Rutgers wrestling head coach Scott Goodale on John Poznanksi's future:
- Thread starter Tango Two
- Start date
Poz is injured. He was limping during his bout in the MSU dual and tonight he had a knee brace on as he walked out with his mom for Senior Night.
I know wrestling is different and coaches say different things than in other sports, but I really don't like the way this was said by Goodale.
Perhaps more like - "This guy gave every ounce he could to Rutgers wrestling and to our great dismay it does not appear that his body has any more to give"
Perhaps more like - "This guy gave every ounce he could to Rutgers wrestling and to our great dismay it does not appear that his body has any more to give"
Any follow up news on Poz? Sounds like def his last year but is he done this postseason too? Was reading Roar’s b10 seed preview, Poz probably woulda seeded around 7th
Does this mean he will not be in this year's BIG 10 tournament?
I loved watching Poz! He had 3 really solid years. I wish him.the best!
Great young man with a compelling story. Wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Poz came into the program ready to AA and had a great freshman year placing fourth. Frankly, you have to examine the failures of the staff when they get an AA ready wrestler and instead of progressing, he regresses each year in the program.
Poz came into the program ready to AA and had a great freshman year placing fourth. Frankly, you have to examine the failures of the staff when they get an AA ready wrestler and instead of progressing, he regresses each year in the program.
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You can’t blame the staff… ultimately it’s on the wrestler.. you could tell that after every loss Poz lost a lot of confidence and by the end it just seemed like he was burnt out and was just ready to be done with it..
Thats true, but it is also true that every good leader will take responsibility for the failures as well as the successes.
The pom-pom boys will not like this... I said on Feb 20, 2022 the following:
"The kids are largely responsible but not fully. As well as praise for success, any and all failures must be shared with the leadership. It can't always be the kids didn't pan out, got fried, and a plethora of other excuses. The leadership is responsible for establishing an environment for success, which includes whatever is necessary to keep the kids involved and engaged. With every Aragona, what could/should have been done differently needs to be understood. I said long ago that I was concerned Poz would fall down the slide. If that continues to happen, it will be the most glaring indication of a failure with the program".
Now, three years later?
Eh I don’t agree w this take, every big name program will have bluechippers that fail/regress doesn’t work for w.e reason.. yet when it does happen we don’t say it’s their fault.. was it Ohio state’s fault Camp didn’t work out?? Even recently they had Decatur, who was a top p4p recruit didn’t work out… and even Bouzakis hasn’t lived up to his expectations but no one blames Ohio state..
I do put it on staff tho to find the “right recruits”. Finding the right guys that wanna keep improving and has the right mindset…. Finding the hidden gems and not overpaying for guys that won’t work and how they fit in the roster..
I do agree with ur point tho that we do seem to have a lot of guys that peaked their freshman season, poz, Turley,Soldano, White, to name a few but we probably have same amount that continued to get better n peak their sr year.
So much of this sport is mental.. I do think having a good sports psychologist could be a good investment…
John Poznanski of Rutgers wrestling not entered in Big Ten Tournament. Career likely over
Ridiculous take. What about guys like Shawver who came in not ready to AA and developed into AA’s?
From the sound of this article Poz could wrestle in b10 if he really wanted to but he’s OK w just ending his career.. can’t blame the staff for that, it’s his decision. Who knows what he’s going through on n off the mat but once the passion is gone it’s hard to continue .
Turley was a sophomore when he AA'ed. White wrestled nobody in open tournaments during his redshirt freshman year.
You people make me laugh. If our program sucks so much go root for Penn State please. Have fun.
He had a great B1G and NCAA tournies as a frosh... Remember there basically was no season that year.... No Ivy's in NCAA's.. He didn't have to go through B1G grind for 1st time until the following year......
Somebody already used this argument and it does make sense but it still doesn’t explain how Poz was one of the top 184 that year.. notching a lot of good wins and pushing Keckeisen/Hidlay to the brink… how do ppl explain that one? Keckeisen benefitted from the same shortened season/no b10 grind and yet he became a champ and is now one of the best wrestlers … PLZ explain this……..
Simple... Keckeisen is better... Better physically, and mentally... Over the last few years he has proven himself to be an elite talent.... Poz showed the last 3 years what he truly was... A top 10-20 talent... Yes, we all wanted Poz to be on that same plane... And his NCAA run created those expectations... But he never showed that same confidence or consistency that is needed to get to that level...
