Chicks Heart Fights

Mark from Rev Wrestling pointed out an interesting trend to me-wrestling has more coverage from the media than it has in the past. Well, it seems so. I have no empirical data to support this claim, but there have been many great profiles of wrestlers in large publications, including:

• T.C. Dantzler in the Sun-Times
• Jake Deitchler in USA Today
• Henry Cejudo in the Arizona Republic
• A visit by Cejudo and Deitchler to the offices of ESPN the Magazine
• Steve Mocco in USA Today
• Dremiel Byers in the Charlotte Observer
• Ali Bernard in the Pioneer Press
• Randi Miller in the Kansas City Star
• Best of all, you can download  Doug Schwab wallpapers at the  Des Moines Register.

I can’t explain the uptick in coverage, but I am not going to question it. Increased coverage for the sport can only be good for it.

I greatly apologize for not posting over the weekend. Right now, I am sitting in the Phoenix airport, eternally grateful for their free wi-fi. The schedule did not allow me as much time as I thought it would, but here is complete coverage from the Mat . The team that was made is very different from the team I thought we would have, but it’s a very good team. Here are my random observations from watching the Trials over the past few days.

• The rules stink. Plain old stink. They don’t reward the wrestler who pushes the pace and tries to create scoring opportunities. Even more egregiously, the rules reward luck. Coin flips decided far too many matches. What is wrong with letting wrestlers wrestle to decide the winner of a match? Isn’t that the point?
• Ben Askren is the first wrestling Olympian from the University of Missouri. I held back tears as the seconds ticked away in Ben’s second match, as I was a Tiger for a little bit of the pre-Brian Smith era. I can’t believe I’m going to get to watch one of my own in the Olympics.
• There was music played for the duration of the tournament, and the song choices were bizarre. With the exception of Rob Koll, who exactly gets pumped up to wrestle by listening to “Dancing Queen?” They also clearly did not vet the music before playing it. When I heard the beginning beats of “Closer,” by Nine Inch Nails, I myself nearly ran down to the announcer’s table to get the song turned off before Trent Reznor screamed “I wanna f### you like an animal!” Thankfully, someone else realized the error and turned that song off.
• The addition of Judo was fantastic. I learned more about a sport I had not seen before, and the Judo fans were clearly happy to be joined by the large wrestling contingent.
• Cary Kolat was one of my favorite wrestlers to watch. His return to the national scene has been a welcome one, and I hope he keeps at it.
• Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but Sunday saw no wrestlers leave their shoes on the mat. Many wrestlers announced their retirement on Saturday, including, most shockingly in my opinion. Harry Lester. His loss to Jake Deicthler was a huge upset, and an amazing win for the 18 year old Deicthler, but I never would have guessed that this would be the last we would see of Lester. We will miss you, Harry!
• Is it me, or does T.C. Dantzler have a head wound in every match?
• One of the best moments of the weekend was when the 1980 Olympic team was honored. Regardless of the politics, it’s a shame that these men didn’t have a chance to take the mat that year. Granted, some of them had opportunities in other Games, but they were in the minority. Like many other fans, I appreciated having the opportunity to give them a round of applause.
• As usual, the wrestling world showed how we are a true family this weekend. I made new friends , reconnected with old ones, shared cabs with tons of random cauliflower-eared folk and was reminded why I love this sport so much.
• Two celebrities in the crowd: Dan Henderson and Ashton Kutcher
• Finally, as of today, Mike Zadick is FS 60 kg Trials champion. I have heard that he may receive a wildcard and get to compete in the Olympics. Keep your fingers crossed!

That’s all for now. I promise to have much, much more after I have had more than 45 minutes of sleep. It is so true that time has no meaning in Las Vegas!

Last year’s Greco-Roman team won the World Championship on the backs of Dremiel Byers, Brad Vering and Harry Lester. Though the team has gone through some setbacks, they have the talent and the opportunity to come home from Beijing with some serious hardware. Of course, they have to make the team first. (more…)

So how about dem USA Greco-Roman wrestlers? Rich Bender, the executive director of USA Wrestling, called today the most important day in US Greco-Roman wrestling history, and I have to agree with him.

Rulon’s win, though important, created a well-known figure in the sport and helped with the popularity, but did not necessarily say that the US truly had a great Greco program. This team win was the combined effort of USA Wrestling, the Army’s WCAP, the Olympic Training Center, and the USOEC, not to mention the many college programs where many of the wrestlers got their start. Of course, this was also due to the hard work and sacrifice of the wrestlers themselves - guys like Lindsey Durlacher, Brad Vering and Dremiel Byers, veterans with a never say die attitude, a young star like Harry Lester, and hard working role players like Joe Betterman, TC Dantzler, and Justin Ruiz. Well done, gentlemen. Supremely well done.

In other USAW news, the two freestyle members who wrestled today did not do as well. Henry Cejudo and my crush Mike Zadick were both eliminated early in the tournament. Tomorrow, Doug Schwab, Joe Heskett and Joe Williams will take to the mat.

(Photo credit: Larry Slater)

Greco-Roman wrestling is almost finished - just the heavyweight class remains - and the US has garnered a silver, a bronze, and a fifth place finish. Meh.

Harry Lester’s bronze medal came after a controversial loss against 2004 Olympic champion Farid Mansurv, an Azerbaijani wrestler. It appears that the referee was not well versed in the rules, or when to stop a match. From coach Steve Fraser:

“It was a great match with two great wrestlers. It’s just a shame that we had three very questionable calls go against us. But we’re in Azerbaijan, I guess you have to expect that here.”

Maybe I’m being a little to much of a flag-waver here, but I don’t remember any questionable calls going in our favor when the world championships were in the US. Why should we expect or accept calls going for the host country, or incompetent refs? This tourney is supposed to be the best in the world; shouldn’t the refs be the best, too? Anyway, Harry Lester came back and won the bronze. But here’s something to think about: with the Olympics in Beijing next year, will the US wrestling teams have to deal with calls going towards the Chinese delegation?

Brad Vering, at 84 kg, wrestled an amazing tournament to win his silver medal. His loss in the finals to Aleksey Mishin of Russia came after pinning Jung Sub-Kim of Korea. Vering, a corn-fed boy from a small town in Nebraska, has made his presence known on the international stage after failing to make last year’s world team.

Lindsey Durlacher placed 5th, but the rest of the team did not fare so well. Joe Betterman, stepping up to take the spot of suspended world champion Joe Warren, lost his first match and was eliminated. TC Dantzler beat defending world champ Volodimir Shatskykh of Ukraine 3-1, 2-1, but then was eliminated in a loss to Geunot of France. Justin Ruiz went 1-2. According to the theMat.com, the team is in fourth. I hope that we can continue to bump up the points standings as the freestyle men’s and women’s teams take to the mat.

According to the Mat and the Wrestling Talk forums, Brad Vering won silver at worlds today, and T.C. Dantzler and Justin Ruiz were both eliminated without placing.

More on this later. I know I promised that yesterday, but I spent last night chugging Nyquil, trying to get rid of a nasty cold. I should be coherent enough to type tonight.