Interesting clash in styles as Zack loves to dig in that underhook and Angelo wants to operate from space and take advantage of his flexibility.
Iowa news - 2024-25
- Thread starter vhsalum
- Start date
Watching college wrestling in the 80’s - 90’s (iowa style) was boring. Rather watch high school then which i did.
Soooooo, I heard something completely different. At the BJC the other night, I talked with a Iowa fan wearing a yellow Hawkeye T-shit. He said he was pretty sure Nelson was living with Sammy Brooks in a van down by the river.
A lot of criticism of how money is being spent at Iowa. And I agree that they need to do better with the RTC as recruits are going to be attracted to a school with an RTC full of guys achieving international success. But outside of that, it’s not like they aren’t getting and trying to get high level high school recruits. We heard the story about Lilledahl. Jesuroga quit wrestling as the #1 PfP recruit and Iowa commit. Angelo and Keuter each were #2. PK #3. Ayala and Arnold each #5. DeLuca is currently #8. But folks are souring on the money spent on four AA transfers and how the gap to PSU is still so large despite it. But where would they be without those four AA transfers? If that money wasn’t spent, would they even be top 5?
If Iowa were smart, they'd pay Brands his $750,000 buyout and start rebuilding now. Knowing that Brands is likely gone in 2029, Iowa will increasingly lag in recruiting due to the unknowns incoming recruits will have about that transition point. Changing coaching is a lot like removing a bandaid. Better to do it quickly and suffer less pain in the long run.
OSU did it the smart way. Thanks for "retiring" coach and supporting the transition. <hands him thick envelope>
OSU did it the smart way. Thanks for "retiring" coach and supporting the transition. <hands him thick envelope>
You lost me after the first four words.
$100 to the first person who can guess 9 out of 10 starters for the 2nd-place Iowa Mercenaries next year
125- Richie Figs
133- Drake Ayala
141- Evan Frost
149- Jacob Frost
157- Daniel Cardenas
165- Michael Caliendo
174- Patrick Kennedy
184- Angelo Ferrari
197- AJ Ferrari
Hwt- Ben Keuter
125- Richie Figs
133- Drake Ayala
141- Evan Frost
149- Jacob Frost
157- Daniel Cardenas
165- Michael Caliendo
174- Patrick Kennedy
184- Angelo Ferrari
197- AJ Ferrari
Hwt- Ben Keuter
I’d swap out AJ for Elam. Very strategic medical for Elam this year. They’ll couch refusing AJ as ethics, but only if they have a somewhat similar replacement
Agree! And I really don’t understand how kneeling down isn’t stalling. What does a ref do if both wrestlers take a knee and there’s no action?
AJ and Fredo will be on the Iowa roster again at some point with Angelo. This was their "this time I really mean it" time-out year from the Brands babies.
If Iowa actually was smart, they would have made a serious play for DT without concern about hurting Brands' feelings. It's business. I know many will say that Iowa is still performing at a high level, but if you strip away Slumlord's money infusion into the program, they have serious rot at the foundational level. Because they lack vertical integration with a competent RTC, Iowa is not a serious contender for kids who aspire to the Olympics. Spencer Lee is not proof that I am wrong. He is proof that I am right. One guy does not make an RTC.
Angelo uses underhooks a lot. He tried 3-4x in the first 30 seconds of the match to get an underhook but Carter wouldn’t let him.
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Well, they didn't try to get Aaron Brooks. And then they insulted Anthony Knox by having his initial contact by Bobby Telford ... from the University of Iowa! Those are stubborn facts.
Lilledahl didn't release a finalist list, so it's hard to tell how engaged iowa was up-front. But they offered him the Slumlord Bob bag this past summer, after it was known that Ayala was going 133, and after Iowa got rejected by Ramos and Volk (at least). Long after he signed his NLI, and IIRC after he had arrived on campus. That's not recruiting per se.
As for the rest:
- BRANDS MADE JESUROGA HATE THE SPORT !!!! (just kidding)
- Ferrari signed with Iowa because they were the only school willing to enroll his miscreant brothers as criminal justice majors.
- Kueter was a 2-sport signee with real (at the time) NFL aspirations; that should've been a flag for his development.
- Kennedy was a good signing, and probably belongs at 165 except Caliendo.
- Ayala was a good signing.
- Arnold is height/length challenged and should be a reliable AA, but not a likely title contender. This was about recruiting results and rankings ahead of athletic ability.
- We'll see about DeLuca, but Nate Desmond caught up to him a year before even arriving at PSU. Doesn't portend well for Iowa.
Caliendo is a JR. If Facundo were inclined to transfer, Iowa makes no sense for him, and no reason for Iowa to pursue him.
Again looking for a gif of the owner in Major League responding to being told one of the invitees to spring training is dead with “Cross him off then.”
