JT#1's Notes, Thoughts and Observations For Week 4 (11-22 through 11-28)

 A shortened week due to the holiday, but still a great week full of great wrestling.  Is it just me or is there a serious irony in scheduling a sport with a commitment to weight management during a time of celebrations centered around food? Thanksgiving, Christmas, even New Year's Eve & New Year's Day, not to exclude our other competitors who celebrate various holidays.  As many of us fans enjoyed our turkey, tators and gravy and grandma's one of kind Pumpkin Pie, many of the young men and women in wrestling got by with a disciplined portion that even Gandhi would have deemed stingy.    

I was a little surprised when I looked over the rankings a little less than a week ago and didn't see the name Job Greenwood in the top 33.  I figured sooner or later he'd prove himself to be worthy of a ranking and boy oh boy did he with an impressive win over Arizona State All American Michael McGee in the finals of the Cowboy Open.  An 8-7 victory for the Cowboy. 

Huge thumbs up to Army Wrestling.  It's clear that Kevin Ward and staff want to build a program and they're willing to do what it takes in order for that to happen. To agree to wrestle Iowa, the #1 ranked team on such short notice shows the commitment that the Cadet wrestling program has. I'm anxious to see this team at the Midlands. I think they might surprise some people.   

So much in wrestling goes unnoticed, unrecognized, unsaid and underappreciated and among those individuals is Iowa's Myles Wilson. When it is all said and done, he won't be the Hawkeye representing Iowa at the BIG 10 championships.  Yet what he has done is stepped in and stepped up during this time when he has been needed. While Iowa figures out who exactly is going to be the starter by year's end, Wilson has filled in and done so in fashion. Two wins for the Hawkeyes in two dual meets. Hope to see Wilson enter the Midlands this season and have himself a good tournament.  

In a world obsessed with true-freshmen All Americans, we very well may be looking at one in Wisconsin's D.J. Hamiti. The three time Illinois state champion didn't just win this weekend, he dominated.  I'm not going to act like Hofstra's Ricky Stamm is a world beater, but he is a two time NCAA qualifier and Hamiti just destroyed him in a 16-0 technical fall.  Then he went out and had his way with North Carolina's Sonny Santiago 10-0.  Very impressive. 

Harper College NJCAA Champion Michial Foy making some serious noise this weekend with a very impressive 9-3 victory over South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan.  At the beginning of the season I was thinking Garrett Joles to be Minnesota's starter at 197, but it looks like there may be a new Golden Gopher in town. 

And that about wraps it up for Week 4.   Week 5 is going to an exciting one.  CKLV plus some exciting dual meets! Plenty to look forward to this week! 

==== 

Johnnythompsonnum1 at the time does not and plans on never charging for content. However, I would like to extend the coverage I do for the sport and can only do so through donation. Your contributions would help in a variety of ways including but not limited to the following examples below.

To purchase a camera in order to conduct interviews with wrestlers, coaches and wrestling personnel.

To start a wrestling podcast with Dennis Doderer, a former Iowa High School state runner-up, Michigan State wrestler & writer of NYPD BLUE

To help cover the cost of travel and lodging to attend more wrestling events

To create more content to where eventually Johnnythompsonnum1 is covering all Divisions of Collegiate Wrestling.  Right now based on money, time & resource restraints Johnnythompsonnum1 is mainly NCAA DI with a bit of NAIA mixed in here and there.  I want to eventually be able to cover DI, DII, DIII, NAIA, NJCAA, CCCAA, NCWA & all of Women’s wrestling. 

If every reader of mine donated even $0.50 per month it’d be enough to achieve these goals.  So please think about making a contribution to Johnnythompsonnum1 to help me extend the collegiate wrestling coverage that I do.

Send donnation via Venmo to Stephen-Stonebraker-1

P.O. Box to send cash, check or money order coming soon.