“By The Numbers” takes a little different viewpoint this week for the Big Ten finals. Rather than categorizing the champions and runners-up, each match will get it separate breakdown.
125lbs: Nathan Tomasello, OSU dec. Nico Megaludis, PSU 3-1 sv
Tomasello scored the winning takedown in sudden victory after being deadlocked at one through regulation. Tomasello out attacked Megaludis 7-4 by my count. Megaludis is a difficult wrestler to count committed attacks for because he is so busy with motion and hand fighting that it is hard to distinguish the commitment level.
Each wrestler had an escape, but Tomasello looked to have an advantage had it gone to the tiebreaker periods. Megaludis picked up an early stall warning going out of bounds. With the drop down rules Nico would have a tough time being effective in the tiebreaker period on top with a stall warning.
The takedown wasn’t without controversy. Tomasello clearly had a handful of singlet as he secured the score in sudden victory. Had the call gone against Tomasello it would have been hard to argue, but it wouldn’t have felt right giving Megaludis the win on a penalty point.
Clark was able to ride Richards for the full thirty seconds in the tiebreaker period. Illinois coach Mark Perry contested it was locked hands as Clark brought Richards back to the mat. Perry lost the challenge because it doesn’t matter about the position of the top wrestler for interlocking hands. It is all about the defensive wrestlers position. Richards was on his feet and all the weight was support by the two feet. Clark’s knee dropping to the mat is inconsequential.
Richards won the battle of committed attacks 6-3, but he wasn’t able to convert any of them into a score. This is a potential semifinal bout next week at NCAA’s keep look for both guys to make adjustments if that bout occurs.
Ashnault won the match from the top position, but his choice of position played a huge role in the victory. Ashnault won the toss, and deferred as every good top wrestler should do. Yes, this includes high school kids that have ultimate tiebreaker choice at stake. Deferring choice allows you to choose position in the third after seeing more of the match unfold, and it puts pressure on your opponent to choose the defensive position in a scoreless match. Ashnault capitalized on his opportunity and score two sets of nearfall for six points.
In the third period Ashnault took neutral and closed the bout out with a the only takedown and tacked a riding point on the board to finish the match. This is a potential quarterfinal match at NCAA’s if Gulibon is able to upset an injured Matt Manley and struggling Chris Mecate. If the match happens, the chess match will be on if they are again scoreless into the second period. The coin flip could be very important.
This bout went as expected for many. Retherford converted a first period takedown, escaped when he chose bottom, and rode Sorenson for the entire third period. There were very few committed attacks in the time the wrestlers were on their feet. Retherford controls position so well, it is tough to get into position to attack him.
If anyone is to beat Retherford next week I believe they will have to ride him. Not many guys will get away from him, and he is very difficult to score a takedown against. Slowing the match down to a one score bout is the blueprint in my mind.
This was certainly one of the most entertaining matches, where the wrestlers only scored escapes. It was a tale of two matches when looking at committed attacks. Nolf was the aggressor in the early part of the match, and IMar had the attack advantage in the overtime periods.
The first tiebreaker period contains a few controversial calls. The first was the escape by IMar. The start was very quick for the current protocol of “set” followed by the pause of one second. In the video it appears that Cody Sanderson is saying the official never said “set” in the starting sequence. I also had the advantage of slow motion, but you can see IMar moves before the officials hand to signal the start.
When Nolf escapes in the first tiebreaker IMar appears to score a takedown. The referee scored it, but Penn State challenged the call. After review the takedown is overturned sending the action into another sudden victory period. The call was widely criticized, and I believed it was an egregious call watching live. After reviewing the recording it is clear that Nolf is controlling IMar’s left hand underneath on the scramble. IMar was only able to control Nolf’s right leg. One leg is not enough for control and the official got the call right.
Ultimately IMar won due to his riding time advantage from the quick escape in tiebreaker one. I applaud the seeding committee for using common sense to separate these two in the brackets, even if it didn’t seem to make sense according to the matrix criteria. Even should be excited if these two make the final in Madison Square Garden.
No surprise that one sequence decided the match between these two. Familiarity often leads to guys not being able to get to attacks because if the defensive anticipation.
Isaac winning the toss was a big factor in choice of position. He deferred his choice to the third period and was able to choose neutral after accumulating over one minute of riding time. If Bo wins the toss and defers, will the match unfold differently? We could see this rematch in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden and get our answer.
