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Perspective

Taking 6 Fr to the Big Tens is tough enough in a normal year, doing it in a year when they have only a handful of matches under their belt, then finishing 2nd is an impressive feat.

I think though, now that I've seen them in tourney action, I'm going to adjust my expectations a bit for NCAAs. I was all in with those who felt we could have 9-10 AAs this year. While 10 will clearly not happen, I'm thinking now that 9 is also a longshot.

RBY, N Lee, CStar, Brooks and Kerk are right there, but the others are going to have an uphill climb IMO. Not impossible, the talent is there, but the big thing is that our youngsters will come back next year with tourney experience under their belt.

I'm not conceding the team championship just yet, either way though, it's going to be fun watching these kids develop.
In fairness, Kerk. got annihilated by Cassiopi. I saw a match he had with Steveson in high school, where he lost but did quite well. I would be very happy with that guy.
To restate the obvious, Iowa has a wonderful lineup and I assume all those 6 seniors will come back.
plus they have very good recruiting class and at least one excellent prospect already in the waiting room.
 
I for one don't have any idea how any coach will be able to manage the scholarship situation with guys hanging around for another and new guys coming in. The free year sounds great but it really seems like a headache for the coaches.
 
Still, Iowa does still cost $44K/yr for non-Iowans. Getting the extra Covid year doesn't translate to "Everyone gets a full scholly" does it? If so, its a free-for-all.
?? Only saying that Vincenzo and Mark had no choice, though it's my opinion that the NCAA blew that decision. Our own Nick Lee, and all 6 of the seniors on the Iowa team have a choice. The scholarship rules are unchanged, 9.9, so all schools have to manage around that number. It's not unreasonable to guess that some combination of (1) less $$$'s on average for all wrestlers, or (2) more recruits going the grayshirt route, are likely in 2021-22 and a few years beyond that.
 
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I for one don't have any idea how any coach will be able to manage the scholarship situation with guys hanging around for another and new guys coming in. The free year sounds great but it really seems like a headache for the coaches.

I trust Cael can figure it out.
 
Well Young is married to a Brands and as mentioned above Marinelli's wife works for the team so seems like at least those 2 will be sticking around Iowa City for awhile (and I guess getting married while you're in college is one way to "get on with your life" while still being able to wrestle). For Young's stomach's sake I hope Kemerer hangs 'em up so that Young and Marinelli can bump up.

Sticking around IC doesn't mean they will be being paying tuition (assuming none of them are on full ship) and being eligible to wrestle for Iowa. Same scenario for all wrestlers including those at PSU, although only Nick Lee is a senior this year and he has already said he is coming back. Dollars are going to be an issue for a LOT of wrestlers at a LOT of schools.
 
Sticking around IC doesn't mean they will be being paying tuition (assuming none of them are on full ship) and being eligible to wrestle for Iowa. Same scenario for all wrestlers including those at PSU, although only Nick Lee is a senior this year and he has already said he is coming back. Dollars are going to be an issue for a LOT of wrestlers at a LOT of schools.

Do son-in-laws or husbands of full-time employees get free tuition?
 
I for one don't have any idea how any coach will be able to manage the scholarship situation with guys hanging around for another and new guys coming in. The free year sounds great but it really seems like a headache for the coaches.
I never liked the “free year”. You have to imagine there are dozens of wrestling recruits who aren’t being given the same opportunity simply because grown men were allowed to return for their 5th, 6th or 7th year of college. It creates a trickle-down effect that negatively impacts more than just the current HS seniors. I wish more schools - Penn State included - followed the “Barry Alvarez” model and told their athletes to graduate and move on with their lives.
 
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?? Only saying that Vincenzo and Mark had no choice, though it's my opinion that the NCAA blew that decision. Our own Nick Lee, and all 6 of the seniors on the Iowa team have a choice. The scholarship rules are unchanged, 9.9, so all schools have to manage around that number. It's not unreasonable to guess that some combination of (1) less $$$'s on average for all wrestlers, or (2) more recruits going the grayshirt route, are likely in 2021-22 and a few years beyond that.

