Is Zain becoming Metcalf 2.0?

[maligned 409]

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 by maligned

[nhs67 374]

Too soon.

Too soon. The wound is fresh 

[CoachWrestling 257]

Of course. That bruising style doesn’t cut it internationally. The matches are too close together. He will never medal. 

[NJDan 436]

Zain won gold as a  cadet. Did he wrestle junior worlds at all?  If so, how did he do?

[Fishbane 112]

Is Maligned becoming Jimmy Cinnabon 2.0?

[Fishbane 112]

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. 

[CA_Wrestler 205]

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.

[Crash 91]

Yes and no.

Yes, for obvious reasons.  No, bc it is unlikely he continues to hold the spot on the team.  

 

Edited September 19 by Crash

[Jon_Kozak 152]

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.

[NJDan 436]

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. 

[scribe 1,654]

Metcalf was excellent all year round. Just not a bit better at worlds when it mattered like everyone else. 

[maligned 409]

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.

[DuckFor2 157]

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

[Jon_Kozak 152]

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.

[Ogalthorpe Haywood 206]

Were Metcalfs brackets as brutal as this one? I didn’t follow that closely back then.

[jon 137]

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.

[Dr. Novak 147]

Makes you wonder about Diakomihalis too.  

[Bryan 48]

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.

[Dr. Novak 147]

Zain is very one dimensional so the comparison to Metcalf is appropriate.  Diakomihalis is just so sloppy.

[MDogg 181]

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.

[maligned 409]

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

[ConnorsDad 364]

Then that would mean that Fix is Metcalf 2.1. He lost today as well.

[russelscout 1,032]

Too early but I think we will all find that Zain like Metcalf = the best argument for freestyle in collegiate wrestling. 

Edited September 19 by russelscout

[NJDan 436]

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.

[Jon_Kozak 152]

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.