So we get to our final Running Diary of the Big 10 Tournament. If it’s liked, I’ll try to bring it back for the NCAA Tournament, but we’ll see about the response. I got some comments that it was TOO short in part 2, so it’s pretty long again here. Anyway, let me know what you think!
SESSION III
1:04: Welcome back! SNR scientists (we have a team) are still trying to decipher what in the blue hell Gilman was doing last night in the second rideout period. Right now he’s trying to turn Elijah Oliver into literal mush. Conaway is losing 2-1 to start the second period in his match with Montoya of Nebraska.
1:08: Elijah Oliver just tried to go upper body with Gilman. It did not go well. Fall for Gilman. Conaway has taken control and is leading 6-3 in the third of his match.
1:10: Conaway wins 6-4. Micah Jordan looks to continue his trek to see how many shots he must take to get a stalling call against an opponent.
1:11: Javier Gasca keeps showing the truly impressive ability to stop Tom Minkel from making him terrible at wrestling. You’d have to think he could be Cael Sanderson if he went to literally any other school. He leads Tommy Thorn 2-1 to start the second.
1:15: Micah Jordan putting a whipping on Danny Sabatello. Normally not a huge story, but on a second day weigh in, with his size, it’s impressive. Especially given how he looked on Day 1.
1:20: Interesting matchup between Jake Sueflohn and Jason Tschlatter.
1:22: Christian Pyle’s greatest enemy, Richie Lewis of Rutgers is taking on the much improved 157 lber of CP’s former favorite team, Edwin Cooper. I enjoy that this year we’re calling him Edwin Cooper, Jr. Embrace your parentage, my man.
1:26: I think the refs just refused to let the Brands’ challenge a potential Cooper TD. I DEMAND AN INVESTIGATION!
1:28: Cooper is running the Tony Nelson patented Spiral Ride to Nowhere. I get that it’s legal, but it’s lame. He rides the period out. 0-0 going to the third with Cooper on bottom.
1:33: Cooper wins 2-0 with an escape and RT. Nate Jackson and Alex Meyer going now. The last time they wrestled, Jackson took Meyer down at will in the first before falling apart. He’s already got one TD as Meyer continues to force me to concoct increasingly unlikely scenarios for him to get a high AA.
1:35: In a stunning turn of events, Meyer switched up his defensive strategy. Instead of “stand there as if your feet are attached to the ground, he threw his hips back in what many wrestling historians are calling a sprawl. Of course then it just happens again and Meyer goes back to the old strategy and gives up 2 nearfall on the return. It’s hilarious listening to the mat personnel rooting for the Iowa guys. It’s like the local broadcast of a sporting event.
1:39: Meyer got a nice TD in the second, and almost got two. He trails 7-5 after an escape to start the third. Jackson looks a little gassed again, he’s going to need to take some shots. And he does, he takes advantage of lazy feet again and Meyer is down.
1:42: Everything that frustrates you about a Meyer match right here. Jackson is dead on his feet, but Meyer keeps taking these slow ass shots and slow finishes, and Jackson just counters it, even though he can barely move.
1:43: McCutcheon and his peg leg against the very tough Gravina. I’m pretty sure the announcer just called McCutcheon Matt McDonough, by the way. And Gravina hits that damned slideby right away!!! Wow. And he’s got both boots in. That’s Gravina’s only move from neutral and he’s hit it on everybody this season.
1:46: McCutcheon being VERY cautious now to avoid that slideby.
1:55: This Cutch-Gravina match will never fricking end. So much little bleeding. Pfarr-Huntley going on the other mat. Gravina beats Matt McCutcheon. Cutch never took a shot. I’m thinking that leg is hurting worse than Coach Sanderson is letting on.
1:58: Collin Jensen and Billy Smith just both dropped to a 3 point stance and stared at one another. “You want to move?” “Ehhhhh….” Traditional heavyweight wrestling, folks! FEEL THE EXCITEMENT!
