Does Zain have a shot against Yianni?

[Jimmy Cinnabon 109]

Yianni has elevated his game this season.  Zain is a stud but Yianni's length and funky scrambling ability are world class.

I predict Yianni in 2.  Anyone think Zain can win a match or even 2?

[DuckFor2 143]

if Yianni wrestles as he did at the Open, no.

[NJDan 357]

They tied 4-4 at the Open so obviously he has a shot.

[Fishbane 37]

10 minutes ago, NJDan said:

They tied 4-4 at the Open so obviously he has a shot.

Final was 6-4.  

[Jimmy Cinnabon 109]

The problem for Zain is his biggest strength as a wrestler is his folkstyle ability from top, which is pretty close to useless in free.  And Yianni's biggest strength (defense and scrambling) is extremely useful in free.

It's just a bad matchup for Zain whose brute strength and riding dominance are neutralized by Yianni's length and funk.  In folkstyle I think Zain crushes Yianni but Yianni owns him in free.

Edited June 5 by Jimmy Cinnabon

[NJDan 357]

1 hour ago, Fishbane said:

Final was 6-4.  

OK, my bad. Anyhow, it was a tight match. Of course Zain has a chance.

 

[spladle08 422]

Zain has a chance, but he is more "Metcalf" than I like from neutral. Straight forward, grind you out if he can. Not very creative, etc etc...

I like Yianni's chances more vs elite competition so I hope he wins.
But the gap isn't anymore than a take-down if there is any. It's a toss.

It's like Zain is 50/50 with the top 20 guys in the world. He will be defensive, stable, and beat 10 and lose to 10 who knows which ones.
I feel like Yainni is 70/30 with the top 10. Where he wins more often than he loses to the toughest opponents.
Here's hoping it doesn't land on Heads 2x out of 3 for ZainTrain

 

Edited June 5 by spladle08

[jsmalls131313 15]

You would have  to be completely insane to not think Zain has a chance. 

[Ogalthorpe Haywood 156]

Yianni won on a scramble with a few seconds left in the match where he almost exposed himself, if anybody watched the open match and says Zain doesn’t have a chance doesn’t know what they are talking about. 

[klehner 163]

36 minutes ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

Yianni won on a scramble with a few seconds left in the match where he almost exposed himself, if anybody watched the open match and says Zain doesn’t have a chance doesn’t know what they are talking about. 

Do you think that Zain will have improved in the seven-plus weeks since the US Open?  Not just against Yianni, but in general?

Do you think that Yianni will have improved over that time, considering that the US Open was his first freestyle tournament in nearly two years and had just completed his second straight folkstyle season about a month earlier?

Will the differences in their skill level have increased, decreased, or stayed roughly the same?

[AZ_wrestling 30]

2 hours ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

The problem for Zain is his biggest strength as a wrestler is his folkstyle ability from top, which is pretty close to useless in free.  And Yianni's biggest strength (defense and scrambling) is extremely useful in free.

It's just a bad matchup for Zain whose brute strength and riding dominance are neutralized by Yianni's length and funk.  In folkstyle I think Zain crushes Yianni but Yianni owns him in free.

Pretty much my thoughts as well. 

[BigTimeFan 840]

I am in the camp that Yianni is going to win. Even though the last match with Zain was pretty close in addition to what everyone else said, Yianni had to win a brutal set of matches just to get to the finals. Even though he beat JO and Molinaro with ease they weren’t easy matches. Zain cakewalked to the finals. This time around Yianni will be fresh. He will have been training non-stop in freestyle, so I think Yianni widens the gap. The only caveat I can think of is if Zain had some issue we didn’t hear about. 

[DanGerMan 12]

Zain can beat most anyone with his skill set but I don't think the head banging will be so effective this time. Look for Yianni to have a surprise or two when that palm heads for his forehead.

[Ogalthorpe Haywood 156]

3 hours ago, klehner said:

Do you think that Zain will have improved in the seven-plus weeks since the US Open?  Not just against Yianni, but in general?

Do you think that Yianni will have improved over that time, considering that the US Open was his first freestyle tournament in nearly two years and had just completed his second straight folkstyle season about a month earlier?

Will the differences in their skill level have increased, decreased, or stayed roughly the same?

Yes of course, I think both will improve and have fresh game plans going in.  I’m not saying Zain will win but to say the outcome is already decided like Gadson Snyder is just crazy. 

[fadzaev2 98]

Interesting comments....this will be exciting....I like both of them, and Zain will be "in the money".

 

[cjc007 452]

Zain struggled to beat an injured JO. I think that speaks to the outcome of this series.


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[WillieBoy 575]

7 hours ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

Yianni has elevated his game this season.  Zain is a stud but Yianni's length and funky scrambling ability are world class.

I predict Yianni in 2.  Anyone think Zain can win a match or even 2?

Did you attend University to get to this level of thought or was it Home Study watching 3 stooges marathons?

[AIW-HS 9]

Zain was very close last time.  If he finds a way to finish a single or two he can most definitely win.

[treep2000 714]

6 hours ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

Yianni won on a scramble with a few seconds left in the match where he almost exposed himself, if anybody watched the open match and says Zain doesn’t have a chance doesn’t know what they are talking about. 

I'm very wary of those that expose themselves.  #notmetoo  

[de4856 319]

Well if Zain can use his double leg, it may prevent Yianni from fully utilizing his scrambling ability. If Zain can neutralize Yianni's scrambles then I think he has a very real chance of winning. 

[hotspur 7]

20 hours ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

In folkstyle I think Zain crushes Yianni but Yianni owns him in free.

No one "crushes" Yianni.  Are you really that stupid?

[TBar1977 2,958]

1 minute ago, hotspur said:

No one "crushes" Yianni.  Are you really that stupid?

He's trolling when he uses such language. Don't feed the troll. 

[steamboat_charlie v2 470]

Obviously Zain has a chance.  

The referee will be a huge factor, given that Zain's best setup is objectively illegal.  We'll find out quickly in the first match how it's going to be called, because Zain will certainly test it.  

[Sstern 27]

I think Zain wins. 

[TBar1977 2,958]

Last match was 4 - 4 with Yianni ahead on criteria. Zain had to shoot and ended up giving up a 2 point counter in the closing second or two. Of course Zain can win.