Schlatter vs. Metcalf on February 1 is highly anticipated

Dustin Schlatter vs. Brent Metcalf. It's a matchup that has been talked about, dissected, and analyzed to death ever since the two wrestlers split two matches as high school seniors in 2004-2005. Since then, both have taken very different paths. Their paths, however, will cross again on February 1, when Brent Metcalf's Iowa Hawkeyes invade Minneapolis to battle Dustin Schlatter's Minnesota Gophers at Williams Arena. Schlatter vs. Metcalf at 149 pounds will be the premier matchup in a much-anticipated dual meet between two Big Ten wrestling programs who despise each other.

Dustin Schlatter and Brent Metcalf split two matches as high school seniors (Photo/NHSCA)

Schlatter and Metcalf first met on December 29, 2004 at the Medina (Ohio) Invitational at 145 pounds. Metcalf won that meeting by riding out Schlatter in double overtime. Schlatter evened the score a little over three months later at the 2005 NHSCA Senior Nationals, where he defeated Metcalf, 4-3, in the finals.

Both had legendary prep careers. Schlatter was a four-time state champion in Ohio with a dazzling 154-4 record. Metcalf was a four-time state champion in Michigan with a perfect 228-0 record. Even more impressive, though, were Schlatter and Metcalf's accomplishments in the international styles of freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both won six straight titles at the Cadet and Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota, and were very rarely challenged.

What happened in the years following their high school careers has been well documented. Schlatter enrolled at the University of Minnesota and immediately stepped into the Gophers lineup at 149 pounds. He won the NCAA title at 149 pounds as a true freshman in 2006. Metcalf enrolled at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), a program that looked to be on the rise with its new head coach, Tom Brands, and a top recruiting class. He redshirted his freshman season. His older brother, Chase, a wrestler for the University of Michigan, was killed in a car accident that year. In the spring of 2006, Iowa bought out the final year of Iowa coach Jim Zalesky's contract and Brands was hired as Iowa's new head coach. Once Brands was hired back to his alma mater, Virginia Tech's freshmen, including Metcalf, followed their coach to Iowa and became Hawkeyes. However, the Virginia Tech administration refused to release them from their scholarships, which meant the athletes could transfer to Iowa, but had to sit out a season and lose a year of eligibility. Metcalf spent last season practicing with the Hawkeyes and competing in senior level freestyle events.

Mike Zadick (Red) won a silver medal at the 2006 World Championships in freestyle (Photo/Tech-Fall.com)

Two wrestlers who know all about heated rivalries and the intensity of Iowa-Minnesota duals are Mike Zadick and Jared Lawrence. Zadick, a three-time All-American for the Hawkeyes, and Lawrence, a four-time All-American and NCAA champion for the Gophers, wrestled against each other seven times in college. Coincidentally, their rivalry was at 149 pounds, which is the weight class in which Schlatter and Metcalf compete. Both are currently training to make the 2008 U.S. Olympic freestyle team. Zadick, who competes at 132 pounds, was a silver medalist at the 2006 World Championships. Lawrence, who competes at 145.5 pounds, has yet to make a World or Olympic team, but has been knocking on the door. He was runner-up at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Both serve as assistant coaches for their alma maters.

Zadick says the fact that it's Iowa-Minnesota intensifies the rivalry between Schlatter and Metcalf, but sees another striking similarity between his past rivalry with Lawrence and the current rivalry between Schlatter and Metcalf that also adds to the intensity.

"It's more intense from the standpoint that when we used to wrestle each other it was No. 1 vs. No. 2," said Zadick. "That's the same as Schlatter and Metcalf. We have No. 1 vs. No. 2. Both guys are going out there thinking they are going to win."

Metcalf and Schlatter's wrestling styles are almost polar opposites.

Metcalf, who has been called a Tom Brands clone, puts pressure on his opponents by constantly attacking and wearing them down. He has become the new poster child for the Iowa style.

"He's never satisfied," said Zadick. "He's in your face. He's always working to improve the entire time. He's an offensive machine. You shouldn't want to call the kid a brawler. He's a brawler, but he's going to score points. It's not that he's going out and push, push, push. You hear a lot of coaches yell that against him, ï¿½He's just pushing.' But you know what? I'll take him pushing you all over the mat any day because he's trying. It's an offensive style. And it's fun to watch."

Schlatter, on the other hand, relies more on keeping great position, out-slicking his opponents, and using counter offense.

Schlatter put together one of the most impressive true freshman seasons in NCAA wrestling history two seasons ago. He compiled a 42-1 record and dominated the nation's top wrestlers all season long. He defeated a returning NCAA champion, Zack Esposito of Oklahoma State, who many regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the country, twice, including an 11-2 shellacking in Oklahoma.

