Why burn a redshirt?

[osudonkey]

I've been thinking on this for awhile now, and why did John burn Gary Wayne's redshirt. We are not going to be competing for a NC, so why burn it? I think we would have been better served by letting him develop for a year then throw him out there. He has done this in the past also. Just my 2 cents.

 

[gyppoke]

donkey, my hope is that John thinks he can recruit over some that he has burned. IMO, he needs to recruit over in some weights. Also, I won't ever talk down on a kid that signed to wrestle at my alma mater, but sometimes when you are totally non-competitve at a weight, you have to do what is best for the team/program/fans. There is very little excuse for us starting guys that are ranked 40 or higher at their individual weight. The last few years it seems like we have 2-4 fairly good wrestlers that would be in the top 8 and then the rest of them that you have to worry about qualifying. Again, IMO, we should never have an issue with qualifying all 10 wrestlers for nationals. I may be old school as I graduated college in 1989, but it seemed like we always had a top 2-3 program and we had backup wrestlers that could win the big 8. I hope we can get it turned around and soon. It is weird because our recruiting as far as rankings has been very good. They just haven't performed as well as I had expected them to. All of this is just my opinion.

 

[april racer]

I don't know, but I will take a guess. I think he is trying to put the most competitive team out there and wants to do as good as possible at nationals. While it is a long shot to win nationals they have exceeded expectations the last couple years. I don't think anyone thought they could win 2 years ago, but they were a Z slip from pulling it off. Also there is a chance that he could lose his spot 2 years from now. Not to take anything away from GWH, but I belive Brock is college ready now. In the end I just think I coach Smith wants the best team he can put out there this year and next, with s year under his belt GWH, will be that much better next year.

 

[cachap5327]

I am glad he burned Gary Wayne's redshirt. Maybe he is not the most polished kid on the team, and maybe he will lose his spot next year or the year after, but I sure enjoy watching him compete. The kid does not have an ounce of quit in him and he leaves everything he has on the mat every single time. There are a few of our other guys who could learn from his example. As for losing his spot, anyone who takes his spot is going to earn it. Not saying it won't happen, but they better pack a lunch because it will be a fight.

 

[osudonkey]

I love watching GW wrestle as well. I've been watching him since he was 7y/o. As far as recruiting over what you have, isn't that what your supposed to do every year? No offense, but we should have AD's back up in the room this year or next, and there shouldn't be that far of a drop off after he leaves. I know that is wishful thinking, but I was talking to Mr. Sheets, and he said that the first practice he went to at OSU, they called his weight out and for everyone to stand up that was at that weight. He said he stood along with 10 other wrestlers. That is what we need. Numbers in the room who will push each other.

 

[mike tognetti]

Cachap, I agree 100%. Not only will the incoming have to earn it, but look how much Gary has been improving just in the last month. These quality starts he is having will go along way in his development.

 

[1stplacehawk]

You also have to factor in that burning the shirt likely wasn't Smith's decision alone. I'm sure if Harding wanted to stay a redshirt, he would probably still be a redshirt.

 

[tfpoke]

Big GWH fan. Wish we had a whole room full just like him. When's the last time you saw a true freshman ride out a whole period over a good wrestler (on our team)? Look forward to watching him wrestle every time he's on the mat. Glad he's a Poke and glad he's wrestling this year. Fairly apparent he's the best 133 in the room.

 

[Azchief32]

Two thoughts with this: 1)Shirt a guy that you know is going to be valuable down the line but right now, you are in a down year. PSU is doing this. Pull it if you think he is going to be the difference (Minne and Lizak)2) Wrestle a kid to see what he's got and if he can be the real deal down the line. Can he handle adversity coming from being "the man" in high school to getting beat a lot in college. GWH was a very good high school wrestler but he wasn't an elite level guy. It would be good to see if he could be.

My guess is that John wants to season him up, see if he can hang, so he can invest scholly money elsewhere. Why lose a year on a shirt only to find out that the kid has no fire under the lights?

 

[Wheeling Cowboy]

it was a smart move and most of us know why.

 

[eddie2]

osudonkey,

In my opinion, your recruiting example is not consistent with your premise of recruiting deficiencies, as we do have AD's back up in the room and CM looks like a multiple AA to me. Obviously, 9.9 scholly's make it difficult to maintain quality numbers.

 

[oberebo]

I must say that John made the correct decision in taking GWH out of redshirt. My argument against it was that while Gary was better than Crutchmer the move would not affect how we finished at the end of the year;. This has been disproven in more than one way. First, GWH is much better than Crutchmer and indeed can score points for us at Nationals. Secondly, the lift that his inspirational wrestling gives to the rest of the team is remarkable. John made the absolutely correct decision and it is paying dividends. Gary will only get better and will be much improved by the time next year rolls around. We have two studs coming in next year but with his improvement we may be able to redshirt both while Gary has a sterling Sophomore year.

 

[Wheeling Cowboy]

Larry
Exactly my thoughts and said well