The failures of the flash takedown are obvious (and below), but what is hampering the excitement of college wrestling even more than quick two-point takedowns is the ongoing struggle for excitement on the age of riding time.
Meant to increase pinning, the riding-time point (one point is given for a control advantage of 1-plus minutes) was a way to incentivize athletes to be aggressive on the mat and to reward them for attempting to create action. What was well-intentioned has since morphed into is a series of rides: claws, hooks, low-leg, parallel shifting -- all simple stalling tactics used on top for one man to stay "in control" long enough to grab the extra point.
Pinning has become an afterthought.
The riding-time point is not a well-worn tradition of NCAA or American wrestling. The proposition has been in and out of the collegiate rulebook, and high school wrestling doesn't use the clock. So why keep the point?
Part of it has to do with creating fewer tied matches and overtimes. Part of it is tradition. And part of the argument is ... "Well learn how to get out ...!"
The last argument is by far the least attractive and most meat-headed take available. Wrestling is meant to entertain and the remnants we see of mat wrestling are based in a tradition of submission grappling passed down from generations of barnstorming events and professional-like wrestling events. The considerations to remove submissions over the years have come through the desires of parents and bureaucracies to decrease injuries -- there are moves illegal today that were legel as recently as ten years ago. Wrestling doesn't allow submissions and it tries to avoid unwarranted joint manipulation, but it still incentivizes ground control. With only a handful of tools and possible outcomes the wrestling on the mat can take on the appeal of watching time-lapse videos of grass growing.
Taken to a broader plane, the ability to lay on top of someone is no longer all that impressive when you have a world filled with grapplers who can defend and attack from the position better than collegiate athletes. Control from top is just not all that triumphant of an action.
But the main reason for the elimination of riding time is that it kills action. There are too many wrestlers willing to dive to an ankle to hold on for an extra second of action, or go over the top in the side headlock and pray for a transition before five seconds is counted. Even that -- the creation of rules to deal with stalling techniques based in riding time -- is a negative consequence of what is obviously a useless and antiquated rule.
It's time we stopped the madness and free up the wrestlers to, well, wrestle. Taking away the riding-time point adds action to the sport, simplifies the rules for fans and in no significant way alters the appeal of the sport for die-hard fans.
To your questions ...
Q: What was your take on the Mike Evans' takedown on Logan Storley in sudden victory last Friday? My understanding is the rule states that you need complete control for a takedown to be awarded, and it did not look like Evans had complete control. The action should have continued, right?
-- Mike C.
Foley: As written the correct call was made, but as we understand wrestling over the past few decades that was not a takedown.
American wrestling as described above is centered on the idea of "control" while international freestyle and Greco-Roman rules are focused on successful "techniques."
Mike Evans used a double leg in sudden victory to top Logan Storley (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)The NCAA wrestling rules committee has no mission statement for what they wish to achieve on the mat. There is no institutional psychology driving the totality of their decisions outside of corrective measures necessitated by previously ill-conceived rules. That leaves the rulebook overgrown and unfocused with rules meant to patch previous rules, but which only caused more disruption.
The committee needs to have a philosophical discussion about what they do and do not want to achieve. If they want action then a pushout and killing riding time would make a helluva lot of sense. Whereas "flash" takedowns and riding time points do not create action and are in direct contradiction to each other and the ethos of the sport.
If the rules committee is unwilling to make the change to a philosophy fans can understand then maybe it's time to move over to something flashier and faster-paced -- maybe it's time to adopt freestyle rules. Having 400k kids and 70-plus NCAA Division I wrestling programs wrestling freestyle would significantly increase the chances that Americans win multiple gold medals at the Olympics.
The more prudent option would be to move forward with these basic and easy-to-introduce rules.
Q: With such a rich wrestling history, how does the Michigan State athletic administration allow the continued deterioration of the wrestling program under the leadership of Tom Minkel. Michigan State is an afterthought in the Big Ten and it appears to me wrestling is not a priority at MSU.
-- David Dr.
Tom MinkelEvery wrestling program needs fresh blood. Programs with successful head coaches like Iowa, Minnesota and Cornell see some turnover in their assistant staffs while other less successful programs need to make wholesale change to their leadership. Minkel has not won much over the past decade and the current environment would lend to the notion that coaches like him are replaced with regularity.
I hope that Minkel gets out soon. There is a danger that he can be better known for what he was unable to achieve at the end of his career rather than what he did achieve as a wrestler and young coach. Legacies matter and I hope that he and Michigan State see that his legacy is no different.
Q: Here's a relatively simple solution for integrating dual meet performance into the NCAA team title: have the team dual tournament count as one additional "weight bracket" for NCAA championship scoring (so now, you'd have the 10 individual weight classes, plus the team bracket). Forget about bonus points, but we could easily include placement points and advancement points. With slots for 32 teams, there are enough points up for grabs that the best teams should want to compete.
-- Ronald M.
