Intermat Wrestling Podcast Week 2 Recap + Gable Steveson Returns to College Wrestling - IWP 11-13-24

Week 2 gave us a lot of action and a ton of upset. We take a look at the performances that stuck out to us along with the return of Gable Steveson to college wrestling.
 
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaSP4RZBeFo

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So here we are back again. It's the four gentlemen.
Good to have Kevin back after the what was it
the flu? Try to take him out, but he's back
on his feet. Austin tough through it last week, Red
Eyes and Coffin.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
And all.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
Exactly.

Speaker 4 (00:15):
Yeah, we're we're built sick in the Lehah Valley. That's
just how it works. But we're all back.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
And today we got some news and let's jump right
into the Gable Steveston news. He's coming back. And last
year I had talked to Egham and obviously with McKee
coming back and Block is coming back, that was the
plan was for Gable to be the third piece of
that puzzle, and he didn't try away from it in
the preseason interview that him and I did. But maybe

(00:46):
five ten minutes before the news went live, me and
Earl got a text from from Eggham that said check
the Minnesota page at three o'clock. And I immediately thought, oh, Shay,
Gable's coming back, right, like what else?

Speaker 4 (01:00):
What else would it possibly be?

Speaker 5 (01:03):
Rocks had one more year, yeah, right, like something something
had to be happening, and I immediately thought it was Gable,
especially with you know his circumstance that he's you know,
basically training with John Jones.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
He's not playing football, he's not in WWE. I think
his wrestling safety net is happily here to catch.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
Him, right.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
But I'm gonna go first, and you know, I'm happy
about it. I think it's great that he's coming back.
I know that the NCAAA fans will be ready to
boo him the same way that they bowed Dayton Fixed
for being the.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
Old guy in the group.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
I honestly highly doubt that that ever happens, unless well,
I mean, actually, maybe I should take that back because
NCAA's is in Pennsylvania this year, and we saw what
they did to Jordan Burrows, the penn State fans at least,
so I'm not gonna hold out, not gonna hold my
breath on that one. Maybe it does happen, but no,
I I was pretty excited for it. Good to see
him back, I think I would. I was hoping that.

(02:05):
I'm hoping that he makes the jump to freestyle as well,
because that would be awesome to see him do. But
it is very surprising that after a couple of years
of being gone, we get both Gable Siefson and aj
Ferrari back in lineups, Gable putting on the Minnesota singlet again,
aj Ferrari in a completely different part of the country. Well,

(02:30):
what do you guys make of it? Like I said,
I'm happy about it. I think it's awesome. I think
it brings more eyes to the sport. I think that
it helps him rebuild maybe something that he may have
lost with kind of going dark. I guess with being
in an NFL camp where there's not a lot of
eyes on him anymore. I feel like there were eyes
on him just to see how he did and how

(02:51):
he transitioned, but not a lot of hype pertaining to
how he would do. I feel like the bar was
pretty low in that regard. But I think coming back
to wrestling, he's back in the spotlight. He's back to
getting covered every single week. And if he does end
up going MMA route, which he was just training with
John Jones, if he does end up going to freestyle route,

(03:13):
this certainly helps.

Speaker 4 (03:14):
And I think it's awesome.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
So I'm I'm team Gable coming back to wrestling and
giving more people either something to cheer about because they
think he's awesome or taboo about because they think he's
the old guy in the group.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
What do you guys make of it?

Speaker 6 (03:32):
I mean, I'm happy he's back because it's fun to
watch Gable. I hope he does stick it out and
transition back into freestyle long term after this, and you know,
I mean maybe this could kind of just be you know,
I don't want to say he's using the college wrestling
season to get into shape for you know, the future
in freestyle wrestling potentially, but I mean that's kind of
what it would be, right and so, and I'm fine

(03:54):
with that. You know, it is weird. The eligibility piece
of all of it has changed over the years. Is
I'm kind of done being the old guy who's all
all but hurt about it, like it is what it is.
And I think that, you know, if being the old guy,
we should kind of recognize, like you don't get to
do this forever and eventually, like you run out of
chances to put the single it on, put the shoes on.

(04:16):
Although I do maintain that when you take your shoes
off and retire in the way that he did, like
that should be it.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
There should be laws that stop.

Speaker 6 (04:22):
You from coming back then all right, Yeah, no, there's
not the white ones at least.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
I mean, if Mike Tyson can come back after it's
twenty years, I think after a couple.

Speaker 7 (04:34):
Who's going to tell Mike Tyson no to anything?

Speaker 3 (04:37):
Yeah, right, Jake Paul.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Just kidding.

Speaker 4 (04:42):
Mike's actually a really nice guy in person.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
I'm sure.

Speaker 7 (04:45):
I'm sure.

Speaker 6 (04:46):
Yeah, but no, I mean, I'm yeah, there you go.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
I I am excited for Gable to be back. I'm
excited to see him compete.

Speaker 6 (04:57):
I was just looking at the heavyweight field here and
I mean it's it's deep in a lot of athletic
talent across the board, right, I mean, you know, uh Trumbull,
I know, Robbie, you've been a big fan of and
you know he was talking him up. He's dangerous. Nick
Feldman I maintained that, you know, I said he I
thought he was gonna win the national title this year

(05:17):
at heavyweight before Gable came back. But I mean, he's
got the size, athleticism, those sorts of things, and just
in general, it's going to be interesting to see if
Gable is still Gable right where things might have fallen
off over the last couple of years, where it's going
to be different the the you know, competition that's that's
just gotten sharper and better and more eager to beat
this guy, right, so.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
We'll see what that looks like.

Speaker 6 (05:40):
One last piece I want to comment on though, and
I know in the one of the posts I think
I saw on Instagram from Minnesota Wrestling today before this
news drop showed like literally they've got a guy ranked
at every single weight class before it's changed on internet
right now or before the Gable news came out, there
were the eighth Rands dual team tied for eleventh with

(06:04):
Michigan for the tournament team Like, clearly this impacts their
chances at getting a team title or not team title
excuse me, team trophy, you know, and just being a
better showing for them. So I'm more I'm most more
happy for this program than Gabled necessarily, right, Like, this
is going to be huge for a program that has

(06:25):
you know, was pretty awesome when they were awesome, you know,
back in the j Rob days. And I think, you know,
just as somebody who watched those teams kind of smoke
the rest of the big ten in the country for
that matter, for years and years.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
I'm excited to see him come back and be a
dangerous team again. So it's gonna be fun.

Speaker 7 (06:44):
I think that's the one thing that I that I
do like about the situation is that he's he's coming
back to Minnesota, I think. I mean, I'm not a
huge fan of it anyway, and I'll get to that
in just a second, but I think if he were
to be another one that was poached by I you know,
one of the teams with deep pockets, we all know
who they are, which was.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
A possibility at one point. There were there were the
Iowa rumors that before when he was supposed to be
coming back.

