I would only agree with that if it was a year we were competing for the title and a few extra points could be the difference. Guys need time to develop and throwing true freshmen out there, even talented ones, is bad for the long term health of the program. This season we do have one true freshman out there because we had to - but notice that it isn't our most talented true frosh at that weight. It's a guy who would otherwise be a career back-up, so I'm guessing he agreed to delay his redshirt year in exchange for having a chance to get a year on varsity.
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I would only agree with that if it was a year we were competing for the title and a few extra points could be the difference. Guys need time to develop and throwing true freshmen out there, even talented ones, is bad for the long term health of the program. This season we do have one true freshman out there because we had to - but notice that it isn't our most talented true frosh at that weight. It's a guy who would otherwise be a career back-up, so I'm guessing he agreed to delay his redshirt year in exchange for having a chance to get a year on varsity.
I understand and agree that Redshirting Finch is and was the right thing to do. I think we are starting to get some depth at some weights and they can't all start every year. Look at 174, 184 for the future. Tanner Weatherman, Riley, Shafer, Molina, Spangler, England all about the same age and weight. Put the best guy out there, because they can't all start all 4 years. If its boarderline keep your Redshirt on the freshman. At 133 and 141 with Cash, Jones, Schlosser, Pena, Goettl; I would pull the Redshirt on Schlosser if he is a big improvement over Jones or Cash. I think Pena is a Redshirt guy that we will expect big things from, similiar to Finch.
I too am soooo tired of people posting on these message boards and ragging on our program. KJ has done a excellent job w/ the hand he was dealt, and you could see the improvement of almost everyone throughout the year. I love that we have a coach with enough integrity to not let Long take the easy route because he knew while it may not benefit his team it benefits the individual. KJ's recruiting seems like a hot topic, but to me he's done a great job, his first true recruiting class are all now redshirting (it was ranked 6th in the nation by the way) and i would say anywhere from 3-4 of them will be starting next year and they'll be very successful. I love to see him getting Iowa kids as well, this is exactly how iowa built their dynasty, they recruited the state very well, i think for his 1st two classes KJ has done very well in Iowa recruiting. He has also snagged some national recruits as well in Pena, Finch, Goettl and Molina. This years class will probably be top 10ish, which i'll take because of the size and talent of our last class...
Put it this way, if you are starting your own business and go to a bank for a loan, what will the bank ask for??? They will ask for probably a 5 year or a 10 year business plan, does the bank care that you business is not a success the first couple of years??? No they don't, they probably start getting worried around year 5.. Its the same for sports and coaching, each coach has their plan and not all of the plans are instantaneous.... We all knew we were going to struggle this year (well at least the wrestling fans knew), I'm perfectly fine where we are at, I know the wrestlers love KJ and believe in his system, this ship will be righted very shortly, but you have to give him some time....
The only thing that i'm mad about right now is that Spangler probably won't get a wild-card or that sorenson isn't able to go, because i think both of those guys are top 10 guys at 165....
Put it this way, if you are starting your own business and go to a bank for a loan, what will the bank ask for??? They will ask for probably a 5 year or a 10 year business plan, does the bank care that you business is not a success the first couple of years??? No they don't, they probably start getting worried around year 5.. Its the same for sports and coaching, each coach has their plan and not all of the plans are instantaneous.... We all knew we were going to struggle this year (well at least the wrestling fans knew), I'm perfectly fine where we are at, I know the wrestlers love KJ and believe in his system, this ship will be righted very shortly, but you have to give him some time....
The only thing that i'm mad about right now is that Spangler probably won't get a wild-card or that sorenson isn't able to go, because i think both of those guys are top 10 guys at 165....
I don't know if I'd say Spangler was a legit top 10 guy (though he might be next year), but there is no question he's top 33. I have my fingers crossed but can't see him getting the wildcard just due to not having enough matches.
If he hadn't injured his ankle I think he would have auto-qualified, even with the entire bottom half of his leg covered in an inch of tape he was holding his own against some very high ranked guys. We got very, very, very unlucky at 165 to have both guys go down to injury.
