Poll: How do you feel about Greco?

[NM1965]

On 4/24/2024 at 2:02 PM, Paul158 said:

I think this is about preference. I prefer folkstyle wrestling over freestyle and greco. Just like I prefer College Football over Pro football. I prefer a well marbled steak cooked on a grill over a hamburger at McDonalds. It doesn't matter to me what your preferences are. You are a grown man you will have different preferences. 

You don't even need a grill to do a steak justice, just a good frying pan, some kind of oil, and good steak seasoning. 

Edited May 12 by NM1965

[Paul158]

7 hours ago, NM1965 said:

You don't even need a grill to do a steak justice, just a good frying pan, some kind of oil, and good steak seasoning. 

Looks good to me. I will be right over.

[skandar]

Greco needs to die before it takes down freestyle with it.

[MatMaster]

Folkstyle / Collegiate wrestling is boring compared to international wrestling styles. 

[KingOtoguro]

Greco is pretty enjoyable and at a high level, everywhere but the USA lmao.

[GrandOlm]

Look at Bulgaria. They went from the second best Greco nation on earth by miles for decades to now they only qualified two wrestlers. None of them ethnic Bulgarians. One a straight up mercenary who has nothing to do with Bulgaria and only left as an adult because he couldn't make his own countries team and the other also possibly learned his wrestling elsewhere. 

Sweden used to be the best Greco country in the world (before WW2) and now they don't even have one qualifier. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

On 5/17/2024 at 7:44 PM, GrandOlm said:

Look at Bulgaria. They went from the second best Greco nation on earth by miles for decades to now they only qualified two wrestlers. None of them ethnic Bulgarians. One a straight up mercenary who has nothing to do with Bulgaria and only left as an adult because he couldn't make his own countries team and the other also possibly learned his wrestling elsewhere. 

Sweden used to be the best Greco country in the world (before WW2) and now they don't even have one qualifier. 

Wow! How is Poland doing?  My Greco coach used to speak glowingly about how good their technique was.

[GrandOlm]

On 5/20/2024 at 9:31 AM, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Wow! How is Poland doing?  My Greco coach used to speak glowingly about how good their technique was.

Poland? They're okay. It's not a wrestling nation (it never was), I don't know how technical they can actually be with the ever more limited participants and coaches. I think they placed in the top 10 not that long ago. Not as good as they used to be. I think their last great wrestler was Wronski and he grew up under communism. 

All the formerly pretty good continental European countries (except Hungary) have declined significantly since the fall of communism. Combination of high emigration, low birth rates, abolishment of the draft.

Kyrgystan, Iran, Azerbajan have all lept frogged from. Probably just through just increasing youth participation and specialization.  

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

8 hours ago, GrandOlm said:

Poland? They're okay. It's not a wrestling nation (it never was), I don't know how technical they can actually be with the ever more limited participants and coaches. I think they placed in the top 10 not that long ago. Not as good as they used to be. I think their last great wrestler was Wronski and he grew up under communism. 

All the formerly pretty good continental European countries (except Hungary) have declined significantly since the fall of communism. Combination of high emigration, low birth rates, abolishment of the draft.

Kyrgystan, Iran, Azerbajan have all lept frogged from. Probably just through just increasing youth participation and specialization.  

My coach spoke glowingly of Polish technique during the late 80s, so communism...

[AgaveMaria]

Only thing I really think is WHY was it seems Karelin was the only wrestler everyone was scared of? Why could he pick up a guy off the mat & throw him around like a baloney sandwich - and apparently no one else at any weight could do it?

[GrandOlm]

9 hours ago, AgaveMaria said:

Only thing I really think is WHY was it seems Karelin was the only wrestler everyone was scared of? Why could he pick up a guy off the mat & throw him around like a baloney sandwich - and apparently no one else at any weight could do it?

His seemingly inhuman strength. Rulon compared it to wrestling a draft horse. But it was also his downfall. Karelin's game was built around the 5 point suplex. Once he lost his great strength due to aging and injuries, he was no longer the same wrestler and needed to retire.

[Eagle26]

On 4/24/2024 at 10:02 AM, Paul158 said:

I think this is about preference. I prefer folkstyle wrestling over freestyle and greco. Just like I prefer College Football over Pro football. I prefer a well marbled steak cooked on a grill over a hamburger at McDonalds. It doesn't matter to me what your preferences are. You are a grown man you will have different preferences. 

You are right it is a matter of preference. However, continuing with your analogy, freestyle is like a ribeye, folkstyle is like a T-bone, and Greco is like a McDonald’s hamburger. At some point the product itself is limiting. Sure, you will find some people that would rather have a hamburger, and some people may have never even gotten to taste a well marbled steak. But most that are truly experienced with all three options are going to prefer a steak. And the smart ones prefer the ribeye

[Paul158]

22 hours ago, Eagle26 said:

You are right it is a matter of preference. However, continuing with your analogy, freestyle is like a ribeye, folkstyle is like a T-bone, and Greco is like a McDonald’s hamburger. At some point the product itself is limiting. Sure, you will find some people that would rather have a hamburger, and some people may have never even gotten to taste a well marbled steak. But most that are truly experienced with all three options are going to prefer a steak. And the smart ones prefer the ribeye

Great analogy. But I prefer the T-bone. I wrestled up through college. Then I coached Folkstyle for about 15 years. I really like the neutral, the top and bottom wrestling in folkstyle. In college it was 2-3-3 periods . Overtime was a full 1-1-1. Conditioning was extremely important. If still tied unfortunately it was decided by a  referee's decision .

[lu1979]

On 5/26/2024 at 4:17 PM, AgaveMaria said:

Only thing I really think is WHY was it seems Karelin was the only wrestler everyone was scared of? Why could he pick up a guy off the mat & throw him around like a baloney sandwich - and apparently no one else at any weight could do it?

That Egyptian Olympic GM wrestler at 96Kg had a couple of years where he was really dominant and I remember him launching people