Fact check of Episode 4

Honeycutt's win over D3 power was a highly anticipated match, but ended in just 32 seconds. 

Kevin & I are self-proclaimed idiots doing a radio show which we feel is part of our charm. Jumping around discussing all things wrestling to be as entertaining as possible. Occasionally this leads to mistakes of not being able to pull correct information off the top of our heads so here is our fact check follow-up to episode #4. 

- Back in 1994, Kim Jong-Il on a regulation PGA Golf Course shot a 38 with 11 holes-in-one. His 17 bodyguards attest to the accuracy of the score. Sadly, the golfing world refuses to acknowledge this impressive feat. 

- Kevin brought up true freshman Chance Marsteller for Oklahoma State as wrestling this year as the top recruit. No official word has been made on whether or not he is starting or redshirting this year. The OSU roster has him at 157 which would put him nicely between Kindig & Dieringer. 

- Chris Honeycutt defeated Byron Tate (Wartburg) by pin in 32 seconds at the 2011 All-Star Classic. Tate ended up a 3-time D3 NCAA Champion. It still would be great to see Joey Davis this year face one of the big four at 174.

- Bo Jordan and Isaac Jordan are cousins. They both have brothers who are or will be D1 wrestlers as well. We messed up on that one. 

- Mo Lawal was never an olympian. He was a 3-time U.S. Open champion in 2005, 2006, & 2008. 

We will try to mess up less next week, but we can't promise anything!

Big Ten by the Numbers

Can Iowa be back on top of the podium in 2015?

As the pre-season rankings continue to pour in it is a lot of fun to see how the teams are starting to shape up, and more importantly the team race (and duals for Big Ten season). We here at Bloodround took the rankings from Flowrestling to give a glimpse at how the Big Ten is looking. Of course, these are pre-season rankings. They are just ideas from guys behind computers on how the season is going to go. Ranking (or not ranking) true freshmen and guys off of redshirt is always debatable. For this exercise we are using the numbers to give a snapshot. 

Most believe there is a top tier of six teams who all have a legitimate shot at the team championship and four of those are in the Big Ten (Minnesota, Penn State, Iowa, and Ohio State). After Penn State has graduated David Taylor & Ed Ruth (two sure national champs who never lost a Big Ten match), Minnesota has been tabbed as the pre-season favorite. The Gophers have two #1's, a #2, a #3, and a #4. With this firepower of seven ranked guys and five all-americans (ranked in top 8 for this exercise), you can see what the excitement is about in the land of the lakes. 

Looking at the numbers though, Iowa may be the favorite. The Hawkeyes lead the way in ranked guys (9) and all-americans (8). That's a lot of firepower and point scorers come tournament time, and a very solid top to bottom dual team. Are we possibly sleeping on Iowa?

Penn State, of course, isn't going anywhere soon. They have eight wrestlers ranked with five in the top eight. Ohio State has only four in the top eight, but they do have nine guys ranked (the one guy that isn't is heralded true freshman thoroughbred Kyle Snyder at 197). Don't sleep on Michigan with seven guys ranked (not sure how Max Huntley isn't) and five guys in the top eight. If Massa & Coon put themselves in to position for Big Ten and NCAA titles the Wolverines will be scoring a lot of points in March. 

Here are the numbers (Ranked/Top 8) in order of most top 8 guys:

Iowa 9/8

Penn State 8/5

Minnesota 7/5

Michigan 7/5

Ohio State 9/4

Northwestern 5/4

Nebraska 8/3

Wisconsin 6/3

Illinois 7/2

Rutgers 3/1

Purdue 2/1

Maryland 2/0

Indiana 1/0

Michigan State 1/0

Minkel's Last Stand

You never hear a bad thing about Tom Minkel, the Head Coach at Michigan State. I have never personally had a discussion with him other than a handshake. Everything I hear is how great he is, and how great an ambassador for the sport he may be. All these things are great, but as the Head Coach for Michigan State he is failing. It may be time to become just an ambassador. 

Minkle is in his 23rd year at the helm of the Spartans. They finished 3rd in 1995 and have had two NCAA champions under his guidance. He led the 1992 Olympic Greco team to a 3rd place finish, a feat that sounds improbable today with our first medalist in five years. He also was a member of the 1980 Olympic team. Long story short, he knows a ton more about wrestling than I do. 

