For Drew

blastdouble · March 24, 2015, 10:16:47 AM

Earlier, you stated you would wait until end of year to give your assessment on the team and staff.

Let's hear it!

jaguarwrestler · March 24, 2015, 10:33:14 AM

Quote from: blastdouble on March 24, 2015, 10:16:47 AM
Earlier, you stated you would wait until end of year to give your assessment on the team and staff.

Let's hear it!

1/26/15 - Drew "Oh we already got 7th in the B1G tournament and 15th at NCAAs this year? Oh my bad jag, I must've missed the month of March. A little upset I missed St Pattys day and it's still 20 degrees out."

I was wrong, 8th in B1G and 17th in NCAA's

sorry I was so far off bro, lets hear you sugarcoat and make excuses like usual.

hammen · March 24, 2015, 12:37:57 PM

I'm not your "bro" jag, especially since I don't know who you are.

My thoughts are mixed. I was hoping to see Jimenez come through at 125, but he was hampered with mono starting after Midlands, which really crushed his season. That's a though thing to bounce back from, and it's an unfortunate thing that would be difficult for anyone who is a true freshman to bounce back from. He showed signs that he can compete with NCAA qualifiers, which is promising. Everyone including RT is not happy with 7th place. He was an illadvised roll away from making the semis and getting another battle with Clark. But if you would've told me from the beginning of the year that RT would be an AA at 133, I would've called you nuts and laughed. Great to see him get that honor. He's a guy who will build off that experience at NCAAs and be better for it. Sky is the limit for him. Everyone is pretty critical of Jesse, I'm sure he's even more critical of himself. I thought he competed very well in March, which was great to see. Lots of people act pretty tough and critical from behind their computer screens, but the kid is putting in the work and is improving. It helps that we have good depth around him, as this will likely be his Olympic Redshirt year. I'm excited to see a guy like Lantz or Grahek get an opportunity. I will say that if there is anywhere that I'm a little disappointed, it would be at 149/157, and that's because we have good depth and talent at these weights (Crone, Lubeck, TJ, Liegel, Donar). Those guys are all capable, and it was unfortunate to not qualify either weight for an opportunity to make a run at NCAAs, especially after how Lubeck competed at NCAAs last year. Zeke competed like an animal all season. B1G champ and just couldn't beat a game Walsh for the 5th time in 5 meetings. The way he competed that very night against the redshirt senior Moreno, who pinned Zeke in the dual, was incredible. Such a gutsy performance. Very happy with the way Frank ended his career. I don't think many people expected Frank to get a win at the NCAAs when the season started. Ricky had a solid freshman season, about what people expected I would say. He is on an upward learning curve under Trevor, and it will be fun to see how he progresses. There is a very high ceiling based on what we saw this season. It was disappointing to see Timmy not get an AA status. We were all hoping he could pull the trigger more and show his explosiveness and talents throughout the match. The pace of a collegiate style match was just something that he couldn't figure out on a consistent basis. Freestyle might be his best style. I know he is a banged up so hopefully he recovers well. Connor competed great. Heavyweight is a brutal weight class, and has been for the last few years. Connor stepped it up this year and had a lot of big wins. He'll have a full year to improve and find a way to beat Gwiz, and I'm optimistic that he can.

I actually really enjoy the coaching staff we have in place, and the guys we have on the team. They're a very close family (as are pretty much all teams), and they are very young. That bond will continue to develop, and is a product of our staff (the way they interact with the team, and the way they recruit). We have a good recruiting class coming in, and I'm optimistic that we will have a very good one the year after. Obviously no one is happy when looking at the results on paper, and I can guarantee that the staff will say the same thing. However, I'm very happy with how we competed and where this young team is headed. We have the right guys in place at the top, we just need more guys to stay around post-grad. That's what the wrestling club is trying to do - and honestly they have been trying to get more volunteers in to train and help coach ever since I was on the team. It's tough to pull guys away from Cliff Keen or NLWC or the Ohio RTC.