Bo Nickal was by far the most effective attacking finalist at the Big Ten Championships. He converted six takedowns from seven attacks. The frustrating part from the viewpoint of the Illinios bench was that Nickal scored three underhook far knee takedowns throughout the bout. He made it look effortless.
Not only did Nickal control the takedown battle, but he also scored nearfall from a lift to bottom leg turk. It was a great display of three position wrestling for the Nittany Lion freshman as he won his first Big Ten title.
Sammy Brooks stole the show with his viral post-match interview. It also appears he won the bout against Dudley by winning the takedown battle 2-1. I am going to point to another factor that won the match for Brooks, escapes.
Yes, escapes are very important at the end of periods. Brooks scored a late takdown in the first period and didn’t allow Dudley to respond with an escape to close out the period. Dudley scored his lone takedown with short time in the second period, but Brooks found his way to an escape with just a few seconds remaining in the period. These two exchanges both went in Brooks’ favor and allowed him to win by the two-point margin. Coaches always preach about scoring at the end of the period, and it is one cliche that I can buy into.
Burak out attacked McIntosh 6-5, but the stat is misleading. Burak took five out of his six attacks while trailing in the third period. McIntosh did take one stall warning, but thankfully a second warning wasn’t issued. It was the classic attack once desperate match wrestled by Burak.
McIntosh was in deep on several high crotches that Burak was able to fend off by turning the corner. Adjustments are key when wrestling an opponent numerous times. If Burak is able to get by Hartmann to make the semifinal against McIntosh, that high crotch situation will be one to watch.
There were a lot of unknowns coming into the bout at 285lbs. Kyle Snyder answered the questions about him being able to handle the size of bigger heavyweights by taking Coon down three times. The other impressive action from Snyder was getting out of danger when missing his low ankle attack against the much larger Coon.
Snyder got away easily from the bottom position. This will be a key factor for him as he tries to unseat the two-time defending NCAA champion, Nick Gwiazdowski. Anyone else remember how the past two, two-time champions fared in their quest for a third title at 285lbs?
125lbs: Nathan Tomasello, OSU dec. Nico Megaludis, PSU 3-1 sv
Tomasello scored the winning takedown in sudden victory after being deadlocked at one through regulation. Tomasello out attacked Megaludis 7-4 by my count. Megaludis is a difficult wrestler to count committed attacks for because he is so busy with motion and hand fighting that it is hard to distinguish the commitment level. Each wrestler had an escape, but Tomasello looked to have an advantage had it gone to the tiebreaker periods. Megaludis picked up an early stall warning going out of bounds. With the drop down rules Nico would have a tough time being effective in the tiebreaker period on top with a stall warning.
The takedown wasn’t without controversy. Tomasello clearly had a handful of singlet as he secured the score in sudden victory. Had the call gone against Tomasello it would have been hard to argue, but it wouldn’t have felt right giving Megaludis the win on a penalty point.
133lbs: Cory Clark, IOWA dec. Zane Richards, ILL 2-1 tb
Clark was able to ride Richards for the full thirty seconds in the tiebreaker period. Illinois coach Mark Perry contested it was locked hands as Clark brought Richards back to the mat. Perry lost the challenge because it doesn’t matter about the position of the top wrestler for interlocking hands. It is all about the defensive wrestlers position. Richards was on his feet and all the weight was support by the two feet. Clark’s knee dropping to the mat is inconsequential.
Richards won the battle of committed attacks 6-3, but he wasn’t able to convert any of them into a score. This is a potential semifinal bout next week at NCAA’s keep look for both guys to make adjustments if that bout occurs.
141lbs: Anthony Ashnault, RUT mdec. Jimmy Gulibon, PSU 9-0
Ashnault won the match from the top position, but his choice of position played a huge role in the victory. Ashnault won the toss, and deferred as every good top wrestler should do. Yes, this includes high school kids that have ultimate tiebreaker choice at stake. Deferring choice allows you to choose position in the third after seeing more of the match unfold, and it puts pressure on your opponent to choose the defensive position in a scoreless match. Ashnault capitalized on his opportunity and score two sets of nearfall for six points.
In the third period Ashnault took neutral and closed the bout out with a the only takedown and tacked a riding point on the board to finish the match. This is a potential quarterfinal match at NCAA’s if Gulibon is able to upset an injured Matt Manley and struggling Chris Mecate. If the match happens, the chess match will be on if they are again scoreless into the second period. The coin flip could be very important.
