meZYNbrink

Couldn't agree more that Indianapolis would be a great destination. Centralized city, great venues, many food/drink options, proximally close to other hotbeds (IA, PA, OH, WI), and a great airport. NBA All Star Weekend was hosted there last year and proved the city can show up to host great events of and above the scale of D1 championships. The USA Swimming OLY trials were there this summer as well. Denver would be great too, selfishly.

Would love to see DT go 92. You have to think he's the favorite, but after his performance against Brooks, not sure what to expect. Granted, Brooks was a hair away from the Olympic finals. All said, my mouth is already watering for a DT/Sad supermatch.

Population is their advantage, a strong history of traditional wrestling is another. But their facilities, developmental programs, and access to high quality training from a young age is a detriment. I'd say they are doing very well.

I think the answer is somewhere in the middle here. Easy fix is that you have to transition to a different move to score on the same sequence. Like in folkstyle

From all accounts, Danaher chose to stick with Gordon during the split. A fair amount of athletes stayed to create New Wave, but Nicky Rod, Nicky Ryan (Gordon's younger brother), Craig Jones, Ethan Crelinston, etc all left to create B Team. Nolf has said he wants to train with both teams as well as Fight Factory (Tackett bros) and even 10P Austin. Interestingly, he said he hoped to help the DDS group toward reconciliation. Would be hilarious if he was the one who brokered that IMO.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but the rationale for Bradley winning is there. From the BJJ perspective, the ruleset rewards 'initiating grappling exchanges' which Downey only did when securing top position. From there, he basically ran from BJJ exchanges while trying to maintain top position or resecure it. While it may not have looked like Bradley was doing much at all, he was looking to find some BJJ offense that is tough to see with an untrained eye. That said, I'd still have scored it for Downey, all things considered. In my opinion, even though Downey was 'stalling' in the BJJ exchanges on the ground, I'd like to see Bradley actually get to a real submission in order to overcome his concession to bottom position. Edit: I am extremely biased towards wanting to reward wrestling exchanges in BJJ, especially in BJJ communities. FWIW. A lot/most BJJ guys would disagree with me. Also, would have loved to see a rematch from 2019(?) WNO between PD3 and Nicky Rod in the semis at CJI.

Agree it's still a title, and there are always a ton of tweeners shut out due to stupid Olympic weights. If he wins it, I hope we don't discount it like Stieber's 2016 title.

The event was super fun. As an ex wrestler in BJJ, I totally get both sides of the argument against and for a guard-centric combat sport. While guard can be extremely effective and lead to much submission offense, it shouldn't be considered a dominant position. If there's a takedown to guard and no other action, the player initiating the takedown should be rewarded. If a player wants to concede to guard, there should be an impetus on the guard player to overcome a deficit. My 2 cents.

This one is kind of crazy. Two weights that basically 0.01% of the world population can make? I feel that we'd be better off starting at 60kg.

Somehow Chael is wrong every time

I train at one of the best gyms in the West, I'm pretty familiar. Obviously the bjj guy will be advantaged once in the guard, but from a scoring perspective, it has at least been communicated that taking someone down and getting stuck in their guard will be rewarded in the scoring. Round scoring is definitely weird but I'm excited to see how it goes. My favorite rulesets are EBI and ADCC, but neither are perfect. Maybe this will be closer?

I think this scenario would be scored in favor of the wrestler, but it would be nice if the scoring emphases would be released prior to the tournament.

Nolf vs Ty is a really bad matchup for Jason. I don't think he'll get this one out. PD3 almost certainly going to run into problems with Rockhold. All accounts is that his grappling is world class. I seem to remember a video of PD3 lasting a while with Gordon, but could be wrong. Out of all the wrestlers, I think Kerk has the best chance to do damage. I did see a picture of him in the gi last year and it looked comical, not that swag has anything to do with performance. Now I just wish the grappling community could get his freaking name right.

Preliminary rounds are 3 rounds with judges scoring (similar to UFC but with scores announced publicly prior to the next round). Championship bouts are 5 rounds with the same judges scoring. Much more subjective than ADCC and definitely moreso than IBJJF.

Certainly could have. The beauty of it is we will never know. Brooks beat him fair and square (in a fairer and squarer system than most countries have). I think DT is happy with his 7M contract.

All I'm saying the ankle ride maintains control, as boring as it can be to watch. Eligibility rules in NCAA are broken too, don't get me wrong. I remember a time when you'd get 4 years and graduate at 21/22. 7 years in college is too long, take it from me.