leg turk · March 24, 2015, 01:02:24 PM

Well, there ya go everyone, looks like we are in good shape!

hammen · March 24, 2015, 01:06:02 PM

There you have it guys - another passive aggressive post from leg turk.

sudden_victory · March 24, 2015, 01:21:59 PM

We could have four All Americans next year with the expected improvement at 184 if the other three don't redshirt and stay healthy. Anyone who thinks there will be vast improvement in other weights or the ability to win a dual meet against the top teams is excessively optimistic.

jaguarwrestler · March 24, 2015, 01:46:08 PM

Obviously no one is happy when looking at the results on paper, and I can guarantee that the staff will say the same thing. However, I'm very happy with how we competed and where this young team is headed.

strange, happy with how you compete but not the results... well if competing on the level your capable then the results take care of themselves.

the young team.... yes we are young, and next year we lose JT, maybe JJ, Frank, Timmy and have underperformed at 149, 157 that is 6 weights that we are struggling to find a quality starter to fill the weight and by quality I mean someone who wins more than they loose, can get into the NCAA's and maybe go 2-2... so your happy with the direction of the other 4 starters? 40% of a team doesn't lead to much success.

We need coaches that can take average D1 wrestlers and make them winners on a regular basis and take our top notch recruits and make them high AA's... just like other top team do. Until the coaches can do that we will have the same results as we had most of the last 20 years.

Tom Ryan built a championship team in 9 years, he has a good shot to repeat next season. He took over a team that placed 45th in 2006 and 50th in 2005... in his 9 years they have finished top 10 in the NCAA's 8 times with 3 times in the top 2....

so lets review
Tom Ryan takes over Ohio state in 2006-2007 they had gone 45th and 50th in the NCAA's the previous 2 years and in his 9 year their average NCAA finish is 7.6 place... Barry had the team for over 10 years at that point, had all his coaches and wrestlers in place and in that same time frame from 2006-2007 the Badgers have averaged 17th place at the NCAA's.... and 3 times inside the top 10 versus 8 times for Tom Ryan.

jaguarwrestler · March 24, 2015, 01:52:46 PM

Quote from: Goat Roper on March 24, 2015, 01:30:31 PM
Quote from: jaguarwrestler on March 24, 2015, 10:33:14 AM
Quote from: blastdouble on March 24, 2015, 10:16:47 AM
Earlier, you stated you would wait until end of year to give your assessment on the team and staff.

Let's hear it!

1/26/15 - Drew "Oh we already got 7th in the B1G tournament and 15th at NCAAs this year? Oh my bad jag, I must've missed the month of March. A little upset I missed St Pattys day and it's still 20 degrees out."

I was wrong, 8th in B1G and 17th in NCAA's

sorry I was so far off bro, lets hear you sugarcoat and make excuses like usual.

Jag,

Please give us detailed approach to fixing the situation as you see it. You are quick to criticize, but do not offer any improvements. A ignorant instigator to put it politely.

Outside of Howe and Rutt, neither who improved their situation after they left, I don't see many leaving the program.

I will wait for your very detailed response. If you don't have one I will basically put your opinion on the scrap heap with some of the others on here.

one detail - new coach

coach is everything - recruiter, motivator, teacher, mentor, strategy, mat style, conditioning, lifestyle, psychologist.... and so on, and I believe we have reached our pinnacle with BD, I believe he has taken us as far as he can, I believe we need to different voice in the room, a different mentality on the mat, someone who can take average talent and make it AA and someone who can take AA and make them Champions.

wrastle63 · March 24, 2015, 02:29:45 PM

So you fire BD and get who that is better out there? Grass isn't always greener on the other side.

npope · March 24, 2015, 03:23:59 PM

I am hesitant to reply and get drawn into this tit-for-tat, but I do think it's fair to say that this wasn't a very good season for Bucky given the talent that was in the room. And I am not saying that DI talent was abundant but rather, given what Bucky had, both the dual and tourney results weren't impressive, to say the least. There were bright spots, to be sure, but there were as many dark pits that appeared, as well.

