Will Minnesota become the next ISU?
- Thread starter slushhead
- Start date
They had a shot to clean house and bring in a different culture. It's not like JRob was down on the mat teaching technique or getting these guys individually motivated. I think people forget that Steveson was a #12...higher ranked than Stroker and Early. They wrestled him last year at 197 and now he is 10-12 at 184 and tweeting that he should have punched Gilman...lol. If I were his parents, I would take a hard look at Gable automatically going to Minne because that's where it's headed. They pulled the shirt on McKee when he wasn't ready...Mitch looked good at the beginning of the season but has progressively started to degrade. BTW, Jake Short and Wanzek were higher ranked than Sorensen in the 2013 class.
According to reports, it is said that none of their seven assistants knew a thing about the troubles on the team last year...that somehow it was only the old out of touch guy that eventually got a clue. I guess their AD accepted it at face value which tells me he just didn't want to deal with it and do a proper search. Either way, it's not a good look for the assistants and "secretaries." If they did know, their coach took a hit for them. If they didn't know, they are seriously out of touch.
If Seth Nevills wants to play football, I'm sure Cael will be more than happy to have a long sit-down in Gable Stevenson's living room.
Gophers did not look good yesterday. Poor bottom wrestling and low activity level compared to their opponents. These are common complaints from ISU fans so I think the comparison is valid. I really don't understand the internal hiring; they needed to clean house and bring in some new blood. Things may very well get worse, especially when you consider their weak recruiting of late.
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There are only a few teams that seem suited for his services. Penn State and maybe Okie State seem like the schools best suited to land him, and we have a huge advantage in partners for him over the Cowboys. The Buckeyes may have taken themselves out of the running if Singletary looks like he'll pan out. If Singletary doesn't impress, then they could/would recruit over him and be a major player for Gable.
Iowa guys supposedly just had a major twitter war last night with Gable and his brother - not helping their cause at all.
Landing his very close friends - Hall and RBY -- doesn't hurt either. I like our chances with Gable or Big Snacks
Snacks has recently said he wants to wrestle in college and that his long-term goal is the Olympics.
Didn't really see a major twitter war -- more like Bobby Steveson took a flyswatter to one Hawk backup (much like what Martinez did to Luke Gardner). Anyway, don't think any Iowa twitter storms will matter, suspect they're more about Schultz anyway -- unless Stoll's injuries become more of an issue.
GS deleted all his tweets. Sounded from reports on HR that he was pretty fired up. Again, doesn't matter as he's not going there. Probably fuels his fire to destroy any Hawkeyes HWTs in the future, though.
Two things I thought I saw:
- absence of "fire"
- Head Coach looking like a deer in the headlights (especially during intermission interview)
The wrestlers seemed like they were either run-down or just going through the motions. No life in their eyes when defeat was knocking on the door.
And the coach...seemed to lack confidence and intensity. Almost like the ship had escaped his control.
Maybe that's just in my head, but if not, we could see a Nebraska, Rutgers, or Michigan supplant Minnesota as the #4 power in the Big 10 on a longer-term basis. If something doesn't change soon, Minnesota could be on a path to becoming a perennial laggard behind PSU, Iowa, tOSU, Nebraska, Michigan, Rutgers, and Illinois. And if Wisconsin and Northwestern regain form, things could get downright ugly.
- absence of "fire"
- Head Coach looking like a deer in the headlights (especially during intermission interview)
The wrestlers seemed like they were either run-down or just going through the motions. No life in their eyes when defeat was knocking on the door.
And the coach...seemed to lack confidence and intensity. Almost like the ship had escaped his control.
Maybe that's just in my head, but if not, we could see a Nebraska, Rutgers, or Michigan supplant Minnesota as the #4 power in the Big 10 on a longer-term basis. If something doesn't change soon, Minnesota could be on a path to becoming a perennial laggard behind PSU, Iowa, tOSU, Nebraska, Michigan, Rutgers, and Illinois. And if Wisconsin and Northwestern regain form, things could get downright ugly.
I understand it: the AD didn't care. All he wanted to do was show who's the boss -- which he did by putting J Rob's head on a platter. Everything else is immaterial.
Based upon their geography, Rutgers not already being there is an embarrassment. Or should be.
But maybe someday that cruiseliner will dock.
Sports team success runs in cycles. Not just "dynasties", where one team wins all, or most of the championships, but teams that have staying power, and are near the top for really long periods. Think Iowa Wrestling, UCLA Basketball, UNC Women's Soccer, Connecticut Women's Basketball, etc. as dynasties, then just below those teams are those that are top-5 or top-10 year-after-year for many, many years.
Every sport has those teams. For NCAA Wrestling, imo, it's been the Oklahoma State's, Iowa State's, Oklahoma's, Minnesota's, Lehigh's and Penn State's of the world. Oklahoma State made hay in the late 20's (NCAA picked up wrestling in 1928) through the late 1960's, and did have a 4-year run in the early 2000's, and were a dynasty, but in a different era. Iowa's domination was in our era. And Penn State is currently in dynasty-building mode.
