NCAA Wrestling 2026

I’m looking forward to OSU giving PSU a run for their money in the coming years. Penn has been so dominant for so long, they need competition!
 
As for the girls wrestling like boys. They had to in order to wrestle, as they were probably the only girl on the team.
All girls sports are that way. You can tell the ones that played with the boys.
 
Jesse Jaymes said:
@LostArra

You stole my thread this year!!! Lol.

I am JUST getting back to work. Went to Big 10s in person. My in person "story" which will be no surprise...

AJ Ferrari has SERIOUS issues. Up front- HUGE Penn State fan, but I appreciate those kids who wrestle hard and can be better. I enjoy(ed) AJ like most. A train wreck you just can't NOT watch.

Live and in person, they kept all three mats up. Finals in center. 3rd and 5th matches on each end. I haven't watched the aired TV version yet. May have been at 184?? I was very close to the 5th place end mat. Think Allred medical'd out. And must have been reviews on Finals matches. Point being, Mat 3 was vacant. Lights off. NOBODY was loitering around the mat edge.

AJ has to come out of the back. Get up on Mat 3. Start stretching. The most odd/awkward, show all 13,000 of you how flexible and handsome I am. Was soooo cringy. Sure enough.....coach Manning has to come out from the back and BEG him to get down. Like 3 times..."AJ...come on down...let's go"

What a fuggin TOOL. I stood next to him and his old man (Of course AJ had to come up to the public in the BJC and walk around). He is way shorter in person. And his old man isn't nearly as jacked.
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This made me laugh because I’ve seen the AJ behavior you speak of.
When he was at OSU he came to the high school state tournament. If I recall correctly he found the tightest wife beater his body could squeeze in to and strutted around all evening seeking attention from whoever would give it to him.
The guy is an arrogant nut case & overall just not a good person imo.
 
Let me sum up the tourney in a nut shell for ya --
PSU - dominates everybody,wins natty,wins hodge, PRAISES JESUS for how awesome they are
EVERYBODY ELSE - snooze fest of Overtime matches that last 20mins becuz of Challenge Bricks because there was 1 really good scramble that WONT get overturned because had reaction time,reaction time, and more reaction time.
ALL THE FANS - Fire the Brands Brothers, whats wrong with IA

Been following college wrestling my whole life and even though im still a big fan things are just so much different than what they use to be. Personally, im not a fan of the challenge brick and Im not a fan of the Portal and NIL. I feel it takes away from the purity of the sport. I also cant believe when you look through the brackets you see the majority of the wrestlers haven't even wrestled 20 matches this season..............
its crazy when youth kids are wrestling 80 and HS kids are wrestling 50 and now in college they barely wrestle 30.

Sorry to be so negative its always easier to criticize from the outside in. On a positive note Im always excited to watch high level wrestling and of all the college sports out there Wrestling is still the hardest and most rewarding of them. Best thing a person can ever do is wrestle.
 
Ferrari is an asshat. I was, and still am, really disappointed in Manning for taking him. I think getting a team trophy last year clouded his judgement.

Would love to see Ferrari get bounced in round 1 or 2. Won't happen, he's way too good at doing nothing.

Taylor won't be in the finals at 157. Yes he won last yerar but was maybe the 4th or 5th best in that bracket. He had a great tournament and not taking anything away from the kid, he's an AA caliber wrestler but not NC. Kasak was clearly better, and it wsn't even close. Duke simply fell vicitim to his style the first match. Push the pace, push the action, he's vulnerable on his feet if you stay out of the underhook. Carl saw it and fixed it.

There is no one better than Carl and company at preparing their kids to wrestle. Espcially once they have a head to head on tape. You might beat them once, you will rarely beat them twice. Devino won't beat Blaze again. You are better off losing to PSU all year and trying to get the win in the finals. They don't repeat the same things that got them beat prior. They could legit win 8/10 weights. It will be kids outside the B1G that beat them.
 
Brooks suspension for PED's also recently upheld. 2 year ban.

