Storr Responds

[yler4cy]

it very well may have been just that...my point, bud, is that if the coaches were in a bad spot with this kid, maybe best to just leave well enough alone and remove the problem. You don't need to understand wrestling to not get yourself and a program in a predicament if it's not necessary.

Gossamer - Can you please tell me, if you were in the coaches situation how you would have handled this? You keep saying that you would have handled it differently, HOWEVER you have not given us an example. I do value your feedback, and would like to hear how they could handle this differently.

Dresser has been coaching since 1986 and Zadick has been coaching since 2002. They both have been very successful everywhere they have been. Why should they change the way they coach for 1 kid? They were trying to work with Storr and Storr was going behind their back and talking to the Paulson's. I am guessing the coaching staff gave him the "ultimatum" because Storr went to the Paulson's asking them what he should do and they gave feedback to go back to the coaches and ask for things to change. Due to their success, the coaches felt as if they didn't need to change and asked Storr to choose to buy in or move on, and Storr chose to move on. As far as all the media stuff, that happened when they announce he was released.

 

[Gossamer]

So if Storr would've won the match & Metcalf patted him on the back as he left the mat, would you be ok with that? That is physical contact. If you weren't there to see it for yourself, then you shouldn't even be commenting on this subject.

I want to be sure I understand your logic here...you've never given your opinion on anything unless you've seen it, right? So if you've read something or been told something, you've not rendered an opinion.

You don't really get the point I'm trying to make, do you? I have an issue with what was allegedly done as stated by the student athlete in his release and how it relates to the overall situation as described by both sides of the equation...especially IF a coach admitted it shouldn't have happened.

 

[Gossamer]

Gossamer - Can you please tell me, if you were in the coaches situation how you would have handled this? You keep saying that you would have handled it differently, HOWEVER you have not given us an example. I do value your feedback, and would like to hear how they could handle this differently.

Dresser has been coaching since 1986 and Zadick has been coaching since 2002. They both have been very successful everywhere they have been. Why should they change the way they coach for 1 kid? They were trying to work with Storr and Storr was going behind their back and talking to the Paulson's. I am guessing the coaching staff gave him the "ultimatum" because Storr went to the Paulson's asking them what he should do and they gave feedback to go back to the coaches and ask for things to change. Due to their success, the coaches felt as if they didn't need to change and asked Storr to choose to buy in or move on, and Storr chose to move on. As far as all the media stuff, that happened when they announce he was released.

I would have done my best to avoid any situation that Storr cold have construed as "unsafe" or whatever term he used in his release. That includes instructing my staff to not engage with him physically in any manner...simply because of what I wrote earlier. Whether right or wrong, it puts the program in a bad spot and the coaches in an unfair position, especially if their actions were well intended. If the kid was a loose cannon and they knew it, best to just move him along quickly and not risk the fallout.

I don't dispute they were doing what they felt was right...maybe Storr is lying about all that he wrote? Could they have removed the problem much earlier? Mabye. IDK.

 

[Scott34]

I want to be sure I understand your logic here...you've never given your opinion on anything unless you've seen it, right? So if you've read something or been told something, you've not rendered an opinion.

You don't really get the point I'm trying to make, do you? I have an issue with what was allegedly done as stated by the student athlete in his release and how it relates to the overall situation as described by both sides of the equation...especially IF a coach admitted it shouldn't have happened.

So you want to place judgement on a coach when you never actually seen what took place?

 

[enisthemenace]

I wrestled in high school and the coaches would wrestle with the kids in practice. It would get pretty intense sometimes from both the wrestler and coach. Nothing I would deem as abuse. I can't imagine what it's like in the room at this level. I know the "shove" that Storr got in the meet was nothing to what he got in practice, physically or emotionally.

I have a few buddies who are high school wrestling coaches. They themselves have come home from practice with black eyes and mat burns from scrapping with their athletes. It is a physical sport, where the athletes and coaches are physical with one another in the wrestling room. There is no other sport like that.

