ILLINIWrestlingBlog

Haha! I defer to The MPhillips on this one. Cheers! It was amazing, though. Best combo technique of the tournament. Smooth, continuous, but brutal movements between techniques.

The replay is already up of Kayla Miracle's match. I tried to take screen captures of the so-called "four-pointer" and challenge that cost her the match. Unfortunately, NBC and Peacock have developed software that makes the screen go black when you try to do a screen capture. Then, I tried to capture it with video. Same result. I understand anti-piracy, but that's kinda bullshit. It goes too far. There is a thing called "Fair Use," and I've paid for their services. Anyway, I finally had to use my phone to take pictures of my laptop screen, and in my opinion, that was an excellent challenge from the American coaches. The challenge should have won. KGZ gets a takedown, no exposure. Even the head judge, as I noted before, sounded unsure of himself, when he's been very adamant about his calls all tournament. Anyway, here's the evidence, the pictures:

WTF is a head cradle? A head cradle with his legs. He used his legs to hold the guys head down, which in turn held his back to the mat for the pin. Was beautiful!

MOVE OF THE MEET: The Dake Bomb to Head Cradle using Legs. REASONS: It came against Iran, and it looked cool. Ended the match with a pin on top of an exclamation point!

The challenge cost her the match, no doubt, but that was a very good challenge. There was zero amplitude on that "throw," and she was never exposed. Should NOT have been a four-point technique for KGZ. Even the judge making the call did not sound sure of himself. Not the usual "Challenge LOST." More of a "challenge lost."

Dake bomb to head cradle! LOL! Dake with the pin. Miracle almost had a miracle comeback, but lost by criteria, 6-6. Good fight in her!

Is Jason Bryant calling him "Ghetto" Petriashvili? Either that, or he is deep into using a country's own pronunciation of names, which is very respectful and adds to the exotic-ness of the Olympics. I thought Parris was a sure-fire medalist because only three heavyweights had a very good chance to beat him. I guess there were four. Plus, Parris almost beat Geno and has beaten Zare. Still, don't expect repechage, but congratulations on being an Olympian. Plus, Brooks and he are still ridiculously young, and heavyweights can have some longevity if they keep their heart in it. Kayla Miracle on the mat now!

The guy with the British accent doing track and field event commentary is drunk. He also seems to get drunker from day to day and hour to hour. That's pretty cool. I know we do lists of Americans wrestling for other countries, but we need a list of Russians wrestling for other countries before all world competitions. Failure to do this should result in a felony conviction. Of the remaining wrestlers, I'm looking forward most to Blades and Snyder. The big uns.

Dude was the Yakov Smirnoff of Scotland. Bless his soul. Cheers, D3!

Jordan Burroughs is a great announcer. Fantastic voice. Knowledgeable of course. Keeps the dialog rolling. The play-by-play guy is excellent as well. They know their stuff, and Burroughs even giving Greco love. Gotta love that! Beats the guy with the Scottish accent at the Pan Ams. LOL!

Want to give reactions to both these posts, they deserve it, but I'm expended, much like Franklin Gomez in the second period. That's right a 2008 Michigan State joke right there!

Well, I'm out of reactions today, as there's apparently a quota. So, if you say something brilliant, intermat says **** you! I love Helen. Hoping for another Olympic medal from her. I know folks have been asking about handicapping Lee vs. Higuchi. The way I see it is that Lee has given up takedowns to quick wrestlers. Higuchi is certainly a quick wrestler. However, if Spencer can slow any Higuchi finish just a little, Rei won't get the takedown. Too much strength. Both can turn, but that strength advantage goes to Spencer. Some folks have said that Higuchi will be able to add the water weight after weighins and be big. I think this is another advantage for Spencer. He looked absolutely jacked in his Semi. I have Spencer as the favorite. Still, a compelling matchup.

You can tell there is some ******* action when the notification pops up to indicate "12 new replies." That was a tough loss for Brooks. Bulgarian was a Yaruguin winner? Wow. Former Russian. Amine starts out strong, but Yaz, man, Yaz.

That was dominant from Spencer. Still thinks he's too big and strong for Higuchi. As long as he can keep Rei from finishing quickly, this should be a win for America in the finals. USA! That was a bullshit challenge.

Dang. I might have to eat this meme. Still think Spencer will be too big and strong.

When did NBC start pushing this Race-to-win-the-most-Gold-Medals versus the usual medal count? I know they want drama, and there is no drama when you just go by the overall medal count. But, my friends, it seems like that downplays Silver and Bronze medals, and a Bronze medal in the Olympics is ******* awesome. As for publicizing times, streams and such, when I'm doing an ILLINI preview for a dual (not on BTN) or the IRTC wrestling in a ranking series overseas, or college tournaments, I always include the stream/tv, the dates and times and the time zone. Additionally, I always include a paragraph about less familiar providers like UFC Fight Pass and Peacock, adding in whether they allow a monthly sub, an event-only sub, the price, and a link to sign up. If we harp on it, they might change. I think we got FloWrestling to use better cameras at Fargo because of criticisms. They even went out of their way to move cameras to follow the action when it went from side to side. Way to go Intermat forums! The better resolution and camera coverage was appreciated!

I love wrestling, but as a community, we do a terrible job of publicizing dates, times, streaming, television, providers, etc. When they do publish a time for an event, platforms frequently forget to indicate which time zone the event will happen. On the other hand, The JOMBO™ Comic Universe is always there with the deets. This Sunday at 5:00 am Eastern there will be a JOMBO™ comic specifically honoring Spencer Lee. For these couple of days of the Olympics, I don't hate Iowa. Well, okay, I still hate Iowa, but not as much as usual.

I thought Sarah was a leglace specialist. But in the semis and finals, not a single lace. Superb match! USA!

I actually thought Sarah would be disappointed not to have a chance to win the gold in a wrestling match. Reminded me of Zac Braunagel against Alan Vera in Final X, when Vera couldn't wrestle the third match. Now, in order to think that way, I have to think differently than Hildebrandt or Braunagel, who are true competitors. But as the "Forfeit King," who greatly appreciated, looked forward to, and heartily accepted all forfeits, that's how I normally would've felt.

Wicked throw from Serbia for four against Jacobson. Then, the American gets put down and gives up a gut. Was it a second gut? Were they out of bounds for the second gut? Or, was it a caution and one for fleeing? America challenges. Usually Payton is a ball of fire. He didn't start out that way in this match, but Komarov is a good-un and Payton could be pulled back in.

Fuji is amazing. So much pressure. Dom fights off the pressure for a minute, but Lord, that pressure. There's no doubt in my mind that Dom'll be pulled back for a chance at bronze. When you see Elor whupping a World Champion, and what Fuji can do, you see the levels.

Your "B" is what I thought. I feel that they do that sometimes as well. Unfortunately, it is virtually indistinguishable from unfair favoritism or abject incompetence. I think that refs do a great job 99% of the time, so I like to think the best of them. Appreciate your response!

PS Love the Rau!

Joe Rau fought like a dog, but he couldn't get past that first-period throw when he was put down. I don't understand why he was put down, as he was the guy moving the other one around, the 2-on-1s and the Greco ducks. He fought back and got within two, but his fav technique is the headpinch, and that's hard to get on a guy 4 inches taller than you.

I wake up at 4am Eastern to watch Joe Rau wrestle, and Peacock says wait another hour. Then, I find out that India's 50kg wrestler didn't make weight for the Gold Medal match, and that Debby is apparently going to plant herself over my house for three days and rain continuously. Are these all somehow related? Where is my corkboard!