relentless drive and gas tank. In the past, I recall picking Nico and Zain, among others, who were in the NCAA finals that day.

Today (about 5:00 or 5:30 PM), I picked Nick Lee and for some reason, I decided to go for 8 minutes instead of the usual timed mile distance (6 to 6 1/2 minutes). Subconsciously, I probably thought there was a good chance for OT and kept pushing the pace after hitting the mile mark until almost reaching a mile and a 1/4 at 8:02.

Watching three guys in a row pull it out after 7 minutes in regulation in SV (overtime), I took an extra vicarious delight in the wins at 133, 141, and 174. Not, of course, because I did anything to help, but rather because I could better imagine the intensity and focus of pushing it past what you think your limit actually is.

Congrats to the Four Horseman! And thank you for the inspiration. We all need something to help us get by after a long year of quarantine and social deprivation. Here's to looking forward to an even better 2021.
That's a great tradition. I think I might try that. I always said (probably got it from my Dad), if you aren't just about collapsing at the end of race you didn't run hard enough.
 
There's a federal case involving a temporary restraining order filed on Brand's behalf lifting the suspension and allowing him to compete in the post-season. He lost the case and couldn't compete during the rest of the post-season. No position was taken by the court on his guilt or innocence in the alleged incident giving rise to the TRO. This case was more about the school's right to suspend him. But Iowa no doubt knew about the incident when he was recruited, so he's long been absolved by Gable.
I have read this whole thread and for the life of me, am not understanding what the above comments refer to. Can you briefly elaborate?
 
For those playing the "if only" game regarding the shortened season, consider that we would not have had Robbie or Kerk available if this had been a normal year. Neither would have had enough matches under their belts to qualify once they were medically released to wrestle.
 
For those playing the "if only" game regarding the shortened season, consider that we would not have had Robbie or Kerk available if this had been a normal year. Neither would have had enough matches under their belts to qualify once they were medically released to wrestle.

They both qualified by placing high enough at B1Gs. No minimum required, even in a normal season.
 
IMO that should be called. But it literally hasn’t been called all weekend. Hell of a time to start enforcing it

the 2nd warning was total bullshit

Seems contradictory to award a point for riding time then penalize for doing it to well. It takes skill to keep someone like Fix from escaping. If called, I would rather see it relegated to kids who park on top with double boots in and don't work to turn. That takes no skill and is simply a positional advantage at times nearly impossible for the kid on bottom to get free. RBY out on the side took hard work and skill the whole period.

Zero question that ref wasnt biased towards Fix.
 
Question for the math wizards
PSU only lost by 15.5 points. A lot closer than I would have thought (due to 4 champs )

For scenario playing , if all things were the same ,

If RH won his last match , and what wouldhave Kerk and beard had to place in order to win.

Guess another way I am saying it , could we have won if Kerk and beard got 3rd - 5th, and if RH won 2 more matches

If things stayed the same , how many pins would we have had needed to get the 16 points to win
One difference between this year and some past years is we didn't have a lot of bonus machines. Kerk actually led us in that department with 4.5 followed by Lee (3.5), RBY (2.5), Brooks (1.5), and Starocci (1). Iowa (paced by DeSanto) had 27 bonus points. We had 17. Guys like DT, Zain, Bo, and Jason sometimes had 7 or more bonus points each. We should see those numbers go up in the coming years.
 
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