Match Thread: RU Wrestling at Minnesota, BTN TV, 3:15 pm, story & info:
- Thread starter Abro1975
- Start date
RutgersAlum, having high expectations and never being satisfied is a good thing, especially when the University and the fan base “financially supports” the program at every level that they need to succeed. Rutgers University does everything on their end to support RU wrestling program. It really comes down to the SKWC. SKWC is doing a fantastic job fundraising but still has a long way to go in terms of comparing it to other top programs. Having elite resident athletes to train with our wrestlers is one of the TOP (if not THE top) factors for recruits and a selling point for the top programs that Rutgers recruits against. It all comes down to donations and having the money to pay for these resident athletes to train with our wrestlers. Doesn’t help that NJ is an expensive state to live in. When RU has a strong, well-endowed wrestling club that can pay for all the resident athletes it needs, plus living expenses, and coaches, then we could be in that Top 5 league and have those as realistic expectations everyone here likes to expect for free.
Further, just to clarify my position, I 1000% trust the coaches and medical staff in terms of Glasgow and his ability/health to wrestle or not. Nonetheless, solely as a fan speaking who is not, nor should be, in the medical loop, it’s still hard to watch. Ugh!
Go RU!
Diane
Further, just to clarify my position, I 1000% trust the coaches and medical staff in terms of Glasgow and his ability/health to wrestle or not. Nonetheless, solely as a fan speaking who is not, nor should be, in the medical loop, it’s still hard to watch. Ugh!
Go RU!
Diane
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Of course he did. He had a year of training with the best, and hasn't lost most of it, yet. [cheers]
Why, of course, we should bow to King Cael. Please make sure you thank Cael for not hurting Nick for us.
Go RU!
Diane
I think what my good friend Bill is saying. It’s great when a NS transfers in. But I think Bill would agree let’s get them first in our program. We are making leaps and bounds with our wrestling facilities and the members of the SKWC are doing all they can to raise additional funds for the program. That being said you can’t actively go and recruit transfers. Even if you do to the best of my knowledge (there have been a lot of transfers over the years...don’t want to call out anyone) but other then NS they did not amount to much. The best we can do is support the program so we can get the best recruits and grow the team from the bottom up.
Grapfan1
Yes I agree with all you said. We want and need to get them first. My point was Minny was down a year or two ago and then they reload with NCAA qualifiers. Other than NS, we have not had the quality of a transfer like the 3 Minny had today. Our coaches work their tails off trying to recruit the NS or AA type of recruit to get up to the elite tier of the Big Ten. I don’t know if Grello’s performance was affected by the injury he was battling.
Yes I agree with all you said. We want and need to get them first. My point was Minny was down a year or two ago and then they reload with NCAA qualifiers. Other than NS, we have not had the quality of a transfer like the 3 Minny had today. Our coaches work their tails off trying to recruit the NS or AA type of recruit to get up to the elite tier of the Big Ten. I don’t know if Grello’s performance was affected by the injury he was battling.
I'm an fan of Ru....but an upgrade in our coaching staff has to be done this offseason. Murphy and Leo seem like great wrestling guys, but look at the staffs RU competes with. This has to be addressed if funding makes it possible.
We definitely could have won these two matches.Not sure what happened with the first take down JVB gave up so easily.Next up a tough Wisconsin team.
He's an immature 18 yr. old. His coaches are there to mold him into a mature man. If his antics continue in future years then his coaches aren't molders of fine young men and are immature themselves. I'll cut him some slack this year but the kid needs to grow up and act appropriately at some point. He's done this on more than just this occasion.
Bill, I agree. I may have misunderstood your post. The transfer issue you mentioned is becoming bigger in this sport. If that’s how we lost today...so be it. I believe that’s not an excuse. But you live by the sword you die buy the sword. NS transfored in. Because of that we have (already a wrestler make to the finals in one year) a potential national champ. Today, if people want to say we were better then Manny other then transfers so be it. I don’t put much emphasis on dual meets. I know from an individual standpoint certain match’s hurt or help for seeding. I just wiish posters would stop playing Monday morning second guessing and let the coaches do their job. I can say this as a matter of fact. I have been there and lived that life. I just call it like it is. Hope to see you soon.
