After a crappy travel day, I just got home a few hours ago. Ice & snow in Chicago, one plane replacement, wind conditions in State College and a slit landing tire (that needed to be replaced) caused missed connections, three flight changes and I still ended up taking an Uber from Pittsburgh to State College area just to get home before the sun came up. This is a recap of our trip from a tired old man.
THE WRESTLING
Second-to-none, overall the wrestling was fabulous. Aside from 20 or so medical defaults (14 of which I believe were in placement bouts), it was thoroughly enjoyable. Every team except Michigan, where every wrestler met or exceeded their seed, had a few disappointments and a few results where they were delighted. Happens. Our guys wrestled well overall, eight meeting or exceeding seed, two falling below their seed. Not to focus on those two, every loss is painful for every wrestler at the time, and six of our guys faced at least one loss during the weekend. Back to the room, final preparations, then on to Detroit.
SUPPORT SYSTEMS
The support for our wrestlers is amazing. I had the good fortune of hanging with many of the parents at times over the weekend, also got to see the support between wrestlers, and on and on. For the parents too, competitions are a bit of a roller coaster, so it is good for all the parents to be together in the stands. It's family, no question.
LINCOLN & THE PEOPLE
Loved our stay. The hotel was great, but it was the people that made the trip even more fun. We were treated well everywhere we went, food was great, and everything was within an easy walk. Plenty of opposing fans everywhere, as the arena appeared to be one-third (probably more) Nebraska, one-third Iowa, and one-third all others. Penn State traveled well, but we didn't have the presence of Nebraska and Iowa.
When out and about, even in the hotel, we met the nicest "fellow wrestling fans", with many of the conversations with Hawkeyes and Huskers. To the person, the shared love of wrestling showed through and the respect for opposing fans was great to see. It was the antithesis of HR, honestly and truly.
THE ARENA
Awesome facility (Pinnacle Bank Arena), but my one major disappointment of the weekend was the bout scoring. This was my 11th Big Ten tournament, and the worst in that regard. Only on the mat kiosk could a fan keep up with bout scores, and several were too far away or cocked in a way that they were hard to read. The jumbo-tron overhead had nothing all weekend, and the information strip all the way around the arena only had the wrestlers listed (no scores -- EVER). It was challenging.
MISCELLANEOUS
-- One team went home happier than the others. Michigan wrestled one heck of a tournament.
-- Next time, I'm flying to Omaha and driving to Lincoln.
-- Iowa fans were really upset after the tournament was over. At the hotel bar, and at dinner we sat with and among Iowa fans. They did not hold back their anger and disappointment for the team's medical forfeits. I can't repeat what some said.
-- Met Willie at Buzzard Billy's (great restaurant, btw) after the finals. We had a nice Penn State group there, and he started several "WE ARE" chants, just for kicks.
-- Penn State fans were upbeat and really positive after the tournament, all looking forward to NCAA's.
THE WRESTLING
Second-to-none, overall the wrestling was fabulous. Aside from 20 or so medical defaults (14 of which I believe were in placement bouts), it was thoroughly enjoyable. Every team except Michigan, where every wrestler met or exceeded their seed, had a few disappointments and a few results where they were delighted. Happens. Our guys wrestled well overall, eight meeting or exceeding seed, two falling below their seed. Not to focus on those two, every loss is painful for every wrestler at the time, and six of our guys faced at least one loss during the weekend. Back to the room, final preparations, then on to Detroit.
SUPPORT SYSTEMS
The support for our wrestlers is amazing. I had the good fortune of hanging with many of the parents at times over the weekend, also got to see the support between wrestlers, and on and on. For the parents too, competitions are a bit of a roller coaster, so it is good for all the parents to be together in the stands. It's family, no question.
LINCOLN & THE PEOPLE
Loved our stay. The hotel was great, but it was the people that made the trip even more fun. We were treated well everywhere we went, food was great, and everything was within an easy walk. Plenty of opposing fans everywhere, as the arena appeared to be one-third (probably more) Nebraska, one-third Iowa, and one-third all others. Penn State traveled well, but we didn't have the presence of Nebraska and Iowa.
When out and about, even in the hotel, we met the nicest "fellow wrestling fans", with many of the conversations with Hawkeyes and Huskers. To the person, the shared love of wrestling showed through and the respect for opposing fans was great to see. It was the antithesis of HR, honestly and truly.
THE ARENA
Awesome facility (Pinnacle Bank Arena), but my one major disappointment of the weekend was the bout scoring. This was my 11th Big Ten tournament, and the worst in that regard. Only on the mat kiosk could a fan keep up with bout scores, and several were too far away or cocked in a way that they were hard to read. The jumbo-tron overhead had nothing all weekend, and the information strip all the way around the arena only had the wrestlers listed (no scores -- EVER). It was challenging.
MISCELLANEOUS
-- One team went home happier than the others. Michigan wrestled one heck of a tournament.
-- Next time, I'm flying to Omaha and driving to Lincoln.
-- Iowa fans were really upset after the tournament was over. At the hotel bar, and at dinner we sat with and among Iowa fans. They did not hold back their anger and disappointment for the team's medical forfeits. I can't repeat what some said.
-- Met Willie at Buzzard Billy's (great restaurant, btw) after the finals. We had a nice Penn State group there, and he started several "WE ARE" chants, just for kicks.
-- Penn State fans were upbeat and really positive after the tournament, all looking forward to NCAA's.