Rumor going around in StL
- Thread starter NEICyFan
- Start date
I'd like one more year, but that said Heskett would be my next chioce. I'll never forget the day Heskett committed to ISU his high school coach said not only will he be an all time great but he will someday coach ISU. The first came true, time will tell on the second.
IMO, we will lose more than one years recruits if we switch now. We have some solid ones coming in. I agree with judoka that s and c needs to be addressed. I am very disappointed with the last couple tournaments, then I do remember these are freshman, without many people in the room to push them. IMO, practice partners mean more than coaches.
Our good practice partners are in the upper weights and those are our stronger wrestlers. We needed numbers, now we have them. We just need to improve the numbers and depth to push the guys. Wrestling is won on the practice mat, Iowa is very deep and that is why they can keep turning them out.
I think kj gets one more year and is told the improvement has to happen.
Our good practice partners are in the upper weights and those are our stronger wrestlers. We needed numbers, now we have them. We just need to improve the numbers and depth to push the guys. Wrestling is won on the practice mat, Iowa is very deep and that is why they can keep turning them out.
I think kj gets one more year and is told the improvement has to happen.
You really think that? Here is a link to our roster, sorted by year. Three seniors, two of which were lost to injury before the season even started. Three juniors, one of which is a juco transfer recruited by Jackson. That's 5 total upperclassmen here from when Jackson arrived. Cael left nothing behind that senior class when he left, nothing. Lets not forget that he tried to take them with as well but Pollard wouldn't release them other than his brother. We have almost as many redshirt freshmen as we do sophomore/junior/senior combined. A big non-obvious impact of this was that the guys redshirting last year didn't have upperclassmen to beat the crap out of them and introduce them to college wrestling. The fact that should have been better mitigated by a younger lightweight coach is obvious, and certainly a mark against Jackson. You saw the result of that this year with the troubles our lightweights had with chain wrestling and getting out from on bottom. We've had to build depth up from nothing and it is finally starting to show (half our lineup, including 3 of our qualifiers, were backups) and it'll really come to fruition next year when we have quality starters and backups at every weight (Or every weight but 133 if Meeks redshirts). What's killed us the past two years are holes in the lineup. Holes that are gone next season even if we get some injuries. The new guys coming in also now have experienced wrestlers and workout partners at every weight to help them improve during their redshirt year.
There are 9.9 scholarships in wrestling, which have to be doled out over 5 classes. Short of doing something like Cael/Brands and bringing an extra recruiting class in with you there are no immediate fixes. If we fired Jackson and lost just Meeks and McCauley plus a few defections that would be enough to set us back another several years.
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Let's even add to that "No progress". Last year we qualified 5 wrestlers for NCAAs (Drouin, Reader, Shafer, Ward, Simonson). This year we qualified 6 (Finch, Goettl, Sorenson, Spangler, Beard, Gibson). Last year we had one guy go 0-2. This year we had one guy go 0-2. Last year we had one guy in the Quarters... this year we have one guy in the quarters. And so on. As a team we aren't doing any worse than last year and would be doing better if Spangler hadn't been forced to withdraw before the tournament. We're missing a superstar in Reader. But that's pretty much the difference.
Of our 6 qualifiers, only 1 is a senior, 2 are juniors, 1 is a sophomore, and two are freshman.
Of our 6 qualifiers, only 1 is a senior, 2 are juniors, 1 is a sophomore, and two are freshman.
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We almost always, every year, have solid recruits coming in. This is a good class but it isn't a gangbusters class that we simply must hang on to.
I don't think one recruiting class is a reason to keep KJ.
If If if if...you can play that game all year long.
Also, we had an AA last year. This year we do not. That's a step back if there ever was one.
You're right. But I'm not "Iffing" Simonson, I'm not "Iffing" Gadsen, I'm not "Iffing" Mayfield I'm not "Iffing" Weatherman. I'm not "Iffing" Ward. I'm not "Iffing" anyone who didn't qualify. Spangler qualified and got a #8 seed.
In your opinion, do you not think that we'll be a top team the next two years and compete for a title before the current group of redshirt freshmen are done? Because I have yet to see any reason to doubt that. I'm frustrated with our performance as well but you're posting like the program is a dumpster fire.
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Is the rebuilding happening slower than we'd like? Yes.
Are there issues that will have to be addressed during the offseason? Yes, multiple.
Is the program still totally dominated by freshman and getting rebuilt from the ground up? Also yes.