Speaker 7 (07:10):
Yeah, And I think that would have a completely different
feeling and it would have a much more of a
villain kind of aspect, more like a Maco feel to
it than anything else. But I think what bothers me,
and you know, I'll be the grumpy old man, is that,
like the retroactive use of red shirts, just it doesn't

(07:32):
sit right with me. For someone to be completely out
of school, disengaged from the entire process, not in college,
not doing anything with the team, with the program, and
still being able to utilize red shirt years and have eligability,
It just doesn't It doesn't sit right with me, And
it felt the same way with Ferrari, Like if he's
not enrolled in school, how is that clock, you know,

(07:53):
not working. We used to have a really firm expectation
that as soon as you signed, as soon as you started,
you had those five years and that was it, you know,
barring an injury and then having to go through the
whole process of getting you know, an extra year granted.
But now it's you know, with the COVID year, with
the red shirt year, with the Olympic red shirt year,
We're we're seeing guys there for seven eight years, and

(08:15):
it's I think I'm just annoyed with the overall process
of having people there for so long, Like I think
it takes away from some of those young guys getting
an opportunity, and I think that's kind of where my
issue with it lies. Like I've no eyable towards Gable.
I think he's great. I think it's going to be
good for eyeballs to be on the sport. I think,
you know, makes a good weight class even better. I

(08:37):
think it's good for him to have something that he's
good at and he's back at. I think the WW
was kind of you know, a big failure for him
in regards to you know, him being so successful with
everything up to that point, and he wasn't successful with that,
wasn't successful with the NFL, which was a huge jump anyway.
But you know he's kind of back where he's he's
been super successful. So that's great. I just don't like

(09:00):
the process.

Speaker 6 (09:01):
Well, that one thing I wanted to throw in there too,
that is that is super weird and different. I mean,
back in the day, if you left and got paid somewhere.

Speaker 7 (09:10):
Else, you were done.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
You were done, like it was, you can't come back.

Speaker 6 (09:13):
Now you're no longer an amateur athlete, regardless of the circumstances.
Now you can just go kind of do whatever, get paid,
and hey, more power to them.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Again, the rules have changed. It is different. I understand that.

Speaker 7 (09:27):
But even that's different from the NLI staff.

Speaker 1 (09:30):
But I mean, the thing is, though, is we've seen
we've seen guys do that though we've we've seen it
happen in baseball, but they they never.

Speaker 4 (09:41):
Went to college.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
And obviously, me as a Florida State fan, I know
I remember Chris Winki who did it right, who played
baseball and then was like a twenty some year old freshman, right, So,
like I remember guys that went on and played pro
sports but then went back to college, And there's been
a couple of guys that have done.

Speaker 7 (09:59):
That in other stace clock started.

Speaker 4 (10:02):
Yeah, so that's that's.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
I think what is very different about this entire situation.
So but yeah, like with with with nil, it certainly
does change what these things look like now where they're
being paid anyway. And I remember when Kyle Snyder on
Worlds in what was at twenty fifteen, and they were

(10:25):
wondering and yeah, and they were wondering what was going
to happen, And when he won the Olympics, they're like,
or when he won Worlds, they were like, Okay, what's
going to happen with that money? And I think at
that point it had to go into like an escro
account and he couldn't touch it or whatever else. And
the same thing happened with the Olympics, but they figured

(10:46):
out a way that he could accept. It was really
the way they had to go about it. Now, none
of this stuff changes. The contracts are the same. I mean,
he has sponsorship. I'm sure you know, Nike made sure
that they were part of it. I mean the shoes
that he wore the last time he was on the
mat were prominently featured. I mean, it's the thumbnail of

(11:08):
the video that they put out today. So all these
things happen.

Speaker 7 (11:13):
Did they go from the middle of the mat to
being on that tree?

Speaker 4 (11:15):
Though, I don't know. I wonder.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
I'm guessing, Well, his brother Bobby had the shoes, so
I'm guessing he you know, it was one of those
kind of like the wire where they throw the you know,
you throw the shoes up on the up on the line.

Speaker 4 (11:31):
Maybe missed and they ended up in that tree.

Speaker 7 (11:34):
But no, I think it wasn't as good of an
athlete asable.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
So that maybe it just doesn't have as good of
an arm maybe. But that's the thing is, like you know,
with NL, NL I or NIL, it does really change
the landscape of what these guys can do and where
they can go. And I think that's why I don't
I'm not so upset about it, because give any of
us an opportunity to do something really cool. Right Like,

(11:59):
if if I had a year of eligibility now, I
think I'd be like maybe A'll think about it, right,
Like that's the thing for I don't I don't think
it's that bad.

Speaker 4 (12:10):
I really don't.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
And I didn't think it was bad for Dayton fix
and I don't think it's bad for brock Hardy, who
is I believe, like a sophomore eligibility or something like
that at this point.

Speaker 7 (12:20):
And more bald than me.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
And and and that's the thing is like honestly, like yes,
he did have like a Mormon mission and everything else,
so he took two years away, but like he was
part of that same class coming out I think with
with maybe Dayton and those guys.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
So he's been around for a very long time. So like.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
That's the thing for me, is like they're allowed to
be paid, so that doesn't change anything. And then there
are there are other guys who we've seen in other sports.
I mean, I think Miami has a football player who's
been in college for nine years and it's mostly due.

Speaker 4 (12:53):
To what is it, medical red shirts? He got injured
like three.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
Times, so like it's not he I don't even know
if he has his BA at this point, but like
it is the U. So I mean that's the thing
is I think it's I think it's awesome for him
to be able to come back and have the opportunity
and do these things. I do hope it transitions over
to freestyle Austin. Any any of your thoughts on this

(13:20):
entire situation.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, I mean I might get hate for saying this.
I'm just kind of throwing it out there. Is he
coming back strictly for the money? You know, I'm sure
he's getting a nice nil package. He left call wrestling,
didn't work out with the wwe didn't work out with football,
So maybe he's thinking, you know, what other options do
I have? You know, I want to make some money.

(13:42):
This is my only way to do it. You know.
Part of me thinks if he really liked wrestling, he
may have stuck with that, if he had a future there. Again,
not putting him down for chasing the money, but you know,
I mean some people might think he's just coming back
for the money, for the paycheck, and you know his heart.
Is his heart really in it? I would think so,
you know, but I think there's a question there. He

(14:02):
left the sport. Looking at his wrestle stat here, he
started in twenty nineteen, left in twenty twenty two. You know,
so twenty three, twenty four, two years out from the sport.
Now he's coming back. Is it because he's out of options?
You know, I don't. I don't know, but I don't
personally think that. I think that's just you know, that's
the question that I think people are probably gonna ask.
But overall, I think it's it's good for the sport.

(14:24):
Olympic champ coming back to wrestle. A lot of eyes
on him. He's he's very marketable and a super freak athlete.
Like we all know that, right, So it's gonna put
a lot of eyes on the sport. It's good and
glad he's coming back to Minnesota. Like you guys said,
you know, I think people are going to be asking
it is his heart really in it? Is it just
a payday? I mean, doesn't matter to some people, But
you know, I think it's a question to ask.

Speaker 4 (14:46):
It doesn't matter to me.