I have been coaching rec kids for several years including travel wrestlers. I’m also around club kids who are grade school and eat and breath this sport at a young age. Behavior like that just doesn’t show up out of nowhere and needs to be dealt with early on. Youth wrestling builds character and maturity. If he’s like that now after all these years he will be like that 4 years from now until someone knocks him on his ass or he is DQd.
I agree with this 100%. I don’t watch too much wrestling, but you could tell some of the stuff was unsportsmanlike. Take the mat. Get your W and move on. No need to embarrass and taught your opponent. He’s lucky he’s not playing a sport like football where it’s much easier to take a cheap shot at someone and not make it seem blatant.
Hi Diane,
I think a lot of people’s frustrations are more from not seeing continued improvement from our wrestlers more than anything else. Continued improvement and a noticeable style of wrestling is not dependent on money. In this sport, you are either getting better or getting worse - too many of our guys aren’t getting better.
There are programs with less resources than us doing a better job developing their wrestlers.
It could be a very small tweak in coaching, it could be a facility improvement and/or it could just be a mentality change that needs to take place - whatever it is, it needs to happen sooner rather than later because we are not plateauing, we are regressing .
Thanks for all you do,
Mike
Here are some quotes from NJ Wrestling forum on Facebook from after the match, I will remove the posters names. Many, if not most, are just wrestling fans, not necessarily RU fans. There is a separate forum for the RU fans:
"I wanted to wait a day to share my reaction to Gable Steveson's performance at Minnesota yesterday. His skills are formidable, certainly.
But his mat behavior during the match showed great disrespect for both his opponent and the sport.
He intentionally tried to embarrass Colucci with gestures and poses that, as a coach, I would not have tolerated.
I know that some here yesterday attributed it to his immaturity and youth, but I call BS. Most wrestlers learn to respect the sport and their opponents at a very young age. As a dad, I always taught my sons to go out, take care of business and get off the mat without showboating.
As a coach and director of a youth program our motto was Humility, Dignity and Honor. What Steveson displayed yesterday was devoid of any of those qualities. He could have displayed his superiority by simply wrestling, but he chose to humiliate his opponent.
I had never seen him wrestle, so I don't know if this is SOP for him. But absent an apology from him or Eggum, I will be rooting for his opponents throughout his career.
Sorry for the rant, gentlemen, but IMHO what he did yesterday was supremely disrespectful to the sport."
"The dichotomy between he and AA was incredible to me. Ashnault a 3x AA tore up Thorn who beat him the last time. After the match he simply shook Thorns hand and jogged off. This Steveson did just the opposite and IMO reflected badly on Minnesota"
"Put an unnecessary target on his back to boot... most will root against him for the underdog to win.... was always taught and teach to do your talking on the mat... not your taunting on the mat...."
"I found his behavior horrible. Zero respect for the sport or his opponent. His coaches should have squashed that immediately! BTW Mr. Epps, there are not only gentlemen in this page! Wrestling happens to be my favorite sport!"
There are many more.
I’m sure I’m in the minority here. All of Stevenson’s antics are during the match. Wrestle him hard and I doubt he pulls some of his antics. Collucci turtled up and didn’t want to wrestle, Steveson was nudging him to wrestle.
I’d rather that than Van brill doing backflips AFTER winning a no takedown match agInst a backup.
Would you rather a guys act like a jerk during a match where u can still do something to make a stand or after?
I’d rather that than Van brill doing backflips AFTER winning a no takedown match agInst a backup.
Would you rather a guys act like a jerk during a match where u can still do something to make a stand or after?
When you severely outclass your opponent, you don’t show them up.
Colucci should have knocked him in the jaw.
