Coach Hull Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Just wondering what trends you see or have seen in the NCAA tournament, if any, that we should take a better look at as an individual, program and/or state? Whether we are noticing more or less aggressiveness, re-shots, better scrambling, certain attacks, funk, basics, bottom wrestling, top series, etc. etc. As the finals approach, what trends, techniques, etc. have made the biggest impression on you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlHungus Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I noticed a trend in the size funnel cakes....much smaller in corn country Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Guru Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Just wondering what trends you see or have seen in the NCAA tournament, if any, that we should take a better look at as an individual, program and/or state? Whether we are noticing more or less aggressiveness, re-shots, better scrambling, certain attacks, funk, basics, bottom wrestling, top series, etc. etc. As the finals approach, what trends, techniques, etc. have made the biggest impression on you? Some trends that I see: **The position game continues to be a huge factor. Avoiding poor extended positions, and a lot of bailing on attacks if no clear finish/angle is immediately there. The head/hands defense game is so good these days the process of SHOT>BAIL>SHOT is beginning to replace traditional setup action in terms of creating scoring opportunities (along with the front head release stuff and go-behinds I like so much - see below). **The single leg is still king, and finishing low on the mat has overwhelmingly become the high percentage norm. If you're not practicing this every day, working through these positions, the sport has passed you by. **Front head defense and positioning has passed up high percentage short offense. I see the position successfully defended more often these days, even against the best guys in the country. If you know me at all, you know I'm particularly interested in the little battles of angling and squaring, creating action and chain-wrestling from this position. Although the emphasis has shifted, front head continues to be an extremely important position and my mantra of 'if you wrestle well here, it's a difference maker' holds true. **The Burroughs/Howe scenario has filtered down and affected the lower weights. The faster guys, when faced with a brute hand-fighter are working more and more from a tripod stance, and in some cases, even all fours. Why? To control the tempo? Maybe in some cases, but more than that, to dictate how contact takes place and to control the setup action. If you keep the heavy-handed guy off your head, you take away his ability to wrestle in that push/pull style. If he get's frustrated, he'll come out of position and get wild/sloppy (see Ramos v Steiber). Guys are looking to 1. get tough hand-fighters to follow them around the mat and 2. get both of those heavy hands up at the same time. Some guys are looking single (Delgado/Waters/Perry) some are looking for that Burroughs timing double (Steiber/Garrett). A really good example of this strategy and positioning is in the Delgado/McDonough match from BIG10's. Delgado got him to follow him, he had the timing down on McD and every time he got both his hands up, he was in on him (sequence to look for on video: Follow>Left club>right club>SHOT). The change from that tourney to this one... McD was still following guys but was more in control, dropping his lead hand down when there was distance (Brands 101 - Think Metcalf) and rarely getting both hands up high in the tie at the same time. Things didn't go his way but it was obvious they had worked on it since B10's. A good example of a heavy handed guy who did not allow this strategy to get him frustrated and out of position was Matt Brown from PSU. He followed Perry around, but with his HANDS DOWN at distance and his only few scoring opportunities came when Perry hung in the ties long enough for Brown to get his push/pull going. **Technique and strategy near the edge, in ALL positions, continues to be a big part of being successful. Again, if you're not talking about scenarios and strategy on the edge, you're behind. **I would like to point out (here it comes lol ) that I continue to be proven correct about the ancient concept of HAND CONTROL!!!! Hand control from the bottom position is not even remotely as important as A LOT of coaches seem to think. Weight shifting off the whistle, keeping a low center of gravity and then working a methodical tripod stand-up continues to gain in popularity and slowly replace the era of explosive first moves. If you see your kids fighting for hand control on their belly, or on their knees with their head on the mat for a post, you're stuck in a 1980's time warp and you gotta break out. Keep in mind these trends are not fads. Wrestling is as much chess as it is street fight and these trends simply follow the percentages. Keep your hands away from your belt at all costs to avoid tying up your wrists and just... get... up. From a percentage standpoint, you're WAAAY more likely (<<< scientific term) to be able to get to your feet using your hands and then to be released to avoid the stall call or the tiresome process of taking you back down. For even more proof of this trend.... **Guys going to the ankles on top! This more recent trend is a direct result of the greater and greater emphasis on just getting to your feet. Some people may think it's the opposite in that guys are dropping tight-waist ankle more, and that has led to more slow tripod standup action. But you'd be wrong. If you don't believe me, carve out a Sunday for Youtube research and you'll see that I'm right. **Top: running all your weight out on the head and looking to bump guys to elbows and work a near wrist offense is giving way to the riskier process of jamming>clawing>changing direction>crabbing. This