Speaker 6 (14:48):
It reminds me of like that friend who like breaks
up with his girlfriend and he's like, I'm gonna go
see what else is out there. There's nothing else out there,
And he's like, I.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
Wonder what she's doing, you know, I wonder if she's
thinking about me too?

Speaker 3 (15:04):
Wait are you texting Minnesota again?

Speaker 2 (15:08):
Am I still blocked?

Speaker 4 (15:11):
I don't. I don't think that.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Like I said, those conversations happened last year where he
wanted to come back, and you know, I think it
was Christian Olanowski that was responding to Giant and Julius
on Twitter where he said, you know, it's not the
fact that he's coming back, it's the fact that he
had an opportunity to go to Worlds, you know, going
to Final X, winning the spot, and he doesn't go
and then has the opportunity to come back last year

(15:36):
and it doesn't happen.

Speaker 4 (15:38):
This is the Olympics.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
But I also feel like none of those decisions were
made by Gable. They were made for Gable in the
sense of WWE was like, yeah, we're putting a lot
of money into you. You need to be over here
doing this. And you know, I'm basing that off of

(15:59):
trying to get pig Ub Casper on for an interview
and easy, it's not or even even when I tried
to get Bobby Seuson on for an interview when he
was in the WWE, Like it is not easy to
get these guys just to do interviews, to talk about
their careers, talk about wrestling, talk about their transition, like
not even gotcha type pieces. It's more promotional than it

(16:21):
is anything with these interviews or just trying to get
a peek behind the curtain of how great it is, honestly,
not the grind of all of it. You know, Casper
just posted the other day like seventeen days, ten flights,
all this other like, let's hear about that, Let's hear
about the lifestyle. Let's hear about you know, the opportunities
that are out there or the guys that potentially don't

(16:44):
go that freestyle World Champion Olympic route.

Speaker 4 (16:47):
Right.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
So, but that's why I feel like those decisions that
disappointed fans when he didn't wrestle at Worlds after winning
the spot, those were made. Those were decisions that were
made for him, and if he had the chance, I
think he wrestles for an Olympic spot.

Speaker 7 (17:06):
You know.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
I feel like he isn't sticking around WWE knowing he's
gonna get cut before the Olympic Games saying no, I'm
just gonna chill and lay low or anything else. I
think he comes back and tries to make another Olympic team.
If that's the case. So I think we're all in
agreement that it is good for the sport. We might

(17:27):
not like some of the tedious details and then maybe
the logistics of it, but that's the situation that we're
in where guys can do that. Now you know, they
can be paid, they can take a hiatus, no matter
what the reasoning being, whether it is something like Gable
exploring all the incredible options that he had, or it's
something like Ferrari where you just can't.

Speaker 4 (17:48):
Right, So like.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
Ultimately having these guys back in in wrestling, hopefully we
can just focus on the wrestling. And I'm speaking mostly
about Ferrari, who's, you know, been in and out of
the news for terrible reasons, and not Gable, who's been
in and out of the news for pretty good ones
of being able to explore options of his dream. Right,
I don't think football is ever his dream, but hell,

(18:12):
you get a chance collect that check, throw that helmet on, right,
you get a chance to work with Aaron Donald and
and all these other guys, like you know, you've seen
him working out with him. You know, Von Miller is
his teammate at that point, So I don't fault him
for it. You know, I think it's I think it's
pretty awesome. I can't wait to see him back on
the MAD And they also said that he's available this semester,

(18:34):
so it's not even something he has to wait for.

Speaker 7 (18:36):
That was the other thing that was confusing to me.
And I'm I'm assuming it's just because this has been
such a long process with them trying to get the
years worked out and all the eligibility stuff, so he
is most likely enrolled in classes this semester, But it
just kind of struck me as odd that, you know,
I just assumed that it was going to be a
second semester thing, so it was kind of surprising to

(18:57):
me to hear, Oh, yeah, he is. You know, he
is going to be able to le next week for
in two weeks.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
So yeah, November twenty fourth is what they're saying against Campbell, So.

Speaker 4 (19:07):
God'll have a nice little test. You know.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
It'll be cool to see Gable back, and it'll be
cool to see Gable back against the guy who I
feel like, you know, obviously Kyle Snyder and Mike McMullen
were kind of the catalyst for this agile heavyweight, but
Gable was really the guy that really like pushed things in,
you know, like you know, you have Kazar that was

(19:32):
there as well, but now there's Kirk Fleet, you know,
and there's all these different guys, and Goadali's one of them,
and he's one of these guys that is certainly on
the come up. And Goadali also is wrestling at the Classic,
I believe too. I think he's he's taken Postida's Mostida's spot, so.

Speaker 4 (19:52):
It'll be a good match.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
I'm looking forward to it and I think it's going
to be great everything, you know, I don't think you know,
there's been probably what one time that Gable's done something
where it was a black eye for the sport, and
that was done in less than a week. So I
think it'll be great to have eyes back on it.
Maybe it gets the attention of Ariel Hawane who wants
to talk about it, or Joe Rogan who wants to

(20:14):
talk about it, and it brings these you know, a
even bigger kind of global look of what their fan
bases have into the sport.

Speaker 4 (20:24):
And with the Able thoughts, well.

Speaker 7 (20:27):
Just one bigger thought and while I'm going to be
an acc homer here moving the WWE route, and we
can hit on this claunch because I know you were
there last night, right, Yes it was. Let's talk about
the prominence of Duke heavyweights and WWE. Right now, We've
got three of them doing a great job. We've got
Jacob Casper, the Freed Brothers, we got Jonannissenbaum uh and

(20:51):
Braden Ray is also in a WWE NXT. So Lanham
and Tom Erison are getting ready for something. I guess
maybe that's that's something to be said for that.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
You're saying Gable should transfer to Duke if he wants
to outlive his WWE dream.

Speaker 7 (21:06):
I think maybe that was the window he missed.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
I think so.

Speaker 4 (21:09):
Yeah, Yeah, the logic tracks make Could you imagine?

Speaker 1 (21:14):
Could you imagine if Zion and Gable were on the
same campus at the same time, it would the school
would probably shift to one side with those giant humans
walking around campus.

Speaker 4 (21:28):
But no, let's stick it. Let's stick in the acc
real quick.

Speaker 6 (21:32):
Are we sure Kale doesn't have another year of eligibility?

Speaker 1 (21:36):
Unfortunately, COVID didn't hit until thirty years after he done.

Speaker 7 (21:40):
Right, he's Mormon though, right, he could do a mission.

Speaker 3 (21:43):
Maybe it's been a long one.

Speaker 7 (21:45):
There's long. It's a super long, very long mission has
been to improve wrestling as a whole and he's done
a fantastic job. Yeah, that'd be pretty pretty wild to see.
I think i'd still take Kale over most people.

Speaker 4 (22:00):
Kill over Gable.

Speaker 7 (22:01):
Who are you taking the Kale and his giant chin.

Speaker 4 (22:07):
Yeah that that.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
It's not mostly it's not really a head hands defense
for Kale. He's he's you're like this, you're a giant man,
like you're a very big dude.

Speaker 4 (22:16):
Like that head block is serious.