That's all I'm saying. For the extra year, the athlete (or Mom/Dad) has to come up with another $44K (less their share of the 9.9) for another year. Every kid might not be able to do that.
 
I never liked the “free year”. You have to imagine there are dozens of wrestling recruits who aren’t being given the same opportunity simply because grown men were allowed to return for their 5th, 6th or 7th year of college. It creates a trickle-down effect that negatively impacts more than just the current HS seniors. I wish more schools - Penn State included - followed the “Barry Alvarez” model and told their athletes to graduate and move on with their lives.
To be honest, Alvarez's position was only for Spring Sports students graduating in 2020. There have been no schools, to my knowledge, that are taking that position for 2021 Fall, Winter or Spring sports.

Regardless, I feel quite the opposite, and wish last year's Penn State seniors could have returned to wrestle in 2021, in addition to agreeing with suspending eligibility for all of this years student-athletes. It's for the student's sake that I agree.
 
That's all I'm saying. For the extra year, the athlete (or Mom/Dad) has to come up with another $44K (less their share of the 9.9) for another year. Every kid might not be able to do that.
True, it's a choice that affects families and universities. Not having the choice is worse, imo.
 
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And Conel at 197 and then Shakur got hurt at BIGs as did Nevills. 2020 was just a bad year all around. :(
We’ve been getting more than our share of injuries. I hope it was just bad luck and not significantly due to acts or omissions by the staff.
 
And Conel at 197 and then Shakur got hurt at BIGs as did Nevills. 2020 was just a bad year all around. :(
They competed at Big Tens last year with basically 5 guys and still finished 4th! All part of the sport but to think the pre 2020 season lineup had Teske, RBY, NLee, Verk, Berge, Joseph, Hall, Rasheed, Conel, and Cassar. 4 were lost early, Rasheed was never healthy and Verk was battling as all warriors do with his issues. The only good thing out of it came Brooks but he may have beaten out Rasheed anyway as the season unraveled.
 
Has Kemerer shown any inclination toward freestyle? Of all the Hawk seniors, I would rank Lee the lowest to come back. Unless they let him part-time it like Snyder.
 
When did we turn into a bunch if wussies?? Hoping for people on other teams to leave so we can beat them. If we had those six we'd hope they all came back. They aren't breaking any rules.
Wouldn't it be more satisfying to beat them at their best? No one here seems to think so...
 
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I see the glass as overfull. What a line-up. I would not be surprised by an even better performance in 2 weeks although Iowa will be very tough to catch. One thing I think that is obvious is the truncated season with no tournaments and no easy matches to gain confidence, work on things and build a resume was much more difficult on a young team. Crazy to think that the first tournament wearing PSU uniform was the Big 10s for all but RBY, Lee, Berge and Brooks. Had there been a full season, some of the seeding would have been better and it would be reasonable to expect less variance from match to match. I'm not giving up on NCAAs (think PSU will grab a nice team trophy, put heat on Iowa's team and grab many individual honors) but also I am really excited to run it back next year with some experience and a full season of matches.
 
When did we turn into a bunch if wussies?? Hoping for people on other teams to leave so we can beat them. If we had those six we'd hope they all came back. They aren't breaking any rules.
Wouldn't it be more satisfying to beat them at their best? No one here seems to think so...

Who's hoping? The nature of college sports is that the coaches are static and the rosters are dynamic. It's exciting watching our team grow and evolve. I'd think Iowa would want to see their team's new dynamic stars evolve as well. If the rosters didn't change, it may as well be pro wrasslin and we can bring in Vince McMahon to run everything.
 
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I think it has been reported numerous places that this was going to be a punt year for Cael anyways until it was declared a free year. There's a reason it took time to get Nick to re-enroll and rostered.

It's clear Cael believed most of our guys eligible for a redshirt would benefit from one (including possibly RBY/Lee) Bartlett/Howard are working with what feels like a month only. Bartlett literally wrestled for the experience. I think many (including myself) were fooled into believing he could just talent his way into NCAAs as an undersized freshman and just AA there. Not how it works. Remember Morgan McIntosh was as heralded as can be for a recruit and went 18-10 as a freshman and 1-2 at NCAAs I believe and that was with a full season.