is one of the more mysterious trends in folkstyle. Technique trends usually follow predictable patterns of efficiency of motion and risk/reward. So what are we seeing here? Here is my current thought process: The scrambling abilities of even the average wrestler have reached a certain level that most are not as afraid of the risk associated with crabbing guys and rolling them on top of you, making the reward even more tempting. At a high level, the ability to get a two count on most opponents and create the 'scrambly' pinning opportunities (Taylor) can make the average qualifier a high AA. I honestly think, and this may sound weird on the surface, that this is an effect that Cael Sanderson is having on the sport. If you go back and watch the way those guys wrestled at ISU (Cael/Cody/Heskett/Robeson/Fanthorpe etc etc etc) they ALL had a floating kind of style on top that the current more dominant PSU guys have. Letting guys base out and looking to hook stuff up on them. And if you remember, Cael used to work a crabby half-nelson roll series as much as anything else that's very David Taylor looking. And guess who else used to float and look to rip cross-face cradles on everyone like Ruth does? Heskett. Don't believe me? Add that to your Youtube Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweats McFurley Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 that's a great analysis, all great points that I saw during the 3 days of wrestling. definitely less action on the feet and i feel it's due to the head/hands defense and wariness of the reshot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madtownxwrestler Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Very good analysis.... You still see high school as primarily take down wins... Guys don't ride like in college.. Sure you want to finish periods on top but unless you really plan to turn someone you are better off back on your feet..a 1:59 ride in high school is just a wasted period without riding time... Also college top stall calls are not near the same for parallel rides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Guru Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I disagree. Fighting off the bottom is one of the hardest things to do during a match and the psychological toll of being held down against your will is huge. A 1:59 spent beating on a guy, tiring him out and breaking his will is not wasted time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datdude Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Ive noticed that more wrestlers are wrestling at their more natural weights and are having success. In the past, it was thought that cutting gave you a better chance of winning, now we see the Oliver, Dake, Ruth, and Taylors of the world destroying that notion. (Mcdonough) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKAJC Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Good stuff Guru... I watched all three days of the NCAA's and saw some great wide open matches. My concern was that if a more casual viewer tuned in to watch only the finals, they wouldn't have seen a true sample of what the action in the tournament was like. I felt overall the finals were slow.. and I don't just mean the format. How is it that Delgado in the 125 final was able to back off the mat 4-6 times being hounded by Melagoudis, without so much as a single stall? I thought Melagoudis got robbed. And Maple in his final, scores a td in the first min of the first period and then spends the rest of the match in a stall, posting on a shoulder. BORING!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grecoref Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I disagree. Fighting off the bottom is one of the hardest things to do during a match and the psychological toll of being held down against your will is huge. A 1:59 spent beating on a guy, tiring him out and breaking his will is not wasted time. Correct, it's called stalling on the top guy. ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1oldwrestler Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 How is it that Delgado in the 125 final was able to back off the mat 4-6 times being hounded by Melagoudis, without so much as a single stall? I thought Melagoudis got robbed. These guys have resumes that follow them. Delgado sets up his take downs off that "backing off" style and the ref's know it. Heck, McDonough's resume doomed him in his matches versus Delgado. Ref's knew McDonough's style is to try and funk his way out of td's so they give the offensive wrerstler (Delgado) and the defensive wrestler (McDonough) all kinds of time to work towards a td. Delgado masterfully worked his funk but it took him 30 to 45 seconds in each period that he secured a td (that kind of time is enormous and really worked against McDonough). I don't believe Megaludis was robbed at all. Delgado beat him in the dual and in the NCAA Finals because he had a superior strategy. I think the ref's give the proper due to wrestlers of this caliber. Frankly, I thought the stalling call against Dake was b.s. but Taylor, in the ref's mind, deserved a shot to escape or hit a reversal, neither of which he wass able to to with enough time to win the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicalHighC Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Thank you Grecoref! If you aren't trying to score or setup something to score from - you are stalling. This top floating technique is getting more and more popular. You can see more agility on their toes and with the knees sucked in around the hips at times to eliminate space and control the hips - all while taking those posts away. Very versatile top wrestling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Guru Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Isn't breaking a guy down 'setting something up?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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