Year in Review
- Thread starter Tigerguy_
- Start date
Great questions...
Q: Happy with how things turned out? A: No - very disappointing start and a great finish to the tourney
Q: Happy with where the program is heading? A: Absolutely! 3 AA's (vs 2 last year), All 3 come back, Appears to have some stud recruits that will improve our team even more. We are still pretty young and only graduate Parker & Degen whom unfortunately didn't score many tourney points this year. I'm expecting the trend to continue with 4+ AA's next year. When Carr gets back to the top that should result in a 5-10 range team finish at nationals.
Q: Happy with how things turned out? A: No - very disappointing start and a great finish to the tourney
Q: Happy with where the program is heading? A: Absolutely! 3 AA's (vs 2 last year), All 3 come back, Appears to have some stud recruits that will improve our team even more. We are still pretty young and only graduate Parker & Degen whom unfortunately didn't score many tourney points this year. I'm expecting the trend to continue with 4+ AA's next year. When Carr gets back to the top that should result in a 5-10 range team finish at nationals.
Overall I'm mixed on the way things turned out this year. 3 AAs is great progress, and Yonger and Marcus had outstanding years. David showed extreme toughness to battle back for third. I was hoping we would improve on 13th from last year, and finishing 17th isn't great (even though it was only 1/2 point less than last year). I expected more out of Kysen, Degen, and Schuyler at NCAAs. I think Ramazan could've won a match too if he didn't get injured.
I'm excited for where the program is heading:
125: Big offseason for Kysen. Next season is the "prove-it" year for him. He's got the talent to be an AA, and at minimum should be a Friday morning wrestler at NCAAs. If it is similar results to this year, the staff will look for upgrades. He needs to take this offseason seriously, or else he may be replaced in the lineup. Right now, it is the Hawaiians spot to lose, but the pressure is on.
133: Wouldn't mind a transfer here, but have heard good things about Noonan. If Ramazan can come back healthy, he also should be improved from this year. Similar to Yonger, the more Ramazan wrestles Folkstyle, the better he will get. Regardless, I don't view either of these guys as AAs, and probably have a R16 ceiling.
141: Love Ian Parker and everything he gave to the program, but I think Casey Swiderski is going to be an AA candidate right out of the gate. Obviously you don't know how a true freshman will react to adjusting to college life, but this kid seems to get it and is an extremely hard worker. Redding will challenge here, but I expect Casey to take the starting spot and contend at a very high level next year.
149: Similar to 141, love Degen and he gave everything he could to this program. Looking to the future, I wouldn't mind a transfer here to allow Paniro to redshirt. If there is not a transfer, I think Paniro or Cam can fill the spot and qualify for NCAAs, but I don't view either as AA or R12 contenders. Goal would be to make it to Friday and provide some points for the team.
157: Depends on what weight Carr goes. If Carr goes here, title contender. If Carr bumps up to 165, then I would guess that this weight will be between Cam Robinson or Jason Kraisser. Similar to 149, I expect either of these guys to qualify for NCAAs, but not be major point scorers. Maybe Rojas can make 157? I know he wasn't cutting much (if anything) to make 170.
165: If Carr goes here, tougher path to a title, but I still view him as a title contender. Worst case, he will be an AA. If Carr stays at 157, I think Rojas will be the guy at 165 and will be a qualifier, but probably have the ceiling being a R16 guy. 165 is loaded, and to expect a true freshman to compete for AA with the guys coming back would be unrealistic.
174: Hoping we can find a transfer here, but Joel Devine is a damn hard worker. If we have another year of Joel, I would say the ceiling is probably 1-2, maybe 2-2 at NCAAs. Not a lot of points, but you know he will give it everything he has.
184: Returning AA, and unlike a lot of 6th year guys he hasn't had the major injuries that wear the body down. He should compete for AA status again, and hopefully start challenging for top 4 at 184. Take Naak will fill in nicely the next year.
197: Another offseason to improve with his still limited knowledge of Folkstyle has to be a scary thought for guys returning at 197. Title contender in my opinion.
Hwt: Going to be a fun battle between Schon and Schuyler, but we need to get points out of this weight next year. I would say the ceiling is R12 next year.
We need to make the jump to top 10 next year. Year 6 in the Dresser era with the uptick in recruiting, and anything other than top 10 would be disappointing to me. Transfer market will be interesting this year, and if we can add an impact transfer or 2, watch out.
