Originally published at: https://pistolsfiringblog.com/videos-john-smith-wrestlers-recap-dominant-outing-against-west-virginia/
Hear from the Cowboys after they crushed the Mountaineers.
When talking about 174 John Smith mentioned someone is injured. Would that be Joe Smith?
He supposedly hurt his shoulder at the Scuffle.
Joe Smith had incredible high school career and then comes to OSU and is hit with so much bad luck with injuries and having to wrestle at the wrong weight and thus a wasted college career where he never had a real chance to reach his potential. That is really sad for him and his father to watch happen. No one expected anything like this for him. I think it was wrong to have Joe wrestle at the NCAA instead of Chandler Rogers. Chandler earned that spot.
Joe did say he is having a hard time with making weight consistently. It makes me wonder a couple things. First, is it a physical issue like having to cut too much to be healthy, or persistent injuries that hinder his ability to make weight in the traditional manner. Or is it a mental issue - lifestyle choices, dedication to the descent (starting early enough, staying consistent). Maybe his heart isn’t in it anymore. Expectations are sky high for any Cowboy wrestler, much less the coach’s son, and wrestling takes so much time and energy it’s hard to blame anyone for wanting to do something else with their time. It would be interesting to know what his natural weight is and where he’d want to wrestle given free choice over any weight class. It feels to me that there’s something else going on - the coaches and staff are tight-lipped about his status, they bounce him around to different weight classes, he can’t make weight until months into the season and doesn’t seem that mad about it. In contrast to other kids that seem to be gunning for every match and weigh-in, wrestle through injuries. Maybe he should try to get an injury redshirt this year like Boo did, that is if he wants to keep wrestling. Not trying to be a jerk, just thinking through this question that has perplexed us Cowboy fans for the last 2 years: what’s up with Joe?