Sesker's Slant: Riding time, stalling, lack of offense hurting college wrestling
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by Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
Iowa's Mike Evans rides Minnesota's Logan Storley in the third-place match at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday. Darren Miller photo.
The Big Ten Wrestling Championships is always a good event.
And this year was no exception.
There were great crowds and a great team race with Iowa and Ohio State eventually tying for the team title this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio.
But what if they didn’t keep team score? How compelling would it have been?
Not very good, if you ask me. Not very good at all. If the team component didn’t exist, and these low-scoring, snooze-fest matches didn’t impact team races, who would really want to watch?
The quality of wrestling at the collegiate level is going downhill faster than one of those ridiculous 30-second tiebreaker periods.
Most of the college matches are ugly, boring and almost laughable at times. A lot of it isn’t even wrestling when you think about it.
And when that’s an issue with “wrestling people,” how do you grow the sport, market it to the mainstream public and get it on television more? The answer quite simply is you don’t.
So what’s wrong with college wrestling? Plenty. Riding time is one of the worst rules in any sport, but college wrestling purists don’t seem to want to get rid of it.
Saying wrestlers aren’t doing a whole lot while in the top position is a huge understatement. Too many matches are coming down to one guy trying to win with riding time. A point is awarded when a wrestler has a one minute or more riding-time edge. Guys are holding onto legs and ankles, and using spiral rides, while doing absolutely nothing that resembles working for a fall.
It’s ironic that you are awarded a point for riding time when riding essentially means the same exact thing as stalling. The top man is supposed to be working for a fall. If he isn’t, then he is supposed to be called for stalling.
The two 174-pound Big Ten semifinal matches produced a grand total of zero offensive points. Zero. And those matches featured the top four ranked guys in the country.
You can’t blame it all on the wrestlers. They are wrestling within the framework of some really bad rules and following game plans some of their coaches have for them.
Referees need to call stalling on the top man when he is riding parallel to his opponent and obviously not working for a fall. I really wish college wrestling would adopt the freestyle rule where if the top man is not progressing toward a fall that they return the wrestlers to their feet.
One idea I heard was that riding time should not be awarded unless that wrestler scores near-fall points in the match. Not a bad idea. It’s worth some consideration.
Iowa’s Mike Evans went 3-1 and finished third in the Big Ten at 174, but guess how many total points he scored in the entire tournament? Six. Yes, six points. Evans scored on four escapes and two riding-time points. He scored no takedowns and allowed no takedowns.
157-pound champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois scored 47 total points in his three bouts, including a 12-5 win over two-time NCAA runner-up Dylan Ness of Minnesota in the finals. He is a rare breed these days – an offensive, attacking wrestler who scores points.
College wrestling needs more guys like Martinez, Ohio State 141-pounder Logan Stieber and Oklahoma State 165-pounder Alex Dieringer. Those guys push the pace and score points.
It was frustrating to watch Northwestern’s Jason Tsirtsis beat Iowa’s Brandon Sorensen 2-1 on riding time in the 149 finals. Both wrestlers are highly skilled on their feet, but we saw very little action and very little risk-taking being done by either guy. This had the potential of being a highly entertaining battle, but that never even came close to materializing.
The overtime rules are still horrible. Deciding matches with these gimmicky 30-second tiebreakers is just plain dumb. This isn’t even wrestling. The bottom man used to get out most of the time when tiebreakers first started, but now the top man knows all the tricks. Dropping down to grab and hold onto ankles, or running a guy out of bounds before he can break free, are two prime examples.
College wrestling needs to add a pushout rule. Too many guys are still backing up to the edge of the mat and then bailing out of bounds when they get in trouble. Make the athletes stay in the center of the mat and score points.
Two clear examples of this came in Nathan Tomasello’s last two matches at 125 pounds.
Tomasello, an Ohio State freshman, was the clear aggressor in his semifinal win over two-time Big Ten and two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois. Tomasello’s persistence was rewarded when he eventually pulled out the win.
In the finals, Tomasello scored a takedown late in the first period against No. 1 seed Thomas Gilman of Iowa. He then basically shut it down from there, blocking and backing up to the edge for a majority of the final two periods. He was called twice for stalling before holding on for a 3-2 win. It was an ugly way to win, but he did what he needed to do to win.
Tomasello would circle back toward the center after he backed near the edge, so it didn’t look so obvious like when a guy backs straight off the mat. It is the same technique Delgado frequently uses, and it’s what Delgado did in the match with Tomasello.
