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Tale of the Tape

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TarpHawk1

Senior
Jul 6, 2025
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984
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Respectable (average) finish to a bad year. 4th place NCAAs, 7 AAs, 1 finalist, 91.5 points.

Adding 2026 NCAA stats to career tallies:

Avg NCAA Points:
Brands (19 seasons) = 90.0
Zalesky (9 seasons) = 91.3
Gable (21 seasons) = 120.7
Sanderson (16 seasons): 128.9
Taylor (2 seasons) = 116.75

Avg NCAA Place:
Brands = 3.3
Zalesky = 3.3
Gable = 1.6
Sanderson = 1.9
Taylor = 2.5

Avg Indiv NCAA Champs:
Brands = 0.7
Zalesky = 1.1
Gable = 2.1
Sanderson = 2.8
Taylor = 2.5

The fundamental arguments for coaching change remain largely unchanged, but were exacerbated by several factors this year:
(1) Tom's stats weren't acceptable under the Gable regime or the Zalesky regime. This was yet another year that his stats didn't improve, and are stubbornly hewing slightly below Zalesky's.
(2) Tom perennially lacks the "hammers" to be a title contender. (Even '21 wouldn't have happened without the serendipitous gift of Eierman's 19.5 points.) This year was more of the same. His 3 champs in the past 10 seasons is equal to Ok State's haul THIS YEAR, and very close to Sanderson's SEASON AVERAGE across 16 seasons!
(3) 6 dual losses in a single season. (Zalesky was fired for 7 losses & 4th place finish @ NCAAs with 0 champs.)
(4) Ticket sales & attendance down
(5) HWC not competitive (though a decent year so far)
(6) Iowa will not be vying for 1st or 2nd for at least the next 4 years. 6 of Ok St's starters were freshmen (4 true, 1 redshirt). 6 of Penn St's starters were freshmen or sophs (2 true fr, 1 redshirt, 3 sophs). Both have more talent coming in next year. Iowa loses its top 3 point scorers from this season, and next year could be brutal.

These are the stats. The only thing that's subjective is whether or not this level of performance--not great but not horrible--is acceptable for the Iowa program. It appears that we have slowly and steadily grown used to it, so the answer is likely yes.

Kudos and congrats to the wrestlers and coaches for a gutsy performance at NCAAs. There was some good wrestling, and it was a fun tournament to watch.
 
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K

Kwoodhawk

Freshman
Feb 11, 2009
17
66
13
TarpHawk1 said:
Respectable (average) finish to a bad year. 4th place NCAAs, 7 AAs, 1 finalist, 91.5 points.

Adding 2026 NCAA stats to career tallies:

Avg NCAA Points:
Brands (19 seasons) = 90.0
Zalesky (9 seasons) = 91.3
Gable (21 seasons) = 120.7
Sanderson (16 seasons): 128.9
Taylor (2 seasons) = 116.75

Avg NCAA Place:
Brands = 3.3
Zalesky = 3.3
Gable = 1.6
Sanderson = 1.9
Taylor = 2.5

Avg Indiv NCAA Champs:
Brands = 0.7
Zalesky = 1.1
Gable = 2.1
Sanderson = 2.8
Taylor = 2.5

The fundamental arguments for coaching change remain largely unchanged, but were exacerbated by several factors this year:
(1) Tom's stats weren't acceptable under the Gable regime or the Zalesky regime. This was yet another year that his stats didn't improve, and are stubbornly hewing slightly below Zalesky's.
(2) Tom perennially lacks the "hammers" to be a title contender. (Even '21 wouldn't have happened without the serendipitous gift of Eierman's 19.5 points.) This year was more of the same. His 3 champs in the past 10 seasons is equal to Ok State's haul THIS YEAR, and very close to Sanderson's SEASON AVERAGE across 16 seasons!
(3) 6 dual losses in a single season. (Zalesky was fired for 7 losses & 4th place finish @ NCAAs with 0 champs.)
(4) Ticket sales & attendance down
(5) HWC not competitive (though a decent year so far)
(6) Iowa will not be vying for 1st or 2nd for at least the next 4 years. 6 of Ok St's starters were freshmen (4 true, 1 redshirt). 6 of Penn St's starters were freshmen or sophs (2 true fr, 1 redshirt, 3 sophs). Both have more talent coming in next year. Iowa loses its top 3 point scorers from this season, and next year could be brutal.

