Iowa Big 10 Championship Thread















3rd is pitiful with as much fan support and resources are poured into an underachieving program.
 


This was a good tournament for this team. They finished on the podium and set themselves up well for the NCAA tournament. They have 8 automatic bids, it looks like they will get a 9th wrestler in with an at large bid, perhaps even a 10th. If Michael Kemerer was wrestling that would definitely be 10. Getting so many wrestlers in will help out a lot for team points. Alex Marinelli will move up to the #1 seed at 165 that will help out too.
 




What's especially frustrating with this squad is the lack of bonus points. For a coach that preaches nothing but balls-on-fire tempo and attacking, it has to drive Brands nuts. Other than Lee, Marinelli and DeSanto, there is no one that wrestles the "Iowa way" (and even Lee has a tendency to run out of gas if pushed into the third).

Murin is perhaps the biggest disappointment. He has the pace, but just can't seem to finish. The attitude is there, so, hopefully he'll come around, but, most fans expected more.

Young has some fire, but is very inconsistent. He just needs to trust his instincts.

Wilke is this seasons Burak. He's got the talent, but just can't seem to pull the trigger, and then can't finish when he does. Frustrating wrestler.

You have to respect Bowman for his willingness to shift weights back and forth, but, for whatever reason, he just doesn't have that fire and intensity. Good team guy, but we have to do better there as far as a starter.

Warner - like a lot of dominant guys coming out of HS - struggles from the bottom. He's otherwise solid. I'd like to see him get "Doyle-ized" during the off-season and come back chiseled. He has the potential to be a beast.

Stoll is even more of a Greco guy than he used to be. Injuries haven't helped, but, he's never been willing to mix it up below the waist, and is totally lost on the bottom.

It really boils down to recruiting. If Brands is to have a chance at unseating PSU, he's got to recruit explosive talent, not just the tough lunchpail guys. He has done better recently, but, it's a big mountain to climb.
 


#1DieHardHawk said:
What's especially frustrating with this squad is the lack of bonus points. For a coach that preaches nothing but balls-on-fire tempo and attacking, it has to drive Brands nuts. Other than Lee, Marinelli and DeSanto, there is no one that wrestles the "Iowa way" (and even Lee has a tendency to run out of gas if pushed into the third).

Murin is perhaps the biggest disappointment. He has the pace, but just can't seem to finish. The attitude is there, so, hopefully he'll come around, but, most fans expected more.

Young has some fire, but is very inconsistent. He just needs to trust his instincts.

Wilke is this seasons Burak. He's got the talent, but just can't seem to pull the trigger, and then can't finish when he does. Frustrating wrestler.

You have to respect Bowman for his willingness to shift weights back and forth, but, for whatever reason, he just doesn't have that fire and intensity. Good team guy, but we have to do better there as far as a starter.

Warner - like a lot of dominant guys coming out of HS - struggles from the bottom. He's otherwise solid. I'd like to see him get "Doyle-ized" during the off-season and come back chiseled. He has the potential to be a beast.

Stoll is even more of a Greco guy than he used to be. Injuries haven't helped, but, he's never been willing to mix it up below the waist, and is totally lost on the bottom.

It really boils down to recruiting. If Brands is to have a chance at unseating PSU, he's got to recruit explosive talent, not just the tough lunchpail guys. He has done better recently, but, it's a big mountain to climb.
Click to expand...

I was there this weekend and enjoyed the tourney, although I was surprised at what a craphole Williams Arena is. If they have Kemmerer and a healthy Stoll they could have challenged OSU for 2nd. I thought Lee got robbed; granted he wasn’t aggressive enough in the 3rd but that hands to the face fiasco was garbage.

A lot of great performances in wrestlebacks. Really impressed with Lugo and Warner in particular. Warner gave up an escape with 1 second to go to get taken to overtime in his 3rd place match. He responded with a quick and decisive takedown in OT.

They finished right where I expected.
 


Once again Iowa is the top program that does not rape children or abuse athletes. The ncaa needs to clean up those programs now.
 


Bluesman said:
I was there this weekend and enjoyed the tourney, although I was surprised at what a craphole Williams Arena is. If they have Kemmerer and a healthy Stoll they could have challenged OSU for 2nd. I thought Lee got robbed; granted he wasn’t aggressive enough in the 3rd but that hands to the face fiasco was garbage.

A lot of great performances in wrestlebacks. Really impressed with Lugo and Warner in particular. Warner gave up an escape with 1 second to go to get taken to overtime in his 3rd place match. He responded with a quick and decisive takedown in OT.

They finished right where I expected.
Click to expand...
Agree about Lee. I'm not a fan at all of the way they call hands to face. In Lee's case, Rivera had his arm trapped and basically pulled the hand into his face. IMO, inadvertent contact shouldn't be penalized. I also would be in favor of a warning the first time.

That said, Lee put himself into that situation by letting up on the gas in the third. That's been an issue for him for awhile. He's a dominant wrestler but needs to work on conditioning if he wants to be one of the all-time greats.
 
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Sam Stoll has officially received an at large bid for the NCAA tournament. He will have some time to get healthy and compete hard for the championship.

That means that Iowa will have 9 wrestlers in the tournament. With such a deep team of qualifying wrestlers Iowa will have a great chance to do well in the tournament.
 


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