John Smith v. Jim Jordan, 1988 Olympic Trials : Speakers & Interviews

we coach the Foundation Wrestling system in our club. Nick Purler was clearly heavily influenced by Smith. About 5 of the major techniques of the Foundation system are on display here. Great wrestling.

holy cow that was a great match

Smith wrestled at 136.5 lbs... I think the new rules were put in place because the Americans were starting to dominate wrestling in the 1990's. Part of the reason is we out conditioned the rest of the world. The way the rules are now you just have to be in decent shape and you don't even get tired.

good match high intensity

I agree the new freestyle sucks you can wrestle for four minutes not actually score just on a push out and win the new clinch is ed make it the way it used to be

the place is packed

What weight did John Smith wrestle at?

John Smith's High-C is so raw. My coach beat him though!!

john smith has to be the best american wrestler ever hands down.

Hello Craig,
thanks for the quick answer... I don't know where I could find it... it's pretty sure that the ex-USSR countries have a video database where every match was registered, maybe using contacts in Eastern countries may help, since it may be broken down in many pieces throughout the country. But that's a hell of a mission! Didn't the FILA had the project of collecting these videos?
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Hello Nicolas. I do not have this match. I wish I did because I have always been curious as to how it all went down myself.

pshhh...i could beat him

Mister Vitagliano, do you know where I could find the match between John Smith and Alben Kumbarov at the 1986 goodwill games? Alben is my coach and he says that he took a 5-0 lead then that they got even at 5-5 and that John won by referees decision... I think that it would be interesting to see Smith in that situation, and especially how he got these points scored on him... Thank you (and by the way, thank you for these great vids :-))

Congressman Jim Jordan! Jim for president

This is awesome! Unfortunate that Jordan did not win, but John Smith was and is still the standard for USA wrestling! I hope we can have Olympics and World Championships like we used to. It is really important that we get back on top, I am excited for the challenge ahead!

jim is the man he was the last american to beat smith before he took a training trip

I agree with sly. Smith was the very Best!! and also very entertaining.

he was the very best. i could watch video on him any day of the week.

Good wrestlers. Conditioning actually used to be a factor in freestyle. Now days you can be out of the Olympics after 2, 2 minute periods of pushing and shoving. Nice to see a ref dress like a ref. I don't get the coat and tie they wear now. Today's freestyle wrestling is almost unwatchable. Bring back the old rules!

Is this the same tournament where Smith wrestled Randy Lewis? Oh, and and that reverse slam or whatever it's called at 1:43 was sweet.

Freestyle use to be fun to wrestle and watch. Back then they actually wrestled. Great vid. thanks.

so american freestylers actually scored points. wow that would be awesome if that could happen again.

John Smith is my favorite American wrestler!

Guru could you post any video from the National championships when jordan defeated smith?

I agree about the defense of Smith, an underrated aspect of his arsenal. I think you can recall any number of wrestlers whose physicality astounded us. I remember seeing Rich Binek bear hug a guy in a Big Eight match and sound like he cracked the guy's rib. I saw Danny Hodge, as a middle aged man, do a demonstration film where just grabbing a young stud's wrist caused it to swell immediately. Yeah Hodge may have been the most physically dominating man I ever saw. But I never saw anyone who took the basics of position, angle of attack, changing levels,economy of energy, and as you say defense, and put them together into the masterpieces of tactical attack and defense like Smith.

Amazing to see the level that John Smith elevated himself to through sheer hard work on an almost unimaginable level as he is now soundly defeating a guy who had defeated him some years earlier. No easy task in wrestling to not only come back and defeat an opponent whom you lost to in the NCAA Finals, but to defeat him soundly is unbelievable. I know so much has been talked about Smith's low single, shucks, ducks, etc. but to me what really made Smith devastating was his uncanny ability to thwart takedowns (defense). When facing him, you not only had to worry about those lightning bolt low ankle shots, ducks, shucks, etc. but you knew you were not going to get more than 1 takedown in match against him, if that! To me in my lifetime, that 6 year period (1988-1994) Smith was the BEST wrestler I have ever witnessed from a standpoint of sheer domination. Schultz, Monday, etc...would be right there but Smith, to me, was the best.

two tough hombres, these dudes were the best of the best. I think the guys today would have trouble with there offense drive, these guys want to score.

I agree with Craig's analysis on John Smith's wrestling technique. John Smith changes levels in beautifully timed rhythms, which when combined with his well honed natural speed leads to excellent penetration. I can not recall ever seeing a better technician than Smith, not in decades of watching wrestling and some wrestling myself.

HEY QUICK, YA GOT ANY BELOGLAZOV DVD COMPLIATIONS?

AND I LOVE THE SAITIEV STYLE SHUCK HE DOES AT THE 1:35 MARK ALSO. SMITH HAD MANY OFFENSIVE WEAPONS AT HIS DISPOSAL! AND I THOUGHT ALL HE HAD WAS A LOW SINGLE. LOL

DROP

This week I am choosing Match 1 at the 1988 Olympic Trials between 4x World and 2x Olympic Champion John Smith and 1985 NCAA Champion Jim Jordan at the 1988 Olympic Trials in Pensacola, FL.

Wisconsin's Jordan had beaten John Smith in the 1985 NCAA finals by a score of 7-4 I think (can't find anyone that has the entire match). Smith was a Sophomore at the time and would redshirt the next year to concentrate on International competition and gain more experience. The next Summer Smith won the Goodwill Games in Moscow, defeating Khasser Isaev of the Soviet Union for the Gold medal. Isaev would go on to win the World Championships later that October. I believe Smith did make the World Team that year but opted not to go as it conflicted with the College season (similar situation to Sanderson and Eggum in 2001). Joe MacFarland went as the US rep and lost a close match to Isaev in the Gold Medal match. Entirely possible Smith would have won the Worlds in 1986 if he had competed though that is pure speculation.

Anyway - This is a great match where Smith dominated. Just a masterful technician with amazing speed and the ability to change levels quickly.

For those watching from Ascend WC, Smith hits the technique we went over Tuesday night at ~ the 1:40 mark.

Enjoy.