These are the stats. The only thing that's subjective is whether or not this level of performance--not great but not horrible--is acceptable for the Iowa program. It appears that we have slowly and steadily grown used to it, so the answer is likely yes.

Kudos and congrats to the wrestlers and coaches for a gutsy performance at NCAAs. There was some good wrestling, and it was a fun tournament to watch.
Click to expand...
Wish you could have waited till the 4th of July to post this assessment so no one would see it and be upset by it.

It was a good tournament to watch though. Very surprising how well all the new youngsters did.
 
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L

Libertylover

All-Conference
Dec 17, 2020
876
1,518
93
TarpHawk1 said:
Respectable (average) finish to a bad year. 4th place NCAAs, 7 AAs, 1 finalist, 91.5 points.

Adding 2026 NCAA stats to career tallies:

Avg NCAA Points:
Brands (19 seasons) = 90.0
Zalesky (9 seasons) = 91.3
Gable (21 seasons) = 120.7
Sanderson (16 seasons): 128.9
Taylor (2 seasons) = 116.75

Avg NCAA Place:
Brands = 3.3
Zalesky = 3.3
Gable = 1.6
Sanderson = 1.9
Taylor = 2.5

Avg Indiv NCAA Champs:
Brands = 0.7
Zalesky = 1.1
Gable = 2.1
Sanderson = 2.8
Taylor = 2.5

The fundamental arguments for coaching change remain largely unchanged, but were exacerbated by several factors this year:
(1) Tom's stats weren't acceptable under the Gable regime or the Zalesky regime. This was yet another year that his stats didn't improve, and are stubbornly hewing slightly below Zalesky's.
(2) Tom perennially lacks the "hammers" to be a title contender. (Even '21 wouldn't have happened without the serendipitous gift of Eierman's 19.5 points.) This year was more of the same. His 3 champs in the past 10 seasons is equal to Ok State's haul THIS YEAR, and very close to Sanderson's SEASON AVERAGE across 16 seasons!
(3) 6 dual losses in a single season. (Zalesky was fired for 7 losses & 4th place finish @ NCAAs with 0 champs.)
(4) Ticket sales & attendance down
(5) HWC not competitive (though a decent year so far)
(6) Iowa will not be vying for 1st or 2nd for at least the next 4 years. 6 of Ok St's starters were freshmen (4 true, 1 redshirt). 6 of Penn St's starters were freshmen or sophs (2 true fr, 1 redshirt, 3 sophs). Both have more talent coming in next year. Iowa loses its top 3 point scorers from this season, and next year could be brutal.

These are the stats. The only thing that's subjective is whether or not this level of performance--not great but not horrible--is acceptable for the Iowa program. It appears that we have slowly and steadily grown used to it, so the answer is likely yes.

Kudos and congrats to the wrestlers and coaches for a gutsy performance at NCAAs. There was some good wrestling, and it was a fun tournament to watch.
Click to expand...
We know Tom is going nowhere this year. His future past next year probably hinges on how well he can add to the 2 top 10 pfp lightweights in the 28 class. Need to add a few top upper and upper middleweight guys. Really need Howard and Hutcherson from PA, but have a feeling they are both already 95% PSU. They don’t need Howard, but have the money to land him anyway and keep him off other rosters. PSU and okyst could really use Hutcherson, so that will be interesting to see if Taylor pursues him.
 
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TheREALSpooner

TheREALSpooner

All-Conference
Dec 16, 2022
853
2,828
93
Libertylover said:
We know Tom is going nowhere this year. His future past next year probably hinges on how well he can add to the 2 top 10 pfp lightweights in the 28 class. Need to add a few top upper and upper middleweight guys. Really need Howard and Hutcherson from PA, but have a feeling they are both already 95% PSU. They don’t need Howard, but have the money to land him anyway and keep him off other rosters. PSU and okyst could really use Hutcherson, so that will be interesting to see if Taylor pursues him.
Click to expand...

I don’t think who he has committed is going to have anything to do with his future.
 
