Wrestle-Offs Dates and Times

CyCloneRastlinG

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Wrong. We all know the dual season is devalued and not a priority throughout the sport right now. The focus literally is all on being at peak performance in March. Also, how you perform in March is the benchmark that recruits are watching guaranteed. A team trophy, regardless of ability to compete with Penn State, has significantly more value than any individual dual.

I don't necessarily like it or think it should be that way, but that is undoubtedly the way that it is.
Not true at all. Recruits care about location, team chemistry, electric home dual atmosphere, scholarship money, NIL money, education and degree program, history, opportunity, trajectory, conference schedule. There are only so many Bo Bassetts and if you think it’s all about the top 2 or 3 recruits, good luck. Penn state had 2.5x more points than we did. That’s not even competitive. So if that’s the only bench marker, what a complete failure
 

TheJackWePack5

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Not true at all. Recruits care about location, team chemistry, electric home dual atmosphere, scholarship money, NIL money, education and degree program, history, opportunity, trajectory, conference schedule. There are only so many Bo Bassetts and if you think it’s all about the top 2 or 3 recruits, good luck. Penn state had 2.5x more points than we did. That’s not even competitive. So if that’s the only bench marker, what a complete failure
Man as much as we all love duals, March is king as far as team results and prestige go.

Regardless of what ISU does in duals (no ducking), the fact that so many other teams don’t put an emphasis on duals (Michigan, Missouri, Cornell ring a bell?) tells you everything you need to know.

Duals are definitely important in recruiting. Can’t argue that.
 

cycloneman003

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Not true at all. Recruits care about location, team chemistry, electric home dual atmosphere, scholarship money, NIL money, education and degree program, history, opportunity, trajectory, conference schedule. There are only so many Bo Bassetts and if you think it’s all about the top 2 or 3 recruits, good luck. Penn state had 2.5x more points than we did. That’s not even competitive. So if that’s the only bench marker, what a complete failure
Talk about taking my statement out of context. Of course there are hundred factors that impact recruiting. When it comes to team performance however, I can assure you that the primary focus is about march and how will you prepare your wrestlers to be at their best in March and not about a dual in November. Also never said we're even close to Penn State, but we were a trophy team last year and being a top 2-4 team is massively impactful. You have to start being up at that end of the result first before you can even dream of being at the very top.

And where did I mention only the top 2-3 recruits? It's not as if the rest of the wrestlers out there are uninterested in competing at the highest level come NCAAs?
 
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CyCloneRastlinG

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Talk about taking my statement out of context. Of course there are hundred factors that impact recruiting. When it comes to team performance however, I can assure you that the primary focus is about march and how will you prepare your wrestlers to be at their best in March and not about a dual in November. Also never said we're even close to Penn State, but we were a trophy team last year and being a top 2-4 team is massively impactful. You have to start being up at that end of the result first before you can even dream of being at the very top.

And where did I mention only the top 2-3 recruits? It's not as if the rest of the wrestlers out there are uninterested in competing at the highest level come NCAAs?
"Wrong. We all know the dual season is devalued and not a priority throughout the sport right now. The focus literally is all on being at peak performance in March."

The Cyclones have LOST 19 STRAIGHT DUALS against Iowa; that isn't even a rivalry. For you to say it doesn't matter and March is the only thing that matters - the sport will absolutely be canceled with that mindset. I can assure you that the University and the decision makers at the Universities don't care as much about that as they do about seeing 14,267 fans show up for a home dual against Iowa. If Campbell could get more than 230 people to show up to senior night they wouldn't be dropping the program. The University and all of its fanbase wants to beat Iowa, Oklahoma State, UNI, and Oklahoma in a DUAL and more fans pay attention to the regular season. The 30 people on this message board undoubtedly care about Nationals, but that isn't the general fanbase.

https://cyclones.com/news/2023/11/2...-state-drops-cy-hawk-battle-to-no-4-iowa.aspx
 

CyCloneRastlinG

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To add some context to this. 11 teams have won Nationals since the first tournament in 1928 - nearly 100 years ago. Of those 11, only 6 have repeated. So only 6 teams have had more than 1 National title, while 70+ some teams haven't won a single championship. The tournament in March is not the only thing that matters. Only about 10-12 teams realistically have a shot at getting a trophy every year; that's it.

At the beginning of the season every coach knows if they are in shooting distance of the trophy spot. To save their programs and keep wrestling alive, they have to sell season tickets and duals absolutely have to matter. People want to show up and see an excited fanbase and a great product on the mat with teams that want to beat each other.
 

G-imJustafan

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I’d much rather beat a team in March than in a dual.
yes absolutely- every team longs for a team tourney tile - only 11 have ever achieved this
so the next goal is a team trophy ( top 4)

but it's not a apples-to-apples comparison - beating a team in a dual does not translate to beating them in a tournament and visa a versa

you want to grow the sport / grow the fan base - win all your duals especially the home matches

the die hard fans go to nationals , and its awesome

the student body and local population go to dual's
after 19 loses you beat Iowa at home - the fans will storm the mat in a frenzy of jubilation
 

stuclone

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For the casual fan and team results, I can understand the argument that duals are more important than March- it's easier to understand how wrestling teams win duals and cheer for that over team results in tournament format. As a die hard wrestling fan, I care more about March, but I know a lot more about the sport than the general Iowa State fan.

