wrestle87

Every time I see someone tilting at this windmill, I think of this…

The only michigan guy who has a tank is Amine the larger. They are a very good international squad, but lungs aren’t their forté. They are the most technically and strategically sound from an international perspective though. Woods has amazing training partners in that room and gets access to people from a lot of different corners of wrestling globally with that program.

What is this evaluation based on? Please don’t say his high school. That is one of the best athletic/academic combo schools in North Jersey, the fact that it remains catholic is an odd relic that remains basically for nostalgic reasons. People of every religion go to the school, they really don’t care.

I understand your point, that AB is a phenom and it’s dumb to hold someone else to that standard, but considering AB is clearly Trent’s roadblock, and Trent’s worst loss to AB came in their senior year, wouldn’t that serve as a decent indicator that innovation and evolution is overdue for trent? Trent would be an amazing (and at this point sorely needed) ambassador for USA wrestling, we have certainly gone feast to famine in all of 12 months. But he would really benefit from some more attacks. He has the most unique underhook certainly, but he’s been doing it forever. His underhook is like Andonian’s bodylock, 9 out of 10 can’t stop it, but those who can don’t really have a hard time winning the match otherwise once that particular technique is sidelined.

I think Trent is one of the best personalities in the sport, so this is not meant to just bag on trent for the sake of bagging on him. That said, if he truly didn’t need to evolve, he would have NCAA titles and some senior world medals in his trophy case. He doesn’t. The game is different, and even at NCAA’s multiple people have figured him out.

This is definitely true, but I also think there is a lot to be said for having the freedom from pressure to develop, refine, and hone new technique and gameplans in the space between major competition. Our wrestlers have very little of that compared to their international competition. They spend much of their senior careers competing as if it were just an extension of the college schedule and at the college wrestling pace. Internationally, their competitors plan, pace and prepare for continental qualifiers and worlds as if it were a boxing or MMA event. Long runway, much better load management, and more free time away from the mental strain. It also doesn’t help that we have such a folkstyle-adjacent freestyle mindset. Prepping to beat american freestyle competition is very different from prepping for the styles of the rest of the world. Wrestlers who innovate succeed. Despite complete overhaul of folkstyle techniques 3x over in the past 15 years, we are still really rudimentary in freestyle. Our par terre has gotten worse since the advent of the push out, and I think Dake and molinaro are the only wrestlers in 20 years who had a reliable chest wrap, head pinch or crotch lift. I generally root for NLWC guys, but they suuuck in par terre. They don’t even try. Cael wasn’t any good there, and his style flows down through the team. They are wizards on the feet, and liabilities to themselves when attempting any turns. I bag on the brands a lot for folkstyle stagnation, but Tom’s iconic olympics throw was off an opportunistic leg defense neutral exposure throw. They have the most complete freestyle knowhow, and are why our 57kg guys have the best par terre of the whole team year in and year out.

Thank you for educating me. I’d never heard of this dude before. Keeping lying crappy coaches out of the coaching pool is always an important use of time.

I think we also have to take into account that is a weight class that CONSTANTLY chews itself up domestically. If we had a system which allowed guys to win a shot at two teams instead of having to re-justify themselves every year, we would have a medal, but there are so many guys just beating the sh*t out of each other on the way to a spot, they are far less than spry when it comes time to compete internationally. My evidence for this is the success that the whole michigan room (and seabass) have had once they extricate themselves from the annual spring meat grinder that is the US Open World Team Trials Gauntlet. They have a locked up spot and they get to rest and train and peak properly instead of just running the gauntlet over and over again. Our system is equitable domestically, but it hamstrings us internationally.

It’s always possible, but the only two schools that would be more geographically remote would be Alaska and Hawaii, and they have the ocean. It is a special acquired taste to enjoy a region that even many red blooded heartlanders find tiresome. Southern Illinois is a booming metropolis comparatively.

What’s the problem here? Rhode Island has zero wrestling culture, dude is trying to grow that, and it sounds like he had an avenue to a mercenary qualification to the Africa qualifiers. So he gets to share stories and open kids eyes about the world beyond, and what wrestling can do for them… What’s wring with that? When I was in High School I went to a wrestling camp at a high school on cape cod. Coach there got an old Iranian veteran wrestler and a sambo world medalist to come in. Coming out of that camp a number of kids who were new made it to d3 teams, and a bunch of kids got kept on the right path because he had some fun entertaining guys who knew some stuff and who knew how to blow smoke at teenagers. It was great.

57 - Spencer in two first period big brotherings 61 - Forrest, in the start of the henry cejudo 2.0 era 65 - Woods is looking fresh and really loving wrestling. Michigan is doing good things for him. Woods in 3, and Mckenna will be the most bridesmaid wrestler in modern history. 70 - Yianni quite handily if he doesn’t break something 74 - This is MM’s weight for the next two cycles. MM 12-2, 13-3. 79 - Haines in 3 86 - Zahid puts Dake away handily. I think Dake was going to retire if his challenge against CStarr hadn’t worked this weekend. He’s small for the weight, and I think DT has helped Zahid figure his lungs out. 92 - Barr, PSU owns this string of weights, and Hidlay hasn’t evolved his technique in 10 years. 97 - Snyder in 3. Zilmer is a robot who is always game, and Snyder has been looking 5% worse each year that passes that he’s been at PSU. 125 - Captain America by a landslide in 2, but he gives up a 4 in each match.

I doubt it matters that much. The decision to go to a service academy is a bigger one than deciding to wrestle.

It’s a bit self-contradictory to ask to hear a wrestler talk about their wrestling and then to say “no but not that part of it” when a religious practice is something they employ as part of their own internal management. ”I want to know what’s in this cake!” Well, there’s sugar, butter… ”No! Don’t tell me about those parts!” We have had many long conversations about the sports psychology benefits of believing in a higher power and purpose. If you don’t like it, don’t watch, but be an adult and let other adults be as they wish to be.

He’s done, did an amazing job commentating the olympics, and he is half way to fielding a whole baseball team at home. I hope he devotes his time to those who care about him most. Grateful for more than a decade of insane wrestling (2011-2012 peak burroughs was the best wrestler ever IMO), but time to turn the page.

“I’m really grateful for welcoming mint chocolate chip into my life…”