Speaker 7 (22:18):
Yeah, it's like a giant cinder block. You've got to
fight here, and it's just not.

Speaker 4 (22:25):
But let's let's stick in the A C C.

Speaker 1 (22:30):
Not a not a good week for NC State, and
we we had some tweets back and forth. You were
you were puffing the chest out on day one and
you were hoping to get a little bit more bullets.

Speaker 4 (22:43):
But it looks like you're shooting some blanks today.

Speaker 7 (22:47):
Just one, just one, just one. It was a very blank.
But you know, that's That's kind of where I'm i
with him. Is I think Trumbull has a huge upside
that heavy wait, you know, to one win over Godali
and uh interesting match, kind of a boring match with
a really really cool scramble at the end, But to

(23:10):
be at a new way to knock off an All
American in your first week of competition, I think is
a good start to me.

Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah, the reason but yeah, the reason I responded, And
obviously it's always fun to respond to each other. But
the reason I said, I was just like, man, I
didn't think it was a look at I'm making points
and he just walks away.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
Can handle it?

Speaker 3 (23:36):
Good point, Ryan, I got something to do.

Speaker 4 (23:38):
I forgot.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
Yeah, ship right now.

Speaker 4 (23:42):
Exactly how that works.

Speaker 7 (23:44):
Let's I had to let the cat in. It was
making noise.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
Yeah there, yeah, there there was a cat, all right,
So I'm just walk up, get up, and walk away.
The reason I said like it was a locked hands call,
and and that's why I was like, I don't know
if it's one of those moments that you're touting as

(24:09):
you know, he's like a like an I'm here moment, right,
Like I would have loved to see more offense, right,
I think if you wrestle that match again, there's way
more offense in it. So that's why it wasn't a
knock on trumble. I just think that the moment wasn't
right just yet. No, I think that I certainly think
he's a force and he's going to be great come

(24:30):
the end of I.

Speaker 7 (24:31):
Think what we saw in the last thirty seconds of
that match is what I would expect, you know, for
the entirety of most matches. He is a pretty offensive wrestler,
So it was a goodali. Generally, I think it was
kind of a feel out match and it's just one
of those matches that was a little boring. But that
last thirty seconds was back and forth. They're both really
close to takedowns. Trumble's really close to backpoints on a takedown,

(24:54):
just didn't fight through it all the way. So it's
that was more of kind of what I was expecting
out of that match. But you know, I think you know,
he wrestled at two eighty five last year, won Midlands,
won a world title for you twenty threes. It was
in final X, So he's he's he's there, and I
think a statement needs to be made that he's going

(25:15):
to be in contention for it. I think starting off
with that win overall American is a good way to
start that. That boat list, we're just going to ignore
the pin against Schultz and go from there.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
I mean, Schultz took a loss too, he took a
loss to Luffman and that was I mean again, it's
kind of the same scenario.

Speaker 4 (25:34):
Yeah, it was. It was a stalling call, which he
wasn't not stalling.

Speaker 7 (25:41):
Yeah, And that's the thing is, but it's heavyweight.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
A lot of these guys they don't do much right,
I don't know, I mean do, but.

Speaker 4 (25:49):
We have a we have a handful of guys that
do right. Wee we do.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
We've got Keeter Kirkly, I mean Gable is now back right,
so like there's a Goodali Trumble. We've got these guys
who move their feet more now. And Colton Schultz is
the last of that breed of guys that doesn't have
a dynamic offense. And I say that with all the

(26:15):
love in the world for him, but it's a greco
match for him all the time, because that's what he's
preparing for at all times.

Speaker 4 (26:23):
You know.

Speaker 1 (26:23):
It's similar to Gable getting ready for freestyle and using
folk style as a way of getting ready for that.
So the stal warning. While I see why it probably happened, Okay,
I don't really hold much, you know, stake in that.
I just feel like it was a match between two

(26:44):
immovable objects and that's what you get. But Colton Schultz
is still a very very good opponent for anyone. But
like I would like to see him hit a knee
against the guy that's not one of his training partner,
because that's the only time we've seen him hit a
knee was in there wrestle off against one of his

(27:05):
own training partners. Was when he took a shot like
two weeks ago. So let's, you know, let's get the
offense going and and you know, maybe a snatch single,
let's grab a leg. We know you know leg grab
or you are not, but you know, let's let's do
a little bit a little bit more.

Speaker 2 (27:24):
Were you sure that knee touch was intentional? Like maybe
did he trip and like catch himself.

Speaker 4 (27:27):
And like you no, it was it was definitely. I
watched that. I watched it a couple of times.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
There was a step, there was a penetration, there was
a knee pound, like it was just you know, the
knee hit the mat. It was a it was a
legit leg attack. And it's like, if you've got that
in your back pocket at all times, then I don't
want to see you sticking your leg out. Tempted guys
to shoot anymore, right, like give us, give us something here.
But sticking with with anti state and upsets and we're

(27:56):
we're gonna bring Luke Standis back into the mix. Kevin
missed the Stanage Lemley conversation. He was conveniently sick, just
like there was a cat that needed to be let
in when I was making points. But Austin Luke Stanich,
as you said, is going to be deferring eligibility, I
think is what it is for for those guys in

(28:16):
the wa Yeah, but he takes out Kyerni for one.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
What what do you guys make of this match? Austin?

Speaker 1 (28:26):
You were there, I believe, right, yeah, So what what
was the You know, I watched it, but you were in,
you were there. What was your takeaway from that upset win?

Speaker 2 (28:37):
I mean it was one takedown match four to one
score at the end. Great great scramble, great reattack for Stanich.
I just think he's he's still growing into that weight
class coming up for one twenty five, and even though
he looks really really big for it.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
He does. He looks huge.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
Yeah, he's he's a big guy. That that cut to
twenty five last year was pretty nightmarish from what I've
heard sounds like it. Yeah, and you know, getting up
to it.

Speaker 3 (29:02):
I also don't want to make now no, that's just
like people great.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
So they were good, Yeah, I mean, but yeah, it's
like he's at the point now where he believes he
can be there and beat these guys. And you know,
he beat two All Americans this weekend alone. You know,
he got got kind of beat up by Mendez last week.
But you know who doesn't Mendes is really freaking good.
You know, I think Stanich, I think the plan for

(29:29):
him is this still red shirt unless Amalie Hines and
Carter Bailey get hurt, which heines is a little binged
up now, but he'll be back in a few weeks.
But yeah, Stanish growing into forty one eventually, maybe even
forty nine for how big. If he gets even bigger,
he'll be a force. He's really really good and Lee
High loves him, and you know he's he's just getting

(29:50):
better every week.

Speaker 1 (29:51):
I feel like, yeah, I was gonna say, with the
with the the tear that he's on beating guys that
he's literally never even seen before because they were two
weight class away from him, is there a world where
They're like, man, maybe he gives us a better chance
at some things and they put him in the lineup,
or is it still these are the guys that are
going this year. Stand at your you're you know, he

(30:13):
just keep racking up these wins to prepare for next year.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
I mean, in all honesty, between him and Max Brignola,
who's that up at sixty five now red shirting, he
looked pretty good. I think he could be a you know,
a top twenty guy if he hits his capability. If
those two guys come out of red shirt Lehi's looking
at a potential trophy team, you know, between Crookham those two,
Beard is in that mix, and Nate Taylor, you know,

(30:39):
he's a top eight guy as well at heavyweight. You know,
so that's five potential All Americans.