Foley: As far as I know this is a wholly original idea! Integrating that will still cause a discussion over how much of the overall title should be impacted, but I like that you're thinking of new ideas.
The dual meet season should matter. The old calendar and structure of the season is only being used today because it was handed down the generations and not enough momentum exists for significant changes. If the discussion over a national dual team championship continues then it's sure to bring up other ideas for change, including the length of the season and even how we score dual meets.
Maybe it's better to count the actual match points and give big numbers for falls? That might change the excitement behind a match, right?
Q: With all the controversy at the end of the Mike Evans-Logan Storley match, attention will be deflected from a more important issue. That match would have been great with a pushout, instead they spent seven minutes standing on the out-of-bounds line. I know you want the pushout added to college wrestling, but how could the powers-that-be watch that match and not want a pushout rule?
-- Tim I.
Foley: The powers that be almost certainly DID NOT watch the match.
Realize that men and women in these positions are not often huge fans of the sport. They may support their school and show up to the conference and NCAA tournament, but almost none of them are sitting at home watching the Big Ten Network and taking notes.
These are the administrators with a bevy of employees and responsibilities spread between their home campus and Indianapolis. Don't think for a minute that they break stride when there is a controversial call -- even one that includes the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation.
Q: Jesse Delgado recently returned from an injury. Have you seen him yet? I watched his two matches since coming back and he has looked underwhelming. The eye test tells me he's not sniffing a third NCAA title. He's not getting past Alan Waters and Nahshon Garrett, and it's doubtful he finishes ahead of Joey Dance and Thomas Gilman. How do you see Delgado finishing his college wrestling career?
-- Mike C.
Two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado recently returned to Illinois' lineup after being sidelined due to injury for over two months (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Were you to make the case that Delgado will win his third title it would almost certainly revolve around his mental toughness. I've talked with coaches in the Big Ten who say he's just nails in tough situation after tough situation -- a wrestler with no quit.
Having no skin in the game (yet ... staring at Brian Muir) I'd pull for him to win, if for no other reason than I like the idea of lightweight three-time champions.
Q: What's the story with Mike Evans talking about the rule change regarding no reaction time for takedowns in overtime?
-- Michael, a Hawkeye admitting that it wasn't a takedown unless the rule change is true
Foley: The NCAA Rules Committee chose to implement the "flash" takedown in the rules for 2013-2014. As described above, you weren't the only surprised wrestling fan.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
All about that cake
Swedish-American wrestler looking to become a reality TV star? This might be your lucky day.
To apply for our show you have to go to their website.
Link: Double Leg Ninja Boys are putting up a cool sale for charity
Link: Fiction is more powerful than truth ...
Q: I come into work today and my co-worker, who is not a fan of wrestling and never wrestled, asked if I watched the Iowa-Minnesota dual meet. I said, "Yeah, I did." He replies, "I tried to watch, but it was so boring I changed the channel after the second match. Is wrestling always that way? It's terrible and unwatchable and those are the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked teams." I tried to explain it's an issue, but it's embarrassing to defend the sport and try to encourage people to watch. Needless to say but he won't be watching anymore matches.
NCAA wrestling is doomed if the casual fan not only won't watch, but thinks of wrestling in a negative way. In ten years when a large core of the NCAA wrestling is dead from old age, who will be the next generation of fans?
-- Tim J.
Foley: I don't know. There is part of me that sees my generation getting back into the sport, which is cool, but I don't know if it's sustainable.
There are wrestling fans of all ages, but there is no clear proof that we can retain fans after their days of high school competition. While you and I thought that the matches were somewhat entertaining, your friend (and mine ... had a similar incident) aren't going to support our sport if the action doesn't increase and the confusion gets cut to a minimum.
Storylines and increased mainstream media coverage will help, but unless the sport is easier to consume to casual fans we are never going to make headway in gaining new fans with BTN dual meets.
Q: UFC legend Anderson Silva recently tested positive for steroids, and becomes just another cheater in the dirty sport of MMA. One of my friends wrestled for a top Division I program in the early 2000s and told me that he was never tested for steroids. Do you know if college wrestlers are tested now? If not, don't you think it's reasonable to think there are college wrestlers on steroids?
-- Mike C.
Foley: You are tested if you make the NCAA finals, and most schools will do random screenings in-house to prevent a hot test during competition.
Maybe this is my naïve nature, but in all my years surrounded by the sport I've never heard any rumor that wrestlers are on steroids at the Division I level. Diuretics, marijuana and maybe some pain killers, but that seems to be about all I've seen and heard.
Cutting weight every week and using steroids are not overly compatible.
EXTRA TIME
By Paul L.
Interesting that your boy Jim Harshaw was speaking about Abraham Lincoln in the video included in last week's mailbag. Does Jim know Lincoln was a wrestler?
Also, regarding Henry Ford ... he went bankrupt two or three times.
Link: Was Abraham Lincoln really a wrestler?
Link: Abraham Lincoln was a skilled wrestler and world-class trash talker
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