No national duals for us again

I still don't get the criteria used, but we all know what it is. Goodale can stress duals, but he's never gonna take part in this if he doesn't get individuals. Also, he struck out last year on the coaching staff(although he did try), he needs to get a head assistant on Pritzlaff's level. He can't stand pat with this staff, if he does, it'll be a huge disappointment.

The selection process was clear. Highly unlikely that a team that finished 34th will qualify. We have so much potential.

Finding out who’s the best dual team among the best individual teams is pointless

SCNJ said:

Finding out who’s the best dual team among the best individual teams is pointless

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Unfortunate that RU can’t qualify in the format it’s best in, duals… agreed that qualifying for a dual meet tournament using national tournament scoring placement is pretty dumb but those were the rules and the selection process was clear going in this time… so gotta adapt to it..

Kiddagger311 said:

Unfortunate that RU can’t qualify in the format it’s best in, duals… agreed that qualifying for a dual meet tournament using national tournament scoring placement is pretty dumb but those were the rules and the selection process was clear going in this time… so gotta adapt to it..

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Agreed but it’s so illogical. The point was to figure out who the best dual team is and not using duals as the primary criteria makes no sense. Up next, I want to see which school has the best basketball team based on which teams did better in the college football playoffs.

Kiddagger311 said:

Unfortunate that RU can’t qualify in the format it’s best in, duals… agreed that qualifying for a dual meet tournament using national tournament scoring placement is pretty dumb but those were the rules and the selection process was clear going in this time… so gotta adapt to it..

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The reality is that they don't want to put much effort into the selections. 2025 criteria gave autobids to top 12 teams from 2025 NCAAs and then randomly selected the last 4 teams from teams that finished 13-24 at 2025 NCAAs. 2026 criteria gave autobids to top 10 teams from 2026 NCAAs and top 4 teams from 2025 national duals, which overlapped, so they then randomly selected 6 from teams that finished 11-20 at 2026 NCAAs, excluding 4 Ivies who withdrew from consideration due to finals.

Better criteria for the last 4-6 spots would be to look at NWCA dual meet standings and start inviting the highest ranked team not yet invited and go down the list.

On the flip side, we can't continue to finish outside top 20 at NCAAs and not have at least 1-2 AAs.

you get no respect if you can't put out a reasonably competent team in march. thats's the bar in college wrestling, like it or not. It's honestly embarrassing that we can't even qualify.

The criteria is well defined. We know the rules to qualify and Rutgers didn't qualify.

I mean the team clearly didn't deserve it after the abomination of a performance at NCAAs last month. They want to be rewarded? Then win in March.

Dumb criteria, but the event is better than nothing. It just sucks when you know who's automatically out after day 1 well in advance. It could be so much better because last years results don't mean **** in wrestling, especially if those high performers (typically 1 or 2 people on a team, who excelled at the tourney) graduated or hit the portal.

bigmatt718 said:

I mean the team clearly didn't deserve it after the abomination of a performance at NCAAs last month. They want to be rewarded? Then win in March.

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What about being ranked 11th in dual meets? That should count for something? Really wish they would revise it how teams would qualify.

The rules are far from perfect and admittedly aren't logical but they apply equally to all teams which is fair. Does anyone think Rutgers is stepping up and beating Minnesota or Illinois in this format with a national spotlight?

The teams that excel in dual format also excel at individual tournament. Same teams at the top either way. I don't believe Rutgers is some world beater dual team like Minnesota used to be. Rutgers has shown they struggle to perform when it matters most. I think the high stakes (kinda?) dual tournament would bring out the same issues.

Samson1975!!! said:

The teams that excel in dual format also excel at individual tournament.

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I'm going to argue with myself. When I really thought about it, Nebraska struggled a bit early and Rutgers might have been able.to steal one there. They weren't a great dual team during the season but finished strong individually. I guess anything can happen. Have to get in though.

Kiddagger311 said:

What about being ranked 11th in dual meets? That should count for something? Really wish they would revise it how teams would qualify.