Speaker 7 (30:43):
There was his injury this weekend.

Speaker 2 (30:48):
I heard it was just a potentially MCL or LCL,
whichever one is the minor of them, if there is one. Yeah,
and I don't they don't think it was a tear.
I think it was just a sprain. But that was
just the initial you know, diagnosis, you know, minutes after it.
I gotta follow up and see what that is but yeah,
I don't think it's anything serious. He should be back
in the next week or two. I know they do

(31:11):
wrestle Penn State in the beginning of December. I'm not
sure if that's a target he wants to hit, depending
on you know, I don't think that should be his
first match back, especially if Kirk Fleet's in the lineup,
you know. So that's kind of still TBD at the moment.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
Robbie, what do you make of the uh kind of
I don't want to say bad showing, but not the
best showing or NC State. I mean Ed Scott taking
two losses. He loses to Harrington from Harvard, he loses
the jew Swisher from Penn. The league guys can't be
the smart guys.

Speaker 4 (31:45):
Yeah, that kind of a year last year to where he.

Speaker 7 (31:50):
Had some long he loses weird matches.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
That's the most consistent thing.

Speaker 7 (31:55):
Yeah, you know, I don't know it was. It's kind
of an up and down weekend for then even Camacho
twenty five three?

Speaker 4 (32:04):
Yeah, yeah, what do they do with?

Speaker 1 (32:05):
What do they hate to jump away from Ed Scott
right now? But what do they do with twenty five?

Speaker 7 (32:09):
They have kind of a Bill Robinson had a hell
of a weekend.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
Yeah, really good, really good, really fast, really big for
that weight class, really strong, Yeah, maintained weight. He's dangerous man.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
Camacho had a similar what little skid last year at
the beginning.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Of the year.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
Where was it in Nashville when I was there? He
went oh and three there and was not.

Speaker 4 (32:31):
Doing very well.

Speaker 1 (32:33):
I mean, he took a little bit of a hiatus
after that and then came back and was better. But like,
is this him maybe just knocking the rust off or
do they have a serious dilemma one twenty five with
these two guys?

Speaker 7 (32:44):
Now, well, I think and we can kind of hit
on a few different weight classes with that, where there's
where there's some really interesting options and some really interesting
battles that that we could have this year. That's certainly
one of them. And Camacho's on what his fifth year,
sixth year, seventh year two three four five, so he's
in a seventh year at NCTY State. You know, is

(33:04):
it age catching up with him twenty five? You know,
in one twenty five at what twenty three while undefeated? Yeah,
that's uh, he's also been there since twenty nineteen, so
maybe that's that's what we're seeing maybe it's harder to
make the cut and it's it's harder for him to hold,
which also opens up the option of moving up to
thirty three since Irene moved up to forty one. So

(33:25):
I mean there's a there's a lot of options to
play with there, so it's going to be interesting to
see how they handle it. But I mean, Vince Drabinson
had a hell of a weekend and looked fantastic, and
then at least you hit on Scott. He was not
a great weekend. But then you had Jackson Harrington who
beat the same guys and looks good. He had Owen

(33:47):
Truffin looking fantastic at heavyweight. He's undefeated this year. So
I mean, there's there's there's some interesting things that they're
going to have to consider and figure out what's going
to be best. And I think that you're going to
see him utilize those five dates, especially for the younger guys,
and see, you know what's going to work best.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
Yeah, I just think it for being so early in
the season too. Just when I was there watching when
Swisher beat as Scott, you know, Pennon was kind of
celebrating a little bit. You know, it's a big win
for a young guy, and you know they were, you know,
really celebrating the win. And I saw coach Jack from
Ency State come off just talking to Ed Scott like, Hey,

(34:26):
don't worry, that won't happen in March, you know. So
again that's the attitude marches. You know, March Marches all
that matters, you know. So I think it is you know,
you kind of want to beat these guys in November,
but you know, if you take a loss or November,
people are going to forget about it come March, right,
So yeah, I think that's that kind of their mindset
as well.

Speaker 7 (34:47):
Yeah, and both of his losses were closed. I mean,
he had that weird scramble with Harrington, and the Swisher
loss was a two point loss. It's not like you
got blown up by anybody. Just yeah, you know, he
has uncharacteristic losses. It is what it is.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
I thought that could have been a takedown for Scott
against Harrington and over time too, I agree that it
was a fifty to fifty call. It was thereath held
that one.

Speaker 7 (35:10):
Yeah, reaction time was was not friendly.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
There is Ed related to Michael.

Speaker 7 (35:18):
Cousins.

Speaker 3 (35:19):
Ah, there we go. No, he'll be fine.

Speaker 6 (35:23):
I mean as much as over the years I've been
you know, pretty vocal in my disbelief of Ed Scott,
like being as good as the rankings said. But like
he got done last year, he's got all the tools
to beat most of the people at one fifty seven,
you know, so he could place as high as third
or fourth, or he could not make the popium.

Speaker 3 (35:43):
Really, you know, just which guy shows up then, right,
So he's.

Speaker 7 (35:48):
Been an All American and fell in the blood round twice,
so I mean he's certainly, he's certainly right there.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
One thing I will say about NC State though, and
it's something that we've seen over the last couple of
years with them collectively, is just how they develop guys, right,
because I mean, obviously the Hidleys were known for under hooks,
but then you started to see them develop an offense,
you know, develop leg attacks that didn't even include their underhook.

(36:17):
Obviously Trent is heavier on it, but he's really good
at using it.

Speaker 4 (36:21):
It's really hard to stop.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
So if you you know, if you if you can't
stop our best play, we're going to run it over and.

Speaker 4 (36:27):
Over and over again.

Speaker 1 (36:28):
The same can be said for Ed Scott, where when
he came in, it was watch that headlock. Watch that headlock, right,
And I mean, hell, I can remember watching him in
the PA State finals depind of guy, I think maybe
his junior year with a headlock, right.

Speaker 4 (36:42):
So, like we all knew what was coming to and
it was coming stop he.

Speaker 1 (36:46):
Threw it anyway, But like something that that I just
always and and I'm not saying that other you know,
teams don't do this. It's just something that's you know,
since we're on NTI State, that is just like stuck
in my mind is how they developed the the offense
for their guys of taking that move away from them
in the wrestling room and forcing them to have more

(37:08):
moves and put together chain wrestling and you know, not
have that go to. So I think it's another one
of those teachable moments for Ed Scott to you know,
get a little bit more dynamic in his offense, get
a little bit more buried in his attacks. Not saying
that he's relying on the headlock anymore. It's you know,
it's it's one of those ace and the whole kind
of things in your back pocket. But you know, I

(37:30):
think it's more of a hat tip to the coaching
staff and to everything that that Pat Pop has done
with developing these guys and continuing to give them an
even bigger arsenal from all the all the things that
they come in with and saying, Okay, you're really good
at that. We're gonna make that better, but then we're
going to add to it. So Ed Scott, I feel
like it is one of those guys, along with the

(37:52):
high Leys, who are known for, you know, an underhook
and then known for a headlock. But on the other
side of the ac see, we've got Stanford who took
a trip to Iowa and you know, no coincidence at all,
lying completely that I'm wearing.

