I mean if you give him credit for winning future matches not yet wrestled you do have a much better point.
Ben Kueter
- Thread starter Rick Honcho
- Start date
I mean if you give him credit for winning future matches not yet wrestled you do have a much better point.
Ayala looked fine until the Ok St match. Close losses to Davino & Blaze aren't bad results (world champion caliber wrestlers), and the close losses to Fugitt and Frost were kind of unlucky. Until the Ok St match, his biggest problem was the influx of world class talent that has made 133 the most stacked class in the country this year. Losing a close one to Jax wouldn't be an issue, either, but getting completely outclassed like that should set off alarm bells. That's not what you want to see heading into the post season at all.
He should have had the first takedown but went to the single leg to early and I knew he was screwed then, right in Jax wheel house. Was one takedown match after 1st period. I thought he had that takedown in the second , but refs didn’t call it, turned into a scramble where Jax gets the takedown and near pin, huge lead, went into desperation mode gassed and the rest is history. He needs to be careful rolling around with Jax. If Blaze wrestles him, he will avoid scrambles like the plague.
Losing scrambles and not finishing takedowns was a huge problem in that dual up and down the lineup, not just in Ayala's match. But that couldn't possibly be a coaching issue.
I realize everyone wants to pile on the Coaching Staff at every turn, and I'm all for a change at this point as well. With that said, at some point the onus has to be on the Wrestlers themselves.
All of these "kids" good enough to wrestle DI (especially at Iowa) have been in tons of wrestling matches, many with high stakes involved. At some point YOU have to figure out how to finish that takedown, YOU have to come out of that scramble on the right side of things. The Coaches can't do that for You.
Coaching matters, but it's the Jimmie's and Joe's that win Championships. The Hawks are lacking in bonafide Jimmie's and Joe's and that IS on the Coaching Staff. As good as Carl & Co. may be as a Staff, they aren't turning dogshit into tulips anymore than the next guy.
To those good enough to wrestle at Iowa, you're the ones tasked with carrying on a legacy that started 50 years ago. Put some heart and effort into it and people will get behind you, win or lose. I'm extremely skeptical that happens to the degree it needs to across the board, and that is not on the Coaches IMO.
This week would be a great time to kick it in gear. Go Hawks!
Obviously, no coach, Cael or DT or the Brands or anyone else, can take just anyone off the streets and coach them into champions, but there is more to coaching at the margins than you are giving credit for. When you have a dual like Ok St vs Iowa with wrestlers of comparable pedigree and the scrambles and contested positions almost all go in one direction, that is because that team is being coached techniques to handle those situations, and it's increasingly clear that Iowa coaches are not doing that, at least not in any effective way.
On the surface I would agree with that. However, these kids (for the most part) aren't dumb, and this isn't their first day wrestling. They have access to all kinds of training videos and techniques just like Coaches do. Do they have the actual ability to pull it off? Some do, some don't. (and don't forget Tom Brands isn't the first Coach these kids have ever had, they've had a lot of input from many for a decade to get to the DI level)
Look at all the different dudes these guys have access to as far as training partners and what not. There's all kinds of styles to choose from, from a lot of accomplished guys. IMO the "want to" is severely lacking in a good share of our lineup, you shouldn't need a motivational speaker to get you going in Carver or anywhere else when you're representing Iowa Wrestling. You made The Show, go ahead and go out and put one on. You're not going to be anywhere where you have more people backing you.
I guess I'm just getting tired of the narrative that Tom & Terry Brands can't Coach a lick. They aren't Dan Gable lite, but I have a hard time believing they're telling their wrestlers to not shoot, please suck at scrambling, etc. The guys that actually go out there and don't perform admirably or otherwise, have to share the blame load, and at least from my viewpoint the majority of this board doesn't seem to think that's the case. This Program from the room guys to the Coaching Staff needs to up their game. ALL OF THEM.
It’s all on the coaches to get the kids they recruit ready for matches, imo. They structure the practices and should be there to help with strategies and adjustments. If it’s one of two athletes not producing, that’s probably on the wrestlers. When it’s the majority of the team, that’s systemic, imo.
There's truth to both sides of the argument.
I for one think it is a ******* shame that Spencer's reinforced arm bar tilt series isn't being taught to every single Hawk. I know Spencer has insane strength to pull off those tilts but Real Woods seemed to pick it up relatively quickly.
I don’t think you understand the strength Real has. Freak stuff
Spencer said in an interview Real was the strongest guy he ever felt a couple years ago.
the coaching staff screwed this up. you can afford to have a part timer when you have a stacked line up like PSU. You don't do it with Iowa's lineup. They should have been filling that HW spot the minute he decided to play football. They need all the points they can get.
They still think they can X and O over the Jimmy's and Joe's even after a decade and a half proving otherwise. Ego. We like our guys.
They still think they can X and O over the Jimmy's and Joe's even after a decade and a half proving otherwise. Ego. We like our guys.
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I’m sure they are telling them to shoot and be more aggressive… the other coaches seem to be showing their wrestlers HOW to do those things. That is the point of the coach. You’re basically saying all these Iowa kids should be learning on YouTube…
Exactly. It's all about mindset and wrestling free. Wrestling to win is vastly different than wrestling not to lose. This is what I see that has permeated the program.
I agree with the majority of this with the caveat of they can work on things outside of practice but if the majority of the time in practice is not spent on refining those teachings or if they are contrary to what the coaches want then how effective can it be? There have been rumblings of top level kids showing up with skill sets that don’t fit the mold and those skill sets get coached out.
I choose to believe Ben Kueter is gonna set the Big Ten on fire this weekend