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Does a B12 wrestling schedule prepare our wrestlers for national success?

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peatyscotch

Well-Known Member
Feb 16, 2022
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I've been wondering about this for a while. Our wrestling team does not have nearly as competitive a schedule as a team in the B10. Does that hurt us. I started thinking about this a few years ago, as an avid VB fan, I'd see our girls do decently in the B12 but have very, very limited success once they hit the national tournament.

I looked at our wrestling schedule this year, and we only fought 3 teams that finished in the top 10 of the 2026 tournament, and only 5 teams finishing in the top 15. Iowa, on the other hand, fought 6 top 10 teams and 8 top 15 teams. I admit I am not considering who we met at tournaments but I doubt if it changes things very much.

B12 BB is high level and FB is decent. But are we destined to slide backwards for no other reason than the competition our guys face.

My fear is that it becomes increasingly difficult for our guys to do well nationally as we move into the future. Yes, money and recruiting are a factor but I would like to think outside that box for now. Those are connected issues but let's focus on the level of competition for this discussion.

Or am I all wet.
 
peatyscotch said:
I've been wondering about this for a while. Our wrestling team does not have nearly as competitive a schedule as a team in the B10. Does that hurt us. I started thinking about this a few years ago, as an avid VB fan, I'd see our girls do decently in the B12 but have very, very limited success once they hit the national tournament.

I looked at our wrestling schedule this year, and we only fought 3 teams that finished in the top 10 of the 2026 tournament, and only 5 teams finishing in the top 15. Iowa, on the other hand, fought 6 top 10 teams and 8 top 15 teams. I admit I am not considering who we met at tournaments but I doubt if it changes things very much.

B12 BB is high level and FB is decent. But are we destined to slide backwards for no other reason than the competition our guys face.

My fear is that it becomes increasingly difficult for our guys to do well nationally as we move into the future. Yes, money and recruiting are a factor but I would like to think outside that box for now. Those are connected issues but let's focus on the level of competition for this discussion.

Or am I all wet.
Click to expand...
We faced 9 of the top 25 teams in dual rankings. What more do you want.
 
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Hopefully the nationals duals next season will prepare us more. That’s as close as it gets to the highest competition non NCAA tournament wise.
 
peatyscotch said:
I've been wondering about this for a while. Our wrestling team does not have nearly as competitive a schedule as a team in the B10. Does that hurt us. I started thinking about this a few years ago, as an avid VB fan, I'd see our girls do decently in the B12 but have very, very limited success once they hit the national tournament.

I looked at our wrestling schedule this year, and we only fought 3 teams that finished in the top 10 of the 2026 tournament, and only 5 teams finishing in the top 15. Iowa, on the other hand, fought 6 top 10 teams and 8 top 15 teams. I admit I am not considering who we met at tournaments but I doubt if it changes things very much.

B12 BB is high level and FB is decent. But are we destined to slide backwards for no other reason than the competition our guys face.

My fear is that it becomes increasingly difficult for our guys to do well nationally as we move into the future. Yes, money and recruiting are a factor but I would like to think outside that box for now. Those are connected issues but let's focus on the level of competition for this discussion.

Or am I all wet.
Click to expand...
Ask OSU that also.
 
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CycloneT said:
AzSUWe faced 9 of the top 25 teams in dual rankings. What more do you want.
Click to expand...
Correct me if I am wrong, but I count 3 in the top 10 (OKSU, Iowa and Stanford), 5 in the top 15 (+AZSU, Mizzou) and 7 in the top 25 (+Lehigh, WVU). But if that is enough competition, I'm fine. I'm not arguing. I'm just wondering out loud.
 
peatyscotch said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but I count 3 in the top 10 (OKSU, Iowa and Stanford), 5 in the top 15 (+AZSU, Mizzou) and 7 in the top 25 (+Lehigh, WVU). But if that is enough competition, I'm fine. I'm not arguing. I'm just wondering out loud.
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Stuff like cliff Keen and southern scuffle do as much, if not more, to get guys ready than just duals.
 
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peatyscotch said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but I count 3 in the top 10 (OKSU, Iowa and Stanford), 5 in the top 15 (+AZSU, Mizzou) and 7 in the top 25 (+Lehigh, WVU). But if that is enough competition, I'm fine. I'm not arguing. I'm just wondering out loud.
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Final Dual rankings of teams we faced:
#2 Ohio State
#3 Oklahoma State
#5 Iowa
#11 Missouri
#13 Stanford
#16 West Virginia
#18 Northern Iowa
#21 Oklahoma
#24 South Dakota State
#25 Arizona St

Also facing solid NDSU and Lehigh squads

Only teams we faced that weren't good were Nebraska Kearney and Northern Colorado

So 10 not 9
 
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Forgive me for my ignorance because I am not as big of a wrestling fan as most of you are, but is the Big 12 not solidly the 2nd best conference outside of the Big Ten?