The bad though is the last decade. The Spartans are routinely bottom of the barrel and haven't finished better than 10th in the Big Ten since the 2009-2010 season. They did beat Central Michigan this past season, but snapping a 12-dual losing streak to an in-state MAC school may not be a reason to boast. They did have Franklin Gomez winning a National Championship, but the only Big Ten team to not have a National Champ in the last decade is Purdue. 

The idea of retiring Minkel is not just that it's poor recent performance. It has a lot to do with that it is a desirable job. There a lot of talented young coaches out there looking for a Big Ten opportunity in the middle of a wrestling state like Michigan. I do believe Sammie Henson would have gladly chosen MSU over West Virginia, and Roger Kish (who is a Michigan native) is doing a hell of a job at North Dakota State. 

At some point this has to be about results and not character or resume. Wrestlers don't call for coaches to be fired, but we need to. Our programs need to be healthy and supported. Right now Michigan State is far from healthy. They enter this season after back to back last place Big Ten finishes with one ranked wrestler in the pre-season (John Rizqallah 17th at 184). Battling Indiana for 13th is something that should cause a coaching vacancy here this spring. There will be plenty of applicants.

Tommy's Pre-season Picks

The chill in the air is getting me in the mood for Wrestling season. Every year Kevin & I make our pre-season picks. Somehow magically my pre-season ones turn out to be better than my picks the week of the finals. I think it's from some unrealistic expectation that 10 guys will go through the season undefeated and unscathed. Last year was probably the most "star-studded" lineup of pre-season #1's we had in a decade, and only one wrestler was an undefeated national champion (little guy named David Taylor) at the end of 2014. 

Best match of the year by far. You see me during the video in the stands calling for stalling with my fist in the air in the 2nd period. 

125- Nahshon Garret (Cornell) is my pick here. While returning 2-time national champ Jesse Delgado (Illinois) deserves the pre-season #1, I think Garrett will end up on top. Some of the best coaching in the country will have Garrett continue to thrive and get better. Also, the stalling rules could seriously affect Delgado. Delgado stalls on top and on his feet. If there was a ref in the finals last year not afraid to put his fist in the air, Garrett likely wins the match. Watch out for Gilman (Iowa) though. Remember when he was Iowa's backup and then won the Midlands? A year as a starter could make him a contender. 

133- AJ Schopp (Edinboro) is kind of the favorite by default. 133 will be filled with capable guys who are very good, but it's tough to know who those are at this point. Almost everybody at the end of the NCAA's last year were seniors. Now maybe Cory Clark (Iowa) up a weight may be the guy that emerges as the biggest challenge to Schopp. 

141- Logan Steiber (Ohio State)....even the greats trip up now and then. Expect him to have challengers, but still get another title. 

149- Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) was my pick last year, and I'm sticking with him this year. Hunter Steiber (Ohio State) comes off of redshirt and is clearly the #2 heading in to the season. Oddly enough, it doesn't look like they will cross paths until the Big Ten tournament. 

157- James Green (Nebraska) looked like a man pissed off and possessed that he got caught in a Ness roll in the quarters. Let's remember he crushed Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) 15-0 and Ian Miller (Kent State) 13-1 on his way to take 3rd. He then gave one of the best post-tournament interviews I've ever heard. If he still has that fire, guys may want to think about other weight classes. 

165- Nick Moore (Iowa) had a rough NCAA tournament. You don't sleep on guys from Bloomsburg! Before the finals he was the 3rd best wrestler in the weight behind DT & Monk (btw can we still be upset about Monk being seeded 4th?). Those two guys are gone and I'm going to chalk up that tourny to injury or illness. Plus I sat behind his mom at Madison and she seemed like a really nice lady. You have to think him being a 5th year Senior with David Taylor graduating who has never been an all-american, this is a year he is ready to start. 

174- Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) is my pick. I think he is the best wrestler at this weight in the country, but this weight will be a battle. Last year Howe and Perry were the roadblocks. This year whoever emerges from the Big Ten should make it. 

184- Gabe Dean (Cornell) went 40-3 last year as a "greyshirt" Freshman and took 3rd. His losses were to Ed Ruth, Jimmy Sheptock, and Ed Ruth. He also beat Ed Ruth snapping a streak of 5,439 wins. Can't really make a case for anyone else here. 

