Keuter

[HuckFinn]

If Ayala wants to be the man here’s his chance. Nut up or shut up.

No bonus points, no win

Tuned in just in time. Ayala kicked ass. Beat wolverines. Senior night. Good for the Hawks.

 

[Grady]

Kueter doesn’t have the stones to wrestle in D1-A

You've written a lot about Spencer Lee dealing with some mental demons, it's pretty obvious that Kueter mentally can't make himself pull the trigger when he gets out on the mat this season vs decent competition. Definitely a mental block of some sort.
As far as not being able to wrestle in DI-A, not sure the guys he beat at the NCAAs last season on his way to an 8th place finish and All American status would agree with you.

 

[Grady]

Tuned in just in time. Ayala kicked ass. Beat wolverines. Senior night. Good for the Hawks.

Good timing on your part!

 

[Fryowa]

As far as not being able to wrestle in DI-A, not sure the guys he beat at the NCAAs last season on his way to an 8th place finish and All American status would agree with you.

If he has a full season-long mental block and can’t perform competently, it means he doesn’t have the stones. What happened last year is irrelevant. It’s like if a basketball player is lights out from 3 in practice, but when he’s playing in a game he locks up and just stands there and never shoots the ball. He knows he can’t score if he never shoots the ball, but something in his head doesn’t let him. Even when he knows it, his teammates know it, and everyone watching knows it.

This isn’t a slump, it’s a whole season’s worth.

Whatever the reason for it, what matters is the current season at hand. Last year is over.

 

[Fryowa]

Is Mocco’s son wrestling for the Hawks next year and what can be expected of him?

He is. Unless he gets handed a bag from someone else.

Could things about Mocco…

1) His dad was a Hawk but only for two years. He transferred and finished at Okie State. Dad is from New Jersey and they live in Florida now, so no real allegiance to Iowa. I say that because if someone else hands him a bag there’s probably a good chance he takes it.

2) Dad wrestled for Zalesky, not Gable or Brands. Again, no family tie to this staff and time will tell if he ends up being a Hawk.

3) Kueter was undefeated in high school folk and a U17 Fargo champ in freestyle. Mocco is a state champ and U17 Fargo champ in freestyle. Exact same build as Kueter…long and slender wrestling 30-40 lbs lighter than typical HWTs. I’ll let you judge whether that will work. Maybe, maybe not. I do know that being 220 lbs in the Big Ten has been a disaster for Kueter. He got ridden for 3 and a half minutes straight last night. No replacement for displacement at this level. Of course these guys are dominant at 220 lbs in high school just because of their build…99.9% of the guys they’re wrestling in will never sniff a college mat.

4) What’s happened to Iowa’s program isn’t going to help keep commitments. They’re in the darkest place they’ve been in since before Gable and that’s going to be used against us.

Bottom line…looking at his resume I’d have normally said he’s the next stud at HWT. But with Iowa wrestling where it’s at right now, NIL, and being a carbon copy of a guy we have currently who can’t compete in the conference, I can’t say of it will be any better or not.

 

[Grady]

If he has a full season-long mental block and can’t perform competently, it means he doesn’t have the stones. What happened last year is irrelevant. It’s like if a basketball player is lights out from 3 in practice, but when he’s playing in a game he locks up and just stands there and never shoots the ball. He knows he can’t score if he never shoots the ball, but something in his head doesn’t let him. Even when he knows it, his teammates know it, and everyone watching knows it.

This isn’t a slump, it’s a whole season’s worth.

Whatever the reason for it, what matters is the current season at hand. Last year is over.

We see the current situation similarly, I was just reacting to your statement that he's not capable of being a D-1 wrestler.
A more accurate basketball analogy would be if a guy was a 2nd Team All American one year, and the next year he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Nobody would say the dude isn't capable of playing D-1 hoops.
If you've already been successful at something, you have the capability -- it's just a matter of actually DOING IT -- which we both agree Kueter has been unable to accomplish this season.
Anybody who's wrestled knows what Kueter is feeling -- it's just surprising to me that with the Sports Psychologists the Hawks have access to that they haven't been able to help him, at least up to this point.
Even given all this, his physical traits are such that who knows, he could make it back to the Blood Round at the NCAAs -- if he makes it out of the BTen tourney. I don't know how many HWT slots the BTen will have into the NCAAs, but he's wrestled so few matches this season nothing is a given.

 

[Scott Leclair]

I know for fact Tom is trying and has tried to get Keuter to wrestle. Even someone who knows nothing about wrestling can hear him pleading at Keuter on TV during matches.

Ben Keuter does not have the stones to wrestle at this level. It’s mental. He locks up out there and the mental side of wrestling is just as crucial as your technique it physical ability. To be honest it’s more important.

I know you’ll say it’s Tom’s job to get it out of him, but let’s be honest…some people are simply impossible to get through to no matter what you do. That’s just a fact. Peterson is one. Arnold is another one. Arnold is even more frustrating than Keuter because he talks such a big game.

Why does an alcoholic keep drinking when he’s lost his family and job, and why does the biggest, baddest, toughest soldier on the planet have a fear of heights that he can’t overcome? Some horses just flat out cannot be led to water that they’ll drink no matter what.

Why? Because you are the “administrator”

 

[Fryowa]

Why? Because you are the “administrator”

No, because you know nothing about college wrestling.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

I love Kennedy, but why he put himself into position to be taken down with 20 seconds remaining is more than a head-scratcher. Run around and take the stall point if you have to.

But, I guess that's a microcosm of Iowa wrestling this year. . .

 

[Sighhawk]

Kueter, sucked last year to but got an A.A., we need to deal with this guy till the year ends. hoping he gets an A.A. again and go back to football, or learn how to wrestle at his height and weight advantage. Maybe next year year he stays around and Mocco can RS, or Mocco gets the go.

 

[Fryowa]

Kueter, sucked last year to but got an A.A., we need to deal with this guy till the year ends. hoping he gets an A.A. again and go back to football, or learn how to wrestle at his height and weight advantage. Maybe next year year he stays around and Mocco can RS, or Mocco gets the go.

I would call it a height and weight disadvantage. I haven't seen him yet not get ridden into the ground by decent competition. In freestyle his frame is perfect because everything is on your feet and it's all about reach. Folkstyle at some point you're going to be on the bottom and have a huge monkey on your back, and at some point you're going to be a lightweight monkey trying to keep someone on the mat.