Sebastian Rivera Is What Wrestling Needs

Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera is the #1 ranked guy at 125 pounds this year. He has dominated most of his competition and decisively beat the former #1 ranked guy, Spencer Lee from Iowa so there is no doubt that he deserves his ranking. This past weekend, Northwestern took on the Michigan Wolverines, and Rivera could have made the easy choice and taken on a solid opponent in Drew Mattin. But Rivera didn't make the easy choice; he made the hard one.

A weight class above Rivera, at 133 pounds, Michigan has the #1 ranked wrestler in Stevan Micic, who has dominated everyone he has faced so far this season. Rivera passed on the chance to pad his record by taking out Mattin and instead decided to challenge himself and move up a weight class to take on Stevan Micic.

I love college wrestling, but even I have to admit that there are issues, and one of the most aggravating ones is that wrestlers "protect" their record by skipping dual meets against tough opponents. The most egregious example comes from the best wrestler on my favorite team, Spencer Lee of the Iowa Hawkeyes, who after losing to Rivera at Midlands did not wrestle in the Northwestern dual meet to delay the rematch. Now I don't want this to come across as me blaming Lee, as I think the decision almost certainly came from the coaching staff, but for a sport that needs to do anything it can to attract fans, it is very stupid that they go out of their way to avoid putting on the best matches.

But Rivera, possibly inspired by last year's decision of then #1 at 133 pounds, Seth Gross, going up to 141 to face off against #1, Bryce Meredith, decided to take on Micic to find out how good he really was. Before I spoil the match, here's a chance to watch it.

Rivera, making the tough decision to move up a weight class, was rewarded with an ass kicking from Stevan Micic. Micic controlled the match from the opening whistle and nearly got a major decision but had to settle for a 10-4 victory. Rivera's only points were off escapes, and he never came close to scoring on offense. He got handled by a clearly superior wrestler.

But that's okay. In fact, it's still great. Instead of asking, "What if Rivera moved up a weight class to take on Micic?" Now we know. Yeah, it didn't turn out how Rivera wanted, but he's in the same place he would have been had he taken the easy route and beaten Mattin. He'll still rightly be ranked #1 in the nation, but he provided the most exciting moment of the wrestling weekend by going up a weight class and challenging himself.

As much as I hate to admit it, the regular season really doesn't matter in college wrestling. I love watching it, and my heart believes it matters, but my brain knows that as long as you make the NCAA Tournament, nothing that happened before means anything. So it's on the coaches and the wrestlers to make the most exciting matches throughout the season. Let's hope more people follow the lead that Seth Gross and Sebastian Rivera have set forward, because setting up the most exciting matches shouldn't be such a surprising decision.

1 Takeaway from the Iowa / Northwestern Game

I went out of town this past weekend so let's just make this short and sweet.

Iowa Gonna Iowa
I need to keep this in mind anytime I get excited about a team. Iowa gonna Iowa. They are going to make inexplicable calls on offense and not only refuse to utilize their best players, they aren't even going to let them on the field. The Iowa Way excels at making mountains out of mole hills. They did it with DJK, they did it with Marcus Coker, and it sure as hell seems like they are doing it with Noah Fant. And Iowa isn't a team with enough talent to pull off these maneuvers. They do everything they can to make their job difficult, and it takes an impossible set of circumstances to make them a contender. Yes, it has happened, but it's not likely.

Iowa has two games left, and although they should easily win both, I wouldn't be surprised if there was an upset or two.

Iowa gonna Iowa.

Predictions For The B1G Bowl Games

I am a glutton for punishment, hence I watch a lot of B1G football. And holy hell was that an awful idea this year. Because of the pain and misery that I suffered, I feel like I am a good source on information on whether the B1G can actually win any of these bowl games. Oh, but you also must realize that I have spent so much time watching B1G football that I do suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, so I have started to empathize with my captors. I added my confidence points at the end to sure how confident I was in each team.

