Why only 5 in Big XII with wrestling?
- Thread starter cyingreen
- Start date
Did you just crawl out of a hole or somthing??? They are ranked 3rd in the country with an 18-2 record, with their only losses to Iowa and ISU, which i would hope you know that they were supposed to lose. They beat Minnesota worse than we did. They will place very high at nationals. They have a very good chance at having 4 all americans, including 2 finalists. And not to mention they did come up and beat us and almost steal the title away from Iowa last year with a team not much different than this years. Not sure which part about this makes them crap...well other than a bias towards ISU that clearly clouds your visions of any other team. I wouldn't be surprised if they were within 10 points of us at nationals. Of course that makes them crap...now I understand.
I would say, out of any school who doesn't have a wrestling program Texas would be best set up to be competitive. Having the budget they have always makes things easier. So, their money would be very, very helpful. But, obviously that doesn't necessarily, or instantly translate into competitiveness. And it certainly doesn't necessarily translate into domination.
The biggest thing they could do to become a player in wrestling would be to hire a top quality coach, and money would certainly aid in that endeavor. Get a great coach and you're going to get great talent (look at the Iowa kids that went to VT just b/c Brands was there!). Once you get that talent, you're not too far off from being a player.
The biggest thing they could do to become a player in wrestling would be to hire a top quality coach, and money would certainly aid in that endeavor. Get a great coach and you're going to get great talent (look at the Iowa kids that went to VT just b/c Brands was there!). Once you get that talent, you're not too far off from being a player.
you just named basketball players for reasons as to why people leave iowa to go to other places. I would bet my life that if Harrison Barnes wrestled he would be at iowa state.
You answered your own question in your first sentence. I hope with MMA getting as big as it is helps to get wrestling going in the college ranks.
You answered your own question in your first sentence. I hope with MMA getting as big as it is helps to get wrestling going in the college ranks.
Here is where you are wrong: Ohio State has had the same master plan that you are speaking of for some time (similar sized ath. budget as TX) and they are in the hotbed of HS wrestling, yet as hard as they try they will never overtake the powers of wrestling. Perhaps they may get one NC and that is it, same with PSU. THe fact that they can simply "buy the sport" means absolutely nothing. I guarantee OK State, ISU, Oklahoma, and Iowa would beat the crap out of them on a continual basis.
And have no wrestling history to speak of. So that kinda negates that. In wrestling. WE ARE IOWA FREAKING STATE!
cololrado,kansas state used to field some decent wrestlers.wrestling programs run as a loss for most schools and have to be supported by substantial profits from the major sports.
wrestling has been around for years in iowa and is highly supported by good high school wrestling programs. whenthe feds said that you must have a many ladies sports as you have
for men's sports,many colleges cut their wrestling programs.
we need to get behind our present wrestling team and behind our new coach kevin jackson and cheer them on to victory in the big 12 wrestle-offs and at the NCAA'S to beat the squawks from EIU
LAND. GO CYCLONES!!!!!!!!!!!!
wrestling has been around for years in iowa and is highly supported by good high school wrestling programs. whenthe feds said that you must have a many ladies sports as you have
for men's sports,many colleges cut their wrestling programs.
we need to get behind our present wrestling team and behind our new coach kevin jackson and cheer them on to victory in the big 12 wrestle-offs and at the NCAA'S to beat the squawks from EIU
LAND. GO CYCLONES!!!!!!!!!!!!
My take-
People forget about Oklahoma. They have about as much money as Texas, however, when it comes to wrestling, while they are a quality national program, they are still second-fiddle in their own state when it comes to wrestling.
This is going to sound a little like sacrilege because I'm bringing up an EIU example, but the writers from Saved By The Bell didn't have Slater lusting after a wrestling scolarshup for nothing. Schools like Penn St, Ohio St, and potentially Texas could build nice programs for themselves. But why wrestling is a different animal than football is the hotbed of wrestling isn't in the south - it's in the farm belt states like Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. And typically those kinds of kids don't dream of going to Texas to wrestle - they dream of going to a place like Iowa or Iowa St, and is why Ohio St and Penn St have a legitimate chance of becoming a national player.
If Texas is going to become a national player in wrestling, they'll have to do more than just throw money at it - they'll have to build a grassroots system in the south, because all the talent right now is in the north and the northern kids don't dream about going to southern schools to wrestle.
People forget about Oklahoma. They have about as much money as Texas, however, when it comes to wrestling, while they are a quality national program, they are still second-fiddle in their own state when it comes to wrestling.