I agree with this… however the only thing I would disagree on is that he wrestled on a higher lvl his freshman year.. and I do not blame the staff but Poz did indeed regress… I could never see a freshman version of Poz getting TF by Barr in the third period alone…
I think that matchup vs Barr broke him. I think it was all over after that match
Poz struggles to get in on the legs of the taller longer guys. Bulking up to 197 where he has less reach and less of a strength advantage was a mistake, IMO.
Great kid, wish him the best.
Great kid, wish him the best.
How is that a ridiculous take? There have certainly been successes like you mentioned Shawver and to a lesser extent JVB who was 40 seconds away from being AA. Certainly, Shawver benefited from having Seabass in the room but give credit where credit is due especially to Coach Mytych.
Regardless, I was speaking specifically of Poz. They are called "coach" for a reason. Look up the definition. The coaches did a less than adequate job of developing Poz. This cannot be disputed.
Freshman year - AA (short season)
Sophomore year - R16 (full season, Ivy’s return, no Olympic redshirts, regression was to be expected)
Junior year - He asked for a redshirt because he needed somewhat of a break.
Senior year - bumps up and still gets to R12
Grad year - more or less retires
This path tells me that his talent was always there, his work ethic was there, and his mind was not right. This is still a quality career by the way and I don’t care who the coaches are, if a wrestlers mind isn’t right and his heart isn’t in the sport anymore, he’s not going to reach his full potential.
Oh and the guy that beat him in R12 last year is a 2x 3rd place finisher and is probably the favorite to win the title this year. And he beat Poz in rideouts. There’s no development issue.
I love Poz. I really enjoyed watching him. He pushed some great wrestlers during his career. However, his mind not being right, if true, would partly be a coaching issue. As much as Shawyer's being right last year was a tip of the hat to the staff.
I dont see Poz retiring as a sign the coaching staff didn't develop him as he was extremely competitive for 3 seasons. I do think mental preparation is part of coaching though, especially at the college level. I'm sure if this was an issue, they identufied and tried to address it. Sometimes wrestlers just burn out/hew and even the best motivators cant make the sport seem appealing at that point. It's crazy hard on the mind and body!
I dont see Poz retiring as a sign the coaching staff didn't develop him as he was extremely competitive for 3 seasons. I do think mental preparation is part of coaching though, especially at the college level. I'm sure if this was an issue, they identufied and tried to address it. Sometimes wrestlers just burn out/hew and even the best motivators cant make the sport seem appealing at that point. It's crazy hard on the mind and body!
I think there is more to it than most will ever know and I tend to think it's not about lack of development because of the staff. As @SCNJ pointed out above, Poz continued with very solid years since his freshman AA. He was a sniff away from AA last year. I'd say he slightly regressed over the years and he was either injured, burnt out, and/or had some stuff going on in his brain, then finally cracked in the PSU match. If anything, I'd lean towards his training w/Bulsak, Labs and the staff over the years kept him in the game .
Sometimes when people's minds are not right, there's nothing anyone can do. There can be everything in the world in place for support and nothing is effective. If anything, it COULD partly have been a coaching issue, but it's tough to pin the blame (even partly) on the staff without knowing all the details.
Poz had a great career and is even a better person. He will be a success in life with whatever career he chooses!
Isn't that all anyone can ask for? Hope he finds what he is looking for the rest of his life.
I can’t help shake the feeling, after read the article, that he coulda wrestled this postseason but he chose not to.. seems like he’s ok with this decision, staff is ok w it.. woulda loved to see him wrestle in the post season but it is what it is..
Poz is retiring from wrestling and sounds like he was really struggling mentally. Hopefully he was able persevere and is at peace with himself now. He was a great ambassador for RU and I wish him nothing but success in the future.
This is correct. He made the right decision for himself. Great kid, wish him luck.
Best of luck poz. You gave us some great moments. I do wonder if the omission of a thank you to the staff is meaningful
He also didn’t think his parents, friends, teammates, or literally anybody specific but pointing that out doesn’t create or perpetuate a narrative.
“There are so many people I owe thanks to, the list wouldn’t end”
I had cataract surgery yesterday and left with a patch over my eye. All went well but as I left I was thinking of my friend Poz. The reason I thought of him is because he wrestled his whole career here with one eye which seems to be lost on our whole fan base. I can only imagine how difficult that must be. My interactions with Poz at practice , traveling to away meets or talking at home meets I will always cherish.
I wish him nothing but success and happiness. Great ambassador for our school. Great young man.
Poz has no regrets. 5 concussions in college is not good. Hope he's healthy.
Poz is a great young man and a credit to Rutgers wrestling for all he has achieved.