I just reviewed the 125 finals video from the Big Ten Network broadcast and saw that Gilman took more than 20 shots compared to only a handful for Tomasello. I’m a big fan of both guys, but there is still too much backing up and blocking. Referees need to call stalling more to keep athletes from being so defensive.
Where is the incentive to be offensive if the officials won’t call stalling?
I am a long-time fan and supporter of college wrestling, but a lot of what these guys are doing anymore isn’t even wrestling.
Guys aren’t scoring points and they aren’t working for falls. They’re backing up, stalling and playing the edge of the mat. And trying to win matches by holding on and riding their opponent. It’s ugly, it really is. And it’s sad that this is the product we have to watch right now at the collegiate level.
I ran into two-time NCAA champions Brent Metcalf and Mark Ironside between sessions on Saturday at the Big Ten tournament.
The two Hodge Trophy winners from Iowa were two of the most aggressive and most dynamic wrestlers in Big Ten and NCAA history. Unfortunately, there aren’t many guys like that competing anymore. There could be, but there aren’t. I know Ironside is frustrated with a lot of these low-scoring bouts.
Remember when wrestlers used to take guys down, cut them and then take them down again? You don't see near as much of that anymore unfortunately.
Right now, 80-plus percent of college matches just aren’t very compelling. There were 19 matches won at the Big Ten tournament by wrestlers who scored two points or less. Martinez scored more points in three matches than all of those 19 bouts combined.
Get rid of riding time, call stalling, get rid of overtime tiebreakers, implement a pushout rule, and return wrestlers to their feet when they aren’t progressing toward a fall. And think about making the winning wrestler have to score at least five points.
I’m not saying it’s a perfect solution, but I guarantee you it will greatly improve the quality of college wrestling.
Something needs to be done.
Don’t wait to buy your tickets for Worlds, World Cup
Tickets remain on sale for two awesome events, the World Championships and the World Cup. Both will be held in the U.S. in the same year for the first time since 2003.
The World Cup will be held in Los Angeles on April 11-12 and the World Championships will be held in Las Vegas on Sept. 7-12.
The World Championships will be a sellout, so don’t wait to get your tickets. It’s an amazing event and an important event with it being the main qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games.
I’ve been to nine World Championships and believe me it’s an event you don’t want to miss.
You can order tickets by going to wrestlingworldcup.com and vegasworlds2015.com, or by checking TheMat.com for more information.
Feel free to provide any feedback to me at csesker@usawrestling.org or to my Twitter account @csesker
The Big Ten Wrestling Championships is always a good event.
And this year was no exception.
There were great crowds and a great team race with Iowa and Ohio State eventually tying for the team title this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio.
But what if they didn’t keep team score? How compelling would it have been?
Not very good, if you ask me. Not very good at all. If the team component didn’t exist, and these low-scoring, snooze-fest matches didn’t impact team races, who would really want to watch?
The quality of wrestling at the collegiate level is going downhill faster than one of those ridiculous 30-second tiebreaker periods.
Most of the college matches are ugly, boring and almost laughable at times. A lot of it isn’t even wrestling when you think about it.
And when that’s an issue with “wrestling people,” how do you grow the sport, market it to the mainstream public and get it on television more? The answer quite simply is you don’t.
So what’s wrong with college wrestling? Plenty. Riding time is one of the worst rules in any sport, but college wrestling purists don’t seem to want to get rid of it.
Saying wrestlers aren’t doing a whole lot while in the top position is a huge understatement. Too many matches are coming down to one guy trying to win with riding time. A point is awarded when a wrestler has a one minute or more riding-time edge. Guys are holding onto legs and ankles, and using spiral rides, while doing absolutely nothing that resembles working for a fall.
It’s ironic that you are awarded a point for riding time when riding essentially means the same exact thing as stalling. The top man is supposed to be working for a fall. If he isn’t, then he is supposed to be called for stalling.
The two 174-pound Big Ten semifinal matches produced a grand total of zero offensive points. Zero. And those matches featured the top four ranked guys in the country.
You can’t blame it all on the wrestlers. They are wrestling within the framework of some really bad rules and following game plans some of their coaches have for them.
Referees need to call stalling on the top man when he is riding parallel to his opponent and obviously not working for a fall. I really wish college wrestling would adopt the freestyle rule where if the top man is not progressing toward a fall that they return the wrestlers to their feet.
One idea I heard was that riding time should not be awarded unless that wrestler scores near-fall points in the match. Not a bad idea. It’s worth some consideration.
Iowa’s Mike Evans went 3-1 and finished third in the Big Ten at 174, but guess how many total points he scored in the entire tournament? Six. Yes, six points. Evans scored on four escapes and two riding-time points. He scored no takedowns and allowed no takedowns.