Brooks is what he is, a superstar. CStar? Absolute stud as a freshman in a very top heavy weight. Kerkvliet? Showed he's an AA level guy off the couch. Joe Lee/Michael Beard? Absolutely a ton of talent but pretty inconsistent. They might be guys that the light bulb clicks for them later in their career. That's the case for MANY wrestlers. They both have heavily wrapped knees as well right now.
 
It looks like things are right on schedule IMO. Only the most fanatical viewed this year as a championship season. Not impossible of course, but improbable. We are clearly building for the future and the championship run to come. Just think of how valuable this year's tournament experience will be for guys like Howard and Kerk. Both may have redshirted in a non Covid Season, but instead they'll be facing top competition in The National Tournament .

If Iowa returns their entire lineup next season they will certainly be the favorites, that said I'd concede nothing to The Hawks. Just imagine how much better guys like Howard, Starocci, Beard and Kerk will be with another year of weight training and practice with The NLWC? We already know what we have in RBY, Lee, and AB. With the possibility of Van Ness in the lineup at 149 and the hope that Joe Lee can return to something resembling his 2020 RS Form we have the horses to get it done.
 
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It looks like things are right on schedule IMO. Only the most fanatical viewed this year as a championship season. Not impossible of course, but improbable. We are clearly building for the future and the championship run to come. Just think of how valuable this year's tournament experience will be for guys like Howard and Kerk. Both may have redshirted in a non Covid Season, but instead they'll be facing top competition in The National Tournament .

If Iowa returns their entire lineup next season they will certainly be the favorites, that said I'd concede nothing to The Hawks. Just imagine how much better guys like Howard, Starocci, Beard and Kerk will be with another year of weight training and practice with The NLWC? We already know what we have in RBY, Lee, and AB. With the possibility of Van Ness in the lineup at 149 and the hope that Joe Lee can return to something resembling his 2020 RS Form we have the horses to get it done.
I think Joe Lee will be ok. If you watch the 174 finals you can see the difference experience makes. CStar in deep on Kemmerer and MK reaches through his legs and grabs the ankle and changes the match completely. That is a highly skilled and highly experienced wrestler. Go to 7:10 of the video.

Sometimes it takes young guys a little time to understand positions to avoid and how everything matters.

 
When did we turn into a bunch if wussies?? Hoping for people on other teams to leave so we can beat them. If we had those six we'd hope they all came back. They aren't breaking any rules.
Wouldn't it be more satisfying to beat them at their best? No one here seems to think so...
I agree with your core point (to be the best we want to face Iowa's best), but I think you're misreading the crowd here and are being unfairly hyperbolic.
 
We don't need no stinking' perspective! :)

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For those of us who don’t know the backstory:

A. Were all of the 9.9 scholarships accounted for, and Cenzo & Mark have to pay their own way to stay ?

or

B. Did Cael tell them they needed to move on to the next chapter of their lives ?

I can’t imagine telling two 3x finalists to buzz off. Lol
Guy that finished eligibility in 2020 were done. Cenzo and Hall were both in their fourth year of competition. No real backstory. Just guys in 2020 were "cheated" out of their last national tournament.
 
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For those of us who don’t know the backstory:

A. Were all of the 9.9 scholarships accounted for, and Cenzo & Mark have to pay their own way to stay ?

or

B. Did Cael tell them they needed to move on to the next chapter of their lives ?

I can’t imagine telling two 3x finalists to buzz off. Lol
NCAA decided for everybody. Last year's seniors were done after last year.
 
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For those of us who don’t know the backstory:

A. Were all of the 9.9 scholarships accounted for, and Cenzo & Mark have to pay their own way to stay ?

or

B. Did Cael tell them they needed to move on to the next chapter of their lives ?

I can’t imagine telling two 3x finalists to buzz off. Lol
C. They were out of NCAA eligibility.
 
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