All Hokie, All the Time. Period. Presented by First Bank & Trust Company

HokieToph
Joined: 10/22/1999
Posts: 10,504
Likes: 3,152
Founder

My post tournament thoughts, observations, and ramblings ...

1. Cornell only had 5 qualifiers and 1 All American, that is a big surprise 2. Priztlaff at Columbia is going to do great things there if he can get the school to invest a little more 3. David Taylor really knows how to coach. His team looked better than they did when VT wrestled them. 4. Kevin Dresser really looked like he's aged a lot in the last two years. His mobility has decreased quite a bit. 5. Found myself rooting for Gabe Arnold. Would love to see him find a place where he could be more appreciated. 6. Refs still are hesitant to call stalling on top. 7. Need to eliminate these overtime matches as much as possible. 7 minutes of dancing around is awful to watch. Call double stalls if necessary. 8. Can't tell you how happy I am that VT doesn't have ANY of the Ferrari nonsense in their locker room. Team related: 1. Really proud of Seidel and Gaj. 2. Was happy to see the season progression of Desiante and Bullock. They really trended up especially at the end of the season. They may not have accomplished their goal to AA, but man they were both tough outs at the NCAAs which didn't seem likely in the early season. 3. Ventresca's approach has to change. Would rather see him go down swinging than making his matches 50/50. His bracket was a gift, start to finish on the championship side. To be able to make the finals without having to face Spratley, Robinson, Volk, or Provo (or ANYONE ranked in the top 10)? If that isn't a bucket of ice water to the face, I don't know what is 4. Make Haught Mullen's weight room buddy over the next year. Not saying Jimmy is soft or anything, but he doesn't seem as strong as a number of HWTs in my opinion. 5. Thought Mac did pretty well all things considered. His offense may not be where he wants it to be yet, but he definitely attempted more shots and worked better angles on his feet than he did last year ... I thought so anyway. 6. Got a lot of firepower coming in the program next season ... going to be a long offseason for me ;) Rule changes I'd propose: 1. Call stalling on top and stop the riding time clock until start of a new period OR top wrestler scores an offensive point ... even in the ride outs. If wrestlers are allowed to accrue riding time even after a stalling call, they will continue to do so. Force them to be offensive and stop them from hanging on. 2. In neutral, if a wrestler has secured one leg and his opponent hasn't secured anything (e.g. body lock, whizzer, a leg, etc) as they go out of bounds, he is awarded 1 point. That will stop all of these wrestlers from doing the splits out of bounds and awards the guys who are trying to score. Then restart them neutral. 3. Go back to technical falls only being 4 points if no back points are scored. It's too easy to get a TF now with the 3-point takedown. Help emphasize mat wrestling and award the guys willing to work to turn their opponents.
Posted: 03/23/2026 at 12:43 PM ET

Thread Replies (10)

Full Thread →
My post tournament thoughts, observations, and ramblings ...
HokieToph 03/23/26 12:43 PM ET
Agree ... the Lilledahl and Haines finals wins were boring. Folkstyle needs
Wilmington Hokie 03/23/26 01:44 PM ET
Agree with the comments on Mullen... he's definitely one of our soft ones **
Palmetto Hokie 03/23/26 03:04 PM ET
From what I have heard, Jimmy never lifted in HS. It is not something you
VPIGUY 03/23/26 03:13 PM ET
Remember a VT OL named Jon Dunn?
Baltimore Hokie 03/23/26 04:39 PM ET
I hear ya, but Jimmy finished high school almost three years ago.
Wilmington Hokie 03/23/26 03:57 PM ET
Irrelevant to being soft**
Palmetto Hokie 03/23/26 03:15 PM ET
Couldn’t agree more with the Ferrari comment. Robie had me scratching
ChEHokie78 03/23/26 01:34 PM ET
On those proposed rule changes…
CTDad 03/23/26 01:32 PM ET
Reversal
Hokie2000x 03/23/26 01:50 PM ET
I watched Mullen wrestle Bastida with my wife. She even said that you
IV_Hokie12 03/23/26 12:48 PM ET