2:02: Man, Pfarr looks like a new man at 197. He’s 1-1 with Burak and he just took it to Huntley. I thought for sure that Huntley was getting a takedown, but nope, dive-thru counter and Pfarr comes up with the TD. To top it off, he looked STRONGER then Huntley, too. Nice.
2:05: Geoff Alexander from Maryland just hit a cement mixer right to JDJ’s back, and got zero points. Something is fishy about those shoulders of JDJ…
2:14: Penn State vs. Iowa in the 7th place match at 165. My whipping boy Patrick Rhoads against controversial coaches’ pick Geno MorelliB1G is taking the top 6, and so to have any shot at NCAAs, both guys need the win here, I would think, especially Rhoads. Morelli is really good defensively, and Patrick Rhoads occasionally doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out with his offense, so I’m not sure who to pick.
2:20: Morelli got in deep and then inexplicably let go of the leg in an attempt to finish. Rhoads got in immediately afterwards and finishes. Rhoads chooses NEUTRAL instead of trying to get his 1. I don’t remember how good Morelli may be at riding, so I can’t comment. Rhoads has 3 minutes to get another TD, though, so he better get it. Because that doesn’t bode well for the rideouts.
2:23: PATRICK RHOADS I LOVE YOU, YOU CRAZY BASTARD! He shoots in OT and gets the TD. Wow! Great job, young man. Now I think, if I’m reading this right, he has to hope for a bid, and his record wasn’t that great so we’ll see.
2:31: Sam Stoll with the medical FFT. He’s going to need a WC. Meanwhile, Kenny Courts is probably making Ohio State fans cry as he loses 10-4 in the 7th place match to loses an automatic spot. He should qualify for a WC.
THE FINAL SESSION
4:00: Ok, I’m ready to go. Hopefully they find a reason to start at any weight besides 125, so I don’t have to start the session off cursing at Thomas Gilman for making me cry last night.
4:08: Oh good, right to hating myself. DAMN YOU GILMAN!!! What in the hell were you doing?
4:12: Gibbons casually says that Megaludis got a takedown in overtime. As if it wasn’t the most inexplicable move in the history of wrestling. Yikes, Megaludis gets an early stall call for going out of bounds.
4:15: Tomasello more active thus far, but nobody close to a TD. Gilman just big brothering Lambert. Big blood time on Tomasello-Mega match STOP TALKING ABOUT THE SEMIFINAL, GIBBONS!!
4:18: INSANE scramble in the Final, I thought NaTo had the TD, but I need to see the replay. On the replay, I say no TD, and ref agrees. Amazing work by Megaludis. Gilman finishes off a major against Lambert and I CAN’T LET GO OF WHAT THE EFF HE DID LAST NIGHT!!!! Ok, I won’t mention it again.
4:21: I TAKE IT BACK, I CAN’T STOP! Was that a chest wrap? What did he think would happen? Is that a new move where you pull the guy on top of you in OT? DAMN IT GILMAN!!!
4:22: Mega’s pace has picked up. Tomasello keeps looking for a spin around.
4:25: Oh no, Mega. Countered again. Tomasello wins in OT, why did Mega decide to roll when he’d been so effective at defending the spin?
4:26: If any members of the Oliver or Youtsey family happen to be reading that’s a 6-3 win for Elijah Oliver over Connor Youtsey. Youtsey was hit for at least one penalty point for unnecessary roughness, maybe two.
4:28: Now we get to watch Zane Richard beat the crap out of these fools who are not in his league. Conaway gets another crack at Ryan Taylor.
4:33: No points in the 1st or 3rd place match. Conaway on the board with an escape to start the second, Clark, too. Conaway with the TD on Taylor! Clark controlled the ties in the first, but Richards controlling so far in the second. Taylor matches him with a TD and rides out the last 4 seconds! Big for Taylor.
4:36: Clark hasn’t touched a leg, neither has Richards, though at least Richards is shooting. There’s a Clark shot, and he can’t get to the leg. Taylor with the reversal and the late lead.
