NCAA Finals Recap
by Ken Chertow
125 – Purdue’s Chris Fleeger
got the first takedown with a nice counter attack and re-shot, but Cornell’s
Travis Lee was able to execute two ankle
picks from a left handed “over-under” to win. Both wrestlers were
good in this lefty over under, so it was an interesting match-up in this
position. Early in the match Fleeger attempted an inside trip and Lee
re-attacked with his ankle pick to score. With less than a minute to go in the
bout the match was tied 4-4 and Fleeger had riding time. Fleeger took a full
injury time and shortly after action resumed Lee aggressively got into his left
underhook, hipped in, and again used his ankle pick to explosively score a
secure victory.
Travis Lee’s performance as a
true sophomore from Hawaii was very impressive. He is Hawaii’s first ever NCAA
All-American. You do not need to be from a traditional wrestling powerhouse
state to excel in our sport. I have been following Travis’s career since he won
Junior Nationals less than two years ago. At Junior Nationals one of the many
Travis defeated was long-time camper, Matt Easter, who is now heading to Cornell
to train with Travis.
133 – Oklahoma State’s, Johnny
Thompson, defeated Minnesota’s, Ryan Lewis, with a 2nd period
re-shot leg attack and a 3rd
period double leg when reached.
Lewis had a dominating tournament heading into the finals, but Thompson kept
good position and capitalized on Lewis aggression for two quick, well-timed leg
attacks.
141 – Oklahoma’s Teyon Ware
almost won in regulation with good spin
behind techniques, but Dylan Long did a nice job to facing off and
scrambling to prevent Ware from finishing. In sudden victory, Ware used a
Cement Job to a
throw by single to score the winning
takedown.
149 – Arizona State’s Eric
Larkin defeated Minnesota’s defending NCAA Champion Jared Lawrence for an
impressive third time this season. Larkin used a good combination of counter
attacks from scrambles and a strong ride. Larkin became a 4x NCAA All-American
placing at three different weight classes.
157 – Michigan’s Ryan Bertin
won with three solid takedowns. He used an
underhook counter-attack and spin
behind in the first period. Later in the match he used
two left-handed head inside single legs
to Tirappelle’s right leg. He finished his single legs crisply by changing to a
double leg the first time and by quickly bringing the leg to his feet and back
tripping the second time. Tirappelle hit a
cement mixer with less than a minute to go and almost put Bertin on
his back, but Bertin rolled through and got back to his base. It could have been
déjà vu from last year’s NCAA Final, when Rob Rohn used a cement mixer to pin
his opponent after falling behind.
165 - Illinois Matt Lackey
used a scramble spin out and
scoot around
counter in the first period, a
hip heist switch to avoid a near
takedown in the second period, and an explosive
foot sweep with 20 seconds left to
secure the victory. The foot sweep was very impressive.
165 – Oklahoma’s Rob Waller
used basic leg attacks to defeat Greco-Roman expert Carl Fronhoffer from
Pittsburgh.
184 – Oklahoma State’s Jake
Rosholt’s first period double leg
and over-under ankle pick (similar
to Travis Lee’s ankle pick) were the keys to his victory over Missouri’s Scott
Barker.
197 – Lehigh’s Jon Trenge
scored with a single leg with less
than 15 seconds left in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. However
Minnesota’s Damion Hahn used two impressive 3rd period takedowns to
secure victory. Hahn hit an inside trip
and was stopped cold by Trenge, but Hahn fluently changed to a
double leg
and explosively lifted Trenge and
authoritatively returned to the mat for a takedown. Then, losing by one point
with 11 seconds left, Hahn attacked and got into an over-under position where he
hit an explosive lateral drop on
the edge and kept his toes in bounds to secure victory with one second to go. It
was the most exciting move of a finals that included many good attacks.
Hahn has been at 184
throughout his career and decided to move up a weight class during the final
month of the season. This proved to be a very wise move for Hahn. He has
tremendous technical skills and athleticism, particularly for an upper-weight
class wrestler, but he often did not show his skills at 184. I suspect he was
cutting too much weight and pacing himself at 184. The value of cutting weight
is over-rated, though it is rare for an athlete to move up a weight class late
in the season. Another successful example I can think of was in 1984 when Penn
State 126-pounder Scott Lynch moved up to 134 and defeated Clar Anderson and
Greg Randal to become an NCAA Champion. Scott is now an orthopedic surgeon in
Hershey, PA. He stays active in our sport as a clinician and featured speaker at
my summer camps.
Another impressive example of
moving up in weight and finding success that stands out in my mind is Jeff
McGinness moving from 126 to 142 and winning an NCAA Championship, although Jeff
moved up in weigh over the course of a couple seasons, not during the course of
one season. Jeff is now an attorney in Chicago. Maybe our sport should follow
the lead of these smart, hard working guys like Lynch and McGinness who have
figured out that cutting weight is not the only way to find success.
HWT – Iowa’s Steve Mocco used
a go behinds and his frequently
used foot sweep to defeat Air
Force Academy’s Hoy.
It was great to see
John Smith, my Olympic Team Teammate
and training partner, lead his Oklahoma State Team to the NCAA Championship for
the first time since 1994. It was also good to see so much parity among the
teams with All-Americans and NCAA Champions coming for a wide variety of
schools.
Ken Chertow
Gold Medal Training Camp
www.kenchertow.com
www.wearandgear.com
"Be a scholar athlete, not a dumb
jock!"