The PSU room isn't all sunshine and roses, no one's is. At the end of the day, PSU simply outworks their opponants. Other than a couple kids, they are always on the offensive, always looking to score. 0-0, 10-0, 4-3, doesn't matter they continue to attack. Rocco doesn't fit that mold, why he is vulnerable. Van Ness only fits that mold when he gets down by 7, why he'd vulnerable. You are not going to get the first takedown against them and then win a 3-2 match. That is the mantra of the rest of college wrestling. PSU doesn't allow that to happen.
 
jmez said:
Taylor won't be in the finals at 157. Yes he won last yerar but was maybe the 4th or 5th best in that bracket. He had a great tournament and not taking anything away from the kid, he's an AA caliber wrestler but not NC. Kasak was clearly better, and it wsn't even close. Duke simply fell vicitim to his style the first match. Push the pace, push the action, he's vulnerable on his feet if you stay out of the underhook. Carl saw it and fixed it.
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I'm a Nebraska guy, so obvious bias, but I think takes like this are always ridiculous. Winning a NC is always about the best guy those 3 days, which is why the sport and NCAA tourney are awesome. He won it, so it isnt even possible for him NOT to be NC caliber.

I also don't think Shapiro has what it takes to beat him. Shapiro had almost no competition all year and got beat by #11 in a not close match in his conference finals. I think AT makes the finals. Duke did look better in the B10 finals though.
 
I don't watch any MAC or ACC? Who are the Dark Horses from the East Coast?

Shapiro always looks good on Instagram and paper. I usually know most of the Cornell and NC State line ups. Out of the loop this year. Matty Singleton seems solid.

What Bracket Busters are we overlooking?
 
longtail said:
I also cant believe when you look through the brackets you see the majority of the wrestlers haven't even wrestled 20 matches this season..............
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As a former ncaa wrestler I can try to make this make sense. Collegiate level wrestling is different. High level HS wrestlers go to a tournament every weekend and might have 1-2 tough matches in the whole bracket. Most highschools don’t have a consistently tough schedule every weekend. HS it’s all about getting mat time to improve, show your weaknesses & strengths, get into “wrestling shape”.
College is different in the fact that every single dude you wrestle is tough. Sure some guys are still dominant but the idea that there’s a starter at any program that isn’t good at wrestling is ignorant. Tough matches = more stress on the body. More stress on the body = more injuries. It’s a literal grind from November to March every day in the room. These guys already know their strengths & weaknesses from the few matches they do wrestle & know how to get into wrestling shape.
The name of the game is stay healthy & peak at the ncaa tournament. The low match count is to mitigate injury & keep from burning your body out before the ncaa tournament.

Those Sunday mornings after a college tournament you feel like you’ve been trampled on by a herd of elk.
 
Okie-hunter said:
As a former ncaa wrestler I can try to make this make sense. Collegiate level wrestling is different. High level HS wrestlers go to a tournament every weekend and might have 1-2 tough matches in the whole bracket. Most highschools don’t have a consistently tough schedule every weekend. HS it’s all about getting mat time to improve, show your weaknesses & strengths, get into “wrestling shape”.
College is different in the fact that every single dude you wrestle is tough. Sure some guys are still dominant but the idea that there’s a starter at any program that isn’t good at wrestling is ignorant. Tough matches = more stress on the body. More stress on the body = more injuries. It’s a literal grind from November to March every day in the room. These guys already know their strengths & weaknesses from the few matches they do wrestle & know how to get into wrestling shape.
The name of the game is stay healthy & peak at the ncaa tournament. The low match count is to mitigate injury & keep from burning your body out before the ncaa tournament.

Those Sunday mornings after a college tournament you feel like you’ve been trampled on by a herd of elk.
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Just to add, the elite high school seniors and college guys are wrestling now internationally during the school's "off season". They need to manage their match count both physically and mentally.

Also, if you have top shelf talent as a backup you better give him some matches or
A) he will be gone to another school
B) your starter gets an injury and you have to use an untested reserve

I don't believe Penn St "outworks" anyone. They start with the very best recruiting class every year then add great individual coaching especially directed at specific opponents. (Duke v Taylor) That's a formidable combination. Occasionally they miss (Braeden Davis) and also can still win with passivity (Rocco).

___________________________________________________________________________________

Edit: Penn St didn't really "miss" on Davis. He's a good wrestler that has some control issues that get him in trouble both on and off the mat.
 
@LostArra yes the B team guy transferring is also a concern I hadn’t considered. I’m personally not a fan of the transfer portal. In many cases you have coaches investing years into guys developing them to get them where they need to be their last 2 years then the athlete gets impatient and transfers. The idea of being loyal to a specific program is gone.
 
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