Is the program is in much better shape than it was two years ago? Yes. Next year will be the first time we don't have huge holes in the lineup and a lack of experienced workout partners in the room.
Are there issues that will have to be addressed during the offseason? Yes, multiple.
Is the program still totally dominated by freshman and getting rebuilt from the ground up? Also yes.
Is the program is in much better shape than it was two years ago? Yes. Next year will be the first time we don't have huge holes in the lineup and a lack of experienced workout partners in the room.
I find the bolded portion to be very interesting. You can just replace the word wrestling with the word basketball, and you have the Todd Lickliter situation at Iowa, except that was after 3 seasons. And yet, ISU fans like to tell Iowa fans that we didn't give Lickliter enough time despite all of the transfers, deteriorating fan support, lack of interest in the program, etc.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
When do we say you didn't give Lickliter time? Seems like you handled it the right way.
Whoa. I don't think we'll be a top team in the next two years or realistically compete for a title. I think such talk is irrationally optimistic at best. PSU, Minny and Iowa are loaded for bear for the forseeable future. Just off the top of my head PSU has 2 soph and 1 freshman in the finals this year and at least 1 other freshman AA. Iowa has 3 sophs and and 1 freshman who are now All Americans. Minnesota has a crew of frosh and soph AAs, too.
Meanwhile, our only guy to reach the round of 12 was a senior. Talk about a difficult climb. And that's even ignoring that we don't know whether this staff has what it takes to develop a championship level team. Top team? Compete for the title? No. I'm surprised anyone realistically thinks that.
Here's what I expect the lineup to be for next year and the results. Please tell me where I am wrong.
125:
Finch will be back and I expect him to qualify and be R12, possibly low AA at nationals. He had problems this year with chain wrestling and fighting off the bottom. I expect that to be much better with a year under his belt.
133:
If it is Meeks, I expect qualifier and at least R12. If we redshirt Meeks I expect Hallman to be about the same as he was this year, though a little improved as a sophomore rather than a freshman.
141:
Goettl showed a lot of talent this year but also was inconsistent. As a sophomore I expect him to put that inconsistency behind him and be R12 or better. If Mayfield is able to return I expect him to push Goettl and make him better. Not having Max as a workout partner this year hurt
149:
McCauley was the top ranked recruit in the country last year and will have a year at the OTC under his belt. I expect him to be top 4.
157:
Moreno had a lot of "almost" this year but wasn't able to put it all together very often. Next year I expect him to be a solid, but not great, contributor. I expect him to qualify for NCAAs and win a match or two.
165/174
These two weight classes will be some combination of Spangler/England/Molina/Tanner Weatherman. If Spangler is able to come back and stay healthy I expect a top 4 finish from him and a qualifier and 2-2 or better performance from the other guy. If he isn't then I expect 2-2 or better from both weights.
184:
Beard was essentially a freshman who was out of wrestling shape this year and as such was plagued by lots of nagging injuries. With an offseason to get his body into wrestling shape and improve I expect him to be R12 or better next year.
197:
I won't bother to predict Gadsen because he is a total unknown both skill and healthwise. With an offseason to bulk up I expect Shafer to be similar to what he was last year at 184: Serviceable, qualifier, and probably going 1-2 at NCAAs
HWT:
Even with just the seniors graduating and assuming no big improvement, Gibson will move into AA contention. I expect him to qualify and be top 6 at least next year. He had trouble scoring on elite guys this season and I expect him to work on that this offseason and improve.
Basically I am expecting a minimum of 9 qualifiers and that they all will provide points, with a minimum of 2 guys in the semis and 3 AA plus multiple in R12. That is a top team right there that would only lose Spangler and Gibson for the following year. What am I missing that you are seeing?
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^ So you expect basically the same team to come back with more experience and all off a sudden flip a switch and turn into a top team? Just not seeing it.
Same excuses were said with McD and Chiz... just give it time. But you could see an instant improvement when the next coach was hired, in the first year.
Worth a shot.
Same excuses were said with McD and Chiz... just give it time. But you could see an instant improvement when the next coach was hired, in the first year.
Worth a shot.
I expect McCauley to step in and dominate.
I expect Spangler (if healthy) to be top 4.
I expect Gibson to not regress, with a healthy complement of the guys above him graduating this year.
I expect Finch, Goettl, and Beard to do better in their second years on the mat, but not a whole lot better.
I expect Moreno and Shafer to make some incremental improvements.
I expect Hallmann to be a little less bad.
I expect Molina/Tanner Weatherman/England to be decent.
Please explain why you think any of these are huge leaps of faith?
