What to thank for this collective head nodding? A 32-minute off-season high school wrestling match.
Without being drug into the details of who was playing defense and who was attacking, wrestlers Daton Fix and Nick Suriano engaged in a 32-minute 1-1 overtime match last weekend. The match mercifully ended when Suriano found a takedown off a scramble, ending what was by most accounts a very long 30-plus minutes of not-that-much actual wrestling.
So what was the wrestling community's big consensus? Elimination of overtime? Capped overtime?
No. The establishment of an out-of-bounds that makes sense, pushes action and awards aggression. Better known by the colloquialism "pushout."
When the pushout rule was first introduced in the Olympic styles many wrestling fans feared that the sport would become a shoving match. The more simplified anti-pushout arguments called it sumo.* The old rules were ridiculous so the pushout sometimes was the deciding factor in matches. However, with the new international rules in place the pushout rule has helped contain action, quicken the pace of matches and has created exciting spats of offense.
In analyzing the 32-minute match many of wrestling's better minds turned to Twitter to dissect the fallout. In general most agreed that the current problem with collegiate wrestling (scholastic, folkstyle, etc.) is the lack of an absolute out of bounds enforced by penalty. Though not stated in 140 characters, one of the main gripes seems to be that the edge of the mat becomes an enormous void of action -- a retreat where wrestlers can force a restart to bad positions, or hang out to avoid the encroachments of more physical opponents. Where the edge of the mats starts, and what is the punishment for fleeing are both items that become highly subjective, and often misappropriated.
NCAA wrestling is lagging behind freestyle in terms of excitement. Way behind. The main reason is the collegiate styles inability to establish a perimeter and incentivize wrestlers to perform offensive maneuvers. I am a fan of scrambling and I love the creativity of the triple overtime snore-ride (no, not really), but adding an edge that is on fire will prompt action, and for a sport that wants to bully its way onto television and make a larger social impact, more scoring and shorter matches will be a necessity.
And now, almost everyone agrees.
*I was in Tokyo last month and watched a lot of sumo. The sport of sumo is simple, incredible, athletic, attractive and a multi-billion dollar sport in Japan. So maybe being more like sumo is a good thing. Also, those wrestlers are some of the best technical wrestlers I've ever seen. No, I'm not kidding.)
To your questions ...
Q: I have been super impressed with Yoel Romero in his UFC fights. He's a freak! I think with a little more seasoning he can beat Chris Weidman and become the UFC middleweight champion. Am I crazy?
-- Mike C.
Yoel Romero is undefeated (5-0) in the UFCYoel Romero, while unique in his talents as a freestyle wrestler, has reached the top of his potential in MMA. His win over teary-eyed whiner Tim Kennedy showed that while Romero can strike and wrestle, he has a tough time with cardio. Against a guy like Weidman who is an technical striker and NCAA All-American but also has a gas tank, Romero would be picked apart.
Weidman also has the advantage of strategy, being coached by John Danaher, who engineered both of the Hofstra's wrestler's victories over Anderson Silva.
Romero is excellent -- he's a beast, really -- but he's no match for the more technical, and more "heroic" Weidman.
Q: Is Nico Megaludis redshirting this season?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Yes! Jordan Conaway is entering Penn State's lineup. I'd expect a low All-American finish from him. He'll be well-coached and tuned up on a consistent basis
Q: I'm sure you caught Flo's WNO last weekend. Obviously, there was some great wrestling. Mark Hall is a force to be reckoned with. I don't think anyone saw that coming besides Mark. It seemed to me that Flo has really stepped up their game as far as production goes. Also, do you think that the choice to use the fight shorts and compression gear (or not shirt at all) will start some more conversation about changing the uniforms at any level, which level would be first to make the change?
-- Sean M.
Foley: Agreed that Flo's production value was top-notch. Interesting to note as well that most, if not all, of the online attention has gone to the high school matches. Without something greater on the line (Olympic development) wrestling fans didn't seem too interested in the Premier League match. The rules might also have been a factor.
The uniform change is coming. First to the recreational wrestling leagues (if such things even exists anymore) and then to middle school and high school wrestling teams. There is a ton of potential in changing the uniforms and even after one event public opinion seems to be shifting.
Shirts off? Eh. Not a big fan. Too much sweat, too much blubber, and for the little kids it's WAY too much skin.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Exemplary sumo match
Interview with retired sumo wrestler Asashoryu, who is the current president of the Mongolian Wrestling Federation.
#WillPower
Link: The race to nowhere in youth sports
Link: Kyle Dake via USA Wrestling discussing another reason Americans struggle on the international stage ...
"It's tough trying to split time between coaching and wrestling," he said. "I want to do everything great, but you can't split time and be great at both. I have to focus completely on wrestling right now if I'm going to reach my goals. Rob Koll and the other coaches understand that and they agreed it was the best thing for the program. I am still in the room and still around the team. I am still helping out where I can."
Q: Grayshirt. Good or bad?
-- @ShogunOfSonoma?
Foley: I know of two grayshirts: Post high school fifth years and Ivy league redshirts.
For high school fifth years it depends on the talent level and preparedness for college. For an Ivy league wrestler the grayshirt is more often a positive, if also tricky, solution to help them adjust to collegiate life and Division I wrestling.
From my experience, Ivy wrestlers are faced with more academic challenges than many of their competitors. Also with tough academic loads and a collegiate life that can more often resemble Hogwarts than Spring Break, a semester away can allow them time to focus on school or an internship. I've seen that time create a positive difference in on-the-mat and off-the-mat success.
But as always it's an individual-by-individual based decision.
Q: Which semester would you prefer to see NCAA wrestling season? Fall: NO WAY ... Spring: Possible. I'm a huge fan of both football and wrestling. I love my tailgating Saturdays in Happy Valley. I don't think I could "afford" to do back-to-back days. (Hotels are two-night minimum at outrageous prices.)
I like the idea of moving it to spring -- first and foremost -- get away from the hoops season! Second, I tend to lose focus of high school wrestling in PA as there is too much going on at any one moment. Plus traveling to the Big Tens/NCAAs would be much simpler without the worry of inclement weather!
-- Adrian S.
Foley: Spring is the only option. Though wrestlers would still be practicing over Christmas, the change of the season to a mid-January or early February start would allow for a better student-athlete experience and provide more opportunity to the NCAA in selling major events.
Right now the season drags on and much of the wrestling matters little to the final outcome. When something doesn't impact the final result it fails to be appealing, and the majority of the NCAA season is meaningless to the number of All-Americans and national champions produced by a school.
Time to shorten the season, provide fans better opportunities to engage with the product and make each event matter towards something at the end of the season.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
By John G.
I watched the White-McFadden match that was streamed on Flowrestling, and I was interested in hearing your views on the match. I'm not referring to McFadden's rather obvious stalling. I'm talking about the whole approach taken by Flo in the event. Wrestling shirtless. Calling the mats the snake pit. Letting the boys wrestle until someone won in overtime.
I kept thinking about how I would feel if that had been my son wrestling out there. And, I don't think I would have approved of it. I understand that we need to promote wrestling and present it in new ways that invoke MMA. I'm OK with no singlets. But these are high school students. Or I think they are. And the comments posted on Flo about McFadden were rough. I mean, I'm trying not to be too sensitive here. I know we need to put on our big boy pants, but these are kids.
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