Speaker 4 (38:09):
The Stanford sweater on purpose.

Speaker 1 (38:12):
They take out Iowa State and look pretty damn good doing.
I mean, it was a split five to five and
they even forfeit at one five and.

Speaker 4 (38:24):
Still got the win.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
Right.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
So, like, speaking of development, that's a hell of a
development for Stanford, Right, Robbie, what do you what do
you make of their one in one trip to Iowa?

Speaker 7 (38:39):
Full disclosure, I have not watched the entire Iowa duel.
I've only seen parts of it. Yeah, I'm dealing with
my children being crazy people but the Iowa State duel,
they look fantastic and they they meet, they took advantage
of every opportunity to get bonus points. They were super aggressive,
and they seemed like they were on a mission from

(39:00):
from the opening whistle and went out there and took
it to them and you saw kind of the the
ascent of some of these really big recruits they've got.
Tyler Knox looked fantastic all weekend, Briger Chilauckean looked fantastic
against Iowa State, did not as much against Teamur but

(39:20):
you know that they they have an abundance of talent
and with the coaching staff that they have there now
and the people they have in the room, they're just
going to continue to get better. So it was nice
to see them start that weekend on such a good
note because all their all their trips are going to
be like that where because they're coming from the West Coast,
they're going to double up on a lot of things,
so they're going to have harder weekends than a lot

(39:42):
of teams do. They're gonna have double cool weekends more
often than most teams do. So seeing how that goes
for them is going to be really interesting, but I
think this was a hell of way to start it
for them.

Speaker 1 (39:53):
Yeah, Knox had an amazing weekend meeting, and you know
that's you know, I another guy going from twenty five
up a weight. But man, like I said, like, and
I think we talked about it before the season of
just like coaching staffs that we were looking forward to seeing,
and Stanford was was one of them because you know,
they had a full year to truly put that time

(40:15):
in with their team and it's it's paying off early,
you know. And and we're seeing that with Stanford getting
the win over Iowa State, which I don't think most
people really even kind of had on their Bengal boards.

Speaker 4 (40:28):
Was was set win from Stanford over Iowa State that
came out of the Iowa State dual. Too.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
Is people realizing that Chris Perry is now at Iowa
State seeing seeing a lot of tweets about Perry being
on the on the bench and everything else.

Speaker 2 (40:48):
On the bench. Was he coaching from the bleachers? I
don't kind behind them.

Speaker 1 (40:51):
He was kind of behind right, but like you could
you could tell you know who he was part of.
So very just very interesting to see those tweets because
those were those text messages about you know, him going
there at least like having the opportunity of being there

(41:12):
and and you know, maybe helping out or something along
those lines. Right of of you know, a transfer leaving
Oklahoma State and headed to Iowa State, who looked pretty
damn good in that duel against Stanford beating stemm it, but.

Speaker 4 (41:27):
Yeah it was those were those are the interesting tweets
for me?

Speaker 1 (41:30):
Or like when did when did Perry trade trade in
the orange for these Iowa state colors?

Speaker 4 (41:37):
I don't remember that, so that was interesting to me.

Speaker 3 (41:41):
Red and yellow does make orange though, So.

Speaker 4 (41:45):
Just hey, listen, you're just breaking it down apparently.

Speaker 6 (41:47):
Yet putting the I was a detective in another life.

Speaker 3 (41:51):
I think thing I like, yeah, right, one.

Speaker 6 (41:56):
Thing I really liked for heirs in general and Stanford,
I mean, like you know you already talked about you know,
was it Chilackean?

Speaker 3 (42:04):
Did I say that?

Speaker 6 (42:05):
Right?

Speaker 3 (42:05):
And Knox? I mean like it.

Speaker 6 (42:09):
Would be really easy for somebody who is less informed
with Chris Ayer's past and ability to develop wrestlers and
teams to be like, well, he's just doing this with
you know, the guys that he inherited from coal.

Speaker 3 (42:21):
But nope.

Speaker 6 (42:21):
We you know, those are some freshmen who just got
in the lineup that they recruited, that worked on bringing there,
and that have they've been working with since they got there.
So I can tell him making a good point when
all three of you are nodding simultaneously and like, was.

Speaker 4 (42:34):
This bobblehead writer, I'm in agreement?

Speaker 3 (42:37):
So but no, it was.

Speaker 6 (42:39):
I mean I was really happy for them getting that win.
And you know, you knew, especially after that that Iowa
State duel, that Iowa was going to be like, Okay,
we were not screwing around. We're sending our guys out
there to get wins and be ready to go, which
makes that Knox win at thirty three that much more
impressive too.

Speaker 4 (42:58):
So yeah, I looked impressive. They looked.

Speaker 1 (43:01):
I mean, I think their their lineup was at full
strength minus whatever they're doing at seventy four and eighty four.
No matter who they put in there, I feel like
they're always going to be at full strength.

Speaker 4 (43:13):
To be completely honest.

Speaker 1 (43:14):
Yeah, I would like to see more offense from Brands.

Speaker 4 (43:20):
That is the that is the club.

Speaker 1 (43:24):
Yeah, I mean, that is the one thing where I'm
just like, you know, let's let's start to put some
of these attacks together, right, like, let's see some more offense. Obviously,
you know he's another guy that that had some some
time away.

Speaker 4 (43:41):
But you know he hasn't.

Speaker 1 (43:43):
I don't know if he's scored a takedown yet, maybe one,
but it's.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
Been maybe he's seen the lines and he's taken the under.

Speaker 4 (43:53):
It's been tough sledding for him on takedowns so far, but.

Speaker 7 (43:56):
If it's under five point five, it's been that way
both matches.

Speaker 2 (43:59):
Yeah, Pete Rose style, right.

Speaker 6 (44:01):
So all I know is I can't wait hopefully the
weight classes match up.

Speaker 3 (44:07):
But Edmund Ruth versus Brands again.

Speaker 6 (44:10):
Man, that's just it's gonna be the old Will Lawan
versus Johnny love It.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
You know, Ruth took two losses this weekend too.

Speaker 4 (44:20):
He did that.

Speaker 1 (44:20):
I was gonna say, like, Illinois looked amazing, and yeah,
I'm gonna I'm gonna go on my fan club with
Lucas Bird getting getting the hammer in the Lehigh Valley.

Speaker 4 (44:30):
But like, Illinois looked tough.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
Man a couple of blowout wins, and you know a
couple of guys him and and Canon Webster getting wins.

Speaker 4 (44:39):
They look tough, and I think.

