US Trails
- Thread starter CowboyMedic
- Start date
I completely agree. My dislike for him is probably based on his wrestling fix, but I could not imagine having to miss the olympics because of this.
Had the winning takedown 1 half second too late.
JO just beat Yanni!!!!! McKenna upset Zain on the other side.
That’s massive for JO!
That’s massive for JO!
He’s one of the best wrestlers but seems to be cautious in big matches. I’d prefer to go down swinging but that’s just me, never been in a big match like that ever.
Fix depended on his inside trip for so many years and now it doesn't work and refuses to do any thing but hang on the head. He hasn't got any better in two years.
He has had a lot of pain, embarrassment and frustration in the last 2 years. It will make him or break him. Right now it seems to be breaking him. I hope that changes.
I agree lots of very good wrestlers today had their dream crushed. An example was Jordan beating Yianni and McKenna who has never won an NCAA Championship taking out Zain who won 3 Championships. Also Jason Nolf a 3 timer got pounded by Dake. Then you have Cox not making weight for the Olympics. Lots of pain and disappointment in wrestling. Yes for us fans also.
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No doubt about your comments. But damn, fix had it set up for him with Lee out and didn’t get aggressive. Let’s be honest, with Lee in mix moving forward, will be very difficult to advance
That was strange. I've never seen someone take it to Daton in freestyle the way Vito did the first 4 minutes. He was getting to his legs cleanly and not allowing Daton to scramble. Has Vito improved that much? Was Daton rusty from the layoff? Weird.
Have to think Daton will try for Worlds in October now. Many others also probably - Alex, Yianni, Retherford, Suriano, etc. Stieber won his World title during an Olympic year.
Have to think Daton will try for Worlds in October now. Many others also probably - Alex, Yianni, Retherford, Suriano, etc. Stieber won his World title during an Olympic year.
Fix has been giving up his leg way too often. You knew the elite guys weren't going to let him get by with that.
The last time they met it was the same thing. Vito is a very good offensive wrestler with serious length. In that match Daton also got down 6-0 but stormed back to win like 14-6 or something close to that.
Couldn’t do that this time and yes Vito has had a very good FS year while Daton sat due to his suspension.
I know the announcer Dave Mirkitani made that comparison, but this seemed different in my opinion.
In 2019, Vito jumped out to that lead with a body lock throw for 4 and a takedown after he literally dove at Daton's legs off the whistle. This match was different. Vito had multiple clean set ups that Daton couldn't defend.
Vito also said something interesting after the match - he thought he "could win, but wouldn't win". But then in the opening seconds, his arm drag single worked and he thought he might actually win.
The most realistic explanation is just that Daton sat on the sidelines for a year while Vito wrestled and wrestled really well on the FS circuit and it showed yesterday.
If I want to be an alarmist (don’t think it’s the real issue) is that Daton hasn’t progressed as much as the two guys he he just lost to and who are both with programs with much better RTC’s.
I would say both are true to some degree.
Daton needs to develop some more offensive attacks IMO. He's good with underhooks, but still needs a big time leg attack. He tried one high crotch that I remember and Vito stuffed it. Hard to win a Senior World medal relying primarily on counters. Just as important, he needs to open up in big matches. Even he has acknowledged it.
For AJ, this was all a learning experience. He hasn't really wrestled much freestyle since winning a Cadet bronze in 2018. Plus going from 197 up to 97 kg in 2 weeks is tough.