Especially when Larry Kehres was coaching them up.
Iowa news
- Thread starter El_Jefe
- Start date
yea when Kehres was the coach they were crushing everyone all the way to winning the titles!
Terry isn't all bad. He rescued Warner from becoming a slumlord.
Just saw an Instagram post that Caliendo is no longer listed as a member of HWC. NFI
Probably ready to go someplace to learn how to wrestle.
I can’t get over Josh Barr’s interview on State Media. He said he went like a month without getting a single takedown, and started to believe he just wasn’t good at wrestling. He was nearly in tears. Then a coach encouraged him and slowly he started to improve.
If Caliendo was in the PSU room… I have to think he would have nearly the same experience. Who is helping Caliendo improve at Iowa? Nobody.
What’s going on in Columbus?
Cue the "He wasn't that great at freestyle anyways" posts over there.
PTMD
Post Traumatic Mitchell Disorder
Post Traumatic Mitchell Disorder
The Cesspool is a decent source for actual wrestling news. It is also a good source for laughs. Their favorite, unintended comedy routine is that everybody cheats but them. After years of accusing anyone involved with the Treigning Lab of juicing, they quickly dropped that whine when some of their own started training there. My current thread of amusement is the one announcing their new Assistant Athletic Performance Coach. (https://www.on3.com/boards/threads/news-men’s-wrestling-adds-to-coaching-staff-ahead-of-2026-27-season.9043832/) They're all psyched that he spent seven years working with the Chinese national swimming system because China has won a lot of medals in swimming. Not a whisper of China's long history of doping violations. Including their swimmers getting caught doping when he worked there.
Shane Sparks says the hire was made to help them when matches get taken into deep water.
One of the many dope af lines in the theme song to the old The Inside Trip podcast!
Come on everybody, it's The Inside Trip,
So grab a High Life and take a sip.
On that T. I . T., get up & scream
And you can spell it backwards you know what I mean?
Your boy Brando in the house tonight,
then I lay it down smooth & keep it tight.
When Ben Watson gets on the mic,
you better get ready because he brings the hype.
It's about that time, you already know
That nasty trip, this nasty flow
The Insight Trip, that is the show,
Don't wind up on your back broooo.
Yeah I watched that interview. I think what he said was he thought he wasn't any good and wasn't getting better and he got the coaching encouragement, but it was when he entered a couple open competitions and realized he was in fact getting much better.
Similar tales of frustration have been told by Mark Hall, Carter, Ed Ruth wrestling Casey, Bo and many others.
"Martinis are like breasts, one isn't enough, and three is too many" - Herb Caen
And 4 is a party.
I do see Iowa making a splash hire next go around but the question is when. A few things that complicates things from being next year IMO:
1. Unlike Oklahoma State where John Smith willingly stepped down himself (because honestly he was doing even worse than Brands), Brands would need to be fired, which would cause friction particularly among the big money donors (we all know who)
2. Brands full contract I believe would be owed until 2029, on top of Iowa needing to double that (and then some) for a big hire. Iowa has major expenditures to invest in football (like always) and both basketball teams. Taking a wrestling coaches buyout hit isn't ideal (especially if you lose some big money donors)
3. Olympics is 2028, firing both Brands (assuming it's not smooth) could potentially jeopardize Spencer sticking around there. It's pretty obvious he's going where the Brands are going. Who knows what could happen then if Brands really feel spurned. Spencer winning Olympic Gold has been a 12 year investment for Iowa at this point.
4. DT's hire was booster driven and money was not a concern as a result of that because Richison said he'll pay whatever is needed. Beth Goetz has seen it can absolutely work to hire a superstar wrestler and JB is every bit of that profile DT was (even more tbh) but not sure she will automatically default to that option. There were rumors she didn't even know who DT was in 2024 when she was that she was going to "hire" him
5. This will sound weird in general but .... Iowa CAN wait and make the transition smooth. Yes, the product is frustrating to fans in the meantime but everyone and their mom knows the job is opening at the latest in 2029. JB isn't setting an arbitrary deadline of you have 1 year to give it to me, he's pretty happy doing what he's doing now and will answer the call as he said when it's time.
1. Unlike Oklahoma State where John Smith willingly stepped down himself (because honestly he was doing even worse than Brands), Brands would need to be fired, which would cause friction particularly among the big money donors (we all know who)
2. Brands full contract I believe would be owed until 2029, on top of Iowa needing to double that (and then some) for a big hire. Iowa has major expenditures to invest in football (like always) and both basketball teams. Taking a wrestling coaches buyout hit isn't ideal (especially if you lose some big money donors)
3. Olympics is 2028, firing both Brands (assuming it's not smooth) could potentially jeopardize Spencer sticking around there. It's pretty obvious he's going where the Brands are going. Who knows what could happen then if Brands really feel spurned. Spencer winning Olympic Gold has been a 12 year investment for Iowa at this point.
4. DT's hire was booster driven and money was not a concern as a result of that because Richison said he'll pay whatever is needed. Beth Goetz has seen it can absolutely work to hire a superstar wrestler and JB is every bit of that profile DT was (even more tbh) but not sure she will automatically default to that option. There were rumors she didn't even know who DT was in 2024 when she was that she was going to "hire" him
5. This will sound weird in general but .... Iowa CAN wait and make the transition smooth. Yes, the product is frustrating to fans in the meantime but everyone and their mom knows the job is opening at the latest in 2029. JB isn't setting an arbitrary deadline of you have 1 year to give it to me, he's pretty happy doing what he's doing now and will answer the call as he said when it's time.
Latest
-
01
BWI Football
Penn State first half superlatives on defense: Standouts, room to grow, more
-
02
BWI Football
Pre-Snap Read: Inside how Penn State is handling its 0-3 skid, and how it will try to end it
-
03
BWI Recruiting
DL Ernesto Ballesteros following Penn State vist: 'The coaching staff really cares about the people and the players here'
-
04
BWI Football
Top Penn State takes from Michigan week: A Lion will see his old coach, thoughts on personnel changes, more
-
05
BWI Football
5 bold predictions for Penn State at Michigan: Which redshirt freshman could be sitting on a big game? Plus a score pick and more