Speaker 1 (44:41):
You know, we talked about how Minnesota gets their firepower
at heavyweight and that makes them a real contender. Illinois
comes in being a contender. I just think they really
need to get Edmund Ruth on track. You know, he's
taken some losses. He's looked very lax early on in
the season. It is early, and you know, as as
you said Austin, everybody is more worried about March than

(45:02):
they are anything. And he is an All American, so
certainly the proof is there. But like, man, when when
you are returning All American, you want to see something right.
You want to see that you've improved, and right now,
it doesn't look like he's separating himself from the pack
of like being a returning All American, and that's what

(45:25):
you want to see.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
But yeah, I thought it was bizarre too because he
lost to Ebert from Binghamton, who just got in the
rankings this week. Ruth got off the mat, kind of
put his stuff back on and sat down and didn't
look like upset or anything. You know, usually a guy
that takes an upset loss is kind of like, ah, shit, man,
I messed that one up, or you pissed off but

(45:48):
he just sat there and was watching like straight faced
and't like if that was me, I kind of would
have been a little pissed. But yeah, I don't know,
and I can't confirm. Short King was there with his
tall queen. Awesome, so I got to see that, and
actually we'll see in person awesome.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
That doesn't I mean, he Lucasbird looked controlled. You know,
in that match with Unger, he controlled center. I mean
it wasn't a match where there were takedowns that were scored,
but he was holding center I think until like what
like the last fifteen to twenty seconds where he started
to back up and guy hit was stalling. But I
mean gains the escape road really tough on top. You know,

(46:26):
you could see him use those long limbs to you know,
tight waists just like dig in and claw, and it
was just, you know, it was a it was a
really really good ride that he put on. And you know,
we saw what he was able to do against Dayton
Fixed a couple of years ago, and NCAA is so
no surprise that he's looking as tough as he is
now that he's you know, back in the lineup, he's

(46:48):
healthy and everything else. So like I said, I'm I'm
banging the drum for Lucas Byrd. You know, he is
highly ranked and he's supposed to win these matches obviously,
but I you know, I think he definitely is a
guy that people should be a little bit more aware of,
and certainly they are with him being ranked number three
in the country right now. But I think he's a

(47:09):
more serious contender than what people are giving him credit
for right now.

Speaker 2 (47:15):
Bird's the word.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
Bird is the word that is actually the title of
that segment in UH in Tomorrow's Big Ten recap that
has coming out in the morning.

Speaker 4 (47:25):
Bird is the word.

Speaker 1 (47:26):
So but I want to get to the Michigan State
Open where where Kevin was, where there was a lot
of Big ten stuff happening, and you said, you met
your your idol Sergio Lemley for a hot second, and
I get.

Speaker 4 (47:39):
See some other good wrestling too.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
It was it was like the Big Gulf scene in
Dumb and Dumber. It was like literally walking.

Speaker 6 (47:46):
By and I was like, oh, hey, Sergio, big fan,
all right.

Speaker 3 (47:51):
See you later.

Speaker 2 (47:53):
Now there's a restraining order on you.

Speaker 4 (47:55):
Yeah, exactly, that man off my property.

Speaker 6 (48:00):
But no, I mean it was awesome. I love that tournament.
They always do a really good job putting it on.
I mean it's you know, the whole field house, Jennison
field House is just full of mats. They've got seating
on the top part, so it makes it easy for
families to get up there. There's all you know, food
setups and everything, so plenty of space in there, and
it makes it pretty easy to run a tournament that's

(48:20):
that big, that effectively, you know. So it was pretty
awesome though. I mean, you know, you had some good,
good action from a lot of different teams. I'm wearing
my Central Michigan stuff because you know, action is on
right now. We're getting destroyed. But that's fine. But I
like the tournament too because I could see the Central guys.
I get to see Michigan State guys Michigan.

Speaker 3 (48:40):
This year.

Speaker 6 (48:40):
You had some Indiana guys, some guys from Wisconsin, so
I talked to reader for a minute.

Speaker 7 (48:48):
Some guys there.

Speaker 6 (48:48):
Oklahoma State had some guys there too, Yep, Oklahoma State
had some guys.

Speaker 3 (48:52):
That was fun. Trying to think what oh Ohio, Northern
Illinois like. It was good.

Speaker 6 (48:57):
And then one fifty seven in particular was was pretty loaded.
Caleb Fish was there with Oklahoma State wrestling. You know,
one attached but I mean attached to guess technically because
somebody brought.

Speaker 3 (49:08):
Him there, you know. So so there's that.

Speaker 6 (49:12):
But yeah, so it had the two Michigan State guys
you know are no longer at Michigan State because Saltate
was there. Peyton Keller was the one seed, Johnny Love
it was the two seed, and they ended up meeting
in the finals.

Speaker 7 (49:22):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (49:23):
The semi final match with Keller and Saldate was awesome. Uh,
there was a lot of action for what ended up
being an overtime score to get a six to three
win for Keller. Spoiler alert, But it's fun to watch
if you want to go check that out.

Speaker 4 (49:38):
Does so Dante look any different?

Speaker 3 (49:40):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (49:41):
And I don't mean just the single and the Colors, like,
has his style change that they've added?

Speaker 4 (49:46):
Well, I knew Kevin would have a smart answer. Blue Green.

Speaker 1 (49:57):
Look any any different? Evan's gone full reading rainbow?

Speaker 6 (50:01):
Yeah, yeah, this is the inter Matt Colors podcast.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (50:08):
No, I mean, like it's hard to say, I mean
because he's.

Speaker 4 (50:12):
An offensive guy.

Speaker 6 (50:14):
Yeah, I mean like he was pinning dudes, you know,
he was he was still turning people on top. It's
not like he was taking him down, letting him up
and putting on this this offensive clinic. He was still
kind of wrestling within his means, you know. He uh,
he was still really good on top of he you know,
he got the first takedown against Peyton Keller, gave up
a reversal, which in my you know, this is me

(50:36):
being a smart ass and obviously hindsight twenty twenty, but
it's like that's the last thing you do, like give
up one. Not too but like that's the same, right,
but especially against that guy. You know, one thing I
will say about Peyton Keller about too is I mean again,
I'm I'm gonna say it over and over again.

Speaker 3 (50:51):
Go watch that match.

Speaker 6 (50:52):
He is has got to have like the most difficult
hips to wrestle against because he just gets out of
weird positions that you don't see the other guys be
able to generate like force.

Speaker 3 (51:02):
Or power from he.

Speaker 6 (51:04):
Like early in the match, maybe the first forty seconds
at they had like a low leg cradle and then
lost it.

Speaker 4 (51:11):
He didn't have it anymore.

Speaker 6 (51:12):
Yeah, and it's like you don't lose that at that level,
you know. But no, I mean, in general, it was
a super fun tournament. A lot of good wrestling by
a lot of good teams. I did really like to
see Derek Gilcher there Indiana won sixty five, who got
hurt last year, kind of you know, still battling to
get get back his chance in the lineup.

Speaker 3 (51:33):
He'll have two years of eligibility left, I guess, so
it was fun seeing him there.