I hear ya, we'll never know if he's top 10 or not till next year, but in my personal opinion he would have been ranked top 10 this year had he wrestled all year.... But yeah some of the worst luck ever at 165, hopefully a miracle happens and he gets in, but i don't see it...
Because over the past two years the guys we do have in the system have shown vast improvements.
Because he helped our elite guys like Varner and Zabriskie break through and become dominant last year, and Reader this year.
Because his first recruiting class was highly ranked and is doing well in open tournaments this year.
Because he is a national champion and Olympic gold medalist (with more international success than Cael) that USA wrestling entrusted the national program to for several years.
Because under Jackson, at all the big tournaments we always have more guys wrestle above their seed than below their seed.
This is my personal observation. It seems like KJ is building depth, getting a lot of 15 to 25 ranked guys at weights. This way they are partially developed, but didn't have to offer the big money that you would for #1 ranked guy. If that #1 ranked guy busts, and you don't have backups, you're back where you started at. I know Finch must have cost us a pretty big scholarship, but most others probably not. Andrew Sorenson and Z weren't big dollar recruits, and look where they're at.
I also wonder about why another 165/174 recruit. Maybe because he was interested. Maybe to help get his cousin, whose a little smaller. Or maybe they're are a pile of good light weights in that junior high school class to get next year.
What isn't "fine" is our attendance, and thus revenue. With wrestling it's not how much money can you make, but minimizing your losses. With an overall athletic budget such as ISU's, attendance is critically important. Compared to even last year, crowds were down this year, and Saturday's Big 12's were a joke.
ISU can't afford to have wrestling crowds in the 2,000 or lower range, which is where we're at right now.
What are you basing that on? I started following ISU wrestling in the mid 80's and have followed it very closely from the start of the Douglas era through today having attended many duals while I was in college and since, and having been a season ticket holder for 7 years. For the most part, our team the last two years has shown the most aggression of any I've seen since the Gibbons years. From a style standpoint, I can't think of two more different than what BD and KJ coached. As someone else pointed out, look how far KJ brought blue chippers like Varner and Reader, as well as "less heralded" guys like Zabriskie and Sorenson.
This year's results have been disappointing and I will guarantee you that no one is more disappointed than Kevin Jackson. That said, in no way are this year's results unexpected. When you look back at the attrition of the last few recruiting classes, we simply do not have the ponies this year. We have some very good wrestlers in redshirt. They aren't going to go undefeated and vault us to #1 right away next year, but they are going to make us better. They also have a belief, to a man, that what KJ is teaching them will make them champions and have fully bought into his system. There is going to be some major shuffling of weights next year and if the guys can pull it off, I really believe we can be a top 5-7 team by next March and competing for championships from that point forward. The team believes that. We as fans, need to show up, get behind them and help them get there.
Do you seriously understand the state of the wrestling program and what exactly happened to it? And where we are heading with KJ's recruiting class? I personally think you have something against KJ and you think its all his fault. I also didnt see a huge loss in attendance like what your stating. Wrestling never gets a big crowd and that won't change a lot. Even when Cael was here, the seats weren't sold out every meet. Trust me, the people that go to the wrestling meets on a regular basis know whats going on. They will be there next year.
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From my point of view as a non wrestling fan here is what I see. Our former golden boy Cael left the program. Went to Penn State and stole all of the best wrestlers on our team. The same ones we paid the guy to go recruit. THat left a gaping hole and Jackson is trying to rebuild it. Not real sure if he is a good coach or not.
one of few intelligent posts from a "non-fan" i've read. you may need to change your username to knowsomething.
Ding ding ding...we have a winner. Thank god someone can understand what exactly happened to the program. Its been said that the current wrestlers love KJ as a coach. As been stated before, KJ has done well with who he has had to put on that mat. All of our new wrestlers have showed improvement which means KJ is doing what he is supposed to do as a coach. I think the one thing KJ brings to the table is intensity. Which is what the program needs.
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