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NCAA Tournament Thread

persp

persp

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Dec 3, 2001
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Figured I'd start an official thread and ask a burning question I have:

Has Covid created the deepest, strongest NCAA tournament field in history?

I'm honestly asking this question. I don't know the history of the NCAA tournament very well. I started following Pitt wrestling strongly right as Coach Gavin was being hired. It's certainly the strongest field in the last 5 years.

165 and 174 have legitimate AA guys at through the first ten seeds. It's bonkers.

I am going to be glued to this tournament feed. I am not going to want to miss a match!
 
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I don’t know that it has created a stronger field, it’s a fair question. It is so difficult to win a national championship in any year, but to me the depth in most weight classes in the early 90’s was incredible. You had to be an absolute stud to get through those brackets!
 
docpanther26 said:
I don’t know that it has created a stronger field, it’s a fair question. It is so difficult to win a national championship in any year, but to me the depth in most weight classes in the early 90’s was incredible. You had to be an absolute stud to get through those brackets!
Click to expand...
Why are the early 90’s deeper than any other period?
 
persp said:
Figured I'd start an official thread and ask a burning question I have:

Has Covid created the deepest, strongest NCAA tournament field in history?

I'm honestly asking this question. I don't know the history of the NCAA tournament very well. I started following Pitt wrestling strongly right as Coach Gavin was being hired. It's certainly the strongest field in the last 5 years.

165 and 174 have legitimate AA guys at through the first ten seeds. It's bonkers.

I am going to be glued to this tournament feed. I am not going to want to miss a match!
Click to expand...
You definitely have so many experienced veterans this year. The drawback is a lot of guys seem to have broken down physically. Not everyone can stand up to the mental and physical wear and tear in their 5th and 6th year. It’ll be fun to watch.
 
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bwh05 said:
You definitely have so many experienced veterans this year. The drawback is a lot of guys seem to have broken down physically. Not everyone can stand up to the mental and physical wear and tear in their 5th and 6th year. It’ll be fun to watch.
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Yeah I agree on paper it's a very deep and talented field but a lot of the older guys who came back just don't seem to be wrestling the same this year. Obviously the sport is ridiculously hard on the body and it feels like a lot of guys just don't have a ton left in the tank at this point I mean poor Kemerer is wrestling with one arm basically for Iowa this year. I won't be surprised if we see a good bit of injury defaults on the back side of the bracket
 
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It is not just covid, there are more medical redshirts, olympic redshirts, and grayshirts than ever before. You have guys like Myles Amine and Michael Kemerer in there 7th year and there are bunch of 6th year guys who will have an option comeback for a 7th.
 
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bwh05 said:
You definitely have so many experienced veterans this year. The drawback is a lot of guys seem to have broken down physically. Not everyone can stand up to the mental and physical wear and tear in their 5th and 6th year. It’ll be fun to watch.
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There is a reason world level FS wrestlers only wrestle a few events a year, the grind of wrestleling and training is brutal for 6 and 7 straight years.
 
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pafootballguy said:
There is a reason world level FS wrestlers only wrestle a few events a year, the grind of wrestleling and training is brutal for 6 and 7 straight years.
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This is why I don't like sports specialization at the youth and high school levels. Too much risk of repetitive motion injuries as well as regular old burnout.

It's pretty much demanded now if a kid wants any shot at the next level. Multi sport stars are becoming more and more rare
 
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persp said:
This is why I don't like sports specialization at the youth and high school levels. Too much risk of repetitive motion injuries as well as regular old burnout.

It's pretty much demanded now if a kid wants any shot at the next level. Multi sport stars are becoming more and more rare
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YEP! Have a kid who works f ME WHO WRESTLED IN FIVE SUMMER TOURNAMENTS. Never takes a break from grappling.
 
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persp said:
This is why I don't like sports specialization at the youth and high school levels. Too much risk of repetitive motion injuries as well as regular old burnout.

It's pretty much demanded now if a kid wants any shot at the next level. Multi sport stars are becoming more and more rare
Click to expand...
Both my boys have been just wrestling since about 8th grade. Dylan did pole vault in 9th but the demands to wrestle year round were too much if you want a scholarship, especially at lighter weights. If you’re not competing over the summer and during freestyle, you better be training, because everyone else is. It’s the way the sport has gone and it’s hurting participation. Clubs rule, especially in SW PA
 
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Cranberry Pantherfan said:
Both my boys have been just wrestling since about 8th grade. Dylan did pole vault in 9th but the demands to wrestle year round were too much if you want a scholarship, especially at lighter weights. If you’re not competing over the summer and during freestyle, you better be training, because everyone else is. It’s the way the sport has gone and it’s hurting participation. Clubs rule, especially in SW PA
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Its just so disappointing to me that it's gone there. It's not just wrestling though. Nearly all the sports have gone that way.
 
