The Croatia (Zagreb) Open Ranking Series Tournament

[nhs67]

Zapf is also going for Bronze at 70 KG later today.

[nhs67]

As is Joey Silva at 61 KG.

[nhs67]

McKenna up 3-3 on criteria now.  1M10S to go.

[nhs67]

50S to go, McKenna gets warned for something.  Not sure what?

40S to go and McKenna in deep on a single.

Switches off to a double to come out the back... doesn't get it... ref lets the time go out... both wrestlers were trying to get in to better position the whole time... not sure about not calling it up sooner.

[nhs67]

McKenna in to the Bronze match against Rivera.

[nhs67]

Could Deepak Punia make 74 KG?

I feel like he could.

In any case, I am off gents.  See ya'll in about five and a half hours.

[Wrestleknownothing]

5 minutes ago, nhs67 said:

Dean is so gassed right here... what the hell was that.  He tried to do a weak chest wrap and pulled him on to him for four points... now down 8-3.  The Azerbaijan guy hasn't tried to wrestle in five minutes of match time and he gave him the match there.

Dean definitely got outsmarted in this match. The Azerbaijan wrestled like a veteran, Dean wrestled like a rookie.

[nhs67]

Real quick recap:

57 KG
Cruz loses in first round of Repechage to Bulgaria via 4-2 Decision.
Richards loses to Turkey in first round or Repechage via 17-8 Decision (match of the day...?)

61 KG
Joey Silva in the Bronze match.

65 KG
McKenna VS Rivera for Bronze.

70 KG
Zapf VS Switzerland for Bronze.

74 KG
Nolf VS Abouzaripash for Gold
- Nolf hasn't faced this Iranian yet... I believe this guy was 4th on their ladder last year, but he beat Emami 10-3, so...

86 KG
Marsteller VS Azerbaijan for Bronze

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

Don't forget Bekhbayar Erdenebat of IRTC/Mongolia wrestling for the Championship at 61 kg, and also every person from a Stan with zany facial hair. 

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

1 hour ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

Doug Zapf is the most American-looking person in the world. 

He's Tom Cruise without the crazy eyes. 

[KingOtoguro]

I wonder how Nolf-Sidakov would go.  I wouldn't give Nolf much of a chance, but it could be an interesting match.

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

Aman Aman with a first period tech in the Finals. Zane made it to the second period, so there. Seriously, the world is going to have to scout his step over from the seatbelt position. You're not supposed to do that! But he scored with it all tournament. Also, his forward pressure. Might have to time that. 

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

Bekhbayar Erdenebat, there on behalf of the ILLINOIS Regional Training Center and Mongolia, wins the Gold handily. Hopefully, he and Zane can continue training together. 

[Wrestleknownothing]

missed McKenna v Rivera. Anyone see it?

[Dark Energy]

From usawrestling twitter

 

McKenna gets it done, 10-0! He scored quickly with a single leg finish going out-of-bounds. Followed right up with a double leg transition to leg lace (x3) to end it. 

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

Here's how we get back at the Pan Am Games for giving us an Australian wrestling commentator and the UWW for providing an Englishman: We send over somebody from Tennessee to announce the 2024 Cricket World Cup.  

Another thing, how do Penn State fans feel about Jason Nolf (not my favorite wrestler) being number two in the United States at 74 kg behind Kyle Dake, who also wrestles for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, but never wrestled for PSU? 

[Wrestleknownothing]

Nolf with a dominating 2nd period. Goes in trailing 0-1. Ends leading 10-1. Gold for @ILLINIWrestlingBlog's favorite wrestler.

Edited January 10 by Wrestleknownothing

[Wrestleknownothing]

Finesilver sporting a sweet Snidely Whiplash

[Wrestleknownothing]

Finesilver v Geo for bronze at 86

Finesilver gets a takedown with 3 secs to go in the first to lead 2-1 at the break.

GEO gets the push out in 2nd. Finesilver leads on criteria. 1:23 to go GEO gets the exposure off Finesilvers attack to lead 4-2. Finesilver still working the position to get behind, but GEO keeps the leg. Ref is letting them stay in position, GEO gets another exposure 6-2. Challenge thrown, but they keep going. They give the reversal to Finesilver 6-3 GEO.

They wait until there is only 6 secinds left to address the challenge? Almost 30 seconds went by from challenge to stoppage.

Challenge lost 7-3 GEO. And it ends that way.

 

 

 

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

Matthew Finesilver lost a hard-fought third-place match, but he can hold his head high knowing that he wears the perfect RAF mustache. You can see him waltzing into the Officer's Club after shooting down a Junkers 88 over the English Channel, can't you?  

[OMW]

24 minutes ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

Matthew Finesilver lost a hard-fought third-place match, but he can hold his head high knowing that he wears the perfect RAF mustache. You can see him waltzing into the Officer's Club after shooting down a Junkers 88 over the English Channel, can't you?  

"Bravo, Old boy. Jolly good show putting that bloke in the drink!"

[Quaker118]

Doug Zapf wins bronze 12-2. 2 for 2 for the PRTC getting bronze with McKenna. 

[Wrestleknownothing]

1 minute ago, Quaker118 said:

Doug Zapf wins bronze 12-2. 2 for 2 for the PRTC getting bronze with McKenna. 

They have the competition quaking in their boots.

[mspart]

Yeah, I don't think Zane keeps his position on the team.  Tough tourney for a lot of guys. 

mspart

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

12 minutes ago, mspart said:

Yeah, I don't think Zane keeps his position on the team.  Tough tourney for a lot of guys. 

mspart

We'll see. Aman Aman is the real deal, though, and I don't see any other American beating him right now. Maybe, David Taylor. Zane is best when he goes back to ground and works out a plan with his team. Plus, he's now got a Croatia/Zagreb Open ranking series tournament Gold Medalist to work with in the room. He's really smart, and he'll come up with the best way to reach his goals.