149lbs: Zain Retherford, PSU dec. Brandon Sorenson, IOWA 4-0
This bout went as expected for many. Retherford converted a first period takedown, escaped when he chose bottom, and rode Sorenson for the entire third period. There were very few committed attacks in the time the wrestlers were on their feet. Retherford controls position so well, it is tough to get into position to attack him.
If anyone is to beat Retherford next week I believe they will have to ride him. Not many guys will get away from him, and he is very difficult to score a takedown against. Slowing the match down to a one score bout is the blueprint in my mind.
157lbs: Isaiah Martinez, ILL dec. Jason Nolf, PSU 4-3 tb2
This was certainly one of the most entertaining matches, where the wrestlers only scored escapes. It was a tale of two matches when looking at committed attacks. Nolf was the aggressor in the early part of the match, and IMar had the attack advantage in the overtime periods.
The first tiebreaker period contains a few controversial calls. The first was the escape by IMar. The start was very quick for the current protocol of “set” followed by the pause of one second. In the video it appears that Cody Sanderson is saying the official never said “set” in the starting sequence. I also had the advantage of slow motion, but you can see IMar moves before the officials hand to signal the start.
Ultimately IMar won due to his riding time advantage from the quick escape in tiebreaker one. I applaud the seeding committee for using common sense to separate these two in the brackets, even if it didn’t seem to make sense according to the matrix criteria. Even should be excited if these two make the final in Madison Square Garden.
165lbs: Isaac Jordan, WIS dec. Bo Jordan, OSU 3-1
No surprise that one sequence decided the match between these two. Familiarity often leads to guys not being able to get to attacks because if the defensive anticipation.
Isaac winning the toss was a big factor in choice of position. He deferred his choice to the third period and was able to choose neutral after accumulating over one minute of riding time. If Bo wins the toss and defers, will the match unfold differently? We could see this rematch in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden and get our answer.
174lbs: Bo Nickal mdec. Zach Brunson 18-9
Bo Nickal was by far the most effective attacking finalist at the Big Ten Championships. He converted six takedowns from seven attacks. The frustrating part from the viewpoint of the Illinios bench was that Nickal scored three underhook far knee takedowns throughout the bout. He made it look effortless.
Not only did Nickal control the takedown battle, but he also scored nearfall from a lift to bottom leg turk. It was a great display of three position wrestling for the Nittany Lion freshman as he won his first Big Ten title.
184lbs: Sammy Brooks, IOWA dec. TJ Dudley, NEB 6-4
Sammy Brooks stole the show with his viral post-match interview. It also appears he won the bout against Dudley by winning the takedown battle 2-1. I am going to point to another factor that won the match for Brooks, escapes.
Yes, escapes are very important at the end of periods. Brooks scored a late takdown in the first period and didn’t allow Dudley to respond with an escape to close out the period. Dudley scored his lone takedown with short time in the second period, but Brooks found his way to an escape with just a few seconds remaining in the period. These two exchanges both went in Brooks’ favor and allowed him to win by the two-point margin. Coaches always preach about scoring at the end of the period, and it is one cliche that I can buy into.
197lbs: Morgan McIntosh, PSU dec. Nathan Burak, Iowa 3-2
Burak out attacked McIntosh 6-5, but the stat is misleading. Burak took five out of his six attacks while trailing in the third period. McIntosh did take one stall warning, but thankfully a second warning wasn’t issued. It was the classic attack once desperate match wrestled by Burak.
McIntosh was in deep on several high crotches that Burak was able to fend off by turning the corner. Adjustments are key when wrestling an opponent numerous times. If Burak is able to get by Hartmann to make the semifinal against McIntosh, that high crotch situation will be one to watch.
285lbs: Kyle Snyder, OSU dec. Adam Coon, UM 7-4
There were a lot of unknowns coming into the bout at 285lbs. Kyle Snyder answered the questions about him being able to handle the size of bigger heavyweights by taking Coon down three times. The other impressive action from Snyder was getting out of danger when missing his low ankle attack against the much larger Coon.
Snyder got away easily from the bottom position. This will be a key factor for him as he tries to unseat the two-time defending NCAA champion, Nick Gwiazdowski. Anyone else remember how the past two, two-time champions fared in their quest for a third title at 285lbs?