He was trying to get him to wrestle. That’s how I saw it
We’ve seen many times a guy on top look at ref in desperation when bottom guy turtles
At the end of the match, I thought Stevenson took a swing at him.
AA had a point deducted from him during the NCAA Tourney for far less.
That was the only real problem I had with Stevenson.
If GS has a problem with Turtling, he is in for a long career in the NCAA.
EDIT: LATE in the match, not end.....It was a swipe, not as bad as I thought yesterday.
AA had a point deducted from him during the NCAA Tourney for far less.
That was the only real problem I had with Stevenson.
If GS has a problem with Turtling, he is in for a long career in the NCAA.
EDIT: LATE in the match, not end.....It was a swipe, not as bad as I thought yesterday.
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In the first period when Colucci was getting up after the whistle and gs took a stance in his face.... that was showing someone up.
He can act that way. It’s legal. But he better have a good chin because someone will knock him in the jaw for that if he keeps it 4 years.
Stevenson's antics will definitely get him beat.I am a fan of this kid with total disappointment in his attitude and unsportsmanlike behavior.I will certainly hope the coaches and his father get a hold of him correcting this behavior.
I can’t understand why anyone here would even defend his antics and behavior. For perspective, I’m in my late 20s so I’m all about guys celebrating and showing emotion. What he was doing was low. Take the mat. Get your win and then get off. Why is that difficult? Oh, you’re upset because your opponent is turtling? Big deal freaking deal. If I was a Minny coach I’d consider sitting him a match at a time in which his match doesn’t matter. That should not be permitted by any coach at any level.
Agreed - That's why I said he will get beat.The cockiness will do him in, when you think that you can do what you want without no consequences.
I would agree on getting the guy to wrestle. Never want to see it happen to your team. In many cases you see a wrestler let him up to take him down to get the tech faster. The issues are the humping I mean nudging to get him to do something or grabbing his face (middle to end of second). Body of antics and not a specific action. Maybe he will act up with the wrong guy but he is dominant.
That was it for me. It wasn't just one thing but a series of stuff. The shaking of the head(never seen that move), the posturing in front of Colucci as he's getting up. The look no hands ma stuff, and his facial expressions through out the match like I'm bored and this is a joke. Like I said this is not an isolated incident and is looking more like his normal behavior.
It doesn't look like his coach's give a sh*t and that's quite disturbing. All the coach's I grew up wrestling for would have called me over and told me to knock that sh*t off or I was done for the evening. I threw my head gear once in an offseason tournament. I got pulled behind the bleachers and received such a tongue lashing from my rec coach, it never happened again. Hell he wasn't even my coach anymore.
This. I’ve accused our coaches of not caring about antics, but this level of indifference from eggum pales in comparison.
What bugs me is gable knows he is being “overly aggressive” in a context he knows no one will punch him in the face.
Agreed and it puts a coach in an interesting spot. You start to mandate kids to do things differently that made them the best at that level and you chip away at that edge. Could cause him to think too much and maybe at the wrong time. OR a great coach knows how to control this and can manage. Eggum knows he has a star and we will all see how it plays out. If he can cut that stuff out I would become a fan but until then like many have said I will be watching for him to lose.
The kid is a bit like Gilman, maybe worse. I never liked those tactics but for some individuals, it is motivational. I don’t think he is a bully either. He does it to everyone, including beasts like Derek White of OSU. I assume GS gets along well with his teammates. In that case Eggum will have to decide if his antics become detrimental the team/Minnesota wrestling brand. Until then expect to see more of the same.
I’ve had neutral party people comment on that HVWT match and it was more in line with - your (Rutgers) heavyweight got destroyed and no comments on Stevenson’s bad behavior.
I then watched the match and saw turtling and a frustrated dominant guy who didn’t get a chance to really wrestle .
Colucci needs to step it up - he’s a big boy himself
I then watched the match and saw turtling and a frustrated dominant guy who didn’t get a chance to really wrestle .
Colucci needs to step it up - he’s a big boy himself
