IOWA WEEK!
- Thread starter pish69
- Start date
Another Facebook post:
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Breaking: Massoma Endene is out at Iowa.
And when departures start stacking up, it’s no longer about the athlete.
One wrestler leaving is noise.
Multiple wrestlers leaving is a signal.
When high-level athletes cycle through a program this fast, it points to instability, not toughness.
Elite wrestlers do not abandon environments that are clear, aligned, and functional.
This isn’t about work ethic.
It isn’t about this generation.
And it isn’t about “who’s tough enough.”
It’s about whether the system still works.
At some point, accountability moves up the chain.
If a program can’t retain the talent it recruits, the issue isn’t effort — it’s leadership.
That puts pressure squarely on Tom Brands and Terry Brands.
Culture isn’t what you demand.
It’s what survives.
And right now, Iowa is showing turbulence — not stability.
This isn’t a one-off.
It’s a pattern forming.
==========================
Breaking: Massoma Endene is out at Iowa.
And when departures start stacking up, it’s no longer about the athlete.
One wrestler leaving is noise.
Multiple wrestlers leaving is a signal.
When high-level athletes cycle through a program this fast, it points to instability, not toughness.
Elite wrestlers do not abandon environments that are clear, aligned, and functional.
This isn’t about work ethic.
It isn’t about this generation.
And it isn’t about “who’s tough enough.”
It’s about whether the system still works.
At some point, accountability moves up the chain.
If a program can’t retain the talent it recruits, the issue isn’t effort — it’s leadership.
That puts pressure squarely on Tom Brands and Terry Brands.
Culture isn’t what you demand.
It’s what survives.
And right now, Iowa is showing turbulence — not stability.
This isn’t a one-off.
It’s a pattern forming.
Sorry if this was covered already tonight, but the Iowa match notes list Arnold as an OR at 174 with Kennedy, and list Ludington OR redshirt freshman Brody Sampson at 197.
hawkeyesports.com
Iowa Wrestling Notebook — Penn State
Seattle. Beautiful area out here. Never been to BLT but may traverse it next time im down at Mt. Rainier National Park. Post hike treat potentially
Not sure anyone on this board is coming out for PSU @ UW next football season but make sure to hit up Queen Anne Beerhall. Great burgers and beer selection
I'll post this again later in the week but if anyone wants to save it early, Iowa uses Statbroadcast instead of Track for its scoring, and the direct link to Friday's match can be found below:
I could see Arnold going and Kennedy sitting. Result would be the same in the team score, but Kennedy would fare better for seeding later.
You know it’s interesting. There is so much speculative crap popping up out there about this. Probably safe to assume most is flat out wrong (even though I suspect on balance this wasn’t an “innocent” separation). But if the brands are not careful, comms like this are going to take on a life of their own and become a self fulfilling prophesy, whether true or not.
If anyone calls him Scooter in KYPSW, I'm tossing them out of the game for the year. I won't be able to add picks, because I'll be laughing too hard.
For guys who have been so close to the top step during their career realizing sometime during their senior year they aren't winning that championship is tough. HEW is real and for different reasons, but for those guys it can be devastating.
Hawk fan here:Sorry if this was covered already tonight, but the Iowa match notes list Arnold as an OR at 174 with Kennedy, and list Ludington OR redshirt freshman Brody Sampson at 197.
Iowa Wrestling Notebook — Penn State
lol.
Admittedly, I’ve never been a double lung transplant, but I’m guessing there are certain physical limitations that come with it.
This is the kind of BS that I will never believe or spread (other than as obvious unserious sarcasm). This dude just had a baby. The far, far more likely explanation is that he was trying to juggle classes, fatherhood, and wrestling, and one had to go and he chose wrestling in order to be a better father, which is something no one here would ever blame him for.
Will they bump up Arnold and Ferrari? Isn't that their only chance to win, slim as it is?Sorry if this was covered already tonight, but the Iowa match notes list Arnold as an OR at 174 with Kennedy, and list Ludington OR redshirt freshman Brody Sampson at 197.
Iowa Wrestling Notebook — Penn State
I miss the PNW. Awesome scenery and even better people. Make sure you get some Dungeness crab while you’re there!
What’s worse is that Ayala actually seems like a decent guy too. It’s unfortunate that he chose to be part of a program that doesn’t seem to get the best results out of potential winners.
There is just a huge difference between PSU and Iowa. Ayala is still doing what he has always done. People adjust. Mesenbrink and Levi are crushing people from the top this year. Levi got beat by Hamiti at Nationals, he cleaned up his attacks and kicked Hamiti's *** at the team trials.
Just watching from afar the last few years, but it seems obvious that Iowa is more than willing to pay large sums of money to bring in outside wrestlers, but you don't hear much about them paying up for the loyal recruits. In fact, in some cases, you hear almost the opposite. "Kennedy finally got paid this year", "Some are not getting the money they were promised". "There are hard feelings from some on the team because mercenaries are getting big money while original recruits get far less if any." If so.......this is not a recipe for sustained success. They have some excellent recruits coming in the next few years. If they even get a whif that some are not getting paid.....My advice to them would be to put their name in the portal every spring until the next check clears 
Moving Angelo up to Barr instead of Rocco also puts them in grave danger of being shut out in Carver, which would be a nearly unrecoverable embarrassment for that program.
No. Brands doesn't bump his starters.
Wouldn't be surprised if Brands sends out Arnold at 197, thinking that Arnold can
I really feel bad for the kid, he's been a yo-yo for Iowa. I know he wants to be in the lineup badly, but man that is one hell of an ask to beef up for Barr. Its not good weight and certainly not healthy for Arnold.
I think Tom meant to say that the Iowa wrestlers know what can be, but they just need to be unburdened by what has been.
Didn’t Spencer Lee try to publicly warn Ayala after giving him a beating at the ‘22 Soldier Salute? Something like, “Remember, you wanted this”?
The joint probability you calculated assumes each trial is independent. If Penn State gets out fast, that demoralizes the Hawks. If they get lucky on a couple bouts, the crowd goes nuts and they are pumped. Not independent trials.
Damn, I finally get to use that stuff from QBA 101-which is obsolete.
Yeah. I'm sure the late Mr. Nick Skimbo, who taught the course at PSU Hazleton would be proud.
I'm related to one of them. She sent me a picture from CH when Penn State lost in
I'd bet the next guy on the staff will be the "leader of men": Levi.
Not sure what happened at Iowa, but Endene left another D1 program. Dude's a flight risk now.
I was under the impression that Lee’s outburst there was directed at T or T. Lee didn’t want to wrestle his teammate in the final and one of the Brands insisted that they wrestle. Don’t know which version is true but Lee’s reaction that day was a foretelling of things to come.
I think Spencer was pissed because his knees were held together by glue and rubber bands at that point. That was the year it came out after he got stuck by Ramos that he couldn’t run or train or anything, so why was the coaching staff making him wrestle what amounts to an exhibition against a teammate?