There are classless people everywhere, but wouldn't you think/hope that someone in the Iowa program or at least some major booster would get a hold of the guy and tell him to knock it the hell off? I'm not a fan of Gabe Arnold at all. Maybe he's the product of a lousy atmosphere, but under any circumstance, his schtick has already gotten old and if his father behaves like this, then the old man is a buffoon (obviously barring any actual evidence of the crap that he claims, which he'll NEVER be able to provide). Between the Downeys, the Ferarris and the Arnolds of the world, it's hard to imagine that any high-end kids (especially decent character kids) have any interest at all in Iowa and that's outside of the fact that they seem to be lacking in the actual development of wrestlers.
They don't need to tell him because he never posted anything like that. Another example of someone spewing false info to rile up this board.
Well, I don't go on GIA, so if he hasn't made a suggestion about PEDs, my apologies, but I know that he previously said something to the effect that PSU has some sort of racist culture in their sports programs, so.......I guess I'll wait and hope that someone can quote his actual post here where I can see it.
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That's not Gabe's dad.
Noted and thank you. I am deleting my post
That's not him. He's one of the resident knuckle draggers like mvpfan, chips and gobbles that use steroid use as an excuse for Iowa's beatings. Gabe's dad is coachphil.
Phil Arnold = ao_coachphil
His last post on GIA was 1/3/2025.
So this is just the usual drooling idiots who maybe could count to ten by looking at each others' teeth.
Just saying here, but I have never seen nor read anything to make me believe the Arnold kid should be mentioned in any kind of comparison that includes 2 of the Ferraris and Downey.
I heard the stories of the rift between PSU and Gabe's dad but I will say that almost all the posts he has made on GIA have been very positive and well thought out. I don't recall any time were he has posted BS about PSU.
I'm dumbfounded that Hawk fans aren't making more of a fuss that the Brands brothers seem to never be able to keep their house in order. Hell, it's almost fun for me now waiting on seeing what their failure in leadership will lead to next. Eventually you got to realize this shit isn't imagined...
-Desanto acting like a Psycho on the mat.
-Desanto pissed at fans for cheering a teammates effort when he wrestled against him.
-Desanto threatening that same teammates parents for simply cheering on their kid.
-Spencer getting pissed Brands had him wrestle Ayala.
-Ayalas mom airing their dirty laundry while sharing that Spencer is a shitty teammate.
-Brands trying his best to bring in dirt bag AJ Ferrari leading to some on his team and their fans being pissed about it. Some say stud recruit Swiderski left because of it.
-Brands recruiting the middle Ferrari boy who then preceeded to accidentally reveal that he's on only fans selling his ass pics to the gays. And then to top it off, you have another incident where someone is accusing him of home invasion and robbery.
-Brands allowing AJ in his room, then putting him under the "Hawkeye banner" to wrestle a teammate in a tournament, leading to him screaming at Hawk fans before going to full splits while he flips them all the bird.
-A heavyweight going against Brands orders and runs out on the mat to wrestle after being told he was sitting.
-Desanto telling a reporter he'd kill her after a loss at Nationals.
-The terrible optics of kids hastily transferring out because Bob runs the roster and bought kids to replace them.
- Interview after interview of Brands seemingly acting like he has screws loose in his head. Not gonna get into the mat side antics of a one Terry Brands.
-Now this, with Arnold. Don't know what happened but come on...another bad look?
I know I didn't mention them all but it's like one big circus there. They need a change. Hell....for all we know, they could be losing recruits over the seemingly endless cluster **** they seem to relish. The funny part in all this to me is Tom Brands literally said programs are paying people to make them look bad. Lmao...the dude actually said that.
-Desanto acting like a Psycho on the mat.
-Desanto pissed at fans for cheering a teammates effort when he wrestled against him.
-Desanto threatening that same teammates parents for simply cheering on their kid.
-Spencer getting pissed Brands had him wrestle Ayala.
-Ayalas mom airing their dirty laundry while sharing that Spencer is a shitty teammate.
-Brands trying his best to bring in dirt bag AJ Ferrari leading to some on his team and their fans being pissed about it. Some say stud recruit Swiderski left because of it.
-Brands recruiting the middle Ferrari boy who then preceeded to accidentally reveal that he's on only fans selling his ass pics to the gays. And then to top it off, you have another incident where someone is accusing him of home invasion and robbery.
-Brands allowing AJ in his room, then putting him under the "Hawkeye banner" to wrestle a teammate in a tournament, leading to him screaming at Hawk fans before going to full splits while he flips them all the bird.
-A heavyweight going against Brands orders and runs out on the mat to wrestle after being told he was sitting.
-Desanto telling a reporter he'd kill her after a loss at Nationals.
-The terrible optics of kids hastily transferring out because Bob runs the roster and bought kids to replace them.
- Interview after interview of Brands seemingly acting like he has screws loose in his head. Not gonna get into the mat side antics of a one Terry Brands.
-Now this, with Arnold. Don't know what happened but come on...another bad look?
I know I didn't mention them all but it's like one big circus there. They need a change. Hell....for all we know, they could be losing recruits over the seemingly endless cluster **** they seem to relish. The funny part in all this to me is Tom Brands literally said programs are paying people to make them look bad. Lmao...the dude actually said that.
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