I know that this year was a disappointment in all fan's eyes. There were some pretty high expectations but some injuries and less than expected performances took place. What does it look like next year? Lineup? Real expectations? Any incoming freshman start from match one? Any returning starters challenged for their spot?
2022-23 Way Too Early
- Thread starter DEWrestlingFan
- Start date
The 2022-2023 Line-Up Prediction Thread...
125: Trevor Mastrogiovanni, Jr. (3 Year Remaining) Back-Up: Cooper Birdwell, RS Fr. Future Contender: Zach Blankenship, Fr. 133: Daton Fix, RS Sr. (2 Years Remaining) Back-Up: Reece Witcraft, RS Jr. 141: Carter Young, So. (3 Years Reaming/RS Available) Back-Up: Teague Travis, RS Fr. Future...
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Heard from a former Poke wrestler who thinks it’s time for a new energy and voice. I asked him what do we need to get better and that was his response. That surprised me to say the least!
He cited some names in Big Ten programs we should go after that are important and very integral assistants there that would make immediate improvements in the program in all areas in his opinion.
He also believes John doesn’t see it or think it even though the results, our recruiting, our overall competitiveness is below our traditional standard and in a slow decline.
Don’t shoot the messenger as I’m only repeating what was said by this former very successful Poke wrestler. Interesting to say the least and unexpected considering the source.
He cited some names in Big Ten programs we should go after that are important and very integral assistants there that would make immediate improvements in the program in all areas in his opinion.
He also believes John doesn’t see it or think it even though the results, our recruiting, our overall competitiveness is below our traditional standard and in a slow decline.
Don’t shoot the messenger as I’m only repeating what was said by this former very successful Poke wrestler. Interesting to say the least and unexpected considering the source.
dnhall, I appreciate you sharing this info.
If you step back just a bit, honestly, how is this a surprising take? And I totally agree with his assessment. I also agree you look elsewhere, everywhere. I think there are some fine possible Cowboy coaches, and one may be the guy, but this needs to be a total rethinking of the entire program.
Coaching, fundraising, fan outreach, RTC, facility….we need to re-establish that we are at least one of the centers of the collegiate wrestling universe.
I remember when there were wrestling events at Gallagher Hall all the time. Of course, part of the change away from that is bigger venues but we were the center of collegiate wrestling.
Last night at the NCAA's, they were talking about Steveson’s opponent Schultz being from Arizona State. And that Arizona State last had a national champion heavyweight when Curley Culp won. I remember when Curley Culp came to Gallagher to wrestle in the East-West dual. I got his autograph! This would have been in the mid to late 60’s and I was around 10-12. Culp went on to a very good career in the NFL. We also use to have international wrestlers here all the time back in those old days.
Back then, Cowboy wrestling was the best thing going in OSU athletics….by far!
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Just curious if you recall the names of the Big10 assistants he said we should go after?
Our recruiting declined several years ago. It's back up though right? Couple top classes in a row. Takes time for those classes to develop and produce results which bring in more top classes.
The other stuff, yeah, it's pretty obvious that things need to change to keep our guys healthier and more fired up through the season.
The other stuff, yeah, it's pretty obvious that things need to change to keep our guys healthier and more fired up through the season.
We were 3rd last year and very good this year until a bunch of injuries in January. I believe we will be back in the hunt next season we don’t need any major changes in our program.
To get past PSU we do. To be a top 5 program then no we don’t.
If we continue to scoff at this RTC setup that is elevating other programs (especially PSU) we will continue to be on the outside looking in in terms of a team championship.
I’m not advocating to get rid of John but there needs to be a drastic change on our approach to wrestling. The RTC issue is huge and how we practice is almost as important. Kids today can’t be treated like they were 20-25 years ago. From my experience with working with high school students, I had to adjust my approach over the years to get the response needed to be competitive. It doesn’t sound like John has made many adjustments in practice and wrestlers today can’t handle the practice regimen of the old days.
I hope John can relax his views on the RTC and how he practices so that we can close the gap on PSU.
There are some positive things happening in regards to fundraising for the RTC and some rumblings of more positive things to come.
I do agree with the approach. PSU guys seem to love their time and want to come back and keep going. I know it’s over exaggerating but some of our guys look burnt and worn out near the end of their careers here.
There's no doubt we dug ourselves into a hole by not getting on board with the RTC setup. As Rob Koll said, the secret to PSU's success is they have $9M in assets. Obviously that's not the only reason, but it's certainly a huge part.
But the new game is NIL. Jesse Mendez supposedly was offered big NIL $ by a school in Indiana, yet he chose Ohio St. We need to get on board or it will be a repeat of the RTC.
But the new game is NIL. Jesse Mendez supposedly was offered big NIL $ by a school in Indiana, yet he chose Ohio St. We need to get on board or it will be a repeat of the RTC.
Flo has a short video of Plott enjoying the Friday night wins. Perry, Esposito and Caldwell excited and celebrating with him. John Smith follows and it looks like 1 of his cows fell into the middle of the pond in the winter. It is hard to celebrate the little things when the big picture was so bad. I hope at mat side John did congratulate Dustin. Also on Orange Power forum Lee is very positive about the future ( not a surprise) but he is catching wind of some good changes occurring for wrestling. I hope he is right.
