Mo no mo

[el dub]

He was a big loss for Iowa at the time because he looked like he had the chops to AA 197. That became irrelevant when a 174 pounder miraculously found his way to get on the podium.

You’re losing a step, bro. That podium covers a lot of ground and points on the board.

 

[TheREALSpooner]

You’re losing a step, bro. That podium covers a lot of ground and points on the board.

 

[dtripp26]

You’re losing a step, bro. That podium covers a lot of ground and points on the board.

Could Mo have been as high as 3/4? Maybe, but I just didn't project him to finish that high, despite his solid early season wins.

Based on Gabe's performance, the point separation was probably minimal.

 

[HawkAlum2002]

Could Mo have been as high as 3/4? Maybe, but I just didn't project him to finish that high, despite his solid early season wins.

Based on Gabe's performance, the point separation was probably minimal.

Agreed. Other than maybe Mo getting a pin in an early round, there ended up being very little difference, certainly not enough to affect team placement. When the season started I thought Mo being an all-American would've been a great story, then he pulled a couple "upsets" early to raise expectations before Elam dominated him and things crashed back to reality. Then he quit. Injury issue, character issue, money issue, it doesn't matter really because we never saw how he'd respond on the mat to that loss. He didn't have to deal with that at D3. I certainly think he could've beat Merrill again if the bracket broke that way (stylistic advantage IMO), but he didn't match well with a lot of the other guys that would out-physical him and that would've been the question. Right path he could've made the finals, wrong path and he was 1-2.

 

[el dub]

Well, see… There are 8 steps on the podium. The higher on the podium, the more points scored. So, to recap: A wrestler finishing 6-8th potentially scores quite a few points less than those placing 1-3rd.

With the above in mind, Mo could have potentially scored more points at Nationals than our 74 lb’er did. See Stu?

 

[el dub]

Could Mo have been as high as 3/4? Maybe, but I just didn't project him to finish that high, despite his solid early season wins.

Based on Gabe's performance, the point separation was probably minimal.

How can you say that based on Gabe’s performance?

Agreed. Other than maybe Mo getting a pin in an early round, there ended up being very little difference, certainly not enough to affect team placement. When the season started I thought Mo being an all-American would've been a great story, then he pulled a couple "upsets" early to raise expectations before Elam dominated him and things crashed back to reality. Then he quit. Injury issue, character issue, money issue, it doesn't matter really because we never saw how he'd respond on the mat to that loss. He didn't have to deal with that at D3. I certainly think he could've beat Merrill again if the bracket broke that way (stylistic advantage IMO), but he didn't match well with a lot of the other guys that would out-physical him and that would've been the question. Right path he could've made the finals, wrong path and he was 1-2.

Team placement…. ? Is that what it’s come to?

 

[dtripp26]

How can you say that based on Gabe’s performance?

Because Gabe actually finished as an AA. Mo beat a couple of pretty good guys in November, then we never saw him again. Would he have been an AA...maybe? Would he have scored more points than Gabe? Marginally at best IMO.

 

[TheREALSpooner]

Well, see… There are 8 steps on the podium. The higher on the podium, the more points scored. So, to recap: A wrestler finishing 6-8th potentially scores quite a few points less than those placing 1-3rd.

With the above in mind, Mo could have potentially scored more points at Nationals than our 74 lb’er did. See Stu?

Sure but who thinks Endene was going to finish 1-3?

 

[el dub]

Sure but who think Endene was going to finish 1-3?

 

[VonEhwegen]

Could Mo have been as high as 3/4? Maybe, but I just didn't project him to finish that high, despite his solid early season wins.

Based on Gabe's performance, the point separation was probably minimal.

Rocky embarrassed Mo, For the short amount of time he actually wrestled, he only wrestled couple actual AA guys. and one Embarrassed him. 3\4 in big ten realistically, NCCA's 6/8.

 

[AndreTheHawk]

Rocky embarrassed Mo, For the short amount of time he actually wrestled, he only wrestled couple actual AA guys. and one Embarrassed him. 3\4 in big ten realistically, NCCA's 6/8.

He wrestled 7 matches, 3 of those against All-Americans. Was 2-1 in those matches. Not bad. 6-1 in his first crack at D1 College Wrestling. Not bad.

And he realistically beat eventual 2026 NCAA Finalist Merrill on his home mat to clinch the dual that beat Oklahoma State.

The fact is he had plenty of time to possibly get better by March, and did pretty damn good in his short run at Iowa by any measure. Explosive as hell. That alone makes him a threat in any match.

Hated how he left Iowa, but let's not act like he couldn't have been a big factor at NCAA 's, he definitely could have. Otherwise nobody would have cared that he left, but that wasn't the case.

 

[PUR158]

He wrestled 7 matches, 3 of those against All-Americans. Was 2-1 in those matches. Not bad. 6-1 in his first crack at D1 College Wrestling. Not bad.

And he realistically beat eventual 2026 NCAA Finalist Merrill on his home mat to clinch the dual that beat Oklahoma State.

The fact is he had plenty of time to possibly get better by March, and did pretty damn good in his short run at Iowa by any measure. Explosive as hell. That alone makes him a threat in any match.

Hated how he left Iowa, but let's not act like he couldn't have been a big factor at NCAA 's, he definitely could have. Otherwise nobody would have cared that he left, but that wasn't the case.

This is a great post and perspective. Totally agree with your last sentence.