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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Rex Holman added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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If you looked at the match ups against Lehigh University and gave it consideration, then you knew that as a team the Buckeyes could potentially lay an egg. That is not to say it was all bad. We have some great performers on our squad and some that lack consistency. Even so, the guys with inconsistency have the potential to be excellent performers. For the record, Lehigh is a better team than Purdue and they are very skilled at some important areas of wrestling.
Natural selection is the mechanism of evolution. An important tenet of the theory is that the individual must adapt to environmental pressures in order to survive and thrive. This selective pressure is discriminatory and only individuals who can manage the pressure and adapt accordingly will thrive, while others will fade. It is very select, hence the name.
Wrestling is life. Wrestling has natural selection.
The selective pressures of college wrestling are numerous and only those that are able to adapt successfully will thrive.
If you consider the recruiting process, coaches go after the blue chip. A blue chip has a competitive advantage relative to their peers. A competitive advantage is integral to natural selection and success. This does not ensure success at the next level because the environment changes and only those suited to the selective pressures will succeed. If you compare Nathan Tomasello, Bo Jordan, and Kyle Snyder to a general population of their peers, they would stick out like a sore thumb. Their physical development alone would set them apart. Their physiology and mindset have been cultivated from an early age. They are outliers on a bell curve. They are resilient. Those guys could go to any top ten school and become a multiple time NCAA Champion as long as selective pressures continued to choose for them.
Lots of interesting things happened yesterday. Sean Boyle beat Gilman. Brian Realbuto. Lehigh dominated the leg pass.
Boyle wrestled for UM and transferred to UTC. He is on my radar because one of my former WCAP teammates is an assistant coach there. It is a different environment with different selective pressures (e.g. structure, workout partners, coaches, etc.) I’m rooting for him to place (unless against Tomasello) because I shared his need to transplant to an environment which selected for me.
Realbuto reminds me of Keaton Anderson, worthy of a championship, but wrestles from positions which predispose his knees to injury. In his match against Iowa, Kelly honed in on his knee(Achilles heel) and illegally torqued the knee. It was illegal, but Realbuto is partly to blame because he let that situation evolve.
I did not see the Lehigh dual as I was at work and busy, but I will take Hank’s word for the leg pass. This is an example of coaches positively influencing selective pressure. What you teach a wrestler to do in matches that will be decided by a point is the difference between winning and losing. Coaches that prepare their wrestlers for positions that come to pass are doing right by their athlete. New England Patriots owner Kraft relayed the story of Bill Belichik preparing Malcom Butler for that very play in which he intercepted the game winning pass. He did’nt get it right at first and would likely have botched it, but coach specifically prepared for it.
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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Tommy Ellis added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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I don't know what your position is with the team,(im assuming its good) and go and talk with them.Maybe I am being delusional by thinking that can happen, but every time you post something on here it makes sense to me.
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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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Natural Selection is the main tenet of the theory of evolution as proposed by Charles Darwin. Some people find it controversial because it contradicts their religious interpretation of events. Legislatures in several states have tried to either have it outlawed in their schools or had higher power based theories taught along side it as a rebuke.
That's what I feel is an intrusion of religion in public life.
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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Patrick Campbell added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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Most religions don't disagree with natural selection. You can observe that in a test tube. They do often argue against the notion that man is an highly evolved primate. They do not believe man evolved from lower primates. Most people that argue against Darwinism have not read his work, nor posses the educational background to even understand his observations. It's sad that folks allow their religion to impose on the observations we call science. Religion and science are not mutually exclusive, we're just so busy "right fighting" to see how well they coincide. They tend to support each other quite well, but we silly apes like to polarize everything. Frankly, I'm quite fine with finding out that God brought man about via macro evolution. If we finally "prove" that to be true, it does not disprove or shake my faith.
I say that specifically to you my friend, Hank. BECAUSE, I think you might be shocked just how similar a page you and I are on. ;-)
As for Rex, he is one of the few truly brilliant minds I know. He probably wouldn't agree it's true, but he is not only highly intelligent, he is innovative. Those are the things geniuses are made of. I do not posses such things. But I sure appreciate when Rex writes/speaks.
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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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Pat: agree that religion and science are not mutually exclusive. While I have lots of doubts regarding religion, I have an unwavering belief that there is more to everything than we can possibly see and understand. In other words, I accept the notion of a higher power. I just don't know how one defines it.
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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Patrick Campbell added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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That I completely understand! Religion is completely man made. That should not be news to anyone. Because the human element dictates what happens in religion, it is hard to sort out the Higher Power from the human stupidity. I would only encourage one thing....keep seeking the truth and don't be afraid of where it leads you :-)
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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Justin Hayes added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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Quote from Hank Kornblut's post:
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"Pat: agree that religion and science are not mutually exclusive. While I have lots of doubts regarding religion, I have an unwavering belief that there is more to everything than we can possibly see and understand. In other words, I accept the notion of a higher power. I just don't know how one defines it."
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Perhaps you'd be willing to explore the possibility that if that Jewish carpenter who claimed to be God in the flesh of man literally -bodily- raised from the dead 2,000 or so years ago (without a gimmick, trick, or medical anomaly), then whatever he has to say about higher power would be useful in defining it?
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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Bruce Andrews added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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Can't we just move on from this and talk about politics?
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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Patrick Campbell added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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Quote from Bruce Andrews's post:
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"Can't we just move on from this and talk about politics?"
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Now you're just looking for a fight :-D
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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Justin Hayes added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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Quote from Bruce Andrews's post:
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"Can't we just move on from this and talk about politics?"
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One name, two words: Jim Jordan. : )
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Discussion Topic: Natural Selection and Wrestling
Rex Holman added to this discussion on February 22, 2015
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Not brilliant. Just think about wrestling a lot. I would say that I have thought about the sport as much as anybody. I stay away from religion and politics. No thanks.
I am taking Intro to Microbiology and am listening to A Great Courses audio CD. Both have something to do with Natural Selection. I just projected it onto wrestling and am taking some liberties with it. Was thinking about what JDJ Sr said about Johnny getting further into the season. I had a similar problem my first couple of years in College. I was excellent at the beginning of the year and weak by the end.
Some people are more resilient than others. This is a competitive advantage in college wrestling. Others have to eat and sleep like it’s a job in order to give the body a chance for recovery. Every chance you get, you are resting or eating the right calories. That is how you balance out the overtraining.
Some guys struggle with an offensive attack. Nick Heflin hit it on the head in an interview. When he was competing at 174, he knew he had a limited amount of energy. So, he did not take many shots and relied on counter wrestling (it does not take as much energy). JDJ, Kenny, Mark, and Josh wrestle a lot of close matches with their opponents. Those are the matches that really need detail work to finish and win. They are not the same as Logie, Nato, Bo and Kyle (Logan is a Jedi knight). They have to spend a lot of energy to get a takedown and are operating on a limited tank, just like Heflin at 174.
So how do you do you get selection to choose you? Identify the variables that win. Spend your time on those variables. If you are following conventional training, good luck with that.
You have to be excellent at a couple of things that give you an advantage. Those advantages allow you to “gut” out wins against opponents. e.g. Lehigh and the leg pass. Houdashelt riding Sorenson. Waters riding Gilman.
If by the end of the season you are weak, those advantages disappear.
All things being equal, what separates you from the next guy? a la Survival of the fittest.
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