Will ISU even score today against Iowa?
- Thread starter clonedude
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I agree. I hate to see Meeks rack up some losses that he would never have if he had gotten the chance to redshirt.
Was this in high school or in some open this year? Either way didn't know that. Good news to me!
According to the Register, Iowa had 35 takedowns to ISU's 3 takedowns. Ouch. It sucks that this is the year the NCAA tourney will be in Des Moines. I was hoping that by year 4 of the Jackson regime we'd be able to be competitive in front of the hometown crowd, but this might be ugly.
After what happened this weekend, I really don't think KJ is going to survive this season. It's really too bad that the AD didn't support the program enough 5 years ago leading to CS leaving.
I'm not going to dump KJ now but if a change needs to be made we need a huge "jump start" to the program. If I couldn't get Gibby I would go for the "reverse Gable" and try to grab, Brands, Ryan, Steiner etc. Or..... give Reiland a chance to move into the college ranks. After being a Cyclone for 40 years I never thought I would say it but we need some Hawkeye mentality right now. 
Has anyone watched Meeks wrestle in the past? I have always got the impression he wrestles not to lose and because of that I find it hard to see how he will have much success at this level. Atleast the success everyone on this board is expecting. Seems like he is scared on the mat which is odd because of his past successes, but I have a good idea as to why, and it is sad.
Way too early to be questioning John Meeks's ability. He is a tremendous talent who ideally would not be wrestling this year and just lost to an elite upperclassman. Don't give up on John Meeks two dual meets into his first year.
Sigh...There really isn't anything Iowa State could have done to match what Cael was offered at Penn St. They spent more money on wrestling program and facility upgrades, than we do for volleyball, wrestling, and maybe even women's bb combined.
I have avoided this stuff until I was able to type unemotionally about what I saw the first two meets. The greatest fear that I had coming into this season has been confirmed. We are very undertalented compared to who we expect to compete against.
Now, I can live with being undertalented, it is going to take time to catch back up, and losing a kid that would have been the centerpiece of the team hurt immensely.
The problem that I have is not the dual meet losses, I am more of a tournament snob in that respect. It is that if you are going to be undertalented, you have to be relentless. The way that people talk about the kids in the program, they should be wrestling like slobbering dogs for 7 minutes. Instead, we are passive, and allow ourselves to be dominated.
That will ultimately be what pushes KJ out. The problem is that there is no money for wrestling at Iowa State, and the whiners in these threads that don't pay attention to wrestling are not the ones that are going to help with that. They see us getting beaten by schools that they have never heard of and go all ****** and bash bash bash.
The problem that most of us that actually understand what the program is facing see that if we are to compete, we have to invest in the program. KJ never got that chance here, but whoever comes in next will face the same thing unless all of the bitchers and whiners and pos like queso actually put their $$$ where their whiny mouths are.
I watched him a good amount in high school, havent seen a college match other than wrestle offs. Im not giving up, I just never understood the hype even for a 4 time state of Iowa undefeated champion. I think John is more afraid to let others down, than he is excited to continue his own path of domination, which he has all the potential to do, and thats why I think it is sad. It doesn't seem that he has fun wrestling, I think he only does it so as to please others. If John Meeks could relax, have fun, and wrestle to his abilities, we'd all see the benefit.
If we at ISU have little to NO money for Wrestling then just DROP the Program and STOP the embarrassment.
If and when Jamie Pollard hires a cael sanderson type coach I will be more than happy to write out a check to the wrestling program but.....
I will NOT write out said check for coaches like KJ who are grossly incompetent...
I really liked the recruitment of Meeks. Whether or not we keep KJ may largely depend on whether he can recruit studs or not. We may be able to snag some of the best kids just because they will have a real opportunity to compete right away. It may not be best in the long term for them or the program, but there have to be some studs out there who would be attracted to hanging around KJ and starting right away for a program that has a storied history (albeit, history that is getting farther and farther away).