197- Kyven Gadson (Iowa State) is my pick. Yes, I know J'Den Cox is the returning NCAA Champ and deserves to be #1. Last year Gadson had two losses coming in to the NCAA's (both to Schiller (Minnesota). He owned a win over J'Den Cox but was somehow seeded 5th when everyone thought he would be seeded 1st. He then lost to Schiller twice at NCAA's and took 4th. That's right he went 1-4 vs Schiller in 2014 and 29-0 against everyone else. Unfortunately for Gadson, Schiller didn't graduate. However, I think he solves the riddle and wins it all.

285- Adam Coon (Michigan) is the best wrestler at heavyweight this season. Obviously Gwiazdowski (NC State) and McMullan (Northwestern) are major challenges. I do believe Coon is the best wrestler. If he wrestles like it in March, he will be on top of the podium. Let's remember he was a true freshman heavyweight last year.   

It's Wrestling Season... Kind of.

Below is the blog without some of the interactive pieces. Click on this link to see the original post. http://claunchinator.wordpress.com/2014/09/08/its-wrestling-season-kind-of/

Okay, so we are legitimately a ways away from college wrestling season from starting. Try outs and organized practices should be getting going in another couple weeks, but realistically, kids probably just got back to campus within the last two weeks. It doesn’t matter though, I’m ready for it to begin. Not a whole lot to touch base on other than some (really) early season predictions, mention some news that I’ve heard, and predict who is going to win it all (it’s not too early right? Should I also predict next seasons results? No, too early for that). This last year was pretty impressive, with multiple returning national champions, however many of them graduated. This has left some of the weight classes almost wide open, while others will be like like running a marathon while being punched in the face just to become an All American (141, I’m looking at you). 133, 165, 174, 184, and HWY have National Champions graduating (174 had two graduate and HWY had a former 2xer and 3x finalist graduate), leaving the door open for some guys working a long time for their shot at a title. However, I want to get started with the teams.

In my eyes Minnesota is the clear favorite coming back. Overall, I believe their team from last season was better than the one coming into this season, but there have been a lot of teams lose some studs from last season, these guys just lost less and historically do a phenomenal job of reloading and recruiting. The only thing that they are losing from last years lineup are Steinhaus (admittedly a multiple time All American, but I’m not worried about them reloading there), Thorn at 133 (5th at 133 last year), Tony Nelson (2x champs, 3x finalist, I know that’s hard to lose), and word on the street is that they will have to get someone to fill the 174 spot because Storley may be dropping to 165 (moving forward, I’m just assuming that is not happening, but it’s certainly out there). They have studs at every other weight class, and with Storley at either 174 or165 (for whatever reason that always seemed to be the most difficult spot for them to fill, at least in the last 5-7 years), and their history of reloading with top notch talent, I see them taking it all this year. Not to mention they will have National Championship contenders in Ness, Storley, and Schiller.  All Americans in 125, 141, 149, and I’m assuming that 1 or 2 of their incumbent wrestlers will be ready to AA right away. The rest of the top 10 includes Cornell, Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Northwestern, Edinboro, and Nebraska. Realistically, anyone in the top 8 has a shot at a National title in my eyes this year, but Minnesota comes back with the most known commodities in my eyes. On to the weight classes!

125

Jesse Delgado lost a couple times in the regular season in the last two years, but he seems to put it together in March, having won the last to NCAA championships at 125. Everyone in the top 8 from last season returns for this season, and assuming they are all the same weight class (Cory Clark from Iowa is bumping up to 133, but he’s being replaced at 125 by Thomas Gilman, who should AA easily), I don’t see much changing. Rumor is that Alan Waters from Missouri may be dropping back down to 125, and honestly he may be the toughest for Delgado, or anyone else for that matter, to get through. He is a monster on top, and without the annoying ankle hold/stalling tactic that Delgado has mastered. It should be impressive to see what happens though. Can some of the young guys jump up a notch to become champs this year? If so, my money is on Joey Dance or Earl Hall (and old Junior) to make the leap into National Championship contention. My condolences to Nico for never winning a National Title.

