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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Brian Mathews added to this discussion on August 6, 2023
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https://www.flowrestling.org/video/11160052-tom-ryan-talks-college-wrestlings-transfer-issues-ohio-state-lineup-shift
Another good interview with TR. Some overlap with the interview earlier in July that was posted here, but also a few new tidbits.
1) The first 10 minutes is more or less a bringdown of his thoughts of the current NCAA landscape, NIL, transfer rules, etc.
He speaks very frankly here about what's going on, and doesn't dance around the fact that there are teams breaking rules and blatantly poaching. He doesn't think it can effectively be policed in the age of NIL ("you can't catch a ghost"), so his proposed solution is for transfers to be required to sit out for one year.
--I don't think it's a bad solution, but it's never going to happen. Anything that could possibly perceived as limiting the freedom of athletes is going to be dead on arrival at the NCAA office. They no longer have any teeth, and they're not going to be willing to stick their neck out there for another for another lawsuit that they'll inevitably lose.--
TR also says regarding Ohio State going after transfers, the fact that they have "studs at every weight" made it a difficult prospect. Specifically he said, "how much do you pay for an additional 2 pts at the NCAA tournament." I think he's speaking literally about scholarship dollars, but realistically this also applies to donor funds via NIL, which we've discussed on this board at length previously.
2) Preview of the lineup (begins 10:00 mark)
125 - Freshman and redshirt freshman
133 - Bouzakis
141 - Mendez or ? (sounds very much like Mendez will go)
149 - D'Emilio
157 - Sasso
165 - Hepner -- Paddy may challenge, but it's Hepner's to lose
174 - Kharchla -- no mention of Welsh, sounds like for sure redshirt
184 - Shumate, Rogotzke, possibly Geog
197 - Hoffman or Geog -- Geog really wants this spot. If Hoffman wins the wrestleoff, Geog may consider going down but there's also a chance he stays at the weight and continues to contest the spot. Basically TR is saying that Hoffman doesn't just get the spot if he wins the wrestle off. Definitely get the sense that the staff would like Geog to surpass Hoffman. That should seem obvious, considering how limited and inconsistent Hoffman has been throughout his career, but I thought it was worth noting when we're talking about a RS FR vs. a RS SR.
285 - Feldman
3) Other tidbits
- The talent is there, the team's success depends upon their ability to develop these guys.
- Tom wanted Sammy to go 157 last year, Sammy wanted to stay at 149
- Guys at 157 are slower which could be good for Sammy (I laughed at this,
implication being that maybe every guy in the country won't be getting to his legs with ease)
- Carson was walking around at 178/179 last year and it the cut impacted him.
- The way that PSU has gotten some of their transfers is the part that's a little frustrating. Specifically says "if you're good and you're getting whispers that PSU wants you, you jump in the portal." Not a direct accusation but definitely an allusion to illegal tampering.
- You could have a really good team this year and not win a match against PSU.
- There needs to be a dual meet championship--and we also need to look at rules that impact dual meets. Things to consider:
- Change team scoring to a running score
- 10 point tech fall in dual meets (get people off the mat)
- If it's running score and 10 is tech, perhaps you get 11 or 12 points for a pin.
- TR still wants the dual meet championship to be the championship. He likes the idea of the dual championship being after the individual NCAA's. He thinks this should take place after the Olympics with 2025 as the first year.
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Rob Wagner added to this discussion on August 7, 2023
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Good stuff as usual. Thanks for sharing.
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on August 7, 2023
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TI've always had respect for Cael Sanderson but there is a mercenary quality to their program with regards to transfers and NIL. We all heard the story about Nick Feldman getting offered an alleged 6 figure sum last minute to switch his commitment. Cael may not personally make these offers but its hard to believe he isn't aware of what's going on. Programs like PSU, Iowa and UM have money to spend and are aggressively doing it. The flip side is quality kids will sometimes leave when they get passed over for portal wrestlers.
Aaron Nagao did not need to leave a fine Minny program, which had clearly done good work with him, for PSU. Money was the enticement. Wrestling is getting dirty.
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Jeff Streu added to this discussion on August 7, 2023
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Quote from Hank Kornblut's post:
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"Aaron Nagao did not need to leave a fine Minny program, which had clearly done good work with him, for PSU. Money was the enticement. Wrestling is getting dirty."
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I hate to say it, but I feel the same way.
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Roe Fox added to this discussion on August 8, 2023
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There is never any subterfuge with TR. The way he runs the program and his candor in these interviews are major reasons why I will continue to support him.
I get a title will be hard without jumping into NIL but I prefer the way he gives preference to the guys he spends a lot of time recruiting.
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Brian Mathews added to this discussion on August 15, 2023
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Quote from Roe Fox's post:
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"I get a title will be hard without jumping into NIL but I prefer the way he gives preference to the guys he spends a lot of time recruiting."
