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Christian Pyles's interview with Cael

Tom McAndrew

Tom McAndrew

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Oct 27, 2021
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enjoy



00:00:00 - Why is Cael at the NWCA Convention?
00:02:02 - The ever growing role of College wrestling coaches, is it tenable?
00:03:20 - The change in recruiting rules: Good idea?
00:04:50 - Recruiting intangibles Coach Cael looks for
00:06:35 - Cael’s thoughts on 5 for 5 and Levi Haines getting another year potentially
00:09:25 - Will Masa Ono Wrestle? The impact of Japanese wrestlers in the room
00:11:45 - How does Mitchell Mesenbrink do it?
00:13:05 - Cael’s role in his sons wrestling career
00:16:00 - The role Cael’s father played in his life
00:18:18 - Why freestyle wrestling is important for young wrestlers
00:20:40 - What keeps Cael so highly motivated
00:22:45 - Great Casey Cunningham story
 
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Efejle

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"Ono will wrestle for Penn State, either this year or next". So, probably next. This means Blaze stays at 133 and 141 is the winner of Davis vs Desmond.

Point total probably down 5 to 10 points as a result but not enough for Pokes to be in the race.
 
Psalm 1 guy

Psalm 1 guy

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Efejle said:
"Ono will wrestle for Penn State, either this year or next". So, probably next. This means Blaze stays at 133 and 141 is the winner of Davis vs Desmond.

Point total probably down 5 to 10 points as a result but not enough for Pokes to be in the race.
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Cael's specific quote regarding if Ono will be wrestling in a Penn State singlet: "It could be this year, it could be next year, but he's definitely going to wrestle at Penn State, hopefully for a couple years." Two or more years for Ono would be awesome.
 
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McScoreley

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Trying to interpret what Cael means by what he said about Ono is one of the funniest things you could do. He’s not tipping his hand about the lineup this early.

Also you know for him to agree to this kind of interview with Flo, there was an agreed upon list of questions (hence why Pyles knew better than to ask anything about DT and Oklahoma State) so that answer was straight scripted.
 
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NittanyChris

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McScoreley said:
Trying to interpret what Cael means by what he said about Ono is one of the funniest things you could do. He’s not tipping his hand about the lineup this early.

Also you know for him to agree to this kind of interview with Flo, there was an agreed upon list of questions (hence why Pyles knew better than to ask anything about DT and Oklahoma State) so that answer was straight scripted.
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I tend to agree with you completely, but I'lI try to decipher some Caelspeak just for fun.

I think it would be highly unlikely that he would mention Ono getting a 2nd year, unprompted, unless it was practically a done deal.
 
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fortheglory94

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McScoreley said:
Trying to interpret what Cael means by what he said about Ono is one of the funniest things you could do. He’s not tipping his hand about the lineup this early.

Also you know for him to agree to this kind of interview with Flo, there was an agreed upon list of questions (hence why Pyles knew better than to ask anything about DT and Oklahoma State) so that answer was straight scripted.
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Are you saying Pyles had a plan for this interview?
 
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lionlover

lionlover

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pennstaterincarolina said:
Or Pyles knows Sanderson well enough to know he won’t get anything from him on that. I’m sure Pyles would not like this to be a last interview with him. Whatever the case, good to hear from the man!
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I really didn't like Pyles as I got to know him from his early days on the Iowa wrestling board. But, in his new role with Flo, I think he has grown throughout the years to appreciate Cael's philosophy and track record.

Since the brain has left Flo, he has ascended the ranks to become a credible wrestling expert in the industry. As such, I thought his questions were all very well developed and delivered. This was and excellent interview.
 
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vhsalum

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McScoreley said:
Trying to interpret what Cael means by what he said about Ono is one of the funniest things you could do. He’s not tipping his hand about the lineup this early.

Also you know for him to agree to this kind of interview with Flo, there was an agreed upon list of questions (hence why Pyles knew better than to ask anything about DT and Oklahoma State) so that answer was straight scripted.
Click to expand...

Nah.

CP just isn't an idiot.
 
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Lil Nicky Scarfo

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Cael mentioned that his best guys are overwhelmingly the guys who really wanted to come there - who they didn’t need to convince. He then mentioned (but cut it short) that it wasn’t the case for guys they had to work hard to get. Cael didn’t expand on that.

He didn’t name names of course, but I’m sure one guy’s name rhymed with Sick Nuriano
 
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Coastal2

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vhsalum said:
Cael also went to NWCAs to get high school kids out of the RTCs
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Check the source before you believe this.

Sanderson said nothing about wanting high school kids out of RTCs and said that he enjoys rolling around with a high school student.
 
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Corby2

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Coastal2 said:
Check the source before you believe this.

Sanderson said nothing about wanting high school kids out of RTCs and said that he enjoys rolling around with a high school student.
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Wrong . I'm not talking about in the interview. I'm talking about discussions at the convention over the weekend. Check your sources. "We don't have time for that " Cael. I believe the coaches and media who were there that told me 🤷. Many coaches want it
 
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vhsalum

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Coastal2 said:
Check the source before you believe this.