4:38: Clark shot, Richards counter and we’re scrambling! Advantage shifted a bunch, and the refs surprisingly call a stalemate. We’re in OT. Taylor won over Conaway.
4:40: Montoya beat Giraldo for 5th. Clark and Richards are in the ride out. Clark escapes SUPER quick. Richards going down now. Clark wins! Perry is beside himself! Calling for locked hands! I’m not sure what Perry is talking about here…refs agree, Cory Clark, Big Ten Champ! Imagine what he would do if he was in the same league as Richards.
4:53: Ashnault leads 4-0 in the second after getting 4NF and there’s 2 more! Ashnault is in good position to win here, since Gulibon will have to score offensive points to win. Gulibon chooses neutral, so I guess Ashnault chose top? Wow, impressive and ballsy strategy. That was the exact type of ride we want in wrestling. Not just accumulating time, but scoring. WHOA, Micah Jordan just pinned Tommy Thorn. Micah seems to have figured some things out.
4:56: JIMMY GULIBON TOUCHED A LEG! I REPEAT, JIMMY GULIBON TOUCHED A LEG!!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! Of course, Ashnault just touched a leg and authoritatively put him down. Now we get to one of the big ones. Can Sorensen hang with Zain?
4:57: Gibbons just called him Rutherford, so I think we all just need to accept that’s his name now.
5:00: Ashnault just said “the 125 lber” so in my head, I’m pretending he doesn’t know his teammates name, because that’s more hilarious.
5:02: Here we go. Sorensen has to be ready to go, because Zain is going to want to score early.
5:04: Rutherford just hit a snatch single like he was a heavyweight. Weird. But he’s up 2-0 with 40 seconds to go.
5:06: Zain running the Spiral Ride to Nowhere (tm Tony Nelson) to ride the period out. Sorensen got to his feet twice but couldn’t get out.
6:07: IMPRESSIVE defense to stop that double by Sorensen on a Zain shot. He’s going to have to score, though.
5:10: Stalling on Sorensen on bottom. Probably warranted, but Zain isn’t doing anything on top. Oh no, Zain with the facemush! What will we tell the children???
5:14: Man, Pantaleo is just putting beatings on Jason Tschlatter every time he sees him. 8-4 this time.
5:15: This should have been the main event, but now I’m not even excited. Nolf just looks on a different level right now, for whatever reason.
5:18: Gibbons drops an easy opportunity to hit his “hips to the party” catchphrase as I-Mart hits an impressive defense to stop Nolf. Shockingly, it’s 0-0 going to the second. I-Mart takes bottom.
5:21: Lot of great chain wrestling, and I-Mart finally gets his escape. Bullshit stalling call on I-Mart. Nolf gets in and I-Mart with the incredible defense. Nolf is the only one who has come close to scoring.
5:24: I-Mart with some better attacks, but he’s still not close. Nolf in AGAIN! Great defense. I-Mart in! Great defense by Nolf that time! We’re going to OT! I-Mart with some decent attacks, but never close. Nolf had nothing in OT. We’re in the rideouts. Wow.
5:27: Nolf looks a little tired. I-Mart escapes IMMEDIATELY! No further scores! Nolf goes down. They’re wrestling, very intense. Nolf looks like he’s picking it back up from an energy perspective! Great match thus far.
5:30: Man, I-Mar was in DEEP! Back to ride outs. Nolf with the roll escape! I-Mart in position!!! TD!!!! Oh my goodness!!! We’re looking at the replays now, but that looks like two!! 9 seconds left in the period!
5:33: Oh my, they took away the TD!!!! Are you serious!???!! Controversy! Period ends. Martinez has 29 seconds to escape for the win.
5:35: HE DOES IT!!! UNTAMED!!!! Ha, look at Perry telling him to not go crazy!! Wow, I’m jacked up. MATCH OF THE YEAR!
5:40: “He Proved himself to me as a competitor.” I love you, I-Mart. Never, ever, ever change. Good luck to all the finals trying to follow that!