The "cyclical" part is that Iowa State and Oklahoma and now Minnesota, while relevant, aren't top-5 year-after-year. Oklahoma State still is, and Iowa, while not winning a championship since 2010 is still an easy top-5 contender, and look to be on an upswing (though 2017-18 might not be a NC contender). Replacing the perennial powers are the Ohio State's, Virginia Tech's, NC State's, Cornell's, and Missouri's of the world, and time will tell what their staying power is, though Cornell has been very good for a pretty long time.
Point is (getting back to the cyclical thing, and slushies question), will tradition prevail, and Minnesota make the steady climb back to a perennial top-5 power? "I don't know" is my answer. We've seen how one man (in our case, Cael, in Minnesota's case, JRob) can make a difference. So maybe the question is...Is Brandon Eggum the man to bring them back? Early evidence paints a cloudy picture, for sure.
Which leads me to a final point about being cyclical. I'm personally not much for bravado, bluster, bragging or boasting...just thoroughly and completely sitting back and enjoying what we have (and appears will continue to have for the near future). The Penn State "train" will come to a rest at some point, sure as I'm sitting here typing this post. It's as inevitable as a Jammen post reminding us of the consecutive non-winning dual streak against Minny. Oh, never mind, that came to a end, didn't it. So enjoy the ride, enjoy these extraordinary men that are coaching at Penn State, and the remarkable young men they are bringing into the Penn State Wrestling program. WE ARE!!
Every sport has those teams. For NCAA Wrestling, imo, it's been the Oklahoma State's, Iowa State's, Oklahoma's, Minnesota's, Lehigh's and Penn State's of the world. Oklahoma State made hay in the late 20's (NCAA picked up wrestling in 1928) through the late 1960's, and did have a 4-year run in the early 2000's, and were a dynasty, but in a different era. Iowa's domination was in our era. And Penn State is currently in dynasty-building mode.
The "cyclical" part is that Iowa State and Oklahoma and now Minnesota, while relevant, aren't top-5 year-after-year. Oklahoma State still is, and Iowa, while not winning a championship since 2010 is still an easy top-5 contender, and look to be on an upswing (though 2017-18 might not be a NC contender). Replacing the perennial powers are the Ohio State's, Virginia Tech's, NC State's, Cornell's, and Missouri's of the world, and time will tell what their staying power is, though Cornell has been very good for a pretty long time.
Point is (getting back to the cyclical thing, and slushies question), will tradition prevail, and Minnesota make the steady climb back to a perennial top-5 power? "I don't know" is my answer. We've seen how one man (in our case, Cael, in Minnesota's case, JRob) can make a difference. So maybe the question is...Is Brandon Eggum the man to bring them back? Early evidence paints a cloudy picture, for sure.
Which leads me to a final point about being cyclical. I'm personally not much for bravado, bluster, bragging or boasting...just thoroughly and completely sitting back and enjoying what we have (and appears will continue to have for the near future). The Penn State "train" will come to a rest at some point, sure as I'm sitting here typing this post. It's as inevitable as a Jammen post reminding us of the consecutive non-winning dual streak against Minny. Oh, never mind, that came to a end, didn't it. So enjoy the ride, enjoy these extraordinary men that are coaching at Penn State, and the remarkable young men they are bringing into the Penn State Wrestling program. WE ARE!!
They need to add some brand new, young, high level technicians - fresh out of college and from OTHER schools.
Nuts & Bolts guys if you will.
If the Head Coach isn't looking to do that, then they need a new one of them too.
Nuts & Bolts guys if you will.
If the Head Coach isn't looking to do that, then they need a new one of them too.
I do not know what to make of Minnesota right now. They have lost recruits, the recruits they have kept have shown little progression. Lizak is the exception, tremendous progress. Even with Lizak, when was the last time a JROB trained wrestler wilted in the third like that.
Eggum has been involved with the recruitment and development of recent teams that were good enough to print championship tshirts believing they had the Lions beat right b4 PSU prevailed by a step.
I am not sure what to think. Minny was completely overwhelmed by us and again yesterday by the Hawks. Also the fans in the stands. They were wrestling Iowa and other than the seats close to the mat the place was sparsely populated.
Give Eggum a couple of years, he may fix it or he may break it. The Goofs are in a hard place right now. I would like to see the Goofs and the Cyclones become good again.
Eggum has been involved with the recruitment and development of recent teams that were good enough to print championship tshirts believing they had the Lions beat right b4 PSU prevailed by a step.
I am not sure what to think. Minny was completely overwhelmed by us and again yesterday by the Hawks. Also the fans in the stands. They were wrestling Iowa and other than the seats close to the mat the place was sparsely populated.
Give Eggum a couple of years, he may fix it or he may break it. The Goofs are in a hard place right now. I would like to see the Goofs and the Cyclones become good again.
As many have said, I question the Eggum hire. They needed a breath of fresh air and instead made the safe choice.
McKee was the best option and wanted to wrestle. Also concerns of him and Thorn overlapping at 141 down the road. A TFR that has been nationally ranked, sounds like he is doing fine to me. Will redshirt down the road. Similar to Lizak.
JRob was called by a head coach (who had contact with a former MN wrestler)of another university and informed on what he knew. J made a decision to not inform his staff and move forward to take care of it. People will continue to believe what they want though.
Bobby will be fine. Steveson parents will not be encouraging Gable to look anywhere else. They love Eggum and the U.
Only with an asterisk for beating an interim coach. The unbeaten streak with a head coach remains.