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It's a nice thought, but I think you could argue just as convincingly that it's a pivot out of necessity rather than some fundamental pillar of the program.
TR is a great salesman--of course he's going to position it as "we're backing the guys that we recruit" rather than "we don't have enough cash lying around to justify spending $250k on Bernie Truax."
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on August 16, 2023
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"TR is a great salesman--of course he's going to position it as "we're backing the guys that we recruit" rather than "we don't have enough cash lying around to justify spending $250k on Bernie Truax."
I agree.
One aspect worth considering is that the handful of programs with money to spend--Iowa, PSU and Michigan--might have to bid against each other for certain guys. How high might the bidding go?
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Roe Fox added to this discussion on August 17, 2023
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Quote from Hank Kornblut's post:
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""TR is a great salesman--of course he's going to position it as "we're backing the guys that we recruit" rather than "we don't have enough cash lying around to justify spending $250k on Bernie Truax."
I agree.
One aspect worth considering is that the handful of programs with money to spend--Iowa, PSU and Michigan--might have to bid against each other for certain guys. How high might the bidding go?"
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There is nothing I have seen or heard from Ryan since his days at Hofstra that leads me to believe this is simply salesmanship. I also find it hard to believe, though I am clearly not on the inside, that TOSU under Gene Smith couldn’t raise a few dollars to get a wanted wrestler or two if there was a desire to.
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Don Bork added to this discussion on August 17, 2023
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I don’t think Coach Ryan is against bringing in a transfer if he fits into the lineup. He brought in Joey McKenna and more recently TeShan Campbell. But with NIL, things have changed, and, for whatever reason we are not competing with PSU, Michigan and Iowa for the highest level transfers. I think it’s also entirely possible that the ORTCs of these programs also play a role. When Ryan was hired he brought Rosselli and Heskett with him specifically in order to start an ORTC here at TOSU. Both had years of experience being active in freestyle on the world stage. He also signed several active freestylers to train here as well as keeping OSU athletes such as J.D. Bergman and Reece Humphrey in the program. As has been discussed, the ORTC here has nearly dissolved. Few athletes, none high profile. Also, Logan Stieber is the only coach on staff that has spent any real time pursuing freestyle. If TOSU can’t (or won’t?) compete financially to support a competitive ORTC nor to recruit high level transfers, I question where that will leave us in the current landscape of our sport.
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Alex Creech added to this discussion on August 17, 2023
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Quote from Roe Fox's post:
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"
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Quote from Hank Kornblut's post:
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""TR is a great salesman--of course he's going to position it as "we're backing the guys that we recruit" rather than "we don't have enough cash lying around to justify spending $250k on Bernie Truax."
I agree.
One aspect worth considering is that the handful of programs with money to spend--Iowa, PSU and Michigan--might have to bid against each other for certain guys. How high might the bidding go?"
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There is nothing I have seen or heard from Ryan since his days at Hofstra that leads me to believe this is simply salesmanship. I also find it hard to believe, though I am clearly not on the inside, that TOSU under Gene Smith couldn’t raise a few dollars to get a wanted wrestler or two if there was a desire to."
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Agreed. And TOSU is not lacking in $ from boosters\donors (which is really what NIL is, let's face it)
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Brian Mathews added to this discussion on August 18, 2023
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Quote from Roe Fox's post:
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"There is nothing I have seen or heard from Ryan since his days at Hofstra that leads me to believe this is simply salesmanship. I also find it hard to believe, though I am clearly not on the inside, that TOSU under Gene Smith couldn’t raise a few dollars to get a wanted wrestler or two if there was a desire to."
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I didn't mean "salesman" in a pejorative way. I think he believes what he says and he puts most of his cards out on the table.
I also think he's a competitor and he's going to position the program in the best way he can for future success. Right now, that means leaning on the fact that if you go to PSU, Iowa, or Michigan, you WILL be recruited over if they have the ability to bring someone in that is even slightly better than you.
If he can sell that message--and there's obviously some truth to it--it can go a long way with recruits, and parents of recruits.
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Brian Mathews added to this discussion on August 18, 2023
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Quote from Alex Creech's post:
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"Agreed. And TOSU is not lacking in $ from boosters\donors (which is really what NIL is, let's face it)"
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OSU as a whole, of course. But the wrestling program? Unfortunately I don't think that's true.
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Discussion Topic: Tom Ryan Interview with Flo (Pyles)
Mike Stann added to this discussion on August 18, 2023
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Quote from Brian Mathews's post:
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"
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Quote from Alex Creech's post:
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"Agreed. And TOSU is not lacking in $ from boosters\donors (which is really what NIL is, let's face it)"
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OSU as a whole, of course. But the wrestling program? Unfortunately I don't think that's true."
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I also think that NIL $ will go to the football and basketball programs. Donors/boosters are not an inexhaustible supply of $$ and at tOSU football rules.
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