@Dar.of.Emur
So what is the fan base thinking?
Its mixed.
Most of the guys that understand the sport realized this was our worst squad since pre-Steiber. So, myself and the logical fans went into this season realizing it will be rough as per rooting for the team, and to focus on just enjoying the sport. The casual watchers of the sport flooded the forums with typical drivel, not understanding why we were no longer the 2018 squad.
But, most fans are getting pretty sick and tired of "how" we lose...mostly the constant inability to mat wrestle. We had (good) discussions about 'why' - with my main theory being Ohio State is in the state of Ohio, thus if the recruiting base is home state kids, then we will never be great on the mat- as Ohio trained guys are more neutral focused and lack mat skills. Others blame it solely on the coaching staff. Others blame the wrestlers effort.. The truth is probably a mix of all.
With the success of the Ohio RTC over the past 10 years (I know its down now, but its been a great RTC historically at getting guys on the World team), I think the coaches starting bringing in pure freestyle guys, that had questions on their ability to win in folkstyle (Decatur, Heinselman, Echemendia). None of them have developed mat wrestling (yet.)
At B1Gs, I counted 5 losses that were solely due to lack of being able to get out from bottom:
Romero (a 4th year guy) getting rode out by a redshirt freshman (your guy) to lose 2-0.
Romero choosing neutral vs Massa, and losing 4-3.
Hoffman lost to Schultz (#1 seed) 2-0 by a 3rd period rideout.
D'emilio losing to Mattin 2-1 due to a riding time point. Huge match for qualification purposes.
Cleary lost (cant remember opponent) due to 1:00 riding time, in another match that would have been huge for him as per qualification purposes.
Its the above that is driving the tOSU fanbase crazy. Not the "down year".
Some state they are frustrated with lack of development of some recruits (Hoffman, Rocky, Singletary, Decatur). But, OTOH, they tend to ignore the successes. The guys that develop in our program, lately, tend to jump levels during their 3rd year in the room. Romero, last year, was a completely different guy than his first two years - heck, in his first year, he lost his spot mid season. Heiselman and Ethan Smith jump levels this past year, both in their 3rd years in the room. Heinselman still cant ride and has trouble on bottom vs elite riders, but he is night-and-day better than his first two years. Ethan Smith was a different animal as well, but guess that what happens when you have Kharchla and Romero at the two possible weights you can go... if you want to see the mat, you can either get really good, or settle for being a career backup. Proud of Ethan for his work and success.
You guys mentioned the recruiting class we had a few years ago, and what happened to it.
1. top recruit ditched the program one day prior to the start of the season to transfer to the rival.
2. Due to the timing of #1, we missed out on pursuing other big men, as we thought we were set for 4 years. I dont know how close we were with Cohlton Schultz, but I know he was on campus. He committed to ASU while Kirk was our 285 for the next 4 years - thus I doubt the coaches could put too much into him. If the timing was different with Snyder leaving and Kirk following, then I would guess the recruiting effort on Schultz would have been a lot different. Some other big guys were not pursued, not going to put on a public forum.
2. Kharchla has yet to make it thru a full season due to injury. I really hope its just circumstantial, as the kid has great talent, and I really want to watch him perform. I hope he doesnt have the injury bug.
3. Decatur - has not developed, probably multiple reasons. Then, another Ohio kid is wrestling incredible and looks like a 4xAA (Byrd). Tho to be fair, the whole world missed on him. He was a Maryland commit till McCoy got fired.
4. D'Emilio. Was really a 20-30 recruit. He is about the level of most 20-30 recruits.
5. Mattox. Off the team for non-wrestling reasons. He would have been an upgrade at 157. 4x Ohio D1 finalist, 2x champ, only lost his freshman year and lost to David Carr his Junior year.
6. Heinselman. was a top 50 guy. Kinda ranked low, mostly due to his (lack of) size.
The above was the #1 recruiting class that year. But in all reality, it was over-hyped by Flo. They tend to like quantity over quality. Only Kirk and Kharchla were cant-miss prospects. Decatur was a top5 guy, but a lot of people had big question marks over his ability in Folk.
On top of the above, we lost out on Carr... most can figure that one out. He very easily could have been with the above.
On the guys not developing:
Rocky - IMHO, grew out of his skill set. He was a monster on top, with an incredible roll thru tilt. Now he is a 184, and its just hard to ride guys that size, let alone tilts.
Hoffman- finally at his natural weight. Hopefully he will now develop.
Singletary- he wasnt bad as a heavyweight. He looked like a R12 guy his redshirt freshman year. Then hurt last year. The experiment of cutting to 197 looks to be a failure. He may be a true tweener. Really needs a 220 pound weight class. He looked very good at Akron at 97 kg. He looks emaciated at 197 pounds, and lost his offense.
Decatur- really makes me sad, as I have watched him since he was a freshman in high school and wanted him to succeed.
Dont be surprised if next year its 165 Kharchla, 174 Ethan Smith, 184 Romero.