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Nashville_Hawk

Nashville_Hawk

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2015
706
1,851
93
bnicolls said:
Like it or not, the landscape has vastly changed in multiple ways.
Click to expand...
That’s true…and we need to and should have been changing with it in multiple ways. That said, very proud of the way the team performed this year! Gabe was amazing, Block really showed up, Kennedy was a beast and will be missed, and Mikey is well he’s all that! Hope BK focuses on wrestling 100% going forward and AF gets healthy…so proud of the way he wrestled injured! Going to miss Drake, PK and Mikey!!
 
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L

Libertylover

All-Conference
Dec 17, 2020
876
1,518
93
TheREALSpooner said:
I don’t think who he has committed is going to have anything to do with his future.
Click to expand...
Why not? That has been his biggest downfall compared to PSU, now OSU, and even tOSU. You know if the important 2026 class would have kept Bassett and Miller and added Raneys we wouldn’t be discussing firing him. If he can land as good or better 2028 class as 2027, then I think they let him at least finish out the last few years of his contract. If next year is as bad as everyone thinks it’s going to be, and we start getting decommitments from those classes, then he’s gone.
 
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A

AndreTheHawk

All-Conference
Jul 2, 2025
956
1,948
93
bnicolls said:
Like it or not, the landscape has vastly changed in multiple ways.
Click to expand...
I don't like it, I'm old school to my core. Not only as it pertains to the Hawks, just College Sports in general.

I'm a firm believer that a DI scholarship to a major university is one hell of a payment for athletic services rendered, along with all the perks that aren't readily available to everyone.

I commend you for your contributions, you're a Hawkeye treasure in my book and I've stated that many times. I am saddened it's come to that however.

As a mere fan, I've spent enough in my lifetime on Hawkeye Athletics to buy another house. That's gonna have to be good enough support for/from me. 🙂

Good day Sir.
 
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TheREALSpooner

TheREALSpooner

All-Conference
Dec 16, 2022
853
2,828
93
Libertylover said:
Why not? That has been his biggest downfall compared to PSU, now OSU, and even tOSU. You know if the important 2026 class would have kept Bassett and Miller and added Raneys we wouldn’t be discussing firing him. If he can land as good or better 2028 class as 2027, then I think they let him at least finish out the last few years of his contract. If next year is as bad as everyone thinks it’s going to be, and we start getting decommitments from those classes, then he’s gone.
Click to expand...

Because at that point he will have had 20 years as head coach at Iowa to use as an evaluation. Evaluating him based on high school kids who may or may not actually show up and may or may not actually be good is trivial at best in comparison. Any AD worth a salt understands this. (And Iowa's AD is definitely worth a salt.)
 
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Comment123

Freshman
Feb 26, 2019
23
54
13
bnicolls said:
Like it or not, the landscape has vastly changed in multiple ways.
Click to expand...
"The playing field is now level"-guy whose name is on the wall of the wrestling room with no windows

Since that great proclamation by you, PSU has won 5 team championships and Iowa has now been passed up by Oklahoma State with a 2nd year head coach in David Taylor (who many on this site said wouldn't be an improvement over Brands).

But hey, at least Brands can tell Beth he overperformed relative to how people expected him to (as if that's saying anything about a 4th place finish).
 
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grasshawk40

All-Conference
Iowa Swarm member
Dec 16, 2022
448
1,006
93
Comment123 said:
"The playing field is now level"-guy whose name is on the wall of the wrestling room with no windows

Since that great proclamation by you, PSU has won 5 team championships and Iowa has now been passed up by Oklahoma State with a 2nd year head coach in David Taylor (who many on this site said wouldn't be an improvement over Brands).

But hey, at least Brands can tell Beth he overperformed relative to how people expected him to (as if that's saying anything about a 4th place finish).
Click to expand...
you feel the same as some former Hawks. Followed Jay Borschel over the weekend on twitter. He seems to feel a lot like most of us. No adapting and unwilling to take advice from the Brands. I wonder which other feel that way.

https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/12052​

 
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MSU158

All-Conference
Nov 20, 2014
1,178
3,113
113
Comment123 said:
"The playing field is now level"-guy whose name is on the wall of the wrestling room with no windows

Since that great proclamation by you, PSU has won 5 team championships and Iowa has now been passed up by Oklahoma State with a 2nd year head coach in David Taylor (who many on this site said wouldn't be an improvement over Brands).

