Impressions / thoughts after wrestling a super stud

[nom 1,179]

There are many great wrestlers.  Some just rise above and get to next level.  Yet when I watch the merely great ... they look incredible.  So slick, so strong, so good.  Then they hit the next level guy and they get wrecked.  

Would love to hear stories about how really good wrestlers describe those next level talents after going in to do battle.

Did anything really surprise them?  Inhuman strength?  Hand fighting technique that just left them flat footed and off balance?  A tight waist / gut that nearly cracked ribs?  A move that doesn’t seem possible?

Got stories from your own experience?  Would love to hear details.  Stories from others you can point me to?  That is cool too.

Edited February 5, 2021 by nom

[KCMO2 673]

It's topics like this where we need DF back.

[tigerfan 221]

Isn’t it all relative? Doesn’t really matter what level you were, wrestling someone on a whole different level is a similar experience, I would think. But maybe not. I’d love to hear those stories as well.

As a very high level state qualifier, lol, I can tell you that wrestling the returning champ who went on to win 2 DIII championships, was surreal. On our feet we were evenly matched 0-0 after the first. Then I chose down. At one point I think we must have went OOB, I remember that much. 400 tilts later, it was a 16-0 tech in the 2nd. I literally did not know which way was up and was physically dizzy when I tried to stand and shake his hand. Whole ‘nother level indeed. 

[nom 1,179]

Good point, it is all relative in general. But I wonder about the guys that are toward the very top. What is different about them that separates them?  Curious about actual hands on experience with them.  Doesn’t need to be Olympic level guys.  

[Housebuye 2,417]

55 minutes ago, nom said:

Good point, it is all relative in general. But I wonder about the guys that are toward the very top. What is different about them that separates them?  Curious about actual hands on experience with them.  Doesn’t need to be Olympic level guys.  

I can’t really help with wrestling stories, but I have trained with many world level jiu jitsu black belts (top 10 in the world level guys). 
  
I just felt helpless. In positions where I’m generally strong due to having a fairly good base, they could just roll me over like I was a child. 2 in particular stand out though.  
  
One guy had such impressive movement that it was clear he knew what I was going to do before I did it. This guy was a mid tier UFC fighter. He was bigger than me too, so it’s not just because he was 125 lbs or something. I imagine it would be similar to wrestling Jden or Yianni. Always a step ahead. Those types of guys can make me trip over myself without touching me. Watching professional fighters whiff on him made me feel a little better about myself.  
  
One guy in particular, who was about 140lbs (I was 180ish) had grip strength that seemed impossible. I couldn’t  do anything if he grabbed my wrist. He completely controlled me. 

I did do a no gi bjj practice roll with a multipe time D1 ncaa champion. He was not good at bjj, but that didn’t matter. He also tried to get me to start on my feet, but I didn’t want to die. I’ve never felt power like that. It gets a bit silly when I try a technique and he can peel my triangle with his arm while reaching back. Granted his pressure was probably what mainly did it. 

[jackwebster 291]

My first year in college I wrestled behind a returning AA that would go on to be runner-up. I just remember the guy disappearing. I would try to put my hands on him, and he wasn't there. So, I learned that as soon as he disappeared I needed to get my hand on the ground and my foot in the air. It stopped the initial attack but then I was two moves behind. My next counter would put me three moves behind, etc. 

I just couldn't get over how quick this guy. Then we ran sprints, shuttle runs, box jumps, etc and I realized he wasn't quicker or more explosive than everybody else. He moved and transitioned with great efficiency.

 

 

[jackwebster 291]

I didn't wrestle him, but my teammate and future AA wrestled Kendall Cross in at the Penn State Open (?). Cross had already graduated and was asst with UNC (Now that I write this, the story sounds fishy. But, I'm almost certain this happened. Shinshiro Abe was in the same bracket.)

My friend said it was like wrestling an boa constrictor: every move was wrong, every move would take away another option. 

[nom 1,179]

Awesome stuff here.  Never really wrestled a anyone like this but I did just mess around out on the street with a very very high caliber wrestler.  He was nice to me.  I could not believe how he apparently, without leaving any marks behind, had the ability to drive temporary metal poles, from his legs, through the bottom of his feet/shoes, straight into the asphault whenever I tried to move him.  That’s my excuse for not being able to move him around at all.