were pretty entertaining. Huskers didn’t win any which would have been nice, but they had good tournament. I had been waiting for Davino/Blaze rematch, rooting for Davino. Hardy/Mendez was good, Mendez is the better. Welsh/McEnelly got good in the 30 second round. Really thought McEnnelly had him at the end of the first one, but also thought that after he escaped, Rocco should have been warned for stalling, and then the second 30 would’ve been wide open wrestling, instead of Welsh stalling. Haines/Minto was a good match. I thought Duke/Taylor would be good, but Duke put the wood to him. Mesenbrink is/was fun to watch. All in all it was a good waste of a couple of hours I will never get back. Virginia Tech looked good in the ACC finals.
Big10 wrestling finals
- Thread starter huskerdrb
- Start date
McNelly had him - ******** that he didn't get the 3 there. Rocco ran the entire 2nd OT, which was absurd for that not to get called. Big time home cooking there. I only caught the tail end of Minto - going to watch that one now.
Minto wrestled very well and tip of the hat to Haines for his incredible defense when CM got into his legs a couple times with short time.
Good on CM keeping his composure as well.
Good on CM keeping his composure as well.
Huskers put in great effort overall. I think AJ got gassed at due to Michigan guy never taking a shot. AJ would shoot and Michigan would just lay on top of him. Penn State is top dog. Hopefully, we can land in top 5 as team.
What was the controversial call in the Minto-Haines match. (I was watching BB and missed it).
One point penalty for an illegal hold on Minto. Guess he had his legs wrapped around Haines's head.
they called him for a figure four, but he had a head and an arm which has always been legal in my 22 years involved with the sport. Shouldn’t have been called.
I finally saw a video of the match. The illegal hold call seemed bad on the mat. The fact that the independent review upheld that call was even worse.
There’s so many (of course) Penn state homers defending it saying it’s illegal and the right call, but I’ve wrestled in Cali, PA, and Virginia at the HS level, and collegiately, and coached in HS in SC and that’s never been illegal as long as you’ve had an arm in the lock. I’m not sure if some states have it as illegal or if it’s one of those “ref discretion” things, but I can’t come up with any other rationale why that was called illegal and then upheld. I’ve seen many top tier wrestlers pin rookies with that head and arm figure four. About as embarrassing as a spladle.
H-I-C, I always respect your posts, especially about wrestling, but there is a difference between a "leg cradle" and a "figure-four". In waterfall position. defensive wrestler can interlock legs around shoulders or below, but not the head. There are a couple of rules that are different between college and high school. such as the bow & arrow,, but the figure-four around the head is not one of them.
That said, if you want to beat a 3X NCAA finalist, you better come out with a better game plan. Haines is a solid, but boring wrestler that does not make mistakes. I think Minto can beat him but he needs to use his speed against Haines' discipline and stance.
But the difference is that he had an arm with that head, so it’s not just the head which that alone is illegal. And it’s not like a scissor lock, it’s a legit figure four. Top of the foot in the back area of the other knee. Is that not legal? Maybe I am mixing these up.
Minto has to be aggressive against Levi. Levi is an amazingly good defensive wrestler, always has been. It’s a staple of his father and uncle.
I watched it live in a tavern, but no sound because they were playing music. Will check the replay.
What is your take on the AJ match? Both of those guys will get crushed by Yonger Batista of Iowa State.
I did not see that L coming from AJ. AJ is a very good wrestler on top, but he was nowhere as offensive as he was in their first match. Batista is a beast. He’s got to be the favorite to win it all at that weight.
To me, Ghadiali looked 30-35lbs heavier than AJ. AJ got gassed at the end. He should have been called for stalling for not covering promptly during restarts.
Batista is a lock.
Batista is a lock.
im surprised AJ hasn’t been called for stalking more. He has a 40 second cover or return to the center after out of bounds frequently every match. I’m curious what next year looks like at 285. Do we bring AJ back or hand it over to Ziola? Do we redshirt McDanel a year and let AJ go 197? I’d hate to redshirt Mcaramel but it sucks he and Barr are the same year. Barr is going to be a 3-timer.
AJ is simply too small for the elite guys.
His athleticism can keep it close, but he doesn't have the offense.
His athleticism can keep it close, but he doesn't have the offense.
AJ has lost to 2 guys all year and has beaten those 2 guys as well. He even majored the guy he just lost to.
His ceiling is likely 3rd place.
4th if he loses to Feldman.
Tough to say what the ceiling is for anyone until the brackets come out tonight at 7. If AJ can avoid Batista in the semis by getting the 3 seed, he has a chance of reaching the finals,
I’m sure people thought Matt Ramos had a ceiling, then he pinned Spencer Lee. I’m sure people thought Larry Owens had a ceiling, then he beat Dan Gable. There’s MANY examples of this throughout the history of the sport.
There’s a reason we wrestle these matches.
According to the 2026 NCAA Rule book:
The application of a figure-four to the head is highly dependent on the wrestlers' positions
For some dumb reason I did not record the finals and by the time 174 came around i had a few Old Fashions down: I believe the wrestlers were in Neutral?
However, the way that I had seen it at real time and with slo mo replay that the fig 4 was an insignificant swipe of the dorsum of the foot across the popliteal space of the opposite knee and was easily within reaction time. and hence was not "used as a fig 4 hold".
The application of a figure-four to the head is highly dependent on the wrestlers' positions
- Legal by Offensive Wrestler: A wrestler who has established a position of advantage (the top wrestler) is permitted to apply a figure-four head scissors on the defensive opponent
- Illegal by Defensive Wrestler: A wrestler in the defensive (bottom) position is prohibited from locking a figure-four on the opponent's head, with or without the arm included .
- Illegal in Neutral Position: It is a technical violation for either wrestler to apply a figure-four head scissors while both are in the neutral position .
For some dumb reason I did not record the finals and by the time 174 came around i had a few Old Fashions down: I believe the wrestlers were in Neutral?
However, the way that I had seen it at real time and with slo mo replay that the fig 4 was an insignificant swipe of the dorsum of the foot across the popliteal space of the opposite knee and was easily within reaction time. and hence was not "used as a fig 4 hold".
I believe they were neutral as well, but don’t quote me. I’m going off memory and my brain is taxed from playing in excel all day.
I agree it was not a true figure four, and an all around horrible call.
It would be higher. 197 to 215 is not a big gap in the grand scheme of the “big guys”. I would guess it would be around 225-240. But i don’t see them adding one. They prefer the 10 weight classes.