It is the American way to think the way we do things is the best and only way to do things...like our folkstyle wrestling. Believe it or not sometimes the way we do things is not the best and if we would look at how others outside this country do things we would learn. That goes for anything from athletics to manufacturing to farming.
I don't know how anyone else feels about this, but I just watched day two of the Olympic trials and can not undstand how the rules can be so terrible. I am especially upset over the Metcalf and Simmons last match. In both cases, the inferior wrestler won, which brings out a few questions I have. Maybe some of you that are more familiar with freestyle can inform me or complain with me.
Being an inferior wrestler and winning two matches doesn't really add up. Metcalf has deficiencies in freestyle and they are exposed every time he goes overseas and wrestles someone outside of the US. As for Simmons, I believe he may have had a better shot at medaling, Hazewinkle is no slouch. Haze and Simmons are two very equal wrestlers as shown by their close matches.
- can we even call freestyle wrestling the way it is today wrestling? It looks more like judo to me.
The way freestyle is scored has not changed, for as long as most of us can remember it has always been 1 point for control, 2 for exposure, 3 for feet to back, etc. They way freestyle was wrestled and scored in 1980 was the same as it is today.
-why is fitness not stressed in freestyle? (I'm serious here) is it because the rest of the world knows how much folk style is stressed in the US and the FILA rules are made to counter our superior fitness?
What about superior technique? Why should wrestlers with super fitness with lesser technique win over wrestlers with superior technique and lesser fitness? If you are going to stress superior fitness then you are going to lessen the advantage of having superior technique.
-why is the passive wrestler rewarded? I particulary hate when two points are awarded when someone is in on a shot and they get flipped to their side 90 degrees for two points.
The passive wrestler is not rewarded. The wrestler that has poor technique is punished easier in freestyle than folkstyle. A wrestler that does not finish his shots properly or is in poor position when in on a shot can be scored on by the defensive wrestler. This area emphasizes proper and superior technique from both wrestlers.
-what does a push out have to do with wrestling?
What does playing the edge and hopping out of bounds every time your opponent touches your leg have to do with wrestling? I can't even begin to explain how frustrated as a coach and a competitor I got when a kid would constantly play the edge. It is not fun to wrestle a kid like that and not fun to watch as a coach or fan of the sport.
The push out helps keep wrestling action continuous and keep the action in the center of the mat.
-how can there be video review in wrestling?
When two wrestlers are evenly matches such as Frayer and Metcalf or Simmons and Haze, I would think having video replay would be something that should be used. In those matches one move can make or break a period or match and having video review helps right a wrong. Do they mess up sometimes? Sure, but they seem to flub video review in the NFL also.
-winning a top line freestyle match is 50% luck, how can a draw be involved?
When you have great athletes battling it out the margin for error is very small. The difference between 1st and 8th in the NCAAs is very small, it is one takedown here, some riding time there, etc. The same goes for any sport when you get to the highest levels. Look at the 100 meter dash, if you have a poor start you are doomed and going to perform badly. The margin for error is a fraction of a second, much the same in wrestling.
Maybe I am just partial to folk style and don't understand the nuances of freestyle, but the best wrestler does not always win unlike folk style. I will say though, the matches were very exciting, probably more than folk style, but it was artificially created drama, not the best man wins.
Are you saying there are never fluke wins in folkstyle? I can think of matches determined by a flip of a coin in the second period. Heck just last week at the Scholastic Duals, Bernard vs. Hemmelgarn was basically determined by who won the coin toss in the second period because that person got choice in the ultimate OT. I can also think of many matches where the better wrestler has lost for various reasons.
Topic: Olympic trials (Read 1584 times)