 

[BCClone]

I would have done my best to avoid any situation that Storr cold have construed as "unsafe" or whatever term he used in his release. That includes instructing my staff to not engage with him physically in any manner...simply because of what I wrote earlier. Whether right or wrong, it puts the program in a bad spot and the coaches in an unfair position, especially if their actions were well intended. If the kid was a loose cannon and they knew it, best to just move him along quickly and not risk the fallout.

I don't dispute they were doing what they felt was right...maybe Storr is lying about all that he wrote? Could they have removed the problem much earlier? Mabye. IDK.

I don't like coaches getting physical. I do need to ask, if Storr is hanging out on the side of the mat pouting as people say. How would you handle that? It is a very bad image to have that also. It can show a loss of control by a coach, something KJ was hit for. If you had a wrestler that didn't go back to the locker room like protocol and was creating a scene, what would you do?

 

[Gossamer]

So you want to place judgement on a coach when you never actually seen what took place?

Nope. I want to place judgement on how a situation was handled in its entirety, based on what I've read, not what I "seen".

 

[Boxer007]

For those that haven’t wrestled in college you need to understand he relationship between wrestling coaches vs other sports. The team is small. You wrestle those coaches everyday. It gets more than heated. Everyone is a competitor and tempers flare weekly. And when your hungry and tired and struggling those same coaches are the ones picking you up. You choose a college so that you have the best partners and coaches to push yourself. To say that he didn’t feel “safe” with the little push in the back is ********. He regretted staying when the Paulsens left and wanted out. Shame on the Paulsens for getting their alma mater and the kid in this position. This thing stinks and it will be interesting to see how Storrs career goes. If this situation in the room pushed him over the edge he’s got a long 3 years in front of him.

 

[buf87]

The coaches are trying to change a culture. It is tough to change a culture when one of your best athletes is getting advice from a the past coach.

I think Kanen is a good kid. Probably always wanted to be with the Paulsons. Probably should of transferred at semester, but then he would have lost the rest of the red shirt year. Ended up and did anyway.

As far as the ultimatum, we have talked many times that someone is going to transfer out between Gomez, Simmons, Parker and Storr. We have 2 good 133 pounders that appear to be buying in. Why let Storr finish out the year and knowing he is probably transferring when Parker is cutting to much weight and probably our future 141 pounder.

Storr got a free release to go non Big 12 or out of state.

Bad deal. Could have been handled better by Paulsons, ISU staff, and Storr

 

[Gossamer]

I don't like coaches getting physical. I do need to ask, if Storr is hanging out on the side of the mat pouting as people say. How would you handle that? It is a very bad image to have that also. It can show a loss of control by a coach, something KJ was hit for. If you had a wrestler that didn't go back to the locker room like protocol and was creating a scene, what would you do?

good question. I don't know. But I probably wouldn't engage a kid that I already know is an issue and might be on his way out. If he's talking to other coaches, he's probably capable of doing other stuff to make it worse. Shoot, someone else said that at UI, another wrestler might have moved him along...maybe that would have been a good idea. Tough to say and not a good situation overall.

 

[djhart69]

Why shouldn't he have said that? He even stated he speaks his mind and sometimes it gets him in trouble. Him bringing the tampering to the public was not a shot at an athlete, it was a shot at assistants from another school breaking NCAA rules. I am fine with it. He didn't go over the top with it, or make any ridiculous claims. Storr backs up the story (maybe on accident?) in his release.

It just sounded like an excuse that absolved him and the staff and Kanen of all fault and blamed it all on the the Paulsons.

 

[BCClone]

good question. I don't know. But I probably wouldn't engage a kid that I already know is an issue and might be on his way out. If he's talking to other coaches, he's probably capable of doing other stuff to make it worse. Shoot, someone else said that at UI, another wrestler might have moved him along...maybe that would have been a good idea. Tough to say and not a good situation overall.

