Crotalus

LOL at the guy who just got teched, raising his hands to pump up the crowd like he won them the dual.

I think it should have been at least a couple of points, but this is not the rule. He did not have a shoulder or head on the mat, so the 45 degree part of the rule does not come into play. "Near fall criteria are met when: (1) the offensive wrestler holds the defensive wrestler in a high bridge or on both elbows; (2) the offensive wrestler holds any part of both his opponent's shoulders or scapulae (shoulder blades) within four inches of the mat; or (3) the offensive wrestler controls the defensive wrestler in such a way that one of the bottom wrestler's shoulders or scapulae, or the head, is touching the mat, and the other shoulder or scapula is held at an angle of 45 degrees or less to the mat."

The argument he doesn't belong because he has zero world championships completely lacks context, and to claim he was just a victim of bad refereeing is just incorrect. He had one pretty egregiously refereed match and then straight corruption for three years. It's not a crazy to say he was possibly the best in the world for a 3-4 year period, as he had wins over all the best guys. Is he the best US guy to never win Oly gold? Maybe not, but he deserves to be in the discussion. I'd certainly put him over a number of guys that have a world title or two.

I only jumped in the conversation because I thought your argument was disingenuous, not because I would say Kolat is the best on the list. Anyways, 1998 was just straight overturned. 1999 and 2000, he had to re-wrestle matches due to decisions made behind closed doors after he won those matches on the mat. And there were some other shenanigans afterward in 2000 to ensure he didn't make it out of his pool. Seriously, he had some egregious refereeing in 1997 followed by three consecutive years of having been declared the winner of a match only to have those results changed after the fact. Sure, he had the opportunity to re-wrestle the last two, but that's a pretty big mind-***duck**. I can't even fathom the level of resentment I would still harbor for the sport.

I didn't say anything about him being better than those two or anyone else. I'm just pointing out that using "0 world titles and 0 olympic placements" in your argument shows you're completely discounting that he was screwed over worse than anyone in US wrestling history. Sure, in 1997, he "left it in the hands of the ref." But 1998 and 1999, he literally won the matches, and they went behind closed doors to overturn the results.

Yeah, he literally had his hand raised at the end of every match in '98. And he had his hand raised at the end of the semifinals match in '99. We can go on, but you are going out of your way to downplay how bad a screw job he got.

This is the kind of thing you say to kids in grade school. The way Kolat got screwed multiple times represented some of the most blatant corruption we've seen in wrestling. He did what he needed to do, and they went behind closed doors and took matches away from him.

Appreciate it, none the less. Please keep it up for those of us that can't watch.

Yep. He wrestles like a madman, nonstop the whole match, which overwhelms most opponents pretty quickly. But he is very sloppy, and that won't transition well at the senior level. I would expect him to improve on the in the next few years, though.

It's really the opposite. If you expose your opponent from neutral (but not standing) and then end up on top, you get the 2pt exposure but no takedown. I don't have a problem with it, but it is a bit curious. It certainly incentives the defensive wrestler to bail out and give up control so as to not get exposed again.

I'm pretty sure there was a time when you had to release the hold, similar to folk, before you could turn again. Anyways, I think bringing back the blood rags guys had to show the ref and then tuck in their singlet would be a great improvement.

Wouldn't exactly be the first time....

Technically, O'Toole had a chance at four at the beginning of the 22/23 and 23/24 seasons, even though he did not win as a true freshman.

We have been spoiled lately with medal contenders, sometimes multiple, at every weight, including some of our best ever. But this year wasn't so much a snap back to reality as a straight-up underperformance. If you look at realistic ceiling vs floor expectations, we just about hit the floor at every weight. Spencer is really the only one who came in right in the middle.

Snyder won his golds by wearing his opponents down with heavy hand fighting, constant pressure, and solid positioning, then scoring when his opponents were two gassed to counter. He has gotten in trouble when trying to be too offensive, too early. Going all out early would not have gone well (see previous match against Taz). The strategy implemented was probably his best option, but Taz is just too good for Snyder to keep the match close enough for a late rally. Many would criticize him regardless of strategy, when the reality is that Taz is just the better wrestler.