I'm excited for where the program is heading:
125: Big offseason for Kysen. Next season is the "prove-it" year for him. He's got the talent to be an AA, and at minimum should be a Friday morning wrestler at NCAAs. If it is similar results to this year, the staff will look for upgrades. He needs to take this offseason seriously, or else he may be replaced in the lineup. Right now, it is the Hawaiians spot to lose, but the pressure is on.
133: Wouldn't mind a transfer here, but have heard good things about Noonan. If Ramazan can come back healthy, he also should be improved from this year. Similar to Yonger, the more Ramazan wrestles Folkstyle, the better he will get. Regardless, I don't view either of these guys as AAs, and probably have a R16 ceiling.
141: Love Ian Parker and everything he gave to the program, but I think Casey Swiderski is going to be an AA candidate right out of the gate. Obviously you don't know how a true freshman will react to adjusting to college life, but this kid seems to get it and is an extremely hard worker. Redding will challenge here, but I expect Casey to take the starting spot and contend at a very high level next year.
149: Similar to 141, love Degen and he gave everything he could to this program. Looking to the future, I wouldn't mind a transfer here to allow Paniro to redshirt. If there is not a transfer, I think Paniro or Cam can fill the spot and qualify for NCAAs, but I don't view either as AA or R12 contenders. Goal would be to make it to Friday and provide some points for the team.
157: Depends on what weight Carr goes. If Carr goes here, title contender. If Carr bumps up to 165, then I would guess that this weight will be between Cam Robinson or Jason Kraisser. Similar to 149, I expect either of these guys to qualify for NCAAs, but not be major point scorers. Maybe Rojas can make 157? I know he wasn't cutting much (if anything) to make 170.
165: If Carr goes here, tougher path to a title, but I still view him as a title contender. Worst case, he will be an AA. If Carr stays at 157, I think Rojas will be the guy at 165 and will be a qualifier, but probably have the ceiling being a R16 guy. 165 is loaded, and to expect a true freshman to compete for AA with the guys coming back would be unrealistic.
174: Hoping we can find a transfer here, but Joel Devine is a damn hard worker. If we have another year of Joel, I would say the ceiling is probably 1-2, maybe 2-2 at NCAAs. Not a lot of points, but you know he will give it everything he has.
184: Returning AA, and unlike a lot of 6th year guys he hasn't had the major injuries that wear the body down. He should compete for AA status again, and hopefully start challenging for top 4 at 184. Take Naak will fill in nicely the next year.
197: Another offseason to improve with his still limited knowledge of Folkstyle has to be a scary thought for guys returning at 197. Title contender in my opinion.
Hwt: Going to be a fun battle between Schon and Schuyler, but we need to get points out of this weight next year. I would say the ceiling is R12 next year.
We need to make the jump to top 10 next year. Year 6 in the Dresser era with the uptick in recruiting, and anything other than top 10 would be disappointing to me. Transfer market will be interesting this year, and if we can add an impact transfer or 2, watch out.
Yes and Yes.
Expectations were low coming into this year. For the team to go undefeated in Big 12 duals and 3 AAs. Really the only disappointment is Carr not winning the title.
Having all 3 AAs back is an awesome starting point for next year. Hopefully the schedule can improve and lead to a better performance at Big 12s and NCAA. Really interested to see where Swiderski is at and if he can be an immediate impact guy. An impact transfer, or another late recruit that could make an immediate impact, would be huge. But I’m not getting my hopes up. Learned my lesson after last off season’s rumor mill.
Expectations were low coming into this year. For the team to go undefeated in Big 12 duals and 3 AAs. Really the only disappointment is Carr not winning the title.
Having all 3 AAs back is an awesome starting point for next year. Hopefully the schedule can improve and lead to a better performance at Big 12s and NCAA. Really interested to see where Swiderski is at and if he can be an immediate impact guy. An impact transfer, or another late recruit that could make an immediate impact, would be huge. But I’m not getting my hopes up. Learned my lesson after last off season’s rumor mill.
I would like to see the talent in the CRTC improve. I never met the Canadian or other foreign guy. Not sure how much they trained in Ames, but hard to get behind them, when they don't wrestle US only tournaments.
Not sure how much we paid them. I assume minimal.
Glad to have Kyven and Joe Colon was great. Glad to keep Ian around.