I visited with a wrestler just before the Big 12s and he said they were grinding hard from bedlam to Tulsa from 3:00 to 8:00 every day. They did get the Wednesday before Tulsa off and Thursday was a light shorter practice but this kid was worn out the day I seen him. Kaid told me similar stories a few years ago. I’m as old-school as it gets but today’s youth are different than 2-3 decades ago and they must get their Tik Tok time every day.
I mean all of our starters have an NIL deal somewhere and AJ Ferrari is likely the highest paid athlete at OSU. Heck even Anthony Montalvo has NIL money coming in. We're on board. The issue for OSU wrestling is just going to be the same as with every other sport... most companies that are looking to make those investments are going to go to OU football because that has the most eyes.
I'm always going to be positive. I think y'all know that at this point. And there are a lot of reasons to be positive. Just need to be patient.
And for the "we've been waiting 16 years I'm out of patience" crowd... I get it. I really do. And not to make excuses, but we're a slip and two concussions away from 3 more titles. Things haven't gone perfect for us and they have for PSU. Just is what it is. Can't really control any of that.
There's also a slew of sports science that has shaped the way training takes place today. There's more working smarter not harder, more tailoring diet and workout plans to the individual, more sports psychology. Not everyone knocks down a wall by headbutting it... a lot of people go around it. That's the new way.
Took a blood oath. There was an animal sacrifice. Got weird. Already said too much.
The scuttlebutt was Mendez was offered an $80K/year sponsorship deal to stay in state and wrestle for Indiana. But then he chose OhioSt. And so did Bouzakis & Feldman.
I'm not sure you and are talking about the same thing when we say on board with NIL.
There was a Dakota Geer interview last March. He said that in the week leading up to Nationals, they had a 40 minute go live session.
Again AJ is making 6 figures from NIL deals. If guys are marketable, they'll earn and OSU has the resources to connect them with people. Carter has a deal with Spartan Combat.
But yes... Ohio State has a different resource pool than we do. Look up the Mosquito Nix founder... he's a big wrestling fan. We don't really have anything like that...
I’m curious as to how much a roll our assistant coaches play in the practice schedules, workouts, routines etc. John is obviously old school when it comes to training but espo and Perry are much younger and should hopefully have a different approach that can get the best out of some guys who don’t respond well to the old school approach. But it’s true, the guys today aren’t the same as they were 15-20 plus years ago.
A question I have for ya’ll is are we doing the right thing by promoting program guys to asst coaches? Instead of looking for the best possible replacements we just tend to promote within. I’m not against it, I know that both asst coaches are wrestling fanatics, but instead of looking for a new head coach maybe we need to look at who is surrounding him and what influence they have on coach smith and the guys in the room.
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I would like to see assistants come from other programs, or at the very least OSU grads that have been assistants at other programs. I have long thought that there was too much inbreeding in our coaching staff. We need fresh blood and fresh ideas now more than ever.
The Flo guys have said that content regarding us gives them a massive bump... Second to Iowa, usually, with Iowa-OSU rivalry stuff is huge for them.
I don't really know what that means though. I do know that there are fans of opposing teams that subscribe to OSU Max to watch the wrestling content... And there are Iowa fans that hate us so much, they would subscribe to the podcast behind a paywall just to make fun of it.
One potential way to think about it (given that GIA is always packed for Iowa)...
Iowa vs. PSU = 16,000 in attendance
OSU vs. OU = 8,000 in attendance
If it’s around 300 students/alumni per graduating class that number could be around 10,000 spread out across the country. Not to mention the fans that didn’t go to school at OSU.
what ever all is going on
that 65 at mizzou is a four timer
kid is just a scratching the surface
that 65 at mizzou is a four timer
kid is just a scratching the surface
Ehh that's not really a good way to measure... Iowa is an outlier as well. And Iowa City and the surrounding area is much larger than Stillwater.
I don't typically argue in favor of the OSU fan in this discussion... But wrestling tends to have a lot of our biggest fans outside of the immediate Stillwater/OKC/Tulsa area.
Those in the area do need to do a better job showing up. OSU needs to do a better job promoting. Winning a title will help a lot of that.
I live a decent distance away and if our Program was better at making it easier on fans, I would travel. I would also bring a bus with some youth to one dual per year.
There is also the draw of big tourneys that give a big bang for the dollar...yet we don't really do that anymore. It could be a good way to raise money.
Tourney charges school 200/seat and school charges me more. Throw in a after tourney function for another charge...they just gathered another 250-500 per fan. If 1000+ fans travel to two or three tourneys a year, that's money and an opportunity to create a lifetime donation.
They weren’t practicing from 3:00-8:00 everyday they had practice at 3 and would go back in at 8. each practice was only about 1 1/2 hrs long.
I think a story I heard from Alex Dierringer might indicate where Perry stands on this if I remember it rightly. In Alex's Fr/So when Perry wasn't really cutting any weight' Alex went to the gym after hours and Chris was working out like a banshee. Probably the year that somewhat unexpected Chris beat Andrew Howe 4-0.