Jared Lawrence won the NCAA title at 149 pounds in 2002 (Photo/The Guillotine)

However, since winning his NCAA title as a true freshman, Schlatter has wrestled a lot more close, low-scoring matches. He has won almost every one of those tight matches, with the exception of a 3-2 loss in the 2007 NCAA semifinals to Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro, and then 3-2 loss to Mike Roberts of Boston this season in the finals of the Southern Scuffle. Still, despite the fact that he is winning almost every time out, many wrestling fans across the country have become frustrated with Schlatter's inability to put points on the scoreboard and dominate his opponents like he did as true freshman, when he outscored his opposition at the Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships by a combined 74-6 margin.

So what is going on? Has Schlatter's style changed?

"No, his style is still the same," said Lawrence, who works out with Schlatter on a regular basis. "It's just people he's wrestling don't actually wrestle him. He likes his counter offense. I think people aren't wrestling him at the pace that they were his freshman year. When he was a freshman, nobody really knew, so they went out and wrestled him a little more. Now, I think people are a little more hesitant to go after him. His openings are fewer because people don't stay offensive on him."

The consensus is that Metcalf is the one wrestler who will actually go after Schlatter. It's not part of his makeup to wrestle conservatively and try to keep it close. At the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Metcalf wrestled a couple close matches â€¦ at least score wise, although the scores were not indicative of how much Metcalf dominated the matches. He defeated two highly-ranked wrestlers, Josh Churella of Michigan, 4-2, and Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska, 6-2, but was not satisfied with his performance.

Brent Metcalf

"I'm personally not happy with those wins," said Metcalf, without even a hint of arrogance in his voice. "It's not enough to win by two points. I hope the person looking at the newspaper does say, 'You know what, that's not enough.' Because that is the attitude that we have instilled here and we need it in the rest of the country too. There are too many people winning by one, two points. We're here to dominate. Two points is not domination. I'm not happy with it. I need to do more."

Metcalf also stated that he has been looking forward to the matchup with Schlatter. Many expected it to happen in Cedar Falls, but Schlatter was forced to miss the event because of a hamstring injury. Iowa and Minnesota did not meet at the event.

"It's a matchup I've been looking forward to for a while, but it just keeps on disappearing," said Metcalf.

Lawrence can't say one way or the other whether it's a matchup that carries extra significance to Schlatter. He's not sure.

"Metcalf hasn't been around for a long time, so Dustin might be like, 'Hey, it's just another guy," said Lawrence. "But the last time they wrestled, Dustin beat him, so maybe Metcalf is carrying that. And then Dustin ended up winning the NCAA title his true freshman year, while Metcalf was sitting out and probably wanting that revenge a little more."

The Iowa-Minnesota dual on February 1 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis is expected to draw a large crowd. Zadick and Lawrence know all about wrestling in front of large crowds. Ironically, when Schlatter and Metcalf meet on February 1, 2008, it will be exactly six years to the day (February 1, 2002) since Lawrence and Zadick wrestled in front of an NCAA record crowd of 15,646 fans at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. Zadick won that match, 3-1, but Minnesota won the dual, 22-15.

"It's a lot easier to get pumped up when you know there are 15,000 people there as opposed to a dual to a dual that has like 2,000 people there," said Lawrence. "It's a lot easier to get up for those matches."

Zadick agrees.

"Speaking for myself and our program, that is what you are there for," said Zadick. "Being a Hawkeye, we have 7, 8, 9,000 people a dual meet on average, so we're used to it. Throw 15,000 in there and it's just that much more exciting. It's an unbelievable energy that works for you. If they are behind you or if they are against you, it still works for you.

Dustin Schlatter (Photo/The Guillotine)

Both Schlatter and Metcalf have always represented the sport with utmost class on and off the mat. It's virtually impossible not to like the two humble 21-year-olds. Last season, Schlatter competed at the NCAA Championships with a sprained MCL and was upset by Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro in the semifinals. Schlatter, though, never used his injury as an excuse for losing. Metcalf had every reason to be bitter about the Virginia Tech situation and how things were handled, but chose to take the high road and focused on training to become a better wrestler.

So what can fans anticipate when the two longtime rivals finally meet again on February 1?

"I think it's going to be more of a high-scoring match because both guys will wrestle and force a lot of action," said Lawrence. "I don't think Metcalf will stand back and not do anything against Dustin. I think he will come after him, so I think it will be a good match."

Zadick expects Metcalf to do what he always does and wrestle at a high pace.

"I think it's a pretty anticipated match," said Zadick. "From what I know of Brent Metcalf, I'm going to say one hundred percent that he's going to go out there to look for big points, big scores and really put his mark on the weight class. It will all play out how high Metcalf is picking his pace up. He's going to bring it to him. I'm not going to put any kind of point spread on it or anything like that, but I think it's going to be an exciting match."

Regardless of the match outcome, wrestling fans will certainly be in for a treat when Dustin Schlatter and Brent Metcalf renew their rivalry on February 1 in Minneapolis.

Please Note: This story also appears in the January 25 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. For information on The Guillotine, Click HERE.

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