Not sure how much we paid them. I assume minimal.
Glad to have Kyven and Joe Colon was great. Glad to keep Ian around.
Strongly agree.
Let's get Oregon St on the schedule, ASAP, for multiple reason. One of which, they have a guy on there that I think one of our own would like a rematch.
I know this has been discussed before but one of you schedule guru's explain this to me like I am 8 (so I can understand it). Why don't we schedule a super quad or at least a triangular with something like a team from each conference? Even if it's a moving thing around the country? Get somebody like Oregon St, Lehigh/Cornell, and a Rutgers and move it around every year? These schools are just suggestions, I think you all get my point. Hell, get one of those weirder, small streaming services like Rudis or whatever it's called to sponsor it if you have to.
I love the idea of having a triangle/quad during the season streamed.
In July when I saw them practicing, I thought no doubt that Parker, Carr and Yonger would be AA's. Wasn't sure where Marcus was at, but thumbs up and way to go to that young man for what he accomplished.
After the Thursday bloodbath at NCAA's, I was thinking WTF is going on, but for the athletes and coaches to pick it up and win 10 in a row or whatever at that tournament is outstanding.
Now with that success and disappointment too, I see the fire getting hotter and there are STUDS coming in, with more to come fingers crossed winky face.
I'm old enough to remember scoring one point at NCAAs with KJ and I keep looking at Virginia Tech and see how it kept building to a team trophy and it's doing the same thing here.
Call me an optimist, but it's entirely possible to have 2 champs next year and 2-4 more AA's. That's got to be in the trophy talk.
After the Thursday bloodbath at NCAA's, I was thinking WTF is going on, but for the athletes and coaches to pick it up and win 10 in a row or whatever at that tournament is outstanding.
Now with that success and disappointment too, I see the fire getting hotter and there are STUDS coming in, with more to come fingers crossed winky face.
I'm old enough to remember scoring one point at NCAAs with KJ and I keep looking at Virginia Tech and see how it kept building to a team trophy and it's doing the same thing here.
Call me an optimist, but it's entirely possible to have 2 champs next year and 2-4 more AA's. That's got to be in the trophy talk.
I don’t think anyone would call me an optimist, but I already picked Yonger to win next year. Hadn’t thought about it like that, but guess I’m in for 2 champs as well.
2 finalists and 1-2 more AAs is a borderline top 5 team.
10 to 15 points from non-aa guys (instead of -.5) might go a long way as well
It’ll be interesting to see how Ferrari does if/when he returns. Never been to NCAAs but I’d love to be in KC in 2024.
I agree. I was just throwing a number out there thinking about the points UNI racked up in the first round and Keck was their only AA.
Random thoughts
Need to go to a mid season tournament
Need a stud closer to Carr's weight. I'm sure he has the coaches to train with, but how can we not bring in a stud close to his weight that wants to train with him? Should be a big recruiting selling point. 125 can he put on some muscle this summer I tend to think his struggles finishing are a size/power issue so hope he can get it figured out.
Overall this team is much tougher and better to watch then the kj days of getting ridden for 2 periods in 2/3 of the matches.
Need to go to a mid season tournament
Need a stud closer to Carr's weight. I'm sure he has the coaches to train with, but how can we not bring in a stud close to his weight that wants to train with him? Should be a big recruiting selling point. 125 can he put on some muscle this summer I tend to think his struggles finishing are a size/power issue so hope he can get it figured out.
Overall this team is much tougher and better to watch then the kj days of getting ridden for 2 periods in 2/3 of the matches.
It's strange and awesome to be thinking we have two title contenders on the roster and it's not even a stretch to speculate as much.
Right now, next season has the potential to be a huge jump up for ISU on the National level.
As many have said, we need to get some better teams on the schedule and hit up at least one big tourney.
We never seem to perform well at the start of tournaments. I don't know if it's a weight thing and we need to let guys wrestle closer to their natural weight. I don't know if it's an over or under-training thing or if our guys just need something to get them hyped up pre-tournament. All I know is we always come out flat. I'm sure the coaches are on it and I hope they get it figured out. I'd love to see our guys just flying right out of the gate.
Rojas will be a nice partner to train with starting this summer. Paniro Johnson, Casey Swiderski, Cam Robinson also aren't bad. But a high level transfer in that area would be a great addition for sure