133 AJ Schopp

I’m not exactly blowing the doors off of the hinges with these first two predictions, but with 7 of the top 12 guys in this weight class graduating, it’s a pretty simple decision. There are some young guys going into their Sophomore and Junior seasons, but I just think that Schopp has been around for long enough, has beaten some of the best at this weight already (including last years NCAA champ), and it’s his time to win (also, he has bad ass flannel shoes). Some sleepers are Cory Clark from Iowa, bumping up a weight class from 125. In the end, I believe this will help him out as he appeared to be cutting a TON of weight from last year to get down to 125. Additionally Rossi Bruno from Michigan could have the year many expected him to have coming out as a 5x Florida State Champ… Also I’m a huge homer.

141 Logan Stieber

I’m very confident in this pic, but just throwing this out there, has he gotten much better since his freshman year? It’s strange that I’m nitpicking what should be a 4x NCAA Champ, but I’m not really sure that he has improved much. Maybe he was just a little small for 141 last year. Maybe he just took Retherford lighly going into their match. Maybe he beat Maple at the All Star Classic last year and thought that this year was going to be a cake walk having already wrestled some really accomplished guys (and beaten many of them) on the senior level in Freestyle. Who knows, but I want to see a big year from Logan this year, and I trust that we will. I don’t believe he loses a match and it’s just possible that he actually finishes a match this way with his bar arm series and chicken wings.

I may be a homer for Michigan, but I am not blind, and this is one of my favorite wrestlers in the country to watch. This weight class is stacked though. I heard that Devin Carter from VA Tech may be jumping up to 149 (I don’t blame him, quite frankly, every Senior here with championship aspirations , not named Logan Stieber, should go up or down) but assuming he stays at 141, 10 of the top 12 are returning, and 7 of the top 8 are Seniors (Zain Retherford being the only Sophomore).

149 Hunter Stieber

Ohio State could indeed be in the top 3 (or win it all for that matter) if the Stiebers perform as I expect them to. Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) won the title last year as a Freshman, beating Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State, a 9 loss wrestler with a great NCAA tournament) in the finals in a close match. I expect to see Tsirtsis back in the finals, but Stieber should be fresh at 149 this next year and having come off of a red shirt, could certainly put together an NCAA championship season. Hell, he beat Kellen Russell (Michigan) a couple years ago as a true freshman. Kellen ended up winning his second consecutive NCAA championship that year, so there you go. Sleepers for this weight class could be Drake Houdashelt (Missouri), who entered the NCAA tournament last year as the 1 seed, ultimately losing in the semi’s to Tsirtsis, but he could certainly win it all. Additionally, Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska), who has somehow never become an All American, certainly has a shot.

157 James Green

I specifically chose this picture because it helped me make my pick. Watching Ian Miller (Kent State) wrestle this summer in freestyle helped me get an idea of how spectacular a wrestler he is. I wanted so badly to make Ian Miller my pick. Look what he did to Tyler Caldwell (2x NCAA finalist, lost in the finals to David Taylor and Jordan Burroughs). Check it out at the 1:00 mark if you are impatient.

This guy is a monster, and I trust that he will improve in the off season, as it looks like he already has. However, after Dylan Ness (Minnesota) beat James Green in the quarter finals of the NCAA tournament with his patented garbage roll (not hating, it’s just a garbage roll), Green destroyed everyone else in the tournament, ultimately destroying Ian Miller to take 3rd place. I have been on the James Green fan train for 3 years now, so it’s hard for me to just jump off now. To me, this doesn’t seem to be the same as the Eric Grajales roller coaster that I was in the front row of. James may lose a match or two, but A), this weight class is stacked, especially in the big 10, and B) Historically he tries to coast to wins when he should keep his feet on the gas. I see him winning it all, but Dylan Ness, and Ian Miller have legit chances at winning this as well.

165, Taylor Massa

I’m not trying to make a ballsy pick here and stir things up. If I wanted to do that, I would have picked Ian MIller at 157. 165 is a stacked weight class and has a ton of talent, and national championship contenders. The pre season number 1 is Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State), who won the championship a year ago at 157, and is bumping up to 165. This weight class is losing a lot of top heavy talent in David Taylor (Penn State), Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State), etc… In fact, 8 of the top 12 in last years 165 were Seniors. It is a relatively fresh group of young and talented guys fighting for this spot, and I don’t think that there is any reason that Massa, coming off of a red shirt year, and not having to adjust to a new weight class, can’t win a national title this year. He is going in being ranked 8th by the Associated Wrestling Press (AWP), but I watched him dismantle Pierce Harger (Northwestern), who is currently ranked 4th and took 8th last year. I think he tech’ed him in the 2nd. Either way, that’s my pick, and he may be thought of as a dark horse going in, but my other dark horse pick is Taylor Walsh of Indiana. This dude may lose 8 to 10 matches on the year, but he throws hay makers all day long and if he adjusts well to 165 (he is bumping up from 157), and has a big NCAA tournament, he could do it. I’ve certainly seen stranger things happen in March.