This is going to sound a little like sacrilege because I'm bringing up an EIU example, but the writers from Saved By The Bell didn't have Slater lusting after a wrestling scolarshup for nothing. Schools like Penn St, Ohio St, and potentially Texas could build nice programs for themselves. But why wrestling is a different animal than football is the hotbed of wrestling isn't in the south - it's in the farm belt states like Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. And typically those kinds of kids don't dream of going to Texas to wrestle - they dream of going to a place like Iowa or Iowa St, and is why Ohio St and Penn St have a legitimate chance of becoming a national player.
If Texas is going to become a national player in wrestling, they'll have to do more than just throw money at it - they'll have to build a grassroots system in the south, because all the talent right now is in the north and the northern kids don't dream about going to southern schools to wrestle.
The last 3 years I will agree ISU is the top dog in the Big 12, but before that not so much, here are the numbers Oklahoma St has put up:
34 National Titles, 130 National Champions, 414 AA's, 33 Conference titles.
Texas would do just fine in wrestling after a few years, Oklahoma is a hot bed in wrestling just like Iowa or Ohio and Texas could do most of their recruiting in Oklahoma and probably have a top 10 team.
"just fine" as in top 10 to top 15 and I think if Texas did start wrestling it wouldn't take them long to get into this range.
Here is what Michigan has done the last 6 years:
09 11th
08 7th
07 6th
06 7th
05 2nd
04 10th
So Michigan has done "just fine".
I'm not sure about PSU as I only went back the last 4 years but they are just fine as well:
09 17th
08 3rd
07 11th
06 9th
Things change. Would you have said 30 years ago that ISU and Oklahoma State would continue to dominate Iowa? They had no tradition at all, but after Gable was there for a few years all of a sudden you have tons of kids growing up dreaming about wrestling at Iowa.
Here is a question. Of the 20 kids in the 2009 NCAA finals last year, how many were from the state of Iowa or Oklahoma? The answer would be 0. Besides Varner and Brester was anybody else from west of the Mississippi? I think 1/3 of them were from Ohio or Pennsylvania. Throw in Michigan and New Jersey and I'm almost positive it was over half. If Ohio State and Penn State start keeping all those kids things will start to change.
"Just fine" doesn't equal total dominance in the sport.
There are a few different things being argued here. If Texas were to hypothetically decide they wanted to start a wrestling program and threw a shload of money at it would they become a powerhouse like ISU/Iowa/OSU or would they be "just fine" like tOSU/Michigan, etc... Some are saying money would turn them into a Powerhouse program, some are saying money would help, but there are other factors that go into creating a powerhouse WRT wrestling. And some are saying WE ARE IOWA STATE and want to dine in hell...
I agree. "Just fine" is not what some of the posters were talking about. "Just fine" is nowhere near Iowa, ISU, Ok. St., or Minn.
Iowa State will always be elite in wrestling, no matter what. Our athletic department has made a commitment to wrestling and to many schools that have wrestling, it is an afterthought. Our name, this commitment and the good high school talent in the state will ensure we are at the top, along with Iowa, for the foreseeable future.
However, I do think that Texas could be competitive in the sport if they were to add it. They would have to put money behind it and support it and not just add it to have it. If they built a new practice facility, you know it would be state of the art, and they could lure a good coach away for the right salary. I think if they did add wrestling, the high school wrestling in the state of Texas would pick up a little bit.
I could see Texas fielding good teams every year, with a team that competes for a National Championship every few years, but I don't think they would have the consistant success of Iowa State.
I wish I could be in Omaha this year to see Varner take out Brester in the finals and clinch the team National Championship this season!
However, I do think that Texas could be competitive in the sport if they were to add it. They would have to put money behind it and support it and not just add it to have it. If they built a new practice facility, you know it would be state of the art, and they could lure a good coach away for the right salary. I think if they did add wrestling, the high school wrestling in the state of Texas would pick up a little bit.
I could see Texas fielding good teams every year, with a team that competes for a National Championship every few years, but I don't think they would have the consistant success of Iowa State.
I wish I could be in Omaha this year to see Varner take out Brester in the finals and clinch the team National Championship this season!
It all comes down to money people. It is always about money. Why are so many wrestling programs dieing????? Because they dont bring out fans, they lose money, therefor the school says bye-bye. Look at ISU, Iowa, Ok State, Ohio State, Penn State, Minn, and other successful wrestling programs...they bring in crowds that includes bringing in money. Yes Texas has a bunch of money, but no person with any financial intelligence will throw a bunch of money into a sport that will just lose it all. Texas doesn't have the fans that the north does. They are huge in the outdoor sports and in the winter it is basketball for them. That may build if they got a program and it took off, but I doubt it. So you can throw millions into new facilities, scholarships, and coaches to get a great program going; then when nobody cares enough to come watch it, it will tank just like most programs and the tax payers will be p***ed that their money was wasted and not put into football.
