maligned 455 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 (edited) Similarities between Zain and Metcalf: 1. 65kg 2. Prolific college career 3. Engine 4. Persistence 5. Ability to stifle in-country, familiar styles to get world spots 6. Below-average athleticism at the world level severely limiting the transferability of their skills from folk to international-level freestyle I hope the same repeated disappointments don't befall Zain, but he's on a similar path so far and his matches feel very similar. Edited September 19, 2019 by maligned 1 Bryan reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nhs67 901 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 Too soon. Too soon. The wound is fresh 3 Fletcher, madcat11 and Mphillips reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CoachWrestling 317 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 Of course. That bruising style doesn’t cut it internationally. The matches are too close together. He will never medal. 3 Crash, BobbyGribbs and cjc007 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NJDan 573 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 Zain won gold as a cadet. Did he wrestle junior worlds at all? If so, how did he do? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishbane 118 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 Is Maligned becoming Jimmy Cinnabon 2.0? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishbane 118 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 11 minutes ago, NJDan said: Zain won gold as a cadet. Did he wrestle junior worlds at all? If so, how did he do? Didn't make a team. I think he lost to Pico. For comparison Metcalf did not wrestle cadets (maybe there weren't any at that time), made one junior team and DNP. 1 NJDan reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CA_Wrestler 239 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 1 minute ago, Fishbane said: Didn't make a team. I think he lost to Pico. For comparison Metcalf did not wrestle cadets (maybe there weren't any at that time), made one junior team and DNP. You are correct, Zain lost to Pico for the Jr World team spot 2 years in a row. 1 NJDan reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crash 138 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 (edited) Yes and no. Yes, for obvious reasons. No, bc it is unlikely he continues to hold the spot on the team. Edited September 19, 2019 by Crash Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jon_Kozak 219 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 For what it's worth, Brent's record was 3-4 in 4 world's appearances. So far Zain is 1-2-in 2 appearances. It appears he's on track. Big fan of Zain-hope he medals before his career is over. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NJDan 573 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 5 minutes ago, Jon_Kozak said: For what it's worth, Brent's record was 3-4 in 4 world's appearances. So far Zain is 1-2-in 2 appearances. It appears he's on track. Big fan of Zain-hope he medals before his career is over. Why is Metcalf such a whipping boy? He won the World Cup and made the Yarygin finals twice? Is it possible that Metcalf and Retherford both cut too much weight? Both wrestled at 149 in college and then went down to 143 for freestyle. 1 1 jon and fadzaev2 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scribe 1,655 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 Metcalf was excellent all year round. Just not a bit better at worlds when it mattered like everyone else. 3 GoNotQuietly, jon and madcat11 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maligned 455 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 26 minutes ago, Fishbane said: Is Maligned becoming Jimmy Cinnabon 2.0? If you mean I'm being negative...I really try to be positive with analysis, but I couldn't help but notice all the similarities. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DuckFor2 176 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 31 minutes ago, Fishbane said: Is Maligned becoming Jimmy Cinnabon 2.0? well, even though the wound is fresh, it's a pretty accurate post Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jon_Kozak 219 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 1 minute ago, NJDan said: Why is Metcalf such a whipping boy? He won the World Cup and made the Yarygin finals twice? Is it possible that Metcalf and Retherford both cut too much weight? Both wrestled at 149 in college and then went down to 143 for freestyle. I think it's because he won World Cup and made Yarygin finals that expectations were so high for him (including his outstanding college reputation). Every year he showed he was right there with the best in the world but just couldn't get it done. He's not a whipping boy in my mind. I'll always view him as a guy who could have won multiple medals but things didn't go his way when it mattered the most. Mad respect for Metcalf. 2 jon and fadzaev2 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ogalthorpe Haywood 317 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 Were Metcalfs brackets as brutal as this one? I didn’t follow that closely back then. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jon 158 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 9 minutes ago, Jon_Kozak said: Every year he showed he was right there with the best in the world but just couldn't get it done. Metcalf raised his game, showed improvement. For instance: In the early years of his freestyle tenure Metcalf lost to Hasanov (now at 79kg!) but then Metcalf won the later matches. 1 Jon_Kozak reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Novak 147 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 Makes you wonder about Diakomihalis too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bryan 49 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 1 minute ago, Dr. Novak said: Makes you wonder about Diakomihalis too. YD is a much better athlete than ZR. At the international level all of those guys appear to be great athletes not just wrestlers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Novak 147 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 Zain is very one dimensional so the comparison to Metcalf is appropriate. Diakomihalis is just so sloppy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MDogg 273 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 1 hour ago, NJDan said: Is it possible that Metcalf and Retherford both cut too much weight? Both wrestled at 149 in college and then went down to 143 for freestyle. If you want to compare Metcalf and Zain that’s fair (though probably premature), but one of the biggest factors they have in common is they’re both tweeners. I don’t think either belong at 143lbs, but I also don’t think they are big enough to go 165lbs. If you look at all of our NCAA weights and how they fit into Olympic weight classes, I think 149lbs has the worst fit. 16lbs is just too much to make the jump to 74kg...and cutting another 6lbs down from 149 is brutal for most guys at that weight. When you have a 20lb gap in weight classes in the middle weights it’s going to screw some guys over...and in this case it’s guys who would naturally wrestle between 150-155lbs if given the chance. That’s clearly Metcalf and Zain. That’s inevitable when you only have 6 weight classes. 3 GoNotQuietly, Peso and jon reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maligned 455 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 10 minutes ago, MDogg said: If you want to compare Metcalf and Zain that’s fair (though probably premature), but one of the biggest factors they have in common is they’re both tweeners. I don’t think either belong at 143lbs, but I also don’t think they are big enough to go 165lbs. If you look at all of our NCAA weights and how they fit into Olympic weight classes, I think 149lbs has the worst fit. 16lbs is just too much to make the jump to 74kg...and cutting another 6lbs down from 149 is brutal for most guys at that weight. When you have a 20lb gap in weight classes in the middle weights it’s going to screw some guys over...and in this case it’s guys who would naturally wrestle between 150-155lbs if given the chance. That’s clearly Metcalf and Zain. That’s inevitable when you only have 6 weight classes. Great point Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ConnorsDad 569 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 Then that would mean that Fix is Metcalf 2.1. He lost today as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
russelscout 1,573 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 (edited) Too early but I think we will all find that Zain like Metcalf = the best argument for freestyle in collegiate wrestling. Edited September 19, 2019 by russelscout 1 Jon_Kozak reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NJDan 573 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 39 minutes ago, maligned said: Great point Maybe they should both be at 154, at least in non-Olympic years. Of course, I have no idea if ZR really has a problem with the cut. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jon_Kozak 219 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 12 minutes ago, NJDan said: Maybe they should both be at 154, at least in non-Olympic years. Of course, I have no idea if ZR really has a problem with the cut. Thought I heard last year there was a chance he would go 70kg but ultimately decided to take a year off to help manage weight and get healthy for this year and Olympic run. All speculation of course. Wonder if he tests the waters at 70 after the Olympics. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites