Would top 20 finish at NCAA's be out of the question next year? Top 15 the following, top 10 in year 4? Seems like a fair progression but having that expectation could be detrimental.
Thanks for all the articles Jacqueline; I particularly liked the ones that involved a lot of quotations from coaches or wrestlers.
I wouldn't get caught up in top 20 vs top 15 vs top 10. Often, the difference from top 20 to top 15 (and top 15 to top 10) is one or two matches on the conso side.
Look at this year for example. The difference between 12th and 7th place was 6 points. The difference between 15th and 10th was 6.5 points. Guys at 149 like Hayes (OSU) and Deakin (NW) don't place because Sorensen lost early and came through the backside. They could have potentially scored another 5+ points rather "easily". Same thing with 157. LeValley loses first round and was cruising through the backside until he ran into Kemerer. There are several examples of this every year. Stuff happens and I don't like to put expectations on a team that hinge on one wrestler having a good day or a bad day.
Simply looking at how the team places at Nationals doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. We only scored a couple more points this year than last year, but throughout the year we competed much better than last season. I just want to see that type of progression every year until we can say we are a legit trophy contender again! To do that, you need to have 1/2 your team be an AA with a couple high AA thrown in there.
