Wrestling Blogs - Fas Qayyum

Hello again all. Wrestling season is in full swing everywhere but I can't help but to be infatuated with college football. Of course, I'm not one to play favorites but I think it's either the inconsistency or the pure randomness of this year's football season that's inspiring me now. This year in college football has brought with it some of the largest upsets, exciting games, and unexpected title contenders that we, as observers, have ever seen. No one likes to claim they take rankings into consideration but I have never seen such a fluctuation of numbers in rankings. Teams have gone from being national title contenders to barely making a bowl in less than two weeks and it has gotten to the point where no game, at any level, is clear cut.
Some of you may be wondering when wrestling will come into play... The excitement of college wrestling surpasses that of nay sport in my mind. Every year wrestlers go into tournaments set to win and find themselves on a much lower part of the podium. It seems as though every NCAA tournament that I can remember has had at least one wrestler in the finals that no one saw coming. My question then is has the level of competition in wrestling risen so high to where the separation between individuals is more minute?
This is to ask if there are any clear cut favorites for any weight class for this year or in the future. Already in this season we have seen some major upsets. Kellen Russell, Caldwell, etc are guys that are putting their names on the map with big upsets and well-wrestled matches/tournaments. It seems as though many wrestlers are pushing themselves to elite levels in their training, technique, and execution and this progression is revealing that all wrestlers, no matter how outstanding, are closer in potential than rankings show. As years move on is this going to continue thus causing the separation between our great wrestlers to shrink further? Is the era of the undefeated/ clearly dominant wrestler past us?
I guess for my theories to pan out we'll have to wait for the season to progress but keep an eye out for new names, closer than usual matches, and not so predictable results. To those reading this, this is not my perspective of our great sport but simply an inquiry into where it is going in the future.I am incredibly excited to see that level of competition has risen and current wrestlers are doing things and performing in ways that I had never thought possible. This is an exciting time in wrestling as our sport is growing externally but also in performance and the potential.

Go Hawkeyes

Please share your thoughts on this but also share you thoughts on the results of this weekend's Iowa-Iowa State dual.