No national duals for us again

NJwrestling26

Senior
Oct 16, 2025
571
803
93
National duals field are almost set. Top 10 minus Penn state are in plus V-Tech, Wyoming, Arizona State, Missouri, Illinois and lehigh. 15 teams in with one left to be randomly selected and I highly doubt it’s us unless Goodale bribes someone.
All the IVYs can’t compete due to finals


 

koleszar

Heisman
Jan 1, 2010
37,296
58,589
113
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.
 

Kiddagger311

Senior
Sep 17, 2025
643
400
63
Finding out who’s the best dual team among the best individual teams is pointless
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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SCNJ

All-American
Oct 12, 2019
4,444
5,838
48
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..
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.
 

Leonard23

Heisman
Feb 2, 2006
30,041
12,271
113
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..
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.
 

JudgeSmails56

All-American
Dec 1, 2019
4,585
6,688
113
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.
 
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bigmatt718

Heisman
Mar 11, 2013
15,688
22,017
113
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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njsportsphan

All-Conference
Jan 26, 2021
1,062
1,061
113
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.
 
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Samson1975!!!

Junior
Nov 22, 2022
355
351
63
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.
 
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Samson1975!!!

Junior
Nov 22, 2022
355
351
63
The teams that excel in dual format also excel at individual tournament.
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.
 
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Barrellroll

Freshman
Dec 9, 2025
76
72
18
What about being ranked 11th in dual meets? That should count for something? Really wish they would revise it how teams would qualify.
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.
 

SCNJ

All-American
Oct 12, 2019
4,444
5,838
48
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.
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.
 

Kiddagger311

Senior
Sep 17, 2025
643
400
63
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.
Solution sounds too simple but so hard to execute: Peak in March.
 

SCNJ

All-American
Oct 12, 2019
4,444
5,838
48
Solution sounds too simple but so hard to execute: Peak in March.
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.