Gaige Garcia

[jdalu75]

Going back a-ways again, Jack Rizzo played football and was the track team's top 100-yd dash man; John Hill blocked for Rizzo and put the shot for the track team. But the priority for both was always football.

The problem these days is the overlap of seasons. We all know that the top wrestlers have a 12-month commitment now. Is Lehigh football going to be okay with Garcia leaving the team in mid-October for wrestling? Is Santoro going to be okay with Garcia not joining the wrestling team until December? Either way he'll fall short of his full potential in both sports. Back when Howell Scobey did it the football season ended the weekend before Thanksgiving and wrestling competition began in January; he didn't miss a day of practice for either sport.

My guess is that if he does stay with both sports, he'll need to play the full football season and then wrestle just after New Year's three times. He'll defer in wrestling one year that he plays football and complete his wrestling career with a full season after his FB eligibility is exhausted. That's if injuries and/or academic realities don't cause him to drop one sport or the other first.

[mookie]

Doesn't matter if he only wrestles for a week. He's far and away the best we have at 197 lbs.

[TMH]

Going back a-ways again, Jack Rizzo played football and was the track team's top 100-yd dash man; John Hill blocked for Rizzo and put the shot for the track team. But the priority for both was always football.

The problem these days is the overlap of seasons. We all know that the top wrestlers have a 12-month commitment now. Is Lehigh football going to be okay with Garcia leaving the team in mid-October for wrestling? Is Santoro going to be okay with Garcia not joining the wrestling team until December? Either way he'll fall short of his full potential in both sports. Back when Howell Scobey did it the football season ended the weekend before Thanksgiving and wrestling competition began in January; he didn't miss a day of practice for either sport.

My guess is that if he does stay with both sports, he'll need to play the full football season and then wrestle just after New Year's three times. He'll defer in wrestling one year that he plays football and complete his wrestling career with a full season after his FB eligibility is exhausted. That's if injuries and/or academic realities don't cause him to drop one sport or the other first.

+1
Good post

My concern is that we already found out what impact an abbreviated practice period can have on performance in wrestling during COVID

[Oracle]

It's not a good idea at the D1 level. Very, very few can pull it off. I do wish him well and hope he's one of the few that can do it.

[drd5748]

The Fresno kid stunned a lot of us with his NCAA 5th out of 'nowhere,' in fact had 1 year at Drexel before heading West. All I did was report on logic; the chain of command. As of today, neither the LU football or wrestling coach has said a word publicly.

Spladle politics be damned, I'll continue to report on facts while asking TMH: why do you think no one's played varsity football & wrestled at Lehigh since 45 yrs ago? Just a coincidence, despite full-fledged agreement all those years between the programs? I'm still waiting for official coachspeak. One of my jobs. Not one of my jobs to decide what's logical for him in terms of calendar. His job to buck the odds, not me

[Spladle1989]

Spladle politics? Your killing me Smalls…..

What happened in 1945, 1965 or hell even a straight 45 years ago has zero relevance to today’s NCAA environment but hey 99% baby lol….. we do love us some Denny historical anomalies ….your job is not really a job, you do get that right? You’re a fan writing a fan magazine hoping other less “informed” fans will buy it….like Teen Beat kind of….

[TMH]

asking TMH: why do you think no one's played varsity football & wrestled at Lehigh since 45 yrs ago?

I can only make a guess.
1.)It did not go well for that guy 45 years ago (I assume you meant Willard), getting injured and ended up playing neither. The physical demands are great. Note: Daughter Cassie stuck to just field hockey at Lehigh although she was accomplished in 3.

2.)I don't remember the overlap in seasons 45 years ago as there is today.

3.)Wrestling is now an all-year sport. Involvement in both football and wrestling works to the detriment of both.

I never said I endorsed playing both. I just questioned what role the University has in the decision rather than the coaches involved and the athlete himself. Much of those negotiations will probably be dependent on the source of the scholarship funding but again...just conjecture.

[Oracle]

Spladle: Your characterization of DRD is neither accurate nor fair. Yes, he is a fan but he is also a historian, writer and more than a friend of Lehigh wrestling. His business is rather significant -- probably the largest paid following for a private newsletter out there. Fans who receive it enjoy it. Sorry you're not one who does. Obviously you don't have to subscribe. But do you have to knock it? Can you disagree without being disagreeable?

I enjoy your observations and I think you have an eye for what's going on. That's where you ought to concentrate....IMO.

[Spladle1989]

Did you happen to notice that again as soon as I posted something, very vanilla about Gage's twitter post, 5 other people make comments, then Denny shows up (even though he promised once again he was going away) and immediately posts something about my comment 6 coments prior........I mean could my post have been more vanilla? It gets old and then it gets nasty.....and then you jump in to to post oh poor writer historian Denny.....good god spare me, he reaps what he sows, there is a giant canyon between being a historian and a know it all twit.....I will agree though Teen Beat might have been a little harsh, maybe more like People or Us Magazine....

[jdalu75]

It used to be routine for heavier FB players to also wrestle once their primary season was done. I can remember Charlie Getty and Dave Joyner wrestling against us, as well as the Suhey brothers. I also remember Gary Kurdelmeier allowing Greg Stevens and John Bowlsby to play football for Iowa, both tore up knees, and That Was That.

Could be a combination of several factors -- longer seasons, increased NCAA scrutiny of how athletes' scholarship are apportioned, greater fear of injury as athletes get stronger and faster. And so it just fell out of fashion. Major league baseball long ago decided that there could never be another Babe Ruth, a pitcher and hitter at the same time. Now Shohei Ohtani's making them think twice about that; until he gets hurt again, at least.