Zack Ryder (OKST) vs. Angelo Ferrari (Iowa)
Period 1:
Ferrari starts on 1-knee. Ryder gives it a try too. Circling, tapping & hand fighting on 1-knee, then back to their feet. Ferrari on 1-knee in the center. Ryder circling around him. Tying up & circling now. Ferrari back to 1-knee in the center. Back to their feet. Tying up for a bit. Ferrari goes back to 1-knee. Ryder shoots, but Ferrari down blocks him off. Circling, Ferrari working an underhook on the edge & then they work back to center. Stoppage for something. Tying up & hand fighting on their feet. Ryder looks for an underhook, but no luck. Ferrari goes back to 1-knee, then comes to his feet & throws in an underhook, but time expires. 0-0
Period 2:
Ryder takes down. He works to his feet. Ferrari drops to a leg & elevates it & they go out of bounds. Ryder is still down. Ryder works back to his feet, then sits out & spins for the escape, 1-0. Ferrari immediately picks an ankle & quickly finishes the TD, 3-1. Out of bounds & restart. Ryder starts down. He works up, then rolls & gets the escape, 3-2. Ferrari goes back to 1-knee, then comes up to his feet. They tie-up. Ryder presses forward, taking Ferrari to the edge. Ferrari circles back to center. Ferrari presses forward now. He has Ryder on the edge. Tying up & hand fighting to end the period. 3-2 Ferrari
Period 3:
Ferrari takes down. Ryder tries to throw a boot in. Ferrari fights it off & works to his feet. Ryder elevates the leg. He has Ferrari bouncing on 1-leg & tries a trip, but his leg is too short to reach Ferrari's other leg. Out of bounds & restart. Ferrari is still down. He works to a quadpod, but Ryder grabs an ankle & trips him back to the mat. Ryder throws in a boot. Stoppage & Ryder gets warned for hanging on the leg. Ferrari works to his feet, gets hand control & the escape, 4-2. Ryder pushes forward & has Ferrari on the edge, but is just pushing. Ferrari reverses position & reaches for a leg, but they go out of bounds. Ryder throws in an underhook & pushes forward. He tries a straight on shot & Ferrari blocks him off. Ryder pushes forward & Ferrari throws him by & out of bounds, restart. Ryder pushes forward & takes another straight on shot. Ferrari circles away. Ryder pushes forward again, but Ferrari easily fights him off for the 4-2 win.
Ryder isn't very dynamic on offensive. He's really good at pushing opponents across the mat with his underhook, but he wasn't able to do anything with that against Ferrari. I never noticed the short arms before the T-rex jokes. That's gold! Ankle picking with short arms is a real challenge. After watching Rocco & Ryder wrestle, I think we got the better guy. Rocco appears to have a more diverse offensive toolkit & a greater reaching ability.
Angelo Ferrari DEC Zack Ryder 4-2