Simply put the answer is absolutely, unequivocally, one-hundred percent NO.
The simple math remains that none of the other 30 medalists at this year's World Championships in freestyle competed in a folkstyle season in preparation for the World Championships. Therefore the odds are 16-1 in the favor of those who do not train in the American collegiate style.
Yet those who train in American folkstyle wrestling year-round were two-thirds of the American medal haul. Why?
The training requirements and competition schedule of the NCAA athlete is the most brutal of any combat sport on the planet. Snyder and Green each competed in more than 16 events in five months each competing in 40-plus matches. That's high intensity training that required a mental focus strong enough to be carried over into the World Championships.
The success of Green and Snyder has less to do with the STYLE of collegiate wrestling and everything to do with the scheduling procedures of NCAA and high school sports, which is focused on abundance and intensity. If the season were to suddenly become freestyle instead of folkstyle there is no question -- ABSOLUTELY NONE -- that more American wrestlers would be prepared for their postseason careers as freestyle wrestlers. A kid doesn't play oboe for 20 years so he can one day become a first saxophone for the philharmonic.
I'm a traditional wrestling enthusiast who also loves folkstyle for its connection to our nation's history (19th century Vermont farmers and barnstormers) and my own wrestling past. I don't know that, in good conscience, I could advocate for the removal of America's traditional style, but I do think that if the ultimate aim is Olympic and World medals then serious conversations need to be had.
As of now, collegiate wrestling is a sport that rewards control. That style has helped prepare our best wrestlers for careers in MMA and jiu-jitsu, but has fallen short in prepping them for international wrestling. The simple truth is that the techniques used on the feet (funk) and on the mats (crab ride, lack of locking hands) simply don't translate to freestyle success.
If those who control high school and college sports chose to migrate over to freestyle wrestling the United States would win exponentially more medals at international events like the World Championships and Olympic Games.
The collegiate season, not the collegiate style, is what prepared Green and Snyder for their medal-grabbing performances in Las Vegas.
Q: Do you think any other college studs will follow Dylan Ness into Greco?
-- @815Ryanallen
Foley: Probably, but I wouldn't expect a flood of talent. Remember that just because Greco-Roman LOOKS like a soft entry point for American wrestlers to enter the Olympic squad, does not mean it's true. The current Greco-Roman squad is tenured and talented. While Ness may see an opening at 66 kilos in light of the Saddoris injury, Bisek and Smith have already qualified 75 kilos and 130 kilos for the Olympics, respectively.
Currently that leaves 59 kilos, 85 kilos and 98 kilos as weight classes where current or recently graduated NCAA wrestlers could make their mark. That's limited, and unless there is a crop of talent that we don't know about training away in log cabins all summer I find it highly unlikely that any will join the ranks in 2016.
There is a chance however that some of the younger guys decide to make an attempt at making the 2020 team. They would enjoy a more reasonable amount of time preparing, practicing and competing.
Q: Who deserves OW for the World Championships?
-- @LilJamesDean
Russian Greco-Roman wrestler Roman Vlasov dominated his competition in arguably the deepest weight class of the Worlds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The typical parity among champions noted, there is one wrestler who stood out in 2015, 75-kilo Greco-Roman World champion Roman Vlasov (Russia). The uber-talented 2012 Olympic champion went 6-0, outscoring opponents 40-0 and beat defending World champion Arsen Julfalakyan (Armenia) in the opening round and 2014 80-kilo World champion Peter Bacsi (Hungary) two matches later.
Vlasov's wins also came as a result of aggressive wrestling. The Russian lifted each of his opponents, never sitting back to look for cautions or penalties. For style points, Vlasov registered a 10 with referees, fans and fellow wrestlers.
Per style: Men's freestyle is Frank Chamizo. Women's is Kaori Icho and Greco-Roman is Roman Vlasov.
Q: Do you expect the U.S. to qualify all 18 weight classes for the Olympic Games? Seems there is a lot of work to do.
-- Mike C.
Foley: No. I think we will get five from men's freestyle, four from Greco-Roman and four from women's wrestling. Currently there are two from men's freestyle, two from Greco-Roman and one in women's wrestling.
The continental qualification will be brutal for the men's and women's freestyle, with Cuba coming up short at weight classes the USA hoped they would qualify. A similar story goes with the women who have to beat out a strengthening South and Central America. Our Greco-Roman team just isn't at the level to qualify each weight class as of yet.
As a note, attempting to qualify at the last-chance events is exceedingly difficult. All of Europe will be in Istanbul and Ulaanbaatar, as will all of Asia.
Don't worry, no country qualified all 18 weights for London and no country is likely to qualify all weights for Rio.
Q: Who wins: Kyle Snyder or Abdulrashid Sadulaev?
-- @LilJamesDean
Foley: This would be a fun matchup. Considering their success it's tough to know instinctively who would win. However, I've seen almost every match Sadulaev has wrestled the past three years and not once has he been out-muscled. For Snyder to win their matchup he'd have to bully a wrestler known as the "Russian Tank" and even with a size advantage that seems unlikely. Meanwhile Sadulaev is quicker than Snyder and more mobile, both of which factor into a close match where a step-out point could be the deciding factor.
Prediction: Sadulaev dec. Snyder, 5-2
Q: Any thoughts to a UEFA-like coefficient to allocate Olympic spots in 2020?
-- @wrestlingnomad
Foley: No.
If there were any change it would be based on a points system that also demanded minimum continental representation. Wrestling only has 18 spots per weight class, which would create a narrow window with which to create a competitive year-round atmosphere. Though not impossible, there would need to be serious thought put into how a season might look.