But hey, at least Brands can tell Beth he overperformed relative to how people expected him to (as if that's saying anything about a 4th place finish).
Click to expand...
In Bob’s defense, NO ONE could have predicted the Wild West environment that NIL and the transfer portal became. On top of that, the NCAA did NOT enforce ANY rules for a wildly long stretch and many used pending court cases to COMPLETELY ignore the rules.

Did he speak too soon? Yep. Should he be “gotcha’d” for it over and over again? I would hope anyone with a brain wouldn’t. But, hey, you do you!
 
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Stick Kitty

Stick Kitty

All-Conference
Jul 7, 2025
450
1,137
93
bnicolls said:
Like it or not, the landscape has vastly changed in multiple ways.
Click to expand...

Are you going to be the change or the victim? You speak like a victim without a vision. Brands are good coaches, better than most, but they have never had a vision other than smash bug with windshield.

Oklahoma State stopped making excuses and made a hard decision that what it is, wasn't what it should be. Way too many on here are satisfied by 4th because 1st or 2nd is just for other teams now .
 
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Stick Kitty

Stick Kitty

All-Conference
Jul 7, 2025
450
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93
MSU158 said:
In Bob’s defense, NO ONE could have predicted the Wild West environment that NIL and the transfer portal became. On top of that, the NCAA did NOT enforce ANY rules for a wildly long stretch and many used pending court cases to COMPLETELY ignore the rules.

Did he speak too soon? Yep. Should he be “gotcha’d” for it over and over again? I would hope anyone with a brain wouldn’t. But, hey, you do you!
Click to expand...

You're not being the ball Danny
 
C

Comment123

Freshman
Feb 26, 2019
23
54
13
MSU158 said:
In Bob’s defense, NO ONE could have predicted the Wild West environment that NIL and the transfer portal became. On top of that, the NCAA did NOT enforce ANY rules for a wildly long stretch and many used pending court cases to COMPLETELY ignore the rules.

Did he speak too soon? Yep. Should he be “gotcha’d” for it over and over again? I would hope anyone with a brain wouldn’t. But, hey, you do you!
Click to expand...
Lmfao, what the hell are you talking about that “no could have predicted” what NIL would create? Thats complete ******** and was predicted by most of those who were against NIL in the first place. On top of that, no one was more prominent in engaging in this wild west than Bob was, and Iowa still couldn’t leapfrog Penn State (but hey, 4th place!) So save the excuses, it’s already sad enough to see you doing it for TnT.

On that note, is your defense of Bob a product of the nut hugging agreement you have in place with TnT, or an independent one separately for Bob? Either way, you do you.
 
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G

grapplefan

Junior
Oct 3, 2010
179
399
63
TarpHawk1 said:
Respectable (average) finish to a bad year. 4th place NCAAs, 7 AAs, 1 finalist, 91.5 points.

Adding 2026 NCAA stats to career tallies:

Avg NCAA Points:
Brands (19 seasons) = 90.0
Zalesky (9 seasons) = 91.3
Gable (21 seasons) = 120.7
Sanderson (16 seasons): 128.9
Taylor (2 seasons) = 116.75

Avg NCAA Place:
Brands = 3.3
Zalesky = 3.3
Gable = 1.6
Sanderson = 1.9
Taylor = 2.5

Avg Indiv NCAA Champs:
Brands = 0.7
Zalesky = 1.1
Gable = 2.1
Sanderson = 2.8
Taylor = 2.5

The fundamental arguments for coaching change remain largely unchanged, but were exacerbated by several factors this year:
(1) Tom's stats weren't acceptable under the Gable regime or the Zalesky regime. This was yet another year that his stats didn't improve, and are stubbornly hewing slightly below Zalesky's.
(2) Tom perennially lacks the "hammers" to be a title contender. (Even '21 wouldn't have happened without the serendipitous gift of Eierman's 19.5 points.) This year was more of the same. His 3 champs in the past 10 seasons is equal to Ok State's haul THIS YEAR, and very close to Sanderson's SEASON AVERAGE across 16 seasons!
(3) 6 dual losses in a single season. (Zalesky was fired for 7 losses & 4th place finish @ NCAAs with 0 champs.)
(4) Ticket sales & attendance down
(5) HWC not competitive (though a decent year so far)
(6) Iowa will not be vying for 1st or 2nd for at least the next 4 years. 6 of Ok St's starters were freshmen (4 true, 1 redshirt). 6 of Penn St's starters were freshmen or sophs (2 true fr, 1 redshirt, 3 sophs). Both have more talent coming in next year. Iowa loses its top 3 point scorers from this season, and next year could be brutal.

