Franck: Evaluating Team USA at 2011 Worlds

After last year's 22nd-place finish at the Freestyle World Wrestling Championships, some people wondered if Team USA was on a decline in the international wrestling scene. This year's third-place finish shows that American freestyle wrestling is not. Jordan Burroughs' remarkable gold medal run led a U.S. performance which saw Jake Varner win a bronze medal, five of seven weights qualify for the Olympics, and six of seven athletes score team points.

U.S. coach Zeke Jones hoists Team USA's third-place trophy (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

One cannot overstate how difficult this tournament has become. The talent level is exceptionally high -- arguably higher than it has ever been -- and the margin for error is non-existent.

The Worlds have increased in difficulty over the last decade as the programs of the former Soviet republics have grown into powerhouses. Before the breakup of the Soviet Union, wrestlers falling short of being starters for the Russian team were still very, very good. Many Russian wrestlers watching from the stands were skilled enough to medal -- they just didn't have the opportunity. After the breakup, it has been common practice for wrestlers not making the Russian National Team to switch citizenship and gain world-level experience year after year. "Russia" has numerous medal threats at each and every weight, they just compete for various countries.

U.S. heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev faced opponents from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, and Georgia in the tournament. Not an easy match in the lot. Interestingly, the heavyweight from Belarus, Aleksandr Shemarov, beat the standing World champion from Russia in the finals. Indeed, this was really the first year since 2003 that Russia seemed even the slightest bit vulnerable. Russia's dominance since 2004 is remarkable considering that the world talent pool got tougher for them as well. Perhaps the rest of the world is catching up.

Tervel Dlagnev suffered some tough breaks at the Worlds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Specifically, what makes the current landscape of senior level international wrestling so difficult is counter-offense. It is easy for Americans to preach an attacking, aggressive style, but this can easily result in points for opponents. At this tournament, Radoslav Velikov of Bulgaria scored twice off of Simmons' shots, Jake Varner got thrown after tying up in the bronze medal match, and Tervel Dlagnev gave up a point in his bronze medal match off his own shot. Even the amazing performance of Burroughs saw him getting rolled through twice off a double leg takedown widely considered to be unstoppable.

Success at this event demands intelligent aggression. Scoring is about picking the right times and seizing opportunities that present themselves. By and large, Team USA did that very well. We live in an age where video of wrestling matches are ubiquitous. Technical analysis is a integral part of wrestling at the world level. Numerous press releases mentioned the studying of video and American freestylers indeed seemed well-prepared for what they were up against in each round.

Team USA was helped greatly by the fact that six of the seven wrestlers scored points. The team scoring system for the Worlds is not without its flaws. One thing it rewards is balance. The first-place finisher gets 10 team points, the 10th-place finisher gets one point. A team could have no medalists, but if all seven wrestlers took fifth, they would score 42 points. This year's Worlds saw Russia win with 43 points and Iran take second with 41. USA's bronze medal was the result of 38 points scored.

Nick Simmons scored off several leg attacks at the Worlds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Nick Simmons (55 kilos, fifth place)
Simmons' strongest asset in his recent competitions has been a balance between fundamental wrestling and funk. Despite being very tall for the weight class, he finished several low leg shots but also earned a pin in the second round with a spladle. Simmons faced Velikov of Bulgaria in the semifinals -- an opponent he pinned at the Ziolkowski International over the summer. While the experience was invaluable for Simmons, it also allowed Velikov to make some adjustments since their first meeting. Velikov is a past World champion and wrestled like one against Simmons. Simmons' four wins and fifth-place finish showed a lot in his World Championship debut. He can only continue to improve.

Reece Humphrey (60 kilos, ninth place)
Humphrey looked strong in his first two matches -- confident and prepared. Arguably the best thrower on the team, Humphrey also demonstrated patience in not looking to force a big move. In the quarterfinals, he was winning the first period 1-1 against France's Didier Pais due to the fact that he scored last. As the period was winding down, Humphrey got inside tripped to his back. In looking back at Team USA matches throughout the tournament, that moment probably stings the most. Humphrey won the second period, but lost the third period in a leg clinch and therefore lost the bout. Had he not gotten inside tripped, won the period and then the match, he would have jumped from his ninth-place finish to at least fifth place, which would have been four more team points. That would have leapfrogged the U.S. over Iran for the silver and put them only one point behind Russia. While Team USA certainly had some things go their way this year, and while Pais set up the move very well, the fragile nature of success at the Worlds makes it difficult not to go back, point to moments and say "if only."

