Chicks Heart Fights

Though I was there live, and watched the broadcast with some friends a few nights ago, I am finally sitting down by myself to watch the finals on ESPN. Our announcers are Tim Johnson (yay), Jeff Blatnick (yay) and some dude who clearly knows nothing about wrestling. Quint Kessenich is the matside reporter, and I feel like I’m going to betray the sisterhood here, but why on earth don’t they have a woman doing this job? The guys are just walking away from Kessenich and not listening to a word he says. If they had a relatively attractive woman in this role, the reporter might have a fighting chance. Match by match analysis, after the jump:

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Like every wrestling fan, I had read about Anthony Robles, Arizona State’s 125 lb. wrestler. Robles was born without a leg. I have seen the videos, read the stories, and voted for him to win the ESPY. Until I saw him wrestle, though, I had no idea how incredible he is.

Watching him hop out unto the circle for his first match, you could sense that the entire arena was watching his match. This was not out of some sense of obligation; rather, it was exciting to see him take the mat. He uses his incredible strength and flexibility to defend shots. Despite not having the leverage to get on both toes, he easily pushes opponents to their backs.

Robles had an impressive run through the tournament for any redshirt freshman. He gave eventual champion Angel Escobedo a scare, taking him down in the first period. Only one match, a loss to Stanford’s Tanner Gardner, prevented Robles from standing on the All-American podium. When his match with Gardner ended, Robles was given a standing ovation by the crowd at Scottrade. I text messaged a friend of mine to tell him the result of the match, and mentioned the standing O. He asked “Were they cheering his wrestling, or was it out of pity?”

There is no doubt in my mind: they were cheering his wrestling.

This weekend, Iowa State won the Big 12, Iowa won the Big Ten, and Northern Iowa won the West Regional. Not bad for a state with less than three million people.

Conference tourney highlights:

• The much-anticipated (to put it mildly) match-up between Iowa’s Brent Metcalf and Minny’s Dustin Schlatter finally happened, with Metcalf coming out ahead 5-3. He was awarded Wrestler of the Year and Wrestler of the Tournament, of which he is well-deserving. From what I’ve read, this match was a doozie. I hope that video shows up on Youtube!
• In not so happy Iowa news, Mark Perry lost to Michigan’s Eric Tannenbaum, 3-2.
• Iowa State wrestled the entire tournament on a tear. Only one wrestler took less than third, and he was awarded a wild card.
• One of my Tigers, Tyler McCormick, pulled the upset of the day by beating top seed and #1 ranked Coleman Scott. Scott has been the monkey on Tyler’s back, so it was nice to see him shake it off. McCormick went on to lose to Nick Fanthorpe.
• In other 133 news, Michigan State’s Franklin Gomez beat the precious Jimmy Kennedy, and Cornell’s Mike Grey lost to Joseph Baker of the Naval Academy. So that makes 133 a bit… confusing.
• At 125, the previously perfect Jayson Ness (Minn) lost to Hoosier Angel Escobedo.
• Cornell ended up winning EIWA by a half point over Penn.
• Two Minny seniors, Roger Kish and CP Schlatter, injury defaulted their way to sixth place. Hopefully, they can get back in shape to wrestle in St. Louis.
• Heading into NCAAs, these are the remaining undefeated wrestlers: Chad Mendes, Cal Poly; Keith Gavin, Pitt; Jake Varner, Iowa State; and Josh Glenn, American. I think the most likely wrestler to remain undefeated is Gavin. No one is close to him.

… from some sweet seats that a friend of a friend hooked me up with! I walked in the door, and a man handed me a ticket for free, and then my friend and I saw an old friend of his, that friend had seats in the center reserved section, about ten rows up. I’m a lucky gal! My lucky thoughts on the Midlands finals, after the jump… (more…)