However, I think it's also important to look at it from an individual perspective in addition to the team results. Becoming an All American or National Champion cements the wrestlers legacy as a D1 wrestler. Is risking further injury in a November dual worth it to potentially impact your ability to peak at the NCAA tournament? I'd argue that it is not worth it and every D1 wrestler would prefer to peak in March and AA in March, and the staffs job is to have the best interest of the student athlete. If they are a little banged up but with little risk to worsening the injury, I'd love to see them go. If there is a risk that wrestling in the dual could lead to a worse injury and impacting that wrestler's ability to AA and peak in March, I would prefer they sit out in November. Ultimately I trust this staff to make the best decision for the athlete and the team.
 

CyCloneRastlinG

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For the casual fan and team results, I can understand the argument that duals are more important than March- it's easier to understand how wrestling teams win duals and cheer for that over team results in tournament format. As a die hard wrestling fan, I care more about March, but I know a lot more about the sport than the general Iowa State fan.

However, I think it's also important to look at it from an individual perspective in addition to the team results. Becoming an All American or National Champion cements the wrestlers legacy as a D1 wrestler. Is risking further injury in a November dual worth it to potentially impact your ability to peak at the NCAA tournament? I'd argue that it is not worth it and every D1 wrestler would prefer to peak in March and AA in March, and the staffs job is to have the best interest of the student athlete. If they are a little banged up but with little risk to worsening the injury, I'd love to see them go. If there is a risk that wrestling in the dual could lead to a worse injury and impacting that wrestler's ability to AA and peak in March, I would prefer they sit out in November. Ultimately I trust this staff to make the best decision for the athlete and the team.
Completely agree, but is it Paniro is dinged up and Bastida and Chittum and MJ and JFrost and Casey isn't at weight yet and Cuban 125 isn't eligible yet? If it's 1 or 2 things, that happens. But when it's over half the line up then it's like what is going on here? Time will tell, I just hope we have an extremely competitive line up out there vs Iowa because I want to see this team beat them. We have the guys to do it, but enough talk about we "can" do it.
 
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JM4CY

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What is the coaching staff supposed to do if one of your top guys has a dinged up knee, two are not potentially eligible (for drastically different reasons), another couple have other injuries and maybe a guy is doing what's best for the team via cutting and not down yet? Yeah as a whole, that sucks. But as annoying as the phrase is, you have to trust the process. The coaching staff certainly has shown they know what their doing. Getting all pissed off because this stuff isn't worked out or healed up yet isn't going to do a damn bit of good.
 

CyCloneRastlinG

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What is the coaching staff supposed to do if one of your top guys has a dinged up knee, two are not potentially eligible (for drastically different reasons), another couple have other injuries and maybe a guy is doing what's best for the team via cutting and not down yet? Yeah as a whole, that sucks. But as annoying as the phrase is, you have to trust the process. Getting all pissed off because this stuff isn't worked out or healed up yet isn't going to do a damn bit of good.
No one is pissed buddy settle down. Just excited to beat Iowa is all
 

stuclone

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Completely agree, but is it Paniro is dinged up and Bastida and Chittum and MJ and JFrost and Casey isn't at weight yet and Cuban 125 isn't eligible yet? If it's 1 or 2 things, that happens. But when it's over half the line up then it's like what is going on here? Time will tell, I just hope we have an extremely competitive line up out there vs Iowa because I want to see this team beat them. We have the guys to do it, but enough talk about we "can" do it.
Still a long way to the Iowa dual. Guessing the lineup we see for Stanford and Navy won’t be the same as what we see vs Iowa. Not saying we’ll be at full health for Iowa, but a week or two of rest can do a lot for the health of these guys
 

LeadersWifeLife

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Dresser is doing the smart thing, and getting everyone healthy for the Suckeye dual. If we don't see our "March" lineup for Stanford and Navy so be it. But I can assure you that KD wants the best lineup in Iowa City because he knows this is a team that CAN beat the Hawks. Bastida and PJ will be 100% by then, MJ is going through a pretty serious descent plan so they want it done right. The sky isn't falling folks, KD is just one of the few coaches left who strategically plan duals out
 

CyCloneRastlinG

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Dresser is doing the smart thing, and getting everyone healthy for the Suckeye dual. If we don't see our "March" lineup for Stanford and Navy so be it. But I can assure you that KD wants the best lineup in Iowa City because he knows this is a team that CAN beat the Hawks. Bastida and PJ will be 100% by then, MJ is going through a pretty serious descent plan so they want it done right. The sky isn't falling folks, KD is just one of the few coaches left who strategically plan duals out
This is exactly the stuff we are talking about. We can beat those other teams with the depth we have in the room, although I think Stanford will be a challenge. And no one cares about the all star dual especially if it means Bastida is ready to go for Iowa
 
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baagoe

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Guess we will be able to see Herrera get a couple of matches here at the beginning of the season. Navy guy ranked 33rd, so should at least be a good starting measuring stick for him
I don’t have any inside info but I wouldn’t automatically rule out CJ Carter there