Sanderson said nothing about wanting high school kids out of RTCs and said that he enjoys rolling around with a high school student.
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What @Corby2 said.

Because of what it has become - an actual battle/work to get the best kids into your RTC - its another job that (some) college coaches don't want. Not to mention feeling jilted when the kid doesn't come to your school.

Personally, I think its shortsighted, considering the reason these kids are so good and are winning at such a young age, and winning international medals is the RTCs.
 
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Corby2

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vhsalum said:
What @Corby2 said.

Because of what it has become - an actual battle/work to get the best kids into your RTC - its another job that (some) college coaches don't want. Not to mention feeling jilted when the kid doesn't come to your school.

Personally, I think its shortsighted, considering the reason these kids are so good and are winning at such a young age, and winning international medals is the RTCs.
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Kids can now be paid to train as well . So it's a bidding war for training. Not many want to play that game .
 
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El_Jefe

El_Jefe

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Corby2 said:
Kids can now be paid to train as well . So it's a bidding war for training. Not many want to play that game .
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On top of that:

Even among those eligible to train at an RTC, very few HS kids are more than an NFL camp body to senior-level wrestlers.

Also, RTC access negates the new first contact recruiting date.
 
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Goggles Paisano

Goggles Paisano

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Cael doesn't seem to be a censorship type of guy, but the interview content begs the question. Did Cael tell Pyles up front don't ask me anything about Jayden James?

If not, it seems almost an inexcusable miss for CP to have not teased the question, especially as a segway to discussing Levi potentially getting a 5th.
 
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McScoreley

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vhsalum said:
He (jax) and TanTom (marcus) are pissed at developing kids and then them leaving.

Oh. and well, they hate DT. Pissed about how okiest was able to circumvent the 250 mile radius rule.
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Kind of ironic since he was the one who got Blaze but I'm sure he's comfortable recruiting with the benefits of bringing HS kids to the RTC

Also Bo was at PSU regularly right

I think I finally figured out what Cael was referring to when he said we follow the rules lol
 
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Misalorales

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Goggles Paisano said:
Cael doesn't seem to be a censorship type of guy, but the interview content begs the question. Did Cael tell Pyles up from 'don't ask me anything about Jayden James?

If not, it seems almost an inexcusable miss for CP to have not teased the question, especially as a segway to discussing Levi potentially getting a 5th.
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I mean, journalistic integrity is one thing but making sure the goat of wrestling is willing to do another interview with you is an entirely different thing. Reporters did this with saban as well. Some times you treat special people specially, right or wrong.
 
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GregPickel

GregPickel

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Misalorales said:
I mean, journalistic integrity is one thing but making sure the goat of wrestling is willing to do another interview with you is an entirely different thing. Reporters did this with saban as well. Some times you treat special people specially, right or wrong.
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Yes, this. Since there were no lineup questions outside of Ono and Haines, they might have had a pre-agreement to not discuss the starting lineup specifically in this interview. Or, maybe it just didn't come up. Or, it came up off camera to be used on FRL and what not. Any of those possibilities are plausible imo.
 
Psalm 1 guy

Psalm 1 guy

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Here is Flo's most-recent FRL. Between 6:35 and 11:00 they talk about Pyles' interview of Cael; some pretty funny stuff. One nugget that will bring even more frustration here regarding the Duke/Robideau overturned call was that in a "tough calls" officiating session held recently at the NWCA convention, NCAA national coordinator of officials, Mike McCormick, said he believed PJ had the takedown : (
https://www.flowrestling.org/events...live-aug-3rd/videos?playing=16100332&limit=60
 
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5q

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NittanyChris said:
I tend to agree with you completely, but I'lI try to decipher some Caelspeak just for fun.

I think it would be highly unlikely that he would mention Ono getting a 2nd year, unprompted, unless it was practically a done deal.
Click to expand...
Brantt has allided ono got a second many many months ago
 
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OzarkLion

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lionlover said:
I really didn't like Pyles as I got to know him from his early days on the Iowa wrestling board. But, in his new role with Flo, I think he has grown throughout the years to appreciate Cael's philosophy and track record.

Since the brain has left Flo, he has ascended the ranks to become a credible wrestling expert in the industry. As such, I thought his questions were all very well developed and delivered. This was and excellent interview.
Click to expand...
Early on, I didn't really care for Pyles either. He came across as a whiny know-it-all and it seemed his purpose on FRL was to argue with Willie. Since then, Christian has really matured as a wrestling personality and his recollection of matches is pretty incredible. I regularly listen/watch FRL while I am getting my workout in, and he is always prepared, knowledgeable, and shares a lot of great information. Recent complaints about him bringing his son on the show are silly. Good for him. My oldest just left home for the Marine Corps. I cherish all of the time I got to spend with him while he was growing up. CP seems like a good dude and a good dad.

He is still a little corny, but aren't we all a little bit? I venture to say that anyone that spends a significant amount of time on these boards and listening to wrestling podcasts would qualify as "wrestling nerds." Sure, he is in the limelight, so he is going to get a lot more flak than the regular fan. However, there are much more deserving wrestling personalities of the criticism he receives. Wrestling media is better because of CP. Some of the others, maybe not so much! Just my $.02.
 
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