If KJ can recruit, then I think he should stay.
If KJ can recruit, then I think he should stay.
Totally agree. There is not a coach in the world that would have succeeded after Cael left and took recruits with him. KJ was a lamb to slaughter, and he doesn't seem to be fighting the slaughter very hard. Time to do like the rest of the recent national champs and gut someone else's program to benefit ours. But you are right, to do that we have to show we are committed, or we won't even have the chance to gut someone else.
I'd go for Mark Perry or Pritzlaff(spelling?) Both great recruiters and both would be exciting hires for any program.
I could see Heffernan at Illinois being a nice one to grab. He's done a great job in the last 4 years of bringing Illinois to being a top program. He'd probably bring Mark Perry along and those two seem to be a great coaching and recruiting duo. Not sure of the chances of getting him as he's been there for something like 20 seasons in at least some capacity, but it'd be pretty a nice get.
Personally, I more realistically see luring a big name assistant, some of which I believe would be able to bring some recruits along with them. Sammie Henson seems like he is a great coach/recruiter and deserves his own gig. Also, I see the Donny Pritzlaff and Sean Bormet duo as being deserving of their own program.
I'm sure there are more options out there, but these are good ones that come to my mind at the moment.
Bring back Joe Heskett, he has done some great things at Army and that is pretty substantial considering the talent that Army gets...
Joe Heskett Profile - goARMYsports.com - Army Black Knights Official Athletic Site
If we get away from Cyclone grads, then go after Doug Schwab from Northern Iowa, young coach and doing great things at UNI...
Doug Schwab Biography - Official Site of University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Or if we want age and somebody with a great track record, go after Mike Denney. He led Nebraska-Omaha to Division II National Championships in 1991, 2004-2006 and 2009-2011 before they dropped the program and is now the HC at Maryville. Another is Marc Bauer at Nebraska-Kearney who led UNK to a National Championship in 2008 and 2012. Both are unproven at the Div I level but they can't be any worse than what we currently have...
Maryville Announces New Wrestling Program; Hiring of Coach Mike Denney | Maryville University
University of Nebraska Kearney - 2012-13 Wrestling Coaching Staff
Joe Heskett Profile - goARMYsports.com - Army Black Knights Official Athletic Site
If we get away from Cyclone grads, then go after Doug Schwab from Northern Iowa, young coach and doing great things at UNI...
Doug Schwab Biography - Official Site of University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Or if we want age and somebody with a great track record, go after Mike Denney. He led Nebraska-Omaha to Division II National Championships in 1991, 2004-2006 and 2009-2011 before they dropped the program and is now the HC at Maryville. Another is Marc Bauer at Nebraska-Kearney who led UNK to a National Championship in 2008 and 2012. Both are unproven at the Div I level but they can't be any worse than what we currently have...
Maryville Announces New Wrestling Program; Hiring of Coach Mike Denney | Maryville University
University of Nebraska Kearney - 2012-13 Wrestling Coaching Staff
Quite simply, we have to go out and spend big money on the program. A casual fan knows the names, because there are really only a handful.
We're going to have to over pay for a name, and then pour a lot of money into the program, giving the new coach all the bells and whistles they see at penn st, ohio st. okie st. and of course iowa.
It will be interesting to see if JP actually wants to do this, There will be more money to throw around at the departmental level, but it will take a much much stronger contribution by the fans.
See, what I meant with my statement above is that NOW we are investing in new wrestling facilities, and that ended up being the straw that broke the camel's back with CS. They just completely revamped the wrestling room this summer/fall from what I've read. CS wanted that done 4 years ago and was promptly told no. KJ got it. Granted, he hasn't been able to use it much yet, but the resources are there. I'm not going to completely throw KJ under the bus, but with what I've seen thus far, it isn't looking like he's going to be here next year. Like others and yourself said, we look too passive out there, and it's killing us.
