Wrestling Blogs - Flowrestling Blogs

If this weekend taught us anything it is that wrestling is the greatest sport in the world and it is the most exciting sport in the world hands down. I wanted to say thanks to Matguard for talking a chance on Flowrestling and Mineful.com (business intelligence) for performing in the clutch. Here is my summary of this weekend before we move on deeper into the 2009 wrestling season (we go year round!!!). Iowa showed vulnerability. Brent Metcalf in his interview said that Iowa "we were duped" coming in. I think 99% of people in the nation didnt give anyone else… more »

I know what a title, everyone has heard this, but what does it really mean. So for todays blog I will delve into why I think that Iowa under Gable was so succesful. This has been one of my favorite questions to ask old timers for a while, as an aspiring coach I like to look at who did it best figure how they did it and then try to do it again. I have gotten a great myriad of answers for this question, ranging from the normal to the extra crazy and believe me everyone has their own opinion… more »

So taking a look at the high school qualifiers from California this year I noticed California was 6th place with 19 qualifiers. You might think not bad, but you have to look at it from a different angle. California's population has 34 million people in it! If you analyze how they rank qualifier per population you will see they are 34th with one qualifier per 1.9 million people. NOTE: California also has a rich history of wrestling unlike some states like Texas or Florida which are both still developing. They are just below Florida (33rd) which does not have one… more »

In life sometimes you have to live with your glass half empty to be able to take yourself out of your comfort zone in order to learn about others. Life is a journey in which we are all different in our own ways. Different does not mean good or bad. It just means different. People of all nations and walks of life just want respect. If you have followed this blog continue to be intellectually curious about others so you get to understand yourself and the world more. Iran is a traditional society wrestling to reconcile itself with the present.… more »

We approach the arena we walk through the corridors. Security guards approache us as they prepare to battle the crowd. A camera flash goes of then another and another. The media has found us they are intrigued by Americans in Tehran. Our wrestlers today took the back entrance with the coaches. Novo, Dave & I are in a paparazzi fiesta… These people live sleep and breathe wrestling. The US team is like an interesting society that very rarely ventures into this part of the world. I look up above. Hanging is a banner with the Supreme leader Iman Komeni. There… more »

We arrive at the Bazar (mall). Security tells us to make sure to watch our valuables...We are briefed to walk in packs and stop very five minutes to regroup. Its like entering a recon mission making sure we are all buddied up... As we proceed it must of been 300,000 people at the bazar women wearing the traditional grab very conservative.... We are dodging push carts and people as it becomes a clustered mosh pit... You think traveling through a college bar is tough in group... Food and clothes carpets everyone selling something from their shops as we make our… more »

You pull into the guarded gates as they open. The guard at the door says "Salem" We jump out out of our ten seat van like mercenaries dropped into a new world.We have just arrived at the wrestling facillity called the "The House of Wrestling".I proceed through the glass doors as I greet all the old Persian warriors with Salem (hello) as we proceed to the corridor of their practice facillty which can hold 1500 people.There are four full sized mats Fila mats....The banner on the wall says welcome to the "Islamic Republic of Iran"...If look to the left at… more »

Weight Name Institution Qualifying Tournament 125 Prescott Garner Navy EIWA 125 Anthony Mustari Northern Colorado West Regional 125 Brian Owen Boise State Pac-10 125 Nikko Triggas Ohio State Big Ten 125 Mike Watts Michigan Big Ten Weight Name Institution Qualifying Tournament 133 Matt Bonson Virginia ACC 133 Tyler Dillashaw Cal State Fullerton Pac-10 133 Kyle Hutter Old Dominion CAA 133 Thomas Kimbrell Cal State Bakersfield Pac-10 133 Brandon Low UC Davis Pac-10 Weight Name Institution Qualifying Tournament 141 Justin Accordino Hofstra CAA 141 Cory Fish Boise State Pac-10 141 Frank Molinaro Penn State Big Ten 141 Richard Rappo Pennsylvania EIWA… more »

Conference tournaments are over and it's time for the At-Large bids to be determined. Hours before the final wrestlers are announced, the flaws in the system are starting to show. Listed below are some of the problems regarding our current NCAA Qualifer system: 1. The "Fluff" Factor How do we account for soft schedules -- wrestling tournaments and teams that are essentially "sure wins?" Winning percentage is 2/3 of the RPI calculation, so it weighs heavily in earning a good RPI. Winning percentage is also 1/3 of the overall criteria in determining a Gold, Silver or Bronze standard qualifying spot.… more »

From NYC I took a 6 hour flight to Frankfurt. From Fankfurt we caught a connecting flight to Tehran after a 7 hour layover... Lufhansa air is the most efficient way into Tehran I'm told. For security reasons, Lufthansa changes the gate of the flight to Tehran. There was no explanation. My boarding pass listed one gate, the overhead monitor list no gate at all. The actual gate is somewhere else... We are breifed 1 hour before take off where our gate is going to be . As we board the plane everyone notices our team USA warmups. We were… more »

Noel Thompson and Mike Novogratz will be our ears and eyes out in IRAN. Noel Thompson was captain of Hofstra during Tom Ryans tenure and is now a big whig at NYAC. Mike Novogratz was captain of Princeton way back in the day and now is one of the main guys behind Beat the Streets. Both guys were really solid wrestlers making it to the round of 12 at NCAAs and both have gone on to be successful outside of wrestling. They are going to show us what the streets and people look like. They are going to tell us… more »