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persp said:
It's not just wrestling though. Nearly all the sports have gone that way.
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You are right. Look at football and hoops. Kids transfer to high school football and basketball factories and also graduate early to get a jump on their sport in college. As much as we like it when this kind of thing is beneficial to Pitt, there is a downside.
 
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New York Panther said:
You are right. Look at football and hoops. Kids transfer to high school football and basketball factories and also graduate early to get a jump on their sport in college. As much as we like it when this kind of thing is beneficial to Pitt, there is a downside.
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It is getting a little crazy. My son is 8 plays baseball, flag football, basketball, soccer, and wrestling. I wouldn’t have it any other way. It has started already with numerous “travel” baseball teams reaching out. I just find it mind blowing that people will commit a years worth of schedule time, not to mention the amount of money to play one sport at 8. In my experience as a coach, most of the time your best players are your “athletes” who play multiple sports, with each adding something to the other. Maybe when he gets older 7-8 grade I could see sport specific, but I still don’t agree with it, but I’m also not in a position like CranberryPanther where it’s been pushed yet.
 
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DevilDog42 said:
It is getting a little crazy. My son is 8 plays baseball, flag football, basketball, soccer, and wrestling. I wouldn’t have it any other way. It has started already with numerous “travel” baseball teams reaching out. I just find it mind blowing that people will commit a years worth of schedule time, not to mention the amount of money to play one sport at 8. In my experience as a coach, most of the time your best players are your “athletes” who play multiple sports, with each adding something to the other. Maybe when he gets older 7-8 grade I could see sport specific, but I still don’t agree with it, but I’m also not in a position like CranberryPanther where it’s been pushed yet.
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I agree, most of your "athletes" are multi sporters because they develop a wider range of skills that end up being useful across those multiple sports. Wrestling helped my golf and baseball skills because my hips were very good from all the leverage training I got in wrestling. At the same time, baseball helped my wrestling because it made my reaction times better.

I coach high school baseball here in Colorado and thankfully the push for early specialization isn't that strong. Most all of my guys also play football,basketball or wrestle and I am very glad they do. They come in every spring fresh and ready to work. We are a better team for it, IMO
 
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persp said:
Its just so disappointing to me that it's gone there. It's not just wrestling though. Nearly all the sports have gone that way.
Click to expand...
It is every sports. If you don’t compete year round, you fall behind. That is unless you are just a complete stud.
 
Barring big upsets Micky will have Lucas Byrd in the blood round, again...he has wrestled really well this year.

Cole has a likely QF with Rivera since he has already pinned his first two prob opponents this season. Watch out for Campbell's Hanna if he gets a good cut though. He is a matchup nightmare. Losing a Rivera QF would put Cole into a blood round match with maybe Micic, D'Emilio or one of the ACC guys. Pretty clear path to AA imo.

Tough draw for Cleary. I see him going 1-2. Wentzel is gonna have to beat some really good dudes. Lock Haven is no easy first round, then Kharchla, then Valencia/O'Toole...gross. Could see a blood round match against Hamiti though which I think would be a decent matchup for Jake. We'll see.

Already commented above on Nino's draw. 197 is brutal but he can win it.
 
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New York Panther said:
You are right. Look at football and hoops. Kids transfer to high school football and basketball factories and also graduate early to get a jump on their sport in college. As much as we like it when this kind of thing is beneficial to Pitt, there is a downside.
Click to expand...
This trend started back in the seventies. When I was in high school football coaches would try to get players into wrestling or basketball and then it would be track and baseball. Mid seventies the FB coaches wanted those guys doing football all year, same with the other sports but I believe FB was the largest proponent. It is a terrible approach that is geared only to the super talented and hurts the overall development and enjoyment of the majority of athletes in high school.
 
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Muckey with a 1st period takedown and a rude out 2-0 after 1
 
Wild start at 125 with both Hildebrandt and Ayala losing in the 1st round
 
Cole was completely gassed but gutted it out and moves on. Wonder if he had a tough cut? Has some time not recover
 
That was the worst match Cole has wrestled in some time. He looked drained. I wonder if he is sick? He was fine in ACCs so it can't be conditioning
 
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bwh05 said:
Sometimes nerves can burn your energy. Hopefully he settles down going forward.
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That's a very fair point. I've been there too. I hope that's what it is though because he won't go far if that's as well as he can wrestle today.
 
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Got a call from Pitt ticket office while waiting in line to enter arena that the ncaa sent Pitt the wrong tix?! And that when I enter, I'll be directed to go to ticket upgrade resolution center to get new tix. 🤪 kinda late notice
 
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Chaos said:
Got a call from Pitt ticket office while waiting in line to enter arena that the ncaa sent Pitt the wrong tix?! And that when I enter, I'll be directed to go to ticket upgrade resolution center to get new tix. 🤪 kinda late notice
Click to expand...

Thats gotta be a bit annoying
 
Side note:

There has been CARNAGE so far! The top half of 125 is destroyed. Lucas Byrd got pinned in round one and Brain Courtney of UVA beat Rayvon Foley at 133.

The B10 is NOT doing well so far
 
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