Kyle Snyder secures a takedown on Elizbar Odikadze (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The Titan Mercury Wrestling Club traveled to Ukraine this week to participate in the World Wrestling Clubs Cup. The team was composed of seven American-based wrestlers and 2016 Olympic champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili. The event, held annually, has become an increasingly competitive offseason event for many wrestlers over the past few seasons.
With bigger team payouts in 2016 this iteration became something of an All-Star event.
The TMWC, with guest star Khinchegashvili at 61 kilograms, wrestled to team gold on Thursday and completed an impressive undefeated run. For many fans the performances by Nazar Kulchytskyy, Nico Megaludis and Nick Gwiazdowski were especially enjoyable to watch as they showed real growth as wrestler and knocked off top competitors.
However delightful the improvement of some athletes, a pair of losses by 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder seems to have left some American wrestling fans curious about the quality and longevity of Snyder's dominance at 97 kilograms.
To recap, Snyder's first loss came via criteria to Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) in a match that he seemed to have in control, but was unable to finalize in the closing seconds. The second loss was a little more random or concerning or depressing in that it came at the hands of Iranian youngster Abbas Tahan, by the score of 3-1.
While I agree that there is no reason to panic about Snyder's skill set or his viability as the USA's top 97-kilogram wrestler, the tournament certainly showed that the Olympic champion will have to fight for every point for the next four years.
To be clear, Snyder was never outmatched, and in seeing his losses it never occurred to fans that his Olympic championship was won by fluke. Still, the losses showed that there is something delayed, or halting, about his offense which is now being picked apart by nations with motivated head coaches.
As an example of a strategic shortcoming, Snyder typically scores late. But with some great coaching from Iran and Georgia much of that aggression was stalled in Ukraine. Snyder has typically excelled late, but in the two big tournaments he's won at the international level (World Championships and the Olympic Games) there was a certain amount of pressure that seemed to inspire his late actions and get nervous opponents wrestling on their heels. That scenario was absent in Ukraine.
Still, the biggest concern for the Kyle Snyder fan base isn't the losses, but the likely inclusion of Abdulrashid Sadulaev as a 97-kilogram entry. With Anuiar Guduev moving up from 74 kilograms to 86 kilograms, and whispers that Sadulaev is himself still growing, all signs point to the Olympic champion making his way up in weight to challenge Snyder.
While a daunting task to take on the top wrestler in the world, Sadulaev's presence might prove to be just the motivation a young and much-accomplished wrestler like Snyder needs to improve aspects of his game. Knowing he has a full six minutes against the No. 1 pound-for-pound wrestler in the world should be inspiration for him moving forward.
Win or lose, one thing we know about Snyder is that he's able and willing to learn from mistakes and improve each time he steps on the mat. Also, as we saw with Varner and other competitors, Snyder almost never loses twice to the same guy. Now is not the time to worry. Sit back, enjoy the journey and cheer on what has become unquestionably the best in the world.
To your questions …
Q: What are your thoughts on the World Wrestling Clubs Cup?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Love the atmosphere and competitiveness. I actually kind of liked the free agency aspect, too. Good for these nations for having their wrestlers change clubs and compete at will!
Q: I'm a fan of Northern Iowa wrestling. There's been much discussion among the fans as to why Iowa and Northern Iowa don't wrestle. What is frustrating is that Iowa will wrestle a community college, but won't go 70 miles to wrestle the Panthers. Is there something between Tom Brands and Doug Schwab that we don't know about? It seems odd and counterproductive for wrestling that these two teams don't meet. Thoughts?
-- Jay A.
Foley: The lack of an Iowa vs. Northern Iowa dual meet has been mentioned in the past. Depending on who you support there are a variety of reasons that the schools have yet to meet in a premier dual meet.
Fans from Northern Iowa think that Brands and company are scared of this new in-state rivalry. From their perspective if Iowa wrestles and loses then they cede over some in-state recruiting and prestige to the Panthers. If they were to win then it's business as usual. A classic lose-lose situation.
Iowa fans probably think that they don't need another tough dual meet in a season that promises a bunch of Big Ten hitters and specialty rivalry matches already slated against Iowa State and the National Duals. Another weight cut and a date off the calendar just to face another Iowa team? Meh, they probably think that they can see each other enough at tournaments.
As for the relationship between Brands and Schwab I couldn't tell you a thing. From what I know they are respectful of each other, but extremely competitive. Both have innovated in recent years so my hope is, like yours, that they could collaborate and make something happen for the fans in Iowa, but also those on the coasts who love to peer in on the inner-workings of the sport's most competitive state.
Q: I think that adding a few Mexican schools to the NCAA Division II ranks would be a really cool idea. Simon Fraser is in Canada and competes in the NCAA. They should consider suitable candidates from over our southern border as well. I imagine that they'd start with fútbol, but if one day they could add some folkstyle teams that would be great.
-- Timmy B.