Forums are for opinions my friend!

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point, but folkstyle (at least NCAA) has the neutral danger takedown. I feel that has really improved the product as far as limiting the amount of Delgado rolls across the back from neutral. And without delving too deep into the 3pt vs 2pt takedown argument, I think it does incentivize takedowns more than ever before. Wrestlers are better than ever and the sport evolves constantly, I don't think we will ever go back to looking exactly like the 80's and 90's, and I don't think we should want to. I've wrestled freestyle since I was a kid. Was never that great at either free or folk but everything is relative. I'm definitely a fan of both and like I've said before, for the last decade+ I've been as locked in to the international scene (seniors, juniors, some cadet events) as I have been to domestic folkstyle competitions. I think I'm familiar with both. Obviously bias plays a role here, but I find it hard to argue that leg laces and gut wrenches are as much a demonstration of control as a 4 second tilt (both exposure points without really attacking for the fall). I like freestyle. I just think it's an inferior product. When you watch a FS match, it feels like you're watching the 100m sprint. Folkstyle feels more like the 1500m (a race most prefer to watch).

Exactly, never said FS was easier than folk, just that it looks less like wrestling.

Also, I've watched and been an international fan for over a decade. Freestyle is fun. That said, folkstyle is to me a much truer representation of wrestling. Control is control. Action shouldn't stop after 10 seconds of a slowed pace. A 65-35% advantage in folkstyle would be allowed to play out. In FS it's blown dead. Exposure is broken. Leg laces and gut wrenches aren't it. The world won't change for us, but we can imagine a better world where it does. My 2 cents. I'm biased. Everyone else in the world has an accent.

1. Snyder's wife got in to med school at PSU, which is why he left. Some things in life are bigger than wrestling, and sometimes you have to support the people you love in their careers and pursuits - much like I'm sure Snyder's wife has done for him throughout his career. Life is about compromise and competition is inherently selfish. Snyder is still in a great room, arguably the best room for heavyweights. 2. It's important to understand the distinction between underperformance and a disappointing performance. Could the US have medaled at 6 weights? Absolutely. Our wrestlers lost to the best in the world. I think the farther away you get from competing, the easier it is to forget how tough winning is. This is the Olympics - sure Russia wasn't there, but this is THE toughest tournament in the world for a reason. Our guys have had near unprecedented success the last few years and have made winning look easy. It's not. That's why we celebrate our Olympians; qualifiers, medalists, and champions. 3. I think Mason losing first round was the biggest shocker, but for those who have paid attention to the scene for a while, these things happen every year, and it's only recently that we've been spoiled with a relatively low amount of upsets. A few years ago and this would've been par for the course for us. The relevant thing is that crazy things happen every year, especially in the Olympics. 4. Zain's concussions are so disappointing for us as fans of American wrestling. He's on the short list for greatest college wrestlers ever. Dake too. Sometimes things don't go your way, and you don't get tougher than those two. Maybe Spencer Lee. All I can say is I hope that for the guys that continue, they are able to find the motivation, health, and timing to make their dreams a reality. I'm dismayed that our community has put so much blame on their shoulders. Bottom line - this sh!t is tough for a reason. Our guys were the best of our best. We are overly familiar with their success and under familiar with the world. Armchair quarterbacking is especially hilarious in our sport, where our B-team is getting teched in the finals of OLY trials and Final X. Let alone the guys that made varsity maybe once or twice in high school and never sniffed D1. Anyone with experience/perspective knows we put our best foot out there and just lost a couple close ones but had success nonetheless. USA Wrestling is still in a great place. LA 28. Postscript - How about those freaking BADA$$ women?? Also, can we scrap Greco and give those weights back to WFS and MFS?

I placed a line on DK with Spencer at +500 but when they changed the lines they canceled my bet. SMH

I don't have the receipts but I'm certain that if you interviewed the 2004 US team about their support for US invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq they would wholeheartedly support it... And I'm also sure that they would not hesitate to appear in public with George Bush.

Whether you support Israel, Russia, or any other invading force (the US has done its fair share of extraterritorial operations), who could say that it is fair for the IOC to play god and decide that athletes can't compete for supporting their country? Especially in situations where they have less access to freedom of speech than in the countries the IOC chairpeople live in (Germany, Singapore, Australia, etc)? Surely German citizens and Russian citizens play in different realms of public life.

Aaaaand Carroll committed to ISU. It'll be interesting to watch Taylor's play for his first season - all in and win to attract recruits? Or redshirt his guys and develop under his new-to-you system?