The way things are going CBU and UALR might be in the same conference before you know it.

Good for Derek.. After he won the NCAA championship the Aggie did a very nice and long interview. He was asked how hard it was for him in high school to stay at weight. He replied that with the large family and hard times, there was never enough for the family. To have come from such a humble background and win the NCAA title and make a successful coaching career is very admirable. Wishing him nothing but success!!!

Watching him win the title his final year was one of the greatest Aggie moments I ever witnessed. He was such an unorthodox wrestler, with a relentless energy on the mat no one matched that season.

Great hire for CBU.

A few years ago I was curious about the guy he beat, Ryan Lang, and found this article. Fascinating story!

https://www.vice.com/en/article/mgy8yp/darkness-before-dawn-a-fighters-road-to-recovery

That's a great article about Ryan Lang's long slide into and out of drag addiction. His father set the stage for Ryan’s eventual addiction by creating an obsessively driven and punitive, training environment for his son as he was growing up where his self-worth was based solely on his athletic performance.

I was also struck by the following paragraph detailing how his failed drug test at Northwestern was handled. It appears to me that the administration and his coaches essentially gave him a slap on the wrist and then turned their backs on his problem so he could continue to compete.

The first time I failed a drug test, I had initially passed the pee test. It was in the summer and I was taking summer class. It was strange because [the administration] called me in the next day to take a hair sample test. I failed for marijuana, MDMA, and cocaine. This was in 2005. My consequence was (and I wasn't the only one) suspension for 20 percent of the season, and a week or two off from practice. It was only for the first couple of tournaments. I never failed a drug test again. How did I never fail again? Because I wasn't drug tested again. I never changed my habits."

Unfortunately, at the highest levels of athletic performance, "winning at all costs" too often becomes the primary objective regardless of the negative consequences to the athletes.

Particularly surprising in a lesser sport and at a school like Northwestern, known more for academics than for big-time athletics.

True, so we can only imagine how often things like this play out at schools who are all in for big-time athletics. These super conferences that are currently emerging are all about money and have little to do with academics. Some players are or will be making multi-millions from their NIL and the athletic facilities and budgets at some of the Power Conference schools rival those of NFL teams. Do we really believe that many of these schools really require their athletes to be good students? It's not likely.

Lesser sport?!? ;-) Northwestern actually has a pretty good wrestling program.

As do most Big Ten schools. I meant lesser in the sense of overall sports on a national level. In the broader sense wrestling falls in the “Olympic” sports area like gymnastics, swimming, field hockey.

It’s a huge sport in the Midwest, not so much In other regions.

Growing up in Iowa a long time ago I could go to Iowa wrestling matches (or swimming, or gymnastics…) just showing my parents’ basketball season tickets. I believe wrestling at Iowa now has separate season tickets. (And the Hawkeyes have dropped mens swimming and gymnastics.)

This past season the Wildcats finished tied for sixth in the Big 10 regular season standings, fifth in the conference tournament, and sixth in the NCAA tournament. They were one of only three teams to send ten wrestlers to the NCAAs. This was their second top ten finish in a row. Their program is really taking off, as is Michigan’s, much to my Hawkeye loving dismay.

I wrote "lesser sport" with heavy sarcasm. I was a less than mediocre wrestler in high school, but fell in love with the sport and still loosely follow it at all levels. As hard as I tried (too hard apparently), I couldn't convince my son to give a try. But, there is a kid from his high school that got a full academic scholarship and a walk on spot at 125 on the team under Spencer Lee at Iowa.

Speaking of Spencer Lee: He's back!
https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/7910423-2022-23-ncaa-125-pound-preview-the-return-of-spencer-lee

To be the best you play the best....California Baptist wrestling just took a tour through Iowa....Lost to Iowa State, 39-9, on Saturday and to Iowa, 42-3, this afternoon.

I saw that. Tough beating.

They probably won't wrestle anybody tougher all season

They wrestle at Stanford this Thursday at 4, and then Stanford vs. NDSU at 5:30. If I didn't have a job, wife or kids, I'd go check it out. Stanford is also hosting the PAC-12 championships again in march. My brother got us VIP passes and we sat with the athletes 3 years ago. Pretty cool. Got to sit next to and chat with Jaden Abas, whose uncle wrestled for James Logan HS in Union City. I got to watch him at a few tournaments and remember him breaking the national takedown record at the time, then went on to win silver at the 2004 olympics.

If you want to see an exciting match, go watch the replay of Spencer Lee (Iowa) and Matt Ramos (Purdue) from a few days ago.

Ouch, they lost 44-0 to SDSU over the weekend.

Lancers had only one first round win (who lost in the second round) and finished in last place (13th) in the Big 12 Conference wrestling tournament this past weekend.

They went 3-12 overall and 1-6 in conference in dual meets this season.

It makes zero sense to me why CBU isn't in the PAC12.

or why Arkansas-Little Rock is in the PAC 12.

Next thing you know UCLA and USC will be in the Big 10.

It would make sense for CBU to be in the PAC 12. Cal Poly and CSUBakersfield are. CBU beat Bakersfield in a dual meet this season.