157-pound champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois scored 47 total points in his three bouts, including a 12-5 win over two-time NCAA runner-up Dylan Ness of Minnesota in the finals. He is a rare breed these days – an offensive, attacking wrestler who scores points.
College wrestling needs more guys like Martinez, Ohio State 141-pounder Logan Stieber and Oklahoma State 165-pounder Alex Dieringer. Those guys push the pace and score points.
It was frustrating to watch Northwestern’s Jason Tsirtsis beat Iowa’s Brandon Sorensen 2-1 on riding time in the 149 finals. Both wrestlers are highly skilled on their feet, but we saw very little action and very little risk-taking being done by either guy. This had the potential of being a highly entertaining battle, but that never even came close to materializing.
The overtime rules are still horrible. Deciding matches with these gimmicky 30-second tiebreakers is just plain dumb. This isn’t even wrestling. The bottom man used to get out most of the time when tiebreakers first started, but now the top man knows all the tricks. Dropping down to grab and hold onto ankles, or running a guy out of bounds before he can break free, are two prime examples.
College wrestling needs to add a pushout rule. Too many guys are still backing up to the edge of the mat and then bailing out of bounds when they get in trouble. Make the athletes stay in the center of the mat and score points.
Two clear examples of this came in Nathan Tomasello’s last two matches at 125 pounds.
Tomasello, an Ohio State freshman, was the clear aggressor in his semifinal win over two-time Big Ten and two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois. Tomasello’s persistence was rewarded when he eventually pulled out the win.
In the finals, Tomasello scored a takedown late in the first period against No. 1 seed Thomas Gilman of Iowa. He then basically shut it down from there, blocking and backing up to the edge for a majority of the final two periods. He was called twice for stalling before holding on for a 3-2 win. It was an ugly way to win, but he did what he needed to do to win.
Tomasello would circle back toward the center after he backed near the edge, so it didn’t look so obvious like when a guy backs straight off the mat. It is the same technique Delgado frequently uses, and it’s what Delgado did in the match with Tomasello.
I just reviewed the 125 finals video from the Big Ten Network broadcast and saw that Gilman took more than 20 shots compared to only a handful for Tomasello. I’m a big fan of both guys, but there is still too much backing up and blocking. Referees need to call stalling more to keep athletes from being so defensive.
Where is the incentive to be offensive if the officials won’t call stalling?
I am a long-time fan and supporter of college wrestling, but a lot of what these guys are doing anymore isn’t even wrestling.
Guys aren’t scoring points and they aren’t working for falls. They’re backing up, stalling and playing the edge of the mat. And trying to win matches by holding on and riding their opponent. It’s ugly, it really is. And it’s sad that this is the product we have to watch right now at the collegiate level.
I ran into two-time NCAA champions Brent Metcalf and Mark Ironside between sessions on Saturday at the Big Ten tournament.
The two Hodge Trophy winners from Iowa were two of the most aggressive and most dynamic wrestlers in Big Ten and NCAA history. Unfortunately, there aren’t many guys like that competing anymore. There could be, but there aren’t. I know Ironside is frustrated with a lot of these low-scoring bouts.
Remember when wrestlers used to take guys down, cut them and then take them down again? You don't see near as much of that anymore unfortunately.
Right now, 80-plus percent of college matches just aren’t very compelling. There were 19 matches won at the Big Ten tournament by wrestlers who scored two points or less. Martinez scored more points in three matches than all of those 19 bouts combined.
Get rid of riding time, call stalling, get rid of overtime tiebreakers, implement a pushout rule, and return wrestlers to their feet when they aren’t progressing toward a fall. And think about making the winning wrestler have to score at least five points.
I’m not saying it’s a perfect solution, but I guarantee you it will greatly improve the quality of college wrestling.
Something needs to be done.
Don’t wait to buy your tickets for Worlds, World Cup
Tickets remain on sale for two awesome events, the World Championships and the World Cup. Both will be held in the U.S. in the same year for the first time since 2003.
The World Cup will be held in Los Angeles on April 11-12 and the World Championships will be held in Las Vegas on Sept. 7-12.
The World Championships will be a sellout, so don’t wait to get your tickets. It’s an amazing event and an important event with it being the main qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games.
I’ve been to nine World Championships and believe me it’s an event you don’t want to miss.
You can order tickets by going to wrestlingworldcup.com and vegasworlds2015.com, or by checking TheMat.com for more information.
Feel free to provide any feedback to me at csesker@usawrestling.org or to my Twitter account @csesker
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