These are the stats. The only thing that's subjective is whether or not this level of performance--not great but not horrible--is acceptable for the Iowa program. It appears that we have slowly and steadily grown used to it, so the answer is likely yes.

Kudos and congrats to the wrestlers and coaches for a gutsy performance at NCAAs. There was some good wrestling, and it was a fun tournament to watch.
Click to expand...
Great summary as usual, Tarp.
 
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G

grapplefan

Junior
Oct 3, 2010
179
399
63
Comment123 said:
Lmfao, what the hell are you talking about that “no could have predicted” what NIL would create? Thats complete ******** and was predicted by most of those who were against NIL in the first place. On top of that, no one was more prominent in engaging in this wild west than Bob was, and Iowa still couldn’t leapfrog Penn State (but hey, 4th place!) So save the excuses, it’s already sad enough to see you doing it for TnT.

On that note, is your defense of Bob a product of the nut hugging agreement you have in place with TnT, or an independent one separately for Bob? Either way, you do you.
Click to expand...
Too harsh, even if true. These guys are all disappointed just like we are.
Let's not replay the last 5 years, or even the last two, and let's move on and make some needed changes.
Let's get new staff, new techniques, and new attitudes. We get what we earn.
 
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L

Libertylover

All-Conference
Dec 17, 2020
876
1,518
93
TheREALSpooner said:
Because at that point he will have had 20 years as head coach at Iowa to use as an evaluation. Evaluating him based on high school kids who may or may not actually show up and may or may not actually be good is trivial at best in comparison. Any AD worth a salt understands this. (And Iowa's AD is definitely worth a salt.)
Click to expand...
Then she should be able to make a decision right now if she’s going to at least let him finish his last few years on his contract. One more season that already looks worse than this one unless he finds 2-3 Buchanan type transfers next year is’nt going to change his 20 year body of work much.
 
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TheREALSpooner

TheREALSpooner

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Dec 16, 2022
853
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Libertylover said:
Then she should be able to make a decision right now if she’s going to at least let him finish his last few years on his contract. One more season that already looks worse than this one unless he finds 2-3 Buchanan type transfers next year is’nt going to change his 20 year body of work much.
Click to expand...

I actually agree with you.

But her perspective might be much different. It might be to give him an opportunity to rebuild, set the program up for the future, create a succession plan, etc. Maybe she doesn't want to drop $1M in buyouts for a non-revenue sport at this time. Who knows.
 
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bnicolls

All-Conference
Jun 4, 2005
154
1,237
93
grasshawk40 said:
you feel the same as some former Hawks. Followed Jay Borschel over the weekend on twitter. He seems to feel a lot like most of us. No adapting and unwilling to take advice from the Brands. I wonder which other feel that way.

https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/12052​

Click to expand...
The playing field was level, but no more. The amount of jack others are committing for their programs to win is obscene. Other schools are committing way more than ours. That's reality. I'm doing something about it, are you? Is comment123, is Sticky, others who complain.........uh no, they are not. Just keep complaining if it makes you feel good.
 
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grasshawk40

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Iowa Swarm member
Dec 16, 2022
448
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bnicolls said:
The playing field was level, but no more. The amount of jack others are committing for their programs to win is obscene. Other schools are committing way more than ours. That's reality. I'm doing something about it, are you? Is comment123, is Sticky, others who complain.........uh no, they are not. Just keep complaining if it makes you feel good.
Click to expand...
thats cool Bob. I'm not sure you meant to reply to me or not but... thanks???
 
V

vhsalum

All-Conference
Nov 14, 2002
1,034
2,283
113
bnicolls said:
The playing field was level, but no more. The amount of jack others are committing for their programs to win is obscene. Other schools are committing way more than ours. That's reality. I'm doing something about it, are you? Is comment123, is Sticky, others who complain.........uh no, they are not. Just keep complaining if it makes you feel good.
Click to expand...
Quick question - did something change? I thought Iowa wrestling going to be a part of the rev share?

