Basch questions Reynolds' Who's #1 spot after 0-3 at Elite 8
Braylon Reynolds is booked opposite Jesse Grajeda at 144 on Sept. 26, and Justin Basch put the invite up for debate.
Justin Basch put a Who's Number One invite up for debate Sunday after Braylon Reynolds went 0-3 at the Elite 8 Duals. Reynolds is booked opposite Jesse Grajeda at 144 on the Flo card, a rematch of the Fargo finals between an Ohio State commit and a North Carolina commit. Basch's framing was about the event's premise more than the wrestler.
"A Who's #1 participant went 0-3 yesterday at Elite Duals, so let's #EmbraceDebate: Should they still compete at Who's #1?" Basch wrote.
A Who's #1 participant went 0-3 yesterday at Elite Duals, so let's #EmbraceDebate: Should they still compete at Who's #1?
Basch walks it back a step
The replies came fast enough that Basch posted a follow-up saying he is not advocating a disinvite at all. His actual question is whether guys wrestling at an event called Who's Number One should be ranked 1 or 2 in the first place, and whether the rankings behind the matchmaking were accurate. He pointed out that MatScouts had Reynolds sixth and that all three of Reynolds' losses at the Elite 8 Duals came to wrestlers ranked above him, adding there is no shame in that.
Basch also said Willie of MatScouts had advocated for what he called the easy pick off Fargo, Grajeda against Dale Corbin. The announced Flo matchup instead lists Grajeda as the No. 1 and Reynolds as the No. 2 at 144.
The rest of the card is unchanged
The 144 bout sits on a card that also has Sammy Sanchez vs Landon Sidun at 126, Grey Burnett vs Paul Kenny at 132, Dean Anderson vs Gavin Mangano at 138, Michael Romero vs Mac Crosson at 157, Melvin Miller vs Cam Howard at 165 and Jayden O'Farrill vs Zack Aquila at 175, with more matchups still to be announced. Those bouts were earlier rolled out by Flo over the past week.
Our take, the debate is really about how Flo seeds a one-match showcase, not about whether Reynolds can wrestle. Nobody from Flo has responded publicly.
What to watch: Who's Number One goes down on 9/26. Basch said he and MatScouts would discuss the Reynolds question live on their show at 9 am EST the following morning.
@MatScouts1 had Reynolds #6, and his 3 losses yesterday were to guys above him.