The Big Ten is loaded with Penn State, Ohio State, Iowa, etc., but the Big 12 also has Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Mizzou, and OU who are all respectable opponents and programs. UNI, SDSU, and NDSU also perform pretty solidly.
 
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peatyscotch said:
Our wrestling team does not have nearly as competitive a schedule as a team in the B10. Does that hurt us.
Click to expand...

Like every other sport, there is a limit on competition dates. And like every sport, the vast majority of that schedule every year is already baked and non-negotiable.

It would be like Jimmy Rogers asking Yormark to only give us 6 conference games so we could play "better" competition.

Because of that, the wrestling schedule usually follows this pattern:
*A couple of home "warmup" duals in November
*Iowa in late Nov/early Dec
*One tournament (usually Cliff Keen in Vegas), early Dec
*One MTE dual event, late Dec -- recent opponents include Penn State and Ohio State
*8 conference duals, on average (assigned by the league), Jan/Feb
*One long-distance road dual, usually tacked on to an existing trip (Stanford/ASU; Pitt/West Virginia), Jan/Feb; these normally end up as 2-year home/home deals
*Big 12 Tournament
*NCAA Tournament

There's not a lot of wiggle room.

Additionally, dual rankings are the ones of record when it comes to the schedule. NCAA finish doesn't really mean anything, since there are a different number of qualifiers on every team and often no head-to-head matches.
 
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theshadow said:
Like every other sport, there is a limit on competition dates. And like every sport, the vast majority of that schedule every year is already baked and non-negotiable.

It would be like Jimmy Rogers asking Yormark to only give us 6 conference games so we could play "better" competition.

Because of that, the wrestling schedule usually follows this pattern:
*A couple of home "warmup" duals in November
*Iowa in late Nov/early Dec
*One tournament (usually Cliff Keen in Vegas), early Dec
*One MTE dual event, late Dec -- recent opponents include Penn State and Ohio State
*8 conference duals, on average (assigned by the league), Jan/Feb
*One long-distance road dual, usually tacked on to an existing trip (Stanford/ASU; Pitt/West Virginia), Jan/Feb; these normally end up as 2-year home/home deals
*Big 12 Tournament
*NCAA Tournament

There's not a lot of wiggle room.

Additionally, dual rankings are the ones of record when it comes to the schedule. NCAA finish doesn't really mean anything, since there are a different number of qualifiers on every team and often no head-to-head matches.
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Are the wrestling duals assigned by the league? I thought they allow you to schedule who you want.
 
CycloneT said:
Are the wrestling duals assigned by the league? I thought they allow you to schedule who you want.
Click to expand...

There are some priorities and other criteria involved in the scheduling protocols, but overall yes -- the Big 12 does the conference duals.
 
theshadow said:
There are some priorities and other criteria involved in the scheduling protocols, but overall yes -- the Big 12 does the conference duals.
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I assume the “old” big 12 plus UNI are prioritized in our scheduling?
 
CycloneT said:
Final Dual rankings of teams we faced:
#2 Ohio State
#3 Oklahoma State
#5 Iowa
#11 Missouri
#13 Stanford
#16 West Virginia
#18 Northern Iowa
#21 Oklahoma
#24 South Dakota State
#25 Arizona St

Also facing solid NDSU and Lehigh squads

Only teams we faced that weren't good were Nebraska Kearney and Northern Colorado

So 10 not 9
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Please read my original post. I said I was looking at final placings in the 2026 t'ment. I did this because I think we evaluate our success on the basis of how we do at Nationals. But WVU finished 24th, not 16th, Northern Iowa finished 31st, not 18th, Oklahoma finished 30th, and SDSU finished 40th. You were right that I missed Ohio State though. But your list made another interesting point. By and large, the B10 schools we wrestled finished at about their rankings that you show. The B12 schools, other than OKSU, AZSU and Mizzou, placed well below their ranking (not sure where you found AZSU ranked 25th; they were typically in the 10 to 12 range). But your data make another good point. While overall, the B12 is not a very strong wrestling conference, the top echelon of the B12 are very good and can provide us with good competition.
 
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