 
G

grasshawk40

All-Conference
Iowa Swarm member
Dec 16, 2022
448
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vhsalum said:
Nothing Iowa related currently.
Click to expand...
Bamped GIF by Mutha Puaka
 
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Mattski

Mattski

All-Conference
Apr 21, 2022
965
2,560
93
bnicolls said:
The playing field was level, but no more. The amount of jack others are committing for their programs to win is obscene. Other schools are committing way more than ours. That's reality. I'm doing something about it, are you? Is comment123, is Sticky, others who complain.........uh no, they are not. Just keep complaining if it makes you feel good.
Click to expand...
My sincere question is what exactly are they spending the extra jack on and how is it ultimately making as big of difference as we're seeing in results? Is it as simple as psu and okst are "buying" all these top recruits? I genuinely don't know but we hear frequently from recruits to those schools and others in the know that their decisions weren't all about $.
 
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kegan_rivals316901

Sophomore
Jun 23, 2003
49
113
33
TarpHawk1 said:
Respectable (average) finish to a bad year. 4th place NCAAs, 7 AAs, 1 finalist, 91.5 points.

Adding 2026 NCAA stats to career tallies:

Avg NCAA Points:
Brands (19 seasons) = 90.0
Zalesky (9 seasons) = 91.3
Gable (21 seasons) = 120.7
Sanderson (16 seasons): 128.9
Taylor (2 seasons) = 116.75

Avg NCAA Place:
Brands = 3.3
Zalesky = 3.3
Gable = 1.6
Sanderson = 1.9
Taylor = 2.5

Avg Indiv NCAA Champs:
Brands = 0.7
Zalesky = 1.1
Gable = 2.1
Sanderson = 2.8
Taylor = 2.5

The fundamental arguments for coaching change remain largely unchanged, but were exacerbated by several factors this year:
(1) Tom's stats weren't acceptable under the Gable regime or the Zalesky regime. This was yet another year that his stats didn't improve, and are stubbornly hewing slightly below Zalesky's.
(2) Tom perennially lacks the "hammers" to be a title contender. (Even '21 wouldn't have happened without the serendipitous gift of Eierman's 19.5 points.) This year was more of the same. His 3 champs in the past 10 seasons is equal to Ok State's haul THIS YEAR, and very close to Sanderson's SEASON AVERAGE across 16 seasons!
(3) 6 dual losses in a single season. (Zalesky was fired for 7 losses & 4th place finish @ NCAAs with 0 champs.)
(4) Ticket sales & attendance down
(5) HWC not competitive (though a decent year so far)
(6) Iowa will not be vying for 1st or 2nd for at least the next 4 years. 6 of Ok St's starters were freshmen (4 true, 1 redshirt). 6 of Penn St's starters were freshmen or sophs (2 true fr, 1 redshirt, 3 sophs). Both have more talent coming in next year. Iowa loses its top 3 point scorers from this season, and next year could be brutal.

These are the stats. The only thing that's subjective is whether or not this level of performance--not great but not horrible--is acceptable for the Iowa program. It appears that we have slowly and steadily grown used to it, so the answer is likely yes.

Kudos and congrats to the wrestlers and coaches for a gutsy performance at NCAAs. There was some good wrestling, and it was a fun tournament to watch.
Click to expand...
Nice post Tarp. Can't argue data. I posted something similar a couple years back and some folks freaked out. Trends continued (as predicted).
 
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bnicolls

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blcoach80

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So someone in the know can maybe set me straight, but it sure sounds to me like almost all the money has to come from fundraising (all of it last year and in the past)? Sure seems to me like that would make it very difficult to bring in a new high profile name as head coach, even if Iowa was looking. There is no doubt in my mind PSU and Okie St. are able to offer more monetary incentives to multiple recruits than Iowa. Go ahead and tell me Iowa has unlimited resources and can spend, spend, spend. I'm not buying it. A billion is exponentially more than a million for those who struggle with math. Thank the Lord for Bob, or Iowa wrestling would be miles behind Carl and Taylor financially. Make the HWC better. Great idea, but who pays a couple million a year to fund that and buy those wrestlers? A 25 million endowment could maybe fund it, but where will that come from?
 
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