I hope you’re right but from my observation if the young guys are not dominant out of the gate and beating NQ+ guys it’s pretty rare they become that themselves. We had many prior recruiting classes where we chalked up the freshmans as taking their “lumps” but by the time they became sr they were still taking the same lumps. This program needs a guy like Seabass to stir some excitement.. comes in n just shocks taking out the top guys right away.
No. 12 Wrestling Hosted No. 20 Oklahoma, Drexel in Weekend Action
- Thread starter Tango Two
- Start date
No wonder the school is going under.
Their website shows Rider won
You are right that it is probably somewhere in the middle. I am just very down on this program right now, and really want a change at the top.
I hear ya... I just can't rule them out yet.
They def need some excitement. We beat Drexel but it feels like we lost. I'm happy the 2nd half went our way, but yes, this team needs some new blood. Donny/SeaBass with Mytech and Labs would be great.
They just need some excitement. The matches feel flat. There isn't enough emotion. Nobody wrestles angry. The arena keeps getting emptier every year. Gotta keep the fans and gain new ones. Last nights product was pure ****. If I wasn't a fan of wrestling it would of felt like torture watching 95% of those matches.
How about we instead think about how the same guys did against OU? Against OU the only guy from that group that showed up was SCW. What does that do to your thesis?
Heinselman was too small, much like Smith.
Huh?
You absolutely can say both...
1) our guys that go elsewhere get developed
2) guys that come here don't get better
Anyone with eyes can see this.
Forgot about Barbosa. I was no impressed with Smith this weekend. No offense against Oklahoma and gave up 11 points to an unranked kid from Drexel.
I guess it changes my thesis slightly. It makes me even more concerned for the rest of the season.
i think everyone wants better performances.
I am becoming disillusioned with the team.
I don't see where the All American comes from with this group.
133,141,174,184,285 all seem like blood round wrestlers.
125,149,157, 197 are all NCAA qualifiers, but in the 20 to 33 range...not many points at turney
Clark and White have my respect and appreciation for the sacrifices they made, but RU needs to be better in the middle (everywhere with this team)
Catka is a good wrestler, he is not Slav at 285
Not sure of what needs to change, just that change is needed.
I am becoming disillusioned with the team.
I don't see where the All American comes from with this group.
133,141,174,184,285 all seem like blood round wrestlers.
125,149,157, 197 are all NCAA qualifiers, but in the 20 to 33 range...not many points at turney
Clark and White have my respect and appreciation for the sacrifices they made, but RU needs to be better in the middle (everywhere with this team)
Catka is a good wrestler, he is not Slav at 285
Not sure of what needs to change, just that change is needed.
Not sure bout that. He was a R12 as a freshman out the gate. Then had another R12 and R16 finish.
I'm still hopeful about Barbosa and Smith. I think Smith has a lot of talent but hasn't done what he needed to get bigger and stronger. Barbosa showed up very well last year and was beating the others in the room. Why isn't he the guy this year? I like them both, but worry they won't be developed.
Rider won the first 4 matches and went up 15-0 then lost the last 6 giving up bonus in 5 of those ..Hagney finally started someone other than his son at 184. Kid never even qualified for states but Hagney has him starting lol
I don’t post this lightly, and I don’t post it with any joy.
Scott Goodale deserves real credit for what he’s done here. He took Rutgers wrestling from an afterthought to a program that mattered. He brought grit, toughness, and belief. For years, the RAC was a place you wanted to be—loud, hostile, and proud. We’ve all held our tongues through disappointment because those home duals felt like Rutgers again.
But at some point, effort and identity stop being enough.
We’ve hit a ceiling, and we’ve been there for a while. We don’t break through at NCAAs. We don’t convert momentum into sustained national relevance. We don’t take the next step—and year after year, we convince ourselves that being “close” is progress. It isn’t anymore.
What’s worse is that the passion is gone. The edge is gone. Match day doesn’t feel special. When you’re charging fans to park just to walk into a half-empty building and watch a program spinning its wheels, something is broken. That gritty, blue-collar Rutgers wrestling vibe? It’s been nickel-and-dimed out of existence, and the energy has gone with it.
This isn’t about disrespect. It’s about honesty.
There’s a scene in Gran Torino where Clint Eastwood’s character realizes that holding on—doing things the old way, by force of will alone—only delays the inevitable. The most meaningful thing he can do is step aside so something better can emerge. Knowing when to walk away is its own kind of strength.
Scott built this program. That matters. But building it and leading it forward are no longer the same thing.
Sometimes the most Rutgers thing you can do is recognize when the fight requires new blood, new ideas, and new urgency.
Thank you for what you’ve done, Coach. Now do the hardest thing—step down so Rutgers wrestling can move forward.
Scott Goodale deserves real credit for what he’s done here. He took Rutgers wrestling from an afterthought to a program that mattered. He brought grit, toughness, and belief. For years, the RAC was a place you wanted to be—loud, hostile, and proud. We’ve all held our tongues through disappointment because those home duals felt like Rutgers again.
But at some point, effort and identity stop being enough.
We’ve hit a ceiling, and we’ve been there for a while. We don’t break through at NCAAs. We don’t convert momentum into sustained national relevance. We don’t take the next step—and year after year, we convince ourselves that being “close” is progress. It isn’t anymore.
What’s worse is that the passion is gone. The edge is gone. Match day doesn’t feel special. When you’re charging fans to park just to walk into a half-empty building and watch a program spinning its wheels, something is broken. That gritty, blue-collar Rutgers wrestling vibe? It’s been nickel-and-dimed out of existence, and the energy has gone with it.
