Back about 5 years ago, Flo was all over the promoting of the Rutgers program. I, myself, was more than a little skeptical. To me, the Suriano and Ashnault titles were lipstick on a pig or a paint job over a rusted-out car. They hadn't beaten a top ten team since the 2015-16 season (Cornell and Nebraska fell to Rutgers that season) and they hadn't gotten close to equaling their best ever B1G tourney performance in 2016.
They continued their downhill slide over these subsequent 5 years. A couple of years ago, Suriano left the fold. Okay, no biggie. He's not the most loyal and committed wrestler on the planet.
But in the last year, first Ashnault left (to go to Princeton, no less). Then this summer, Pritzlaff took the HC position at Columbia and took Rivera and Jeff Buxton (SKWC and former Blair HC) with him. leaving Goodale (never an AA at Lock Haven) in charge with Steve Mytych (never an AA at Drexel), Joe Pollard (never even a NQ at Rider) and new-to-coaching Mikey Labriola (some excellent wrestling credentials at least - 5 time AA) for his staff and only Goodale and Pollard as coaches at the SKWC. To be fair, there is only one resident athlete at the SKWC, so you don't need a big staff, I guess. Yes, they have one of their "best" recruiting classes ever coming in this year, but it wouldn't be shocking to me if none of them hit the podium during their college careers. Goodale's peak season was roughly halfway through his current tenure and he has come nowhere near it (except for the Suriano and AA titles) since.
Even the most cockeyed optimists among the Rutgers faithful (and these folks have a stronger sense of denial than the Iowa faithful) have to be a little disquieted. If Rutgers' "rise" in college wrestling was a viable news story, I have to believe this mass exodus from the Rutgers program and their 8 year slide has to be at least as big news. But it's been crickets over at Flo.
They continued their downhill slide over these subsequent 5 years. A couple of years ago, Suriano left the fold. Okay, no biggie. He's not the most loyal and committed wrestler on the planet.
But in the last year, first Ashnault left (to go to Princeton, no less). Then this summer, Pritzlaff took the HC position at Columbia and took Rivera and Jeff Buxton (SKWC and former Blair HC) with him. leaving Goodale (never an AA at Lock Haven) in charge with Steve Mytych (never an AA at Drexel), Joe Pollard (never even a NQ at Rider) and new-to-coaching Mikey Labriola (some excellent wrestling credentials at least - 5 time AA) for his staff and only Goodale and Pollard as coaches at the SKWC. To be fair, there is only one resident athlete at the SKWC, so you don't need a big staff, I guess. Yes, they have one of their "best" recruiting classes ever coming in this year, but it wouldn't be shocking to me if none of them hit the podium during their college careers. Goodale's peak season was roughly halfway through his current tenure and he has come nowhere near it (except for the Suriano and AA titles) since.
Even the most cockeyed optimists among the Rutgers faithful (and these folks have a stronger sense of denial than the Iowa faithful) have to be a little disquieted. If Rutgers' "rise" in college wrestling was a viable news story, I have to believe this mass exodus from the Rutgers program and their 8 year slide has to be at least as big news. But it's been crickets over at Flo.