Given the returning talent at the high end, the Badgers should be expected to improve on this year's finish. That said, I don't see a significant increase in the supporting talent below the top tier guys...and I don't think the incoming recruiting class is a panacea; one or two of those guys might help a bit....if Bucky were to even put a true freshman on the mat (and yes, I know they did that to JJ, but that was a unique situation without many alternatives). But that won't make a whole lot of difference in team scores and the tourneys next year.

While I am not too concerned about results in general (I think the whole thing is bigger than just wins and losses), I think it is fair to say that this wasn't a good year for Bucky in terms of results on the mat - but wasn't a disaster, either. But it wasn't good...and I don't see a whole lot different coming on the horizon.

My biggest peeve was Davis trying to get the first three guys down to weights that ended up "bridges too far." Cutting weight is not always the "right" solution (sorry MNBadger). Obviously, Taylor was sucking too hard to make 125 and function optimally. For whatever reason, JT wasn't going to be a 133 pounder (and I agree that he is too small at 141). And then there is Lubeck - trying to do it for the team in order to get another quality kid in the lineup at 149 - I feel worst for him. Going to 141 did bad stuff to him...and he was never able to recover after going back up to 149. That, to me, is the single biggest disappointment of the season - what happened to Lubeck...and I pin that on the coaching staff. Cutting weight is not always the right decision - even if it fills out a lineup. I hope the people involved learned something from that.

Mat Warrior · March 24, 2015, 03:25:15 PM

I say we all petition for Jaquar to become the next coach. Nobody will have anything to inappropriate term1 about in 10 years when we are 10x defending national champs.

wrastle63 · March 24, 2015, 03:57:55 PM

Quote from: Mat Warrior on March 24, 2015, 03:25:15 PM
I say we all petition for Jaquar to become the next coach. Nobody will have anything to icky about in 10 years when we are 10x defending national champs.

AMEN! There is no reason besides it is all BD's fault.

stp · March 24, 2015, 04:25:53 PM

Quote from: jaguarwrestler on March 24, 2015, 01:52:46 PM

one detail - new coach

coach is everything - recruiter, motivator, teacher, mentor, strategy, mat style, conditioning, lifestyle, psychologist.... and so on, and I believe we have reached our pinnacle with BD, I believe he has taken us as far as he can, I believe we need to different voice in the room, a different mentality on the mat, someone who can take average talent and make it AA and someone who can take AA and make them Champions.

You should just become an Iowa fan.

Wisconsin Wrestling Fan · March 24, 2015, 04:25:58 PM

17th in the Nation, Ranked Top 20 All Year, Exceptional dual season,

3 All-Americans
4 in the Top 12
6 in the Top 16
1 in the Round of 24

is not good??

That is the best we have done in years. It is almost as if because Taylor and Jordan did not do quite as good as we thought they should, apparently the entire team is terrible?

Were we excellent? No. Outstanding? No Good? Yes, I would say we were good.

Could we be better ? Yes, we could have been better - but that is why they wrestle the matches.

We lost a 2nd place finisher (Graff) and still scored as many points as last year

jaguarwrestler · March 24, 2015, 05:25:50 PM

Quote from: Wisconsin Wrestling Fan on March 24, 2015, 04:25:58 PM
17th in the Nation, Ranked Top 20 All Year, Exceptional dual season,

3 All-Americans
4 in the Top 12
6 in the Top 16
1 in the Round of 24

is not good??

That is the best we have done in years. It is almost as if because Taylor and Jordan did not do quite as good as we thought they should, apparently the entire team is terrible?

Were we excellent? No. Outstanding? No Good? Yes, I would say we were good.

Could we be better ? Yes, we could have been better - but that is why they wrestle the matches.

We lost a 2nd place finisher (Graff) and still scored as many points as last year

If you had low expectations that is a fine year, but this is the year we where all waiting for, high expectations.

Hey, if your all fine with a 17th average over the last 9 years I guess we will just agree to disagree.