Minnesota vs. Texas Tech - Texas Tech is a huge favorite over Minnesota, because everything that people have seen from these teams shows that Tech is a far superior squad. Still, Tommy Tuberville left Tech to go to Cincinnati which is a step sideways at best. I really like to go against teams who lost their coach, but their coach was Tommy Tuberville, and this is a Minnesota team that lost to Iowa, so yeah, not even I can justify a Minnesota win here.
Texas Tech for 18 points. I am probably one of the lowest point totals here, but Jerry Kill could have a seizure and really get his team pumped for a victory.
B1G Record - 0-1

Michigan State vs. TCU - Michigan State lost to Iowa, so this is a pretty easy decision, right? Wrong. Michigan State was actually a pretty good team this year. They were just incredible at not coming through when it mattered. The only team that really beat them down was Notre Dame, and they're in the National Championship. TCU is okay, but these are not the Andy Dalton-led Horned Frogs. Michigan State has found a way to lose a lot of games this year, but the roulette wheel has hit black five times in a row, so I'm putting all of my money on red (Note: This is a gambling strategy that I know to be terrible but have used on many occasions).
Michigan State for 32 points. Yep, I really did that. Mark Dantonio didn't put that many points on this team, but I did.
B1G Record - 1-1

Northwestern vs. Mississippi State - God, I hate Northwestern. With their fancy education and porsches, seriously, they are the worst. If I had the choice to spend a weekend with Northwestern graduates or Juggalos, I'm picking Juggalos EVERY SINGLE TIME. I want to pick against them, but they are actually a pretty competent team. Mississippi State started out how this year, and then they started playing real SEC teams and got curb stomped week after week. So yeah, Northwestern is good enough to win one for the B1G.
Northwestern for 23 points. Because, what do SEC schools know about football?
B1G Record - 2-1

Purdue vs. Oklahoma State - Not even I can justify Purdue winning this one. I can't find a way where they keep it close. They are awful...and yes, they still beat Iowa.
Oklahoma State for 35 points. Yep, I'm willing to wager everything on this one, and I am not sweating it one bit.
B1G Record - 2-2

Michigan vs. South Carolina - These next two games are examples of where most people just take the SEC team, because they should crush their B1G opponent. I actually really like South Carolina, mostly for Jadeveon Clowney, but Michigan is kind of dangerous. I like them more with Gardner at QB and Robinson as a jack-of-all-trades on the offense. I think it gives them a more dynamic offense. Still, Clowney might eliminate both of their quarterbacks in this game. He's kind of a big problem for that offense, so I cannot justify taking Michigan.
South Carolina for 25 points. I put a pretty good amount of points on this game, but I thought hard about it, and I feel that's important.
B1G Record - 2-3

Nebraska vs. Georgia - Georgia seems to shit the bed a lot. Nebraska seems to shit the bed a lot. Expect both teams to shit the bed, but Georgia has three potential first rounders on their defense (despite not having that great of a defense), so expect them to wipe up with the Cornhuskers.
Georgia for 27 points. I'm not sure if I will ever pick Nebraska to win a bowl game.
B1G Record - 2-4

Wisconsin vs. Stanford - I know the answer to this one. It's Stanford, right? Stanford. Okay, I feel good about that...but Wisconsin did dominate a bed-shitting Nebraska team in the B1G Championship. And Chris Borland, probably my favorite player in the B1G, should be fully healthy. Plus, Stanford really designed their defense to stop quicker teams like Oregon, so maybe Wisconsin's power attack could cause some problems. And most importantly, I got B1G blood running through my veins.
Wisconsin for 7 points. B1G! B1G! B1G!
B1G Record - 3-4

I know that I'm higher on the B1G than most, but I could honestly see any of the B1G teams winning their bowl games...except Purdue. Purdue is awful. But any other team, with help from their opposition could win the game. B1G for life.