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The dual rankings are subjective and schedule dependent. The scores in the national tournament are objective as there is a clear criteria to score the tournament. Plus all the best wrestlers are competing.

This year we had a mediocre Big Ten schedule and didn’t face Nebraska, Ohio State, or Iowa. That’s not the fault of Coach Goodale as the conference determines the schedule.

Our out of conference schedule was not competitive with meets against Centenary, Gardner-Webb, Bloomsburg, Davidson, Drexel, Princeton, Rider, and Hofstra. Competitive opponents were NC State, Oklahoma, and maybe Navy.

If a strength of schedule factor were included in the dual rankings, it would give more credence to the dual rankings.

Barrellroll said:

The dual rankings are subjective and schedule dependent. The scores in the national tournament are objective as there is a clear criteria to score the tournament. Plus all the best wrestlers are competing.

This year we had a mediocre Big Ten schedule and didn’t face Nebraska, Ohio State, or Iowa. That’s not the fault of Coach Goodale as the conference determines the schedule.

Our out of conference schedule was not competitive with meets against Centenary, Gardner-Webb, Bloomsburg, Davidson, Drexel, Princeton, Rider, and Hofstra. Competitive opponents were NC State, Oklahoma, and maybe Navy.

If a strength of schedule factor were included in the dual rankings, it would give more credence to the dual rankings.

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I don’t know what the solution is but a school composed of 3 national champions and 7 kindergarteners would likely qualify for national duals but lose a dual to a middle school team.

SCNJ said:

I don’t know what the solution is but a school composed of 3 national champions and 7 kindergarteners would likely qualify for national duals but lose a dual to a middle school team.

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Solution sounds too simple but so hard to execute: Peak in March.

Kiddagger311 said:

Solution sounds too simple but so hard to execute: Peak in March.

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That’s not a solution to the problem I have with the system. We can be 30th, 13th, or 3rd in tournament scoring. Tournament scoring shouldn’t be the criteria for qualifying for national duals. I agree that if those are the rules then we have to play by them, but those rules are stupid and the more people voice their displeasure about it, the more likely it reaches a point where change happens.

Kiddagger311 said:

What about being ranked 11th in dual meets? That should count for something? Really wish they would revise it how teams would qualify.

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Ranked 11th and beat Minnesota, but lost to Oklahoma and didn't wrestle Neb, Iowa, or OSU. Prob weren't the 11th best dual team in the country. Doesn't really matter anyways, College wrestling is all about what you do in March.

SCNJ said:

That’s not a solution to the problem I have with the system. We can be 30th, 13th, or 3rd in tournament scoring. Tournament scoring shouldn’t be the criteria for qualifying for national duals. I agree that if those are the rules then we have to play by them, but those rules are stupid and the more people voice their displeasure about it, the more likely it reaches a point where change happens.

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I think Leonard is correct, they really don’t want to put too much effort in the selections.. his idea could work

“Better criteria for the last 4-6 spots would be to look at NWCA dual meet standings and start inviting the highest ranked team not yet invited and go down the list. “

Barrel is right, that the dual rankings are subjective and schedule dependent. We know deep down RU is not the 11th best dual team and not currently a tier 3 b10 team alongside Iowa.. we got a little lucky with scheduling in that regard.. National tournament is objective, clear criteria, easier for them to select, and guarantees them the top wrestlers will show up.

The current selection model only truly screws good dual teams that can’t crack the top 20 at nationals.. RU and Iowa state the first year.. bc naturally, the top teams that qualify for nationals will be decent in a dual format too.. there is no extra prize for qualifying 10 wrestlers.. I think another thing that went in their heads is that , for example, everyone knows Lehigh isn’t beating Okie State, in dual or tourney, but at least if Lehigh qualified then there should be, theoretically, some high lvl matchups to make dual interesting when everyone knows what the result will end up being.

Anyways, I don’t think they will change the selection process anytime soon due to these reasons.. so the simple solution is to become a “perennial top 20 team” otherwise we don’t really deserve to go if we can’t perform in March.