Wrestling Mailbag: State tournament, deep high school weights, RTCs, freestyle, Drew Foster

Hey, what's up, hello. Ready for wrestling season?

To be honest, if this still feels weird, I get it.

Everything since last March has felt weird, or at least not normal, so that's probably made it harder to get up for the upcoming wrestling season. We went seemingly forever without sports, and then all of them shot back into our lives and we aren't sure what to do.

I mean, think about it. We had the World Series, the NBA Finals, the freakin' MASTERS, the MLS playoffs, plus the college football and NFL seasons, in addition to a bunch of random wrestling tournaments, plus an election, all in the last 10 weeks or so.

We're not used to that much high-volume action in such a short span. And on top of it all, we're still in the middle of a pandemic that's been around for less than a year.

So, yeah. Weird.

We're also more than a week into December and still don't have much of an idea of what, exactly, the wrestling season will look like. That's played a role in tempering my excitement, as well.

We know the season should start next month, but we still don't have schedules, at least here in Iowa. We know the Big Ten, Big 12 and NCAA Championships are set for March, but there's no guarantee we'll get that far. 

The high school season has started. Practices began about a month ago, and competitions started last week. It's awesome to see the kids have some structure in their lives again and have the opportunity to compete. But some schools were a week or two behind because of fully virtual learning, and without many of the big-time tournaments we're used to seeing, that makes the whole experience, well, weird.

Everything we're used to seeing and hearing and feeling just isn't the same right now. That sucks. Change is hard. We know this pandemic won't last forever. We may be back to normal sooner rather than later. This may also drag into next summer. I hope not, but it's possible.

All of this is to say that you're not alone in feeling how you feel right now. Pandemics, by definition, aren't normal, and its interference in our daily lives has been quite annoying.

I will say this, though. I went to Indianola last Saturday to watch wrestling. That was a weird experience in itself, but there were moments when I got lost in the action — a takedown on the edge, a rideout to end the period, a come-from-behind pin, coaches yelling, parents screaming, wrestlers flexing.

It felt normal, is the point. Those moments are all the more important now, and will become more common in the days and weeks and months ahead. Keep the faith. It's weird now, but at some point, it'll feel normal. Keep the faith. We'll get there. We're all in this together.

OK, onto the wrestling mailbag, the first of the '20-21 season. Shorter one this week, probably because of the lack of action to discuss. But we're powering through.

Please give me a follow on Twitter (@codygoodwin) and I’ll keep you guys up to date on all things wrestling in Iowa. Don't forget to tune into the Register's wrestling podcast, In The Room, each week as well.

Thanks so much for your help here, and for reading.

I don't hate the idea.

Nebraska has four wrestling classes — Class A, B, C, D — and basically made the traditional state tournament four days. Classes A and D run to completion on Wednesday and Thursday, then B and C run Friday and Saturday. Each class is separated until the finals, and the arena is cleared after each session.

So it looks like this: Wednesday morning is Class A first round, quarterfinals and wrestlebacks, then Wednesday night is Class D first round, quarterfinals and wrestlebacks. Then Thursday morning is Class A semifinals, wrestlebacks and medal matches, then Thursday afternoon is Class D semifinals, wrestlebacks and medal matches. Then Thursday night is both Class A and D finals.

Then they run back the same schedule on Friday and Saturday, but with Classes B and C.

Seems reasonable. What makes this hard to pull off Iowa is that we only have three classes. We could easily make it four by adding a girls' division, but that's a different topic for another mailbag.

What the Iowa High School Athletic Association could do, if attendance is limited or barred completely, is maybe make each state tournament a single-day competition.

The IHSAA has Wells Fargo Arena rented out for four days, from Feb. 17-21. One option is to shift the schedule completely so that each class is done on a single day, and then have state duals on Saturday.

So you'd wrestle Class 3A to completion on Feb. 17, a Wednesday, then 2A on Thursday, 1A on Friday, then host state duals on Saturday. You could divide it up the same way — first-round and quarters in the morning, semifinals, wrestlebacks and medal matches in the afternoon, then standalone finals at night.

This ensures that each class is separated, that only one class is in the building each day, and, for the wrestlers, only one weigh-in! You'd have to alter the brackets to make sure a kid isn't wrestling six times in a day, which would be a downfall, but that would also place a greater importance on performing in the first-round.

One more idea — say we go this route, and all of the individual competitions are done on Friday. Whoever finishes in the top four of each traditional tournament would then be invited to wrestle at state duals on Sunday. Teams are already seeded, and it allows for the opportunity to crown a duals champ, too. If, say, the fourth-place team doesn't want to wrestle at duals, then option would then go to the fifth-place team.

Just a thought!

My man Trev coming through with a three-part question. God bless him. We'll go in order.

