Let me start out by saying that this is just my opinion, and it could totally be wrong. I think that the biggest issue right now in wrestling as a whole is burnout. We are seeing younger and younger guys wrestling at elite levels, year round, never taking so much as a week off during the season, at least when they're young. And while that raises the floor of USA wrestling overall, I think it doesn't raise the ceiling at all (or if it does, it's inches, not miles). I think we're seeing more and more people get injured, more and more burn out, and that's why we're seeing so much rest for guys at the college level. But the problem is that there is a deficit that cannot be made up that late in life. There is a reason there are so few guys that wrestle at the international level, even as a hobby (albet an elite hobby). I think this leads to coasting or just trying to make it through a season. That's why we're seeing our younger guys ball out, while our older guys are starting to drop off. I wouldn't be shocked to see the same thing in 2-3 years with the next generation of wrestlers. I think... and again, this is just my opinion, but I think that the coaches know this and are specifically gearing the guys up for the post season. They of course don't want to lose ANY match, but as so many have stated here, only two weekends matter in the entire season. You can be 0-infinity and still win the ACC's and the NCAA tournament. All it takes is 7-9 matches depending on seeding to accomplish that goal. The coaches know this, but they'll never admit it. No one will ever admit that we only care about two weekends in late Feb/early March. But I really think it's the truth. But that doesn't mean I don't hate it. I genuinely worry about what our sport is doing to its competitors. But again, it's just my opinion. ** Edited by Nafeikoh at 1/11/2025, 11:43:35 AM