Teyon Ware (66 kilos, DNP)
Ware did not get a good draw, having two-time World medalist Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine in his first round match. Ware lost and Stadnik went on to fall in the quarterfinals, thus eliminating Ware. Formerly at 60 kilos, Ware looked a bit small for the weight. In his match he tried the front headlock turn that he successfully scored on Brent Metcalf at the U.S. World Team Trials, but it did not work at the Worlds. However, it is difficult to place too much stock on going 0-1 at the Worlds. Henry Cejudo did the same in 2007 and won the Olympics in 2008, Jamill Kelly did not make it out of his pool in 2003 and went on to win Olympic silver the following year.

Jordan Burroughs was offensive throughout the Worlds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Jordan Burroughs (74 kilos, gold medal)
Burroughs did not shut out his opponents, nor did he win every period. But his attacks were so crisp, so dynamic, and so relentless that it seemed like no one could keep up with him. His gold medal run did not come without distractions. Two-time World champ Denis Tsargush of Russia continually tried to unsettle him by pulling on his singlet and Burroughs' cauliflower ear exploded in the semifinals against Ashraf Aliyev of Azerbaijan. To those who have followed Burroughs' career for a while, it always seemed like a World title was a possibility. But it is a testament to his dedication to the sport of wrestling that he put the work in needed to make it happen. Being undefeated in freestyle while still being so new to senior world scene makes one wonder just how many titles Burroughs can rack up.

Cael Sanderson (84 kilos, fifth place)
The transition from folkstyle to freestyle is not always easy and it was not in the case of Cael Sanderson. Leading up to the 2004 Olympics, Sanderson had two losses to Yoel Romero of Cuba, two losses to Sajid Sajidov of Russia and a loss to Khadzhimurat Gatsalov of Russia. These losses were crucial to his development as a freestyle wrestler. They exposed him to situations, positions, scrambles and (as mentioned previously) counter-offense that he simply did not experience against domestic opponents. Seven years later, it would seem the main thing his comeback lacked was significant international competition leading up to this event. He competed in the Corneanu tournament this summer, won all three matches, but the field featured none of the top names in the weight class.

Cael Sanderson dominated Mexico's Alejandro Gallardo Ocampo (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Sanderson looked solid and determined in the four matches he won and in need of a few tactical adjustments as well as slightly better conditioning in the matches he lost. Making the improvements he needs to in order to become a two-time Olympic champion next summer seems very doable, but it is complicated by his coaching duties at Penn State.

There is an argument to be made that the best thing Cael did at the Worlds was show up. His commitment to the comeback as well as to the sport itself is remarkable. One of the biggest problems USA Wrestling faces is early retirement. It results in us not fielding the best teams we can. A folk hero sticking with it imparts a valuable lesson to the young wrestlers who look up to him today and attempt to represent our country tomorrow.

Jake Varner (96 kilos, bronze medal)
There was a general consensus that 96 kilos was the most stacked weight class at the event. Sanderson's protege, Jake Varner, proved himself to be in the mix with the very best. Working out so regularly with Sanderson has obviously been beneficial to him and the sky is the limit for him as he continues to improve. He gutted out a number of wins against very talented and decorated opponents.

Tervel Dlagnev (120 kilos, fifth place)
The current rules of freestyle wrestling sometimes feel more than slightly arbitrary. At the top of the list of controversial elements of freestyle is the dreaded ball grab/leg clinch. Dlagnev had no luck with the ball grabs in Istanbul and lost six in a row. He defended a third period leg clinch against two-time Olympic champion Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan, which gave him a thrilling win, but lost the other five in his final three matches. More so than any other class, 120-kilo wrestlers have to be very picky about their shots. A shot which gets a wrestler extended and he cannot finish results in a lot of weight on top of you. Dlagnev was active when he should have been and that helped him. That he did not earn a second medal to go with his 2009 bronze was more a result of bad luck than any kind of mistake on his part.

Team USA (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

After the dismal performance by the U.S. freestyle team in 2010, it seemed too unrealistic to try and dethrone Russia this year. There were too many specific areas that needed work. Too many mistakes, too many questions about the system overall. Although Team USA was within reach of the title (Humphrey winning in the quarterfinals and Cael winning the bronze would have done it) beating a team as decorated and dominating as Russia was a pipedream. After America's performance this past week, it no longer is.

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Franck: Evaluating Team USA at 2011 Worlds

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