The deepest weight in Class 1A, for my money, at this moment, is 126 pounds.

There's a lot to like about 1A every year, and especially this year. At 113, there's Gable Porter, Braden Graff, Jaiden Moore and Garrett Rinkin. At 132, Aidan Noonan, Hagen Heistand, Kael Brisker and Mikey Baker. At 145, Robert Avila Jr., Cael Rahnavardi, Dominik Lopez, Cullen Koedam and Jace Mulder.

But 126 takes the cake for me.

There's Midland's Damon Huston, Woodbury Central's Beau Klingensmith, Central Springs' Clayton McDonough, Underwood's Stevie Barnes, all state finalists. There's New London's Marcel Lopez, a two-timer. There's Don Bosco's Michael McClelland and Lisbon's Cade Siebrecht, both returning state medalists.

Others will move up and down and it could look a little different in the weeks and months ahead. Another name to watch: West Sioux's Cameron Clark, a 2019 Illinois state finalist who moved in this season. He wrestled at 132 on opening weekend but West Sioux coach Mark VanOort said he plans to drop to 126 soon.

That's going to be a barnburner of a state tournament if all of those guys stay put.

Potential surprise team this year: There's a lot of teams we can put here after just one week. I really liked what I saw from Sioux Center and Sergeant Bluff-Luton at the SB-L Invitational. Those two teams have some really nice pieces and could make some noise in Class 2A, which is seemingly always wide open.

I like how Waukee's lineup looks on paper. They look like they've got a well-rounded team that could really push both Waverly-Shell Rock and Southeast Polk in Class 3A.

But to actually answer your question, I'm going to say Davenport Assumption. The Knights finished 13th last year, and are only bringing back 26 of 44 team points, but seven state qualifiers are in the lineup again this season.

Currently, Assumption, ranked seventh in IAWrestle's 2A team poll, has seven individuals ranked, and five are eighth or better. Sophomores Derrick Bass, No. 1 at 106 pounds, and Michael Macias, No. 3 at 138, lead the way. This is a team that absolutely can contend for a trophy in February. Keep an eye on them.

To your final question: It's hard for me to look more than a week ahead at a time because of these trying times. The coronavirus has wiped out virtually all of the big tournaments, which stinks. And it'll continue to throw wrenches into the season, with teams having to adjust schedules within days of actually competing.

But I will say, the Arena Sports Academy Invitational in Sioux City this weekend looks like a blast. It's like the Council Bluffs Classic Lite, with many tough teams from Iowa and Nebraska all planning to compete. That's one of a few I'm definitely keeping an eye on this weekend.

Nope. I think once the pandemic ends, we'll jump right back into our normal wrestling routines.

The schedule had nice rhythm to it: folkstyle from October through March, then freestyle/greco from April through July/August/September, depending on the dates of the world championships. 

Most of these RTC events — the Nittany Lion WC's Rokfin duals, the Hawkeye Wrestling Club Showdown, Flo's RTC Cup, the Wisconsin RTC's Underground cards, and so on — were born more out of necessity. Coaches wanted to get their guys matches at a time when they normally would get matches but haven't because the pandemic pushed the season back. 

Don't get me wrong, the events are great, and have provided more ammo that freestyle wrestling is a tremendous product that needs to be marketed harder. And I think they're going to stay even after the pandemic subsides because it's a way for RTCs to fundraise while also getting their guys matches. But you might see them more in the spring and summer, when there's normally a lull in the schedule.

Because once the pandemic ends, most all the college guys will focus on the folkstyle side of things in the winter, so it'll be up to the full-time freestyle guys to produce. You'll see some crossover. Maybe you'll see a few RTC events during the winter months, just to keep those guys warm and ready. But December, January and February usually have some bigger international tournaments that those guys attend in a normal year.

But I don't think they'll have any dramatic impact on the wrestling schedule at large. They're just more things we can look forward to when things get back to normal. 

I'd be interested in hearing from @dre_nald_foster on his thoughts on the RTC Cup (event itself, his performances, etc.). – @kevindown11

PSA before this final question: If your Twitter account is set to private, I'm not able to see your questions each week if you ask one. You can also drop me a line if that's the case. My DM's are open.

But our guy Kevin wanted to hear straight from Northern Iowa grad Drew Foster about his experience at the RTC Cup. Drew competed for Spartan Combat RTC at 86 kilograms (189 pounds). He went 1-3 overall — 1-1 against Princeton assistant coach Nate Jackson, then also dropped matches to both Sammy Brooks, from the Hawkeye WC, and Trent Hidlay, a sophomore at N.C. State. Thought he wrestled really tough. His losses to Hidlay and Brooks were by a combined four points.

And Drew is a man of the people and provided his answers directly in response. They are posted below:

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.