Opponent Vaccuum

The ISU sport most nervous about a B12 implosion is wrestling.

Suppose ISU finds itself as one of the "forgetten 4": KU, KSU, Baylor and ISU. ISU would now be a wrestling 'independent', which would make it much harder to field a team and operate versus the present situation.

Losing Big 12 opponents would put wrestling on a very, very short glide path to irrelevance.

Peter

Aggressive Scheduling

Longtime readers- both of you- know that I'm a long time fan of aggressive scheduling. I would rather go after someone good a be battle hardened than blow out the lesser and not learn anything, assuming you have the horses to do it.

It appears KJ has the same philosophy in wrestling schedules.

Bravo. I hope the boys wrestle each match like they are there to win, not to get high scores from the Hungarian judge who appreciates their technical merit. There are no style points.

Peter

Influence

I've always thought that a sign of a healthy wrestling program is having a few alumni around who are training for Olympic and World-level tournaments to help influence the effort and teaching of the college kids.

Having a couple of Paulsons in the room is a good thing.

Peter

Brother, Do You Need A Wrestling Writer?

The Des Moines Register has laid off Dan McCool. Idiots.

For most sports writers the wrestling beat would be the equivalent to the sports page dog house. Dan really liked covering wrestling, and now can probably do so full-time as a freelancer.

It's reassuring that doing top-shelf work means little when the "variable costs" need trimming.

Peter

Chuck on KJ

It's nice to read the thoughts of someone who has been around more than 5 minutes.

That sounds like is was quite the scene. I haven't been able to find it online.

Peter

Jackson

The school of coaching hires says you alternate personalities with each new coach, and ISU has with the hiring of Kevin Jackson. KJ is the outgoing rah-rah type that Cael wasn't, and for a team that has the resume to win a NC next year, it may be what is needed to push ISU over the top.

In one of the articles I read there was a small crack into criticisms of the Cael regime. One of KJ's points of emphasis would be to introduce himself to every wrestling program int he state of Iowa. Translation: The impression among state coaches was that Cael favored out-of-state over in-state, and KJ should try to change that.

Gene had open disdain for local talent, assuming there were only one or two DI players per year, so why bother. We saw how that worked out.

Hopefully KJ can build enough relationships to slow the flow of wrestling talent to IC.

Jackson is also taking the right tone with the press. It would have been easy to throw down the gauntlet on day one, but he knows that the Brands boys don't need any firing up. They are overcranked as it is.

Peter

Rivalry

Hlas explores the blooming Sanderson-Brands rivalry.

I fully expect Brands to try to crush Cael's boys just as he did each year against ISU. His team seemed ready to go in December, where Cael and crew started slow and came on as the season progressed.

I hope he does well, and I think he will. In three years he pushed ISU up a couple of notches.

An interesting nugget: 12 2009 All-Americans were PA natives. 2 were IA natives. That's how deep the HS talent is. Lock up the borders and things will get interesting.

Peter

Dollars

I knew Cael was making a fair dollar more than Douglas, but I didn't realize he was the highest paid wrestling coach in the nation.

And he just got a big raise. Wow.

The biggest thing I learned following Cael around in '01 and '02 was that the wrestling community is really small. Everyone knows everyone, and all are connected somehow.

ISU is still viewed as a good job, if not a great one. JP won't have to reach out much- others will reach out to him.

Peter

Gibbons

Sean Keeler had an odd exchange with Jim Gibbons.

Interesting.

Peter

Trends

Why is Penn State upgrading their wrestling program at a time that most schools are spinning theirs down?

Why would PSU make a run at a top 5 coach without thinking they had a chance at getting him?

Why would Cael view a program with no history as a better candidate for a NC than one that has finished in the top 5 the last three years?

Was Cael frustrated that three Big 5 titles earned a collective shrug?

Was the weight of being The Next Gable too heavy a crown to wear?

Would wouldn't turn down a 50% pay raise?

How many more changes before JP fixes his HR issues?

JP's got some 'splainin to do. If Rhodes can't turn the corner.....

Peter

The Meet

I hope our Cyclones can leave Iowa City with a win tonight, but I'm never optimistic when wrestling the Goblas.

Cael and crew have shown they can take on anyone and give them everything they want, often winning in tough buildings. But they still show signs of an annoying habit that always bugged me when Douglas was coaching- if the ISU wrestler was better than his opponent, he was aggressive and went for extra points. If he was even or an underdog, he was guarded, tentative, defensive. While the underdog was sometimes able to avoid giving up a pin or major, he never, ever got the upset win. It was great in theory, but often bit the team in practice. The Goblas seem to be the last team the Cyclones wrestle scared against, especially in Iowa City.

With some big underdogs in the Cyclone lineup tonight, I assume we'll see some defensive wrestling.

Peterclone