Foley: Really interesting idea and one I hadn't much considered. One hang-up might be the style. The national program of Mexico is still working through some early kinks in educating coaches on the sport of freestyle and Greco-Roman, so adding a third style for scholastic purposes seems unlikely.
Q: Joe Benavidez is a -205 favorite vs. Henry Cejudo this weekend at UFC TUF 24 Finale. What kind of chance does the underdog Cejudo have in this fight?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Joey B. is no joke with his hands and has plenty of wrestling to stymie Cejudo. My only question is endurance, which I would actually give to Cejudo. Also, love him or hate 'em, when he makes weight Cejudo usually finds a way to win.
Good line. I'll take Cejudo.
Q: Do you have any idea how the movement between schools of both athletes and coaches is viewed by coaches? I am specifically asking about the relationship or lack thereof between Coach Garland at Virginia and Coach Smith of Missouri. The last couple of years it seems like there have been quite a few kids and coaches that switched between the schools. Do the coaches get along?
Corollary: Are coaches "recruiting" kids while they are competing for other schools? It seems like college wrestling is becoming similar to college basketball with a large number of kids second guessing their original college choice after a year in the program. Is this a product of coaches' continuation of recruiting, kids changing their mind, false advertising, a combination, or something I am not thinking of.
Side note: My kids (daughter 8 and son 5) are both wrestling fans. It is mostly the only sport on in our house in the winter. My son is starting to wrestle at a junior team once a week for an hour. My daughter is interested, but I am struggling to find any youth girls wrestling leagues. Do you know of a database or someplace I can look into local wrestling programs? We live in Las Vegas.
-- Josh W.
Foley: Coach Alex Clemson had been a coach at the University of Virginia for several years. The year after he returned to his home state of Missouri and coach the Tigers, a U.Va. wrestler Blaise Butler chose to pursue his Masters at Missouri. Though I'm sure the coaches are still tight, a lot of their interactions are still dictated by the desires of the wrestlers to be close to family, friends and people they know well.
The recruiting of college wrestlers does stop once they enter school Sometimes verbal commitments can be wishy-washy, but after signing -- and especially once they are on campus -- the overtures usually stop. Some wrestlers make really difficult decisions on where to attend school and sometimes aren't happy with their choice. I've seen it several times up close where a wrestler doesn't fit into the culture, can't keep up grades, is too far from home, or simply doesn't get along with the coach. This isn't just blue chips guys. This is everyone from the walk-on up to the star recruit. Kids change their minds.
As for women's wrestling I don't know of an existing database, but check the comments as I'm sure someone will post a link to any that do exist. You can also check out the NWCA website and the Wrestle Like a Girl page on Facebook. They might be good resources. Your state chapter of USA Wrestling should also have a comprehensive list of all girls registered to wrestle in Nevada.
Q: Cory Clark (Iowa) -3.5 vs. Seth Gross (South Dakota State) on Friday night. What side are you betting?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Most readers remember that Seth Gross was booted from the Iowa wrestling team two years ago after a run-in with the law. Though the charges seemed to have been reduced, he was sent out from Iowa and landed at South Dakota State where he wrestled at 141 pounds last season.
This year Gross moved down to 133 pounds, and is set to face off against former teammate Cory Clark tonight.
While Gross recently showed some high-level gumption in winning the Junior World Team Trials at 60 kilograms, I think Clark is on a warpath this season. The Hawkeye has been NCAA runner-up on two occasions and it's doubtful (at least to me) that he'd be rattled by competing against a former teammate.
Love your line. I'm taking Clark to cover.
Q: This may be a hard question to answer, but what is the best district for high school wrestling in the country? And by that I guess I mean what district has had the most NCAA All-Americans? I would think it would be WPIAL or District XI out in PA, but I am not sure if anyone has already done this research.
-- Brian B.
Foley: WPIAL. By light years.
Q: Every year I do an annual trip to watch a popular wrestling event. I am very fascinated in the Iowa style, although I am a Michigander myself. Three years ago I began this tradition where I watched Penn State defeat Iowa, the following year Missouri beat Iowa for the 2015 National Duals championship, and last year went to Carver to witness the Big Ten Championships. Considering this year Iowa will be wrestling Michigan and Michigan State the same weekend in the land of the mitten, I have no desire to travel to Carver this year. I am curious aside from the NCAA Championships in St. Louis this year, what you think would be the highest event of interest for the coming year? Currently I am considering traveling to Indiana for the Big Ten Championships.
-- Nicholas F.
Foley: I've been to a few Big Ten Championships and loved the atmosphere! You really can't go sideways if you choose to spend a couple days binge-watching the best wrestlers in the nation scrap for both conference gold and a seed at the NCAA tournament.
As for the festivities outside the arena, I've only been to Indiana a few times and thought it was a tough place to "Capital P" party, but I imagine that you can surround yourself with some wrestling people and you'll be happy as Brent Metcalf at a yard sale filled with camouflage pants.
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