174, Mike Evans

I feel like if I didn’t make this pick, my facial hair would just stop growing and my chest hair would all fall out. I don’t remember the last time that Iowa didn’t have at least 1 National Champ, and I don’t think that this is going to be the year. 174 had the top two guys graduate this year, leaving the top 4, being the 4 young studs, who now happen to be old studs. There are 4 seniors (Evans, Storley of Minnesota, Kokesh of Nebraska, and Brown of Penn State) who placed 3-6 last year at NCAA’s and whose losses were only to the other guys in the top 6, and to nobody below them. Each of them lost and beat one another at any point last year, which is what makes this so much fun. I just like Evans the most and feel like he will be extra crazy in March. Something happens when people realize that this is their last chance, and I trust that Mike Evans will realize that, and it will make him go completely insane. Realistically, I only see one of those top 4 guys winning this championship, but Mike Ottinger of Central Michigan University has an interesting body type and he gave both Howe (Wisconson, er, Oklahoma) and Perry (Oklahoma State) some trouble last year.

184, Gabe Dean

Hey, remember when Gabe Dean beat Ed Ruth(Penn State) last year? That was stupid, but in a good way. Dean had a spectacular Freshman year, beating the unbeatable Ed Ruth, and proving that it wasn’t a fluke by taking 3rd in the country, losing the rematch to Ruth in the semi finals. He comes in as the clear cut favorite to win it all, considering both of the guys that placed above him have graduated, as have much of the competition that he will face this year. Like 165, there was a lot of talent last year that is now gone, but unlike 165, it’s pretty clear who should win this. Dark horse pick is Blake Stauffer from Arizona State. He is young and talented, but didn’t have much to work with in the way of coaching staff (I’m just assuming considering that they were all fired) or wrestling partners last year. He now has a new coaching staff, and they are bringing in some studs in new recruits and a world class coaching staff to wrestle with and learn from.

197, J’Den Cox

My man J’Den. We’re friends on Twitter, but that has nothing to do with me making this pick. Really it’s simple. The dude is a total monster, won it all as a true Freshman (at 197, where full grown men try to kill each other, not 125 where little dudes hit low singles and roll around) in rather convincing fashion. I mean, he won in overtime, but I bet if you wrestled that match 10 times, he wins them all, and that was the closest that it was ever going to get. He is going to get stronger, smarter, and learn how to continue to separate himself from the competition. My “dark horse” is going to be Phil Wellington (Ohio), who didn’t place last year, but had a great year, is entering this year at 8, and looks like he can improve as well. Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) should be a threat, as well as Scott Schiller (Minnesota).

285, Adam Coon

I don’t know what happened to Coon last year at the end of the season. I know what I watched, which was his opponents at Big Tens run away throughout the entire match, without getting called for stalling AT ALL, and he ended up getting frustrated and ended up putting himself in bad position to try to win, but ultimately losing. I wasn’t at NCAA’s, but I feel like the results there have got to be from similar issues. It was truly refreshing watching him wrestling in the world championships where people are forced to wrestle him instead of run and see what he is capable of. He was ranked #1 in the country, and for good reason, being undefeated and beating the defending 2x NCAA champ recently. He ultimately went down in the round of 12, but I’m sticking with him to ultimately finish this year strong and win it all. My dark horse pick is not really a dark horse, but rather Mike McMullen (Northwestern), who I just feel like deserves to show us what he can do when he is healthy, and I think he can do quite a lot.

Well, it’s September 7th, legitimately 2 months away from wrestling season beginning, and I’m ready to roll. I may have to dust off my shoes and get back on the mats this week. November can’t get here fast enough. Here is something to hold you over, many thanks to Flowrestling for what they do.

Flowrestling Top Ten Matches 13-14

So excited...

We are very excited as we are nearing a complete launch of this thing. If you stumbled upon us, thanks for understanding. We hope to support this great sport with new and fun commentary. Please check back!

Tommy B