The other wrestler, like a captian, works in some situations. This one it was not really an option if I remember the facts. We have a young team. We started at the low weights where Storr is the most experienced one finished at that point, meaning the Dane or lone senior is getting ready for his match and our older guys are the same boat as Dane.

If Metcalf coralled Storr and guided him back to the locker room I have no problem with that. There is no dispute in what was said between the parites. Storr was told to get out of there, meaning matside, and then he said he was already out of here. Emotional responses will quite often lead you to a glimmer of the truth. KS was leaving it was a matter of when. At this point it is best to just move on for everybody.

 

[enisthemenace]

I just had an employee walking really slow in front of me. I needed to get somewhere, but couldn’t get around him. I said “get the **** out of my way”, gave him a slight nudge and moved on. I could hear him laughing as I walked past. Pretty sure all is good here. Just thought I’d share.

 

[SiouxCityCyclone]

We've talked about what he's done off the mat (transfer, his side of the story) more than what he's done on the mat. I think this whole thing has been overblown and the sooner we're past this, the better.

 

[Land Grant]

I am a little surprised that so many still want to give Storr a pass on this. "He's good kid, etc ..."

Based on everything I've gathered from this site, his site, and especially the Register, I'm of the opinion that his twitter narrative is the most manipulated and self serving account of all.

The evidence is all there that Storr was an equal agent in this mess. Certainly not passive and certainly not a victim. And cripes, not a kid ... though he may have acted like one.

 

[SiouxCityCyclone]

And this is how I feel about this whole "shove" issue. The WVU meet was Jan 21st, almost two weeks ago. Very little has been brought up about it. The only reason it's some huge deal now, is because Storr made it seem like it's a much bigger deal than what it is. Nobody complained about it until Storr brought it up. Metcalf hasn't been suspended or fired because of it, so it must not have been as big of deal as some people make it out to be. Metcalf probably had a conversation with Dresser and or Pollard, but that's about it. Stop trying to make mountains out of molehills.

 

[OOTClone]

How much does his overall under-performance this season play into this? Not a knock on him whatsoever, but I feel like that isn't being brought up. Thinks he can excel under a different staff (the Paulson's), which more power to him -- it's his career and only has 3 years left, and this was his best way of having a reason without making it very obvious he wanted to transfer straight to Virginia after being in contact illegally all season with their assistants.

 

[JP4CY]

by the way, this guy you all think is "soft" would probably kick the **** out of each of you. So there is that irony.

I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. KJ was our coach, who is a great person and alum, and most considered him soft when it came to coaching. He did pretty damn well back when UFC was basically no holds barred too.
Sometimes people can't teach or learn in the ways their talent would make us think they can.

 

[JP4CY]

I just had an employee walking really slow in front of me. I needed to get somewhere, but couldn’t get around him. I said “get the **** out of my way”, gave him a slight nudge and moved on. I could hear him laughing as I walked past. Pretty sure all is good here. Just thought I’d share.

 

[HardcoreClone]

Some good discussion. From what I've read, it sounds like the "shove" was not a shove and the coaches acted fine during the meet. Sounds like there have been ongoing issues between Storr and the staff, attempted to get worked out but never resolved. I agree it's never good to see ISU involved in an accusation like this, we want our school and sports programs to have great reputations. On the other hand, I can understand how Dresser wants to defend his program if he is absolutely positive there was tampering. The only way these sports are cleaned up (especially MBB) is if people start getting held accountable for skirting rules.

The biggest thing that jumped out to me from Storr's statement was the whole Paulson/landlord thing. And now others have mentioned Cael, Varner, etc also own rentals in Ames.

If they charge market rate to each occupant, then I don't think any issues....
But if these owners are specifically renting only to wrestlers (or other athletes), AND giving a preferred rate (now, or in the past when Cael was here), then that is concerning to me as far as NCAA rules infractions goes. Nice recruiting tactic.