Speaker 6 (51:39):
Trevor Tchumbley I talked to for a minute and he
was kind of like, damn, if I know and all
these guys, we're going to wrestle here at one fifty seven,
I would have shown up here to wrestle instead of
just coaching, you know. So, but I think that's that's
one of the big takeaways I took away from it.
It was like, yeah, a lot of these weights actually
do have guys showing up ready to go, you know,
even the guys from Michigan that weren't there. At least

(52:00):
a lot of those guys were competing last week in
at Clarion. So it is fun to see some of
these early season tournaments being pretty competitive.

Speaker 3 (52:09):
It's not at all the way. It's at least a
couple of them here and there. So very fun.

Speaker 1 (52:14):
Yeah, that's definitely different than than last year, right where
guys kind of eased into the season a little bit
more and you know, wrestled maybe not so tough open tournaments,
you know, and didn't hit top competition. We're already seeing
guys take losses. I mean, there were a number of upsets.

(52:34):
I mean, not just the ones that we spoke about.
There were so many upsets just in you know, this
past weekend, because guys are actually out there hitting the
mats and not trying to ease into the season, which
I think is awesome.

Speaker 4 (52:48):
But do you guys have any other teams that we miss?

Speaker 1 (52:51):
I mean, obviously we didn't talk about everybody really hit,
you know, some of the bigger tournaments and stuff, But
were there any other teams or guys that stuck out
to you that you guys wanted to mention before we
move on to the next week.

Speaker 7 (53:04):
A couple of big things at the Mountaineer Open or
Mountaineer Invite, Virginia Tech went down Eddie van Truska knock
an off former teammate Cooper Flynn was was ranked higher,
and then he had an All Hockey final at heavyweight
with Mullen Pin and Katka so it looks like he'll
probably get to go against Zoo on Friday. Platona and

(53:28):
McGonagall both got knocked off took a loss, but otherwise
they looked pretty pretty solid with the guys they sent down.

Speaker 1 (53:37):
Yeah, McGonagall took a loss to Tyler Wells yea from
from Minnesota. And I saw the I was watching that
and I saw the clip on I think it was
just like on.

Speaker 4 (53:48):
Twitter or something. I was like, watch that one.

Speaker 1 (53:52):
So yeah, that was you know, the last couple of
seconds that happens, right and you give up a takedown.
But yeah, the the one that, you know, certainly, the
one that probably had the most attention on it was
that one twenty five pound match, you know, because those
guys were teammates last year and Van Trusca was.

Speaker 4 (54:13):
I think it shows that he really was battling an
injury last year. Yeah, pretty badly.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
But I think most people probably expected after seeing Van
Trusca last year, seeing they probably thought, you know, Groopers
should have this one, right they They probably thought he
would win it. But Van Trusca is healthy now, and
for me, it kind of put into perspective of okay, well,
maybe that's why there was a transfer, right, maybe that's

(54:43):
why you know, and you know, it's not something I'd
ever thought about before, but it was just like, maybe
that's why you know this guy is a returning antique
qualifier that is leaving, you know, your old school. Now
you see why, right, Like probably would have been kind
of tough to get into the line up with a
healthy Van Tresco being there.

Speaker 7 (55:04):
And like we talked about earlier with the depth issues
at NC State, we're going to see the same thing
at Virginia Tech as well at heavyweight with Kaka and
Mullen at ninety seven with Sasso and Smith. I mean,
it's going to be there's going to be some interesting
battles to be had, So I'm very anxious to see
how everybody looks on Friday. It's gonna be a hell

(55:26):
of a duel.

Speaker 1 (55:27):
If you had to take a guess, would you say
is the ninety seven and heavyweight for Virginia.

Speaker 7 (55:32):
Tech this week or all year?

Speaker 4 (55:37):
All year? Two takes the spot.

Speaker 7 (55:40):
I mean it's hard to argue against the young guys
right now the way they've looked. I mean, Sasso is
five and oh with five pins, Loan seven oh and
has a win over you know, returning blood round guy
in Katka, So it's hard to argue what we've seen
so far. Smith hasn't taken them mat yet, so we'll see.
I mean, I know they're going to be on on
pitch counts all year, both of those guys, because they're

(56:02):
sixty year guys and they're going to kind of let
it play out all season to see who's going to
earn the spot.

Speaker 2 (56:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (56:11):
Also in anything in the w.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
A no I kind of touched on, you know, Lehigh
Stanich won a hammer at Journeyman bring Nole at sixty
five looked really good. Even Michael Beard came away with
a win over Bronegal kind of hung on there at
the end to win it, which is usually those are
the matches he you know, kind of maybe drops at

(56:34):
the end of the year. So it's good to see
him win stick one out win that in the beginning
of the season. The only thing I have here, it's
more of a disappointing note was throw down on New Yorktown.
The way they had to kind of cancel that one
match with due to the conditions of the map being
all slippery. But Army did wrestle beat up Gardner went
pretty good. They had to cancel the match against.

Speaker 7 (56:55):
Citadel, but would have been a similar result.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
It most likely our army is tough, and you know,
they had a bunch of guys at Journeyman Classic as well,
no starters. But so it's good talking to coach Ward
a little bit there, and you know, I think they'll
have a really good squad this year.

Speaker 7 (57:11):
Yeah, those are really cool event. I wish I wish
it would have been able to finish it out. You know,
at some point, I think we need to realize that
wrestling mats and humid areas after sundown don't work, and
maybe we should make that a midday event. I don't know.

Speaker 3 (57:25):
I think we try it again at least two more times.

Speaker 7 (57:28):
Probably six or seven, and make sure we throw some
Olympians out there so they can blow some a cls
on it.

Speaker 2 (57:33):
Get spikes.

Speaker 7 (57:36):
I sent a message to McCormick that the head of
officials the A and said, can we get an exemption
where they can wear golf spikes for one match? Which
is no leg riding? Safety first, right, let's make sure
we've got some traction.

Speaker 2 (57:51):
Scrambling would probably hurt too.

Speaker 7 (57:52):
But yeah, you got very fun.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
Yeah you gotta scramble.

Speaker 4 (57:55):
Yeah, man, do you have anything?

Speaker 6 (58:01):
Uh one fifty seven and I think it was the
Tiger style invite. The finals was Ethan Miller and Joey Blaze,
so two big ten guys, Ethan bumping up to fifty
seven and Blaze is huge, you know. So I was
pretty impressed with just the physicality of Ethan Miller in
the match. It was a fun one to watch, as

(58:22):
well as how Joey was able to kind of storm
back in the end and make it close. So I
you know, I think if you get to see those
guys another two or three times this.

Speaker 3 (58:31):
Year, it's going to be split between them. But I was.
I was very impressed with both those guys in the finals,
so very fun.

Speaker 4 (58:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:38):
Maryland had had two. You know, Neville's wanted it two
five as well, and he looked really dominant. I think
he had two pins or tech falls or something. They
have to have it in my notes over here somewhere,
but I know he was dominant in those first two
ballots and then it was sudden victory in overtime in.

Speaker 4 (58:56):
The finals, but he ended up coming out with a win.

Speaker 1 (58:58):
So Maryland with two, and then you know, Matt Ramos
also winning the title for Purdue their their lone title
at the at that tournament as well, so Hm