Good for Dane he deserves it. But did I miss something did Harrington get hurt? Or did Downey beat him in a wrestle off?
what the hell is going on???
Ross's article said Downey won a wrestle off at 197. But I don't think that makes it all that much better - I bet Hall would win a wrestle off against Boston at 141 as well. That doesn't mean its a good idea to move him up.
I'm not an insider at all so this is pure conjecture but what this stinks of is after Smith got hurt on Friday the staff panicked and since Downey was having a rough cut (but was making 184 and would have had two more weeks to settle in to the weight before Big XIIs and another two weeks until NCAAs, but which time presumably the cut would have been a lot easier) they took the easy route of bumping Downey up to 197 since he can beat Harrington and (and this is the mostly guessing part, we'll see at Big XIIs) bumping Harrington up to HWT since he can beat Scanlon.
Doesn't make any sense though. This isn't middle school. You don't just bump guys up mid season and expect them to perform. That type of line up tinkering is totally fine for duals when the matchups are favorable. In fact I think coaches could probably do it more often. But for post-season tournaments? Not at all.
Again, not knowing the inner details, I see two possibilities here.
1: The coaches don't have high confidence that Downey is capable of making a run at 184 so they're making the safe bet of Dane qualifying and Downey having a better chance of stealing a spot at 197 than Harrington would. This move does increase our chance of qualifying 184 and 197. That's true. But qualifying doesn't get you points. Going deep in the tournament and bonus point wins score points. It'd be better to only qualify 184 and have that person get a couple wins than it would be to qualify both weights and have both guys finish short of the R12.
2: They have no control over how guys manage their weight and are grasping at straws.
Basically, assuming Smith is out
184: Downey
197: Harrington
HWT: Scanlon
You're putting all your chips in on Downey making a run at 184. High risk, high reward
184: Pestano
197: Downey
HWT: Harrington
You're maximizing your chance at qualifying these weights, maybe even all three with a good Big XIIs. But you're not setting guys up to do any damage at NCAAs once they get there. Low risk, low reward.
I mean, it is totally possible that this move could end up paying off huge dividends. It just doesn't seem very likely.