Q: Do you think Jordan Burroughs performance at this year's World Championships would have been enough to beat Denis Tsargush?
-- Scott M.
Foley: There is no way to tell for certain, but I think Burroughs looked healthy enough to take all comers, including Tsargush. Burroughs has a knack for winning, even if his competitors are increasingly putting points up early. I think that Aniuar Geduev created a unique style challenge for Burroughs with baiting an overhook throw. Burroughs avoided danger and stayed in position for 99 percent of the match.
Playing it straight, there is a really good chance that Geduev makes the Olympic team. Tsargush fluctuates in his performance and if he can't make it past the first round of Russian Nationals in 2015 it's tough to believe that a one year older Tsargush cruises in an Olympic year, especially with a lot of wrestlers coming up from 70 kilos.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Q: I'm sure you're hearing a good bit about James Green after taking bronze at Worlds. Has he made it known if he's planning on dropping to 65 kilos for the Olympic year? If he does go 65 kilos is he your odds-on-favorite to win the spot on the team? He looked great in Vegas, but I wasn't sure how highly ranked the guys were that he beat throughout the event.
-- Bear Hugs, Ryan W.
Foley: I also thought that young James Green looked impressive at the World Championships. However, I'm skeptical of how well he'll perform at 65 kilos, given that it's an 11-pound drop in weight that is sure to affect his performance.
Unlike Helen Maroulis who will drop a little more than four pounds to take on Alli Ragan and then hopefully Saori Yoshida (Japan) in the Olympic year, Green's drop is much more drastic. He'll need to make the cut a few times before the Open and see how he competes. Obviously 65 kilos is his only option, but I don't think the bronze at a pretty weak 70 kilos is transferrable to a stacked 65-kilo weight class.
Q: P4P best wrestler in the world? Burroughs or Sadulaev or Akgul?
-- @dannyrube
Foley: If I'm not mistaken, Sadulaev hasn't given up a takedown since (re)joining the senior circuit in 2014. That puts him on a 50-plus match win streak giving up no takedowns and only a handful of tactical stepouts. How could the best P4P be anyone but Sadulaev?
Akgul, much like Cain Velasquez seemed to do in MMA, has elevated what it means to be a heavyweight wrestler. The Turk is a scoring machine and is never outmuscled or outhustled. He's also incredibly kind and outgoing. On the personality scale Akgul rates a ten, and though it's tough to rate him best pound-for-pound I do think he'd win a round robin with Sadulaev and Burroughs.
Burroughs is probably in third place, if only because he's lost a couple of times in the past two years where the others haven't.
Q: Did Kyle Snyder have to turn down money for winning a World gold?
-- Mike C.
Foley: No. From what I understand his money is in escrow.
Q: I am thinking about planning a trip next year with my dad and brothers (all wrestling fans). Considering it is an Olympic year, what are going to be the three best wrestling events held in the U.S. in 2016?
-- Dave R.
Foley: For an American wrestling fan the two can't-miss tourneys are the Pan-American qualification event in March outside Dallas and the Olympic Team Trials April 9 in Iowa City. As for a third event, I'd recommend taking a trip to Sweden to check out the Klippan Lady Open, which is the very best women's tournament of the year and should be a can't-miss event in an Olympic year since nation's that have qualified their weight cannot compete at their continental qualifiers.
Also, Scandinavia is awesome.
All-In, Drop the Mic, Hot Take of the Week
By Jacob R.
Is it me or are a lot of folks in this so called "wrestling community" lazy when it comes to talking and writing about wrestling. By lazy I mean a lot of people -- and yes this includes myself -- tend to call men's freestyle wrestling simply freestyle. Whereas, we never just say freestyle when women are wrestling. We call it women's freestyle. This is a phenomenon known in gender studies as hegemonic masculinity, which essentially showcases a dominant social position for men and a subordinate position for women.
Yes, folks can say this is just being nit-picky about semantics and "I am not being a sexist pig by giving a shortened naming convention for men's freestyle. It's always been called freestyle." I will throw out a big challenging HOWEVER, to those assertions and say that wrestling and folks in this so called "wrestling community" need to be willing to change their lazy speech and writing habits. Why one might ask? Well for starters wrestling had a big kick in the arse when it was dropped by the IOC a few years back. Luckily it was added back in the Olympics. One thing that I, and I would like to think others believe will cement this totally awesome sport in the Olympics is a focus on gender equity. We added women's freestyle wrestling to the Olympics in 2004, which was important. However, women's freestyle only contested four weight classes, whereas, men's freestyle and Greco contested seven weight classes each. That disparity in contested weight classes in the Olympics has been slightly addressed with the passing of the 6-6-6 weight class scheme that is set up for the 2016 Olympic Games. While the die-hard, death metal fan in me says 6-6-6 is effin metal, I believe we need to go beyond that. Where do we need to go, well adding women's Greco-Roman wrestling and devising an equitable weight scheme between the four different styles makes sense to me. Beyond that another issue that needs to be addressed is the hegemonic masculinity that is so deeply ingrained within this so called "wrestling community." That's a tough one, because it is so deeply ingrained within the society that we live in. But I say what the hell, let's stop referring to men's freestyle as just freestyle. And as a precursor for the upcoming inclusion of women's Greco-Roman wrestling we start saying men's Greco-Roman wrestling. Who knows, maybe media, fans, coaches, and other folks in this so called "wrestling community" doing something as simple as attempting (hopefully succeeding) to speak and write about wrestling in a manner that isn't so overtly biased for men might just make wrestling more appealing to younger athletes, fans, and future leaders of the IOC that want to see if there really is gender equity within international wrestling?
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now