5:41: The Jordan cousins are out here in what I’m sure will be just as exciting a match.
5:42: “He doesn’t bring his hips to the party…” DRINK!
5:43: I CAN’T EVEN FOCUS ON 165! They need to just have I-Mart vs. Nolf on a separate day at NCAAs or something.
5:45: This looks more like their match last year at B1Gs then the dual this year. Zeke just riding the bejeesus out of him.
5:47: Isaac chose neutral, he has RT and trails 1-0. I-Jo needs the TD. Man, family holidays are going to be AWKWARD with Isaac just sitting to one side with that shit-eating grin, at least, that’s what I would do. Isaac with the beautiful and relentless TD to win. Great job, Isaac. Bo might go up just so he doesn’t have to see his cousin anymore.
6:03: Ok, I’m calmed down. Nickal is running it up on Brunson right now, but some bad stuff going on right now. Nickal used the Brunson’s headgear to get the TD, and the refs no-called it. There was also an illegal slam by Nickal that was close, but probably the right call since Nickal had Brunson’s arm trapped. Nickal ends up with the major after giving up a late TD to try for the tech. Nickal had a really nice mat return into backpoints that broke the match open. He looked like he was losing steam midway thru the season, but he’s back in form, and the class of 174.
6:12: Brooks and Dudley on the mat. Dudley pinned Brooks earlier this year. SHOOT ON THE LEGS, YOU BIG OAF!! STOP DIGGING UNDERS!!!! Dudley just about threw Brooks in that 30-70 position, but Brooks manages to avoid disaster.
6:15: Brooks finally converts on a LEG SHOT, not on upperbody work, so I’m calling that a win for my analysis.
8:20: Alright, I stopped there because a nice young lady wanted to hang out with me and have me explain wrestling to her, and frankly, she’s cuter than any of you. So I’m just going to give my impressions of the matches.
Brooks’ second TD was also a leg shot, but to be fair it was off a Russian tie, so that’s upperbodyish. Of course the beautifully mulleted oaf gave up the only TD Dudley would get by trying to work those double unders where he slipped and Dudley took advantage. Brooks got a BS stall call against him but he didn’t let if phase him. Brooks almost gave up position AGAIN by trying to go upperbody. Ugh. Brooks defense at the end was SPECTACULAR. Then, of course, he gave the greatest interview in this history of the world, extolling the virtues of the mullet.
8:32: Burak’s main problem is his strength of his defense is in his hips and thighs, and McIntosh likes to go very low ankle. Burak would probably almost prefer Cox from a match up perspective. Prophetically Burak stoned McIntosh pretty easily on his first shot that was higher on the leg, and finished instantaneously. McIntosh did all the work in this match, though he did most of it in the first period. The last two periods were pretty boring, and both could have been hit for stalling. Of course, Burak was losing, so the impetus is on him, and he never came close to McIntosh’s legs. The closest he came to taking him down was cutting the corner on a loose McIntosh shot at the end of the second. Burak will need to figure something out. Iowa fans can’t be pissed about no stalling calls in the third when there were none against Burak in the first.
8:45: The size difference between Coon and Snyder was comical. It was like watching Cary Elwes fighting Andre the Giant in the Princess Bride. Coon did what he could, he’s very athletic for a man his size, but Snyder is just very athletic. There’s a difference. This makes you think about the potential Finals match up with Gwiz. Gwiz isn’t quite as big as Coon, but he’s more athletic. Snyder will be the more technically sound wrestler, but Gwiz will be nearly as athletic. The size was clearly an equalizer for Coon in the match, and he had moments, but Snyder was just better and crisper, which, ya know, World Champion, so obviously.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As most of us knew, everybody is fighting for second. Penn State just has too much bonus. Next year there will be a down shift for Penn State. I know people think you can just plug anybody in, but replacing Megaludis is no easy task, no matter how great Suriano’s pedigree is. The same applies to McIntosh at 197. They’re vulnerable next year on paper, not this year.
Saturday Night Ride 