But I also don’t know the demons that he has in his mind.

It’s really easy to forget the tremendous pressure theses guys are under. I’ve been around addicts my whole life, and there’s a reason it’s recognized as a disease by the WHO. I’m not excusing it, I’m merely saying that I don’t like celebrating that we don’t get to see them wrestle because of Zahid’s issues, which are obviously bad enough to cause him to risk everything he has worked for.

Also, 1) I never said we WOULD see them wrestle, only that we COULD’ve and 2) no one will take Zahid’s place. There’s only two wrestlers in the NCAAs that are as close to dominant as he is: Spencer Lee and Gable Stevenson.

Please don’t misconstrue what I’m saying. I just wanted to see that match. Maybe it’s the competitor in me, but we wouldn’t root for Hunter to have won this past week against Hidlay’s backup, would we? We love this sport because it determines who is truly the best between two men or women, and we cannot say Bolen is the best if he wins the NCAAs and doesn’t go through Zahid to do it.

Again, competitors compete. At this level, you don’t want to win against anything other than the best. I promise you, Hunter is NOT celebrating. If anything, he’s probably conflicted on his feelings. He knows his path is easier now, but he won’t get to prove that he really is the best in the country at his weight class.

So I guess if I had to change what I previously wrote, I’d say that Hunter was robbed more than anyone.