This isn’t about disrespect. It’s about honesty.
There’s a scene in Gran Torino where Clint Eastwood’s character realizes that holding on—doing things the old way, by force of will alone—only delays the inevitable. The most meaningful thing he can do is step aside so something better can emerge. Knowing when to walk away is its own kind of strength.
Scott built this program. That matters. But building it and leading it forward are no longer the same thing.
Sometimes the most Rutgers thing you can do is recognize when the fight requires new blood, new ideas, and new urgency.
Thank you for what you’ve done, Coach. Now do the hardest thing—step down so Rutgers wrestling can move forward.
I'm not sure that is accurate.
Anyone know more about the Joey O situation?? What “violation of team rules”? What’s going on w the team….
I'll put money on it, It is some sort of mob relations with raimo.That East Hanover crowd is always trouble, and they all seem to be somewhat remotely related to each other...with wrestling and shady dealings.
He was on the bench and talking with coaches today so it must not have been that bad...
Ya mean like you told us to put money on those transfers that never came ...throw some ridiculous shade on the kid with no facts to back it up ..your a clown .
he could have been the coach in waiting at Cornell , he decided to take the South Dakota state job bc it was near his wife family and they preferred midwestern living .. He said all this himself in an interview
Good story but he never had a guarantee he would get the Cornell job, just like Garland wasn't guaranteed, so both took other jobs. He may prefer the "Midwestern living" but it's not like all these other schools have been knocking down his door to sway him to go there and he's not some young coach anymore...
Kellen Russell intrigues me. Any thoughts on him becoming a D1 head coach would be appreciated. Thanks.
After 12 seasons as a season ticket holder I did not renew this year, this team has been boring to watch for last couple of years. How they were ranked 12th is a joke. They will be lucky to get 1 AA this year. Pinto can't beat anyone in top 10 and Shawver loses to unranked kids.
Was getting some good chuckles out of the Drexel match in the first half. Upperweights thankfully decided to have a pulse in the second half. Still have yet to see any post-match press from Goodale on this though. How do you really paint this weekend as anything more than a moral failure?
P
i first noticed she was in her seat during cotton match and did not see her Saturday
So our best wrestler got benched for violating team rules and we lost to OK bc of it. What a sh*tshow
I saw you came back under yet another name still bragging about something you did over 40 years ago as if someone cares ..same old lying ,same old stupid comments ,same old making up crap and trying to sell it here,funny how you disappeared for months when your lies about transfers never came close to happening ...what a joke that was so you come back yet again under a different name and make up some crap about Joey O ...your a disgrace and a has been ..now I expect your usual retorts because your alcohol baked mind can't thing of anything useful to say ..
No idea what you obsession is with the VanBrills but hundreds of RU wrestlers never attained AA status but represented RU with class and have gone on to successful lives which they can be proud of ...WNG got to know them pretty well and he knows so since you know him so well why not ask him ...your supposed AA career means nothing yet you seem to think it gives you the right to defame kids and their parents ...the lest of kids you have defamed is endless ..guess what it doesn't..classless is what you are and you've shown that lack of class for years under 4 different names so crawl back into your brown bag and stay there ..Joey O did not deserve that lie you just made up ...maybe you'll challenge his dad to a fight in RAC parking lot like you have other parents who stood up to your classless nonsense
It's speculation, you mental midget. He is guilty, until proven innocent and we are certainly allowed to have our unbiased opinions until otherwise stated.I have no beef with the VanBrills.In fact, I was a big fan.But let's be clear hear, all the talk they did about AA this and National champ that, come NCAAs they choked...big time.You can't tell me otherwise.Regarding the Janzer/Aragona posse and their idol threats. I was over 2000 miles away, but in no way shape or form am I afraid of guys like them, even though I am half their size.None of them have even remotely wrestled or competed against the likes of a John Guira, Lee Kemp, or Barry Davis.Taking down and throttling old, out of shape, fat men with big mouths and subpar RU wrestlers is and was a small task for me...even at my age now.You live vicariously on this board...I lived it. Being a nobody, nothing is something you are content with, them so be it.But I certainly not going to have some fleabag, zero like yourself, tarnish my accolades or wrestling knowledge.You couldn't go toe to toe with female JV wrestler from Bayonne hs school, let alone even compete against men. Little angry boy, hates to hear the truth, but reality is, you really are kinda of low rent loser, with zero athletic accolades.
Oh, no. Please, not another pissing match.
Very good, fair and excellent post. I've been feeling the same way for a few years now. Each year seems like Groundhog's Day.
Its a great question. It was clearly a takedown. I hate that ref. He always screws us
does not excuse how bad we wrestled as a team but that was a takedown by every standard. No ref wants to reverse his own mistake. Its stupid they are the ones that do the review.
Last year I didn't post my annual reminder (I was being kind) and I know some here hate it. I've forgotten what year I started it. Here it is, can you relate?
Rutgers wrestling and this forum repeat the same stages every year. There's the manic stage where the enthusiasm is high and the expectations great. "This is our best line up ever". The rankings look good. There is some early success mixed with unexpected disappointment. The season gets rolling and there's great disappointment, rankings drop. The forum goes into a WTF discussion and questions what's going on and some coaching criticism. That is followed by reconciliation and support for the coaching. Then the manic stage starts again with the battle cry of "just wait until next year". Repeat from beginning.
That seriously was annoying. Like if the violating wasn’t a big deal why did they sit him ? Did they not feel the match would come down to one match? What a joke.