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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Ben Golden added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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I don't think Dake is discarded. 74 kg was somewhat deep, with Nolf and Burroughs. Burroughs has been declining for years--especially the last two years. He has not won 74 kg since they changed to same day weigh ins back in.... 2017? That's a long time ago. I don't think anyone really thought he would win the OTT.
Dake is impressive no doubt, especially as he continues to combat Father time. He does have the Olympic loss, though, and the loss to Sidakov last year. We will see how he does against Sidakov this year. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he won.
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Brian Mathews added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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Definitely don't want to overlook Dake. But for whatever reason, despite being the guy to dethrone Burroughs, despite winning four titles, it doesn't feel that he's ever come close to being "the guy" for USA as a whole.
I suppose it's down to the Olympic loss and never having beaten Sidakov. If they face off this Summer with Dake the victor, that will definitely change things.
Side note: Dake has 19 losses in his freestyle career--7 of those are to Burroughs. Snyder has 18 losses, but has only lost once to an American.
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Last edited by Brian Mathews on April 24, 2024; edited 1 time in total
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Brady Hiatt added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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Quote from Ethan Moore's post:
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"Watching Taylor beat Yazdani ranks pretty high on my wrestling spectator list. Very cool."
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I was in a plane flying towards Minnesota. When D.T. hit that double I yelled "let's GO" and started Chanting USA! USA! USA! Some people weren't thrilled with me (including my daughter next to me who was SUPER EMBARASSED -- which made it even better) but I'm not sure why at 6:45AM ish they'd have been upset??
Some People.
Now the lady behind me asked if I knew him and I said yes and that when he was in 6th grade he was in my wrestling club a few times -- and she gave me a USA! USA!
LOL -- it was AWESOME!!
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Brady Hiatt added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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Quote from Brian Mathews's post:
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"Side note: Dake has 19 losses in his freestyle career--7 of those are to Burroughs. Snyder has 18 losses, but has only lost once to an American."
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Great Trivia question -- Who was the only American to ever beat Kyle Snyder in freestyle?
Snyder would lose far less if he didn't literally compete everywhere.
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Jim Kessen added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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Quote from Brady Hiatt's post:
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"
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Quote from Brian Mathews's post:
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"Side note: Dake has 19 losses in his freestyle career--7 of those are to Burroughs. Snyder has 18 losses, but has only lost once to an American."
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Great Trivia question -- Who was the only American to ever beat Kyle Snyder in freestyle?
Snyder would lose far less if he didn't literally compete everywhere."
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Great question. Was it Jake Varner?
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Ben Golden added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Jim Kessen added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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Pretty sure it was Jake Varner at 2016 Olympic trials best of 3.
Jake won 1st match on criteria 4-4.
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Brian Mathews added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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Quote from Jim Kessen's post:
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"Great question. Was it Jake Varner?"
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Bingo!
Also, if you remove D.T.'s losses to Americans, he would be 152 - 7 overall. Pretty incredible.
Sadulaev 154-1 if you remove his two losses to other Russians. Insane.
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Ben Golden added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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The idea of Sadulaev not wrestling at the Olympics makes me sad.
The term GOAT is thrown around incredibly liberally these days, but he truly might be the best ever, and it for him to miss the opportunity to win more golds for political reasons is a bummer.
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Brady Hiatt added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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Quote from Ben Golden's post:
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"The idea of Sadulaev not wrestling at the Olympics makes me sad.
The term GOAT is thrown around incredibly liberally these days, but he truly might be the best ever, and it for him to miss the opportunity to win more golds for political reasons is a bummer."
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100% AGREE
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Jeff Streu added to this discussion on April 24, 2024
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Quote from John Drumm's post:
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"On the Greco side, Joe Rau was very inspirational finally punching his ticket to the Olympics on his 3rd try. 2016 won trials but weight not qualified. 2nd attempt he qualified the weight, but lost in finals. No quit in Joe Rau.
Any thoughts from the group how the Greco team looks headed for the Olympics?"
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I'll answer, since I like Greco more than most wrestling fans.
I'd like to say it's a decent team, but the problem is that 3 of the 6 weights - the lightest three weights - still need to qualify for an Olympic spot. Luckily the World Olympic Qualifier takes the top 3 this time, as opposed to the top 2 as in recent Olympics, but it's never an easy task. I think they're all capable of qualifying the weight, but I think Bey is the most likely, followed by Coleman, and then Roberts.
People often say that our senior level Greco-Roman wrestlers are our second tier athletes, but at 77 and 130 kg Bey and Coon are arguably top tier athletes in any style. We all know Coon's college resume and the fact that he made Final X in both styles one year. Bey didn't go the NCAA route, but he was a standout athlete in all three styles in high school.
You mentioned Joe Rau - I've been a fan of his for years. If I recall correctly he never qualified for the Illinois state tournament in high school, but he made multiple trips to Fargo, culminating in him winning a Greco stop sign as a senior. In college he wrestled DIII for Elmhurst, claiming a national title as a senior. Greco has been his most successful style, but there was at least one year where he made the world team trials in senior freestyle. Bey and Coleman are also from Illinois - anyone who has followed Fargo or Junior duals in the last 20 year shouldn't be surprised that half the team is from the Land of Lincoln.
Ellis Coleman, most well known for "The Flying Squirrel," was a 2012 Olympian and I think he may have actually retired at one point, so I was pleasantly surprised to seem him back and punch his way through. He has won medals at Junior Worlds, but hasn't quite been able to reach that level at the Senior Worlds.
Speaking of reaching that level, Kamal Bey won a Junior World title in 2017, and the opponent he beat has already won medals at the senior level (or at least come close - my memory could be off), so I can't help but wonder why Bey hasn't. He definitely has the ability; he just needs to put together successive matches at the "highlight reel" level he's shown on occasion.
Adam Coon earned a senior world silver in 2018 but hasn't been able to replicate that since. Some speculated that it was because he was too one-dimensional in 2018 with his bodylock and the rest of the world figured it out. If he has added to his arsenal, he definitely has the potential to return to the medal stand.
Dalton Roberts actually attended the same high school as Coon, so Fowlerville, MI has one third of the team. He doesn't have the same accolades as some of the others, but he is a grinder and has gone back and forth with Hafizov over the years.
Speaking of Hafizov, he and Kikinou and Vera were all guys who previously competed for other countries but lost in the trials finals. In a sport like Greco where we lag most of the world, one can't help but wonder whether those three might have a better "international feel," but Roberts, Bey, and Jacobson all won fair and square and earned their shot.
Which leads me to Jacobson. He's the team member who I know the least about, mainly because he's the youngest. The rest of the team is made up of veterans, so I'm curious to see how the young guy fairs, especially since he doesn't have to qualify the weight.
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Discussion Topic: 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Ethan Moore added to this discussion on April 25, 2024
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If you want to see something fun, go to a HS Greco tournament. My son gave it a whirl this spring. Pretty fun to watch and also hilarious. A lot more scoring than high level Greco!
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