Ok, I'm Officially A Metcalf Fan

[Flying-Tiger 617]

Last time he made worlds, it was too close to his college career and he wasn't exactly my favorite wrestler plus the old rules neutralized some of things that made him so good in folkstyle. This time around I am really excited to see how he does at worlds under the new rules and can genuinely say I am rooting for him to bring home the Gold.

[The_Education 24]

He's really persevered. It's been really impressive to see. And he looked really good at the WTTs.

[potdangerous 26]

Everybody loves a good story of struggle and eventual triumph.

 

The real question is, will you still love him if he becomes a world champ and the Hawkeyes win another NCAA team title?

 

Get ready to feel the hate again Hawkeye fans...the momentum seems to be shifting back in your direction. The new crop in Iowa City is looking pretty impressive.

[acadia 0]

I hate to say it, Metcalf, will get hammered in worlds. Metcalfs problem is and always will be he's not technically on the same level as the top wrestlers, the new rules will help him, but that doesn't matter against the best in the world. That grind it out style means nothing becuase they don't waste energy. The Russians always seem to be no where near Americans in terms of shape, and guess what, they are still the best wrestling country in the world.

 

Prediction Metcalf gets handled at World's.

[bwh27 31]

I hate to say it, Metcalf, will get hammered in worlds. Metcalfs problem is and always will be he's not technically on the same level as the top wrestlers, the new rules will help him, but that doesn't matter against the best in the world. That grind it out style means nothing becuase they don't waste energy. The Russians always seem to be no where near Americans in terms of shape, and guess what, they are still the best wrestling country in the world.

 

Prediction Metcalf gets handled at World's.

Metcalf finished 2nd at Yarygin beating the Russian Nationals runner-up in the semis. He won the FILA test tournament and has beaten accomplished wrestlers like Garcia from Canada -- and this is all under the old rules. Do you even pay attention to international results or are you just assuming this based on his style? Metcalf has actually done better against international competition than many of our guys who seemed better suited to freestyle coming out of college. He just had huge expectations because of his folkstyle dominance, but appears to coming into his own finally, which is great timing with the rule change.

[Guest Hammerlock3]

don't even read acadias posts.

 

His cynicism has no content and his understanding of wrestling no nuance.

[tec87 349]

I hate to say it, Metcalf, will get hammered in worlds. Metcalfs problem is and always will be he's not technically on the same level as the top wrestlers, the new rules will help him, but that doesn't matter against the best in the world. That grind it out style means nothing becuase they don't waste energy. The Russians always seem to be no where near Americans in terms of shape, and guess what, they are still the best wrestling country in the world.

 

Prediction Metcalf gets handled at World's.

Metcalf finished 2nd at Yarygin beating the Russian Nationals runner-up in the semis. He won the FILA test tournament and has beaten accomplished wrestlers like Garcia from Canada -- and this is all under the old rules. Do you even pay attention to international results or are you just assuming this based on his style? Metcalf has actually done better against international competition than many of our guys who seemed better suited to freestyle coming out of college. He just had huge expectations because of his folkstyle dominance, but appears to coming into his own finally, which is great timing with the rule change.

 

Don't bother. He has never been a fan of Metcalf because of what he does to a lot of New Jersey studs he faces. i.e:Burroughs, Molinaro, Russell,Caldwell-All-Star match, etc.

[acadia 0]

Dude, I watch of course , metcalf greatly improved but I told you way back when metcalf will not be great at international and will never win oly medal or world, maybe he'll get a world,but I said this evn before he graduated. So what he did well at Yargrin which is not th same tournament it was say 30 years ago, bottom line, it's not going to happen I hope I'm wrong I just don't see it. Ill admit he's improved quite a bit.

[VakAttack 3,993]

I hate to say it,

 

Sure you do.

[Guest Hammerlock3]

yeah talk about tipping your cards.

[jstock 125]

I hate to say it also, JO is my favorite wrestler but Metcalf looked very good. He shut JO down, stayed composed and wore JO out. I was shocked on how easily Metcalf blitzed Russell. I hope JO gains some mass and learns to open up against top competition to become the future at the weight. Until (?) then, great for Metcalf and go USA.

[Sheerstress 168]

It's nice to see how Brent is coming back after a disappointing 2012.

 

I too, was impressed by his performance this weekend, as he wore out Jordan and completely shut down Kellen. This was quite a bit more decisive a win than two-time world champ Taghavi's 3-1, 2-0 win over Kellen last month. Metcalf might have some issues with different styles that he will face at Worlds this year, but he is certainly at that level with all the tools to get the job done.

[bwh27 31]

This was quite a bit more decisive a win than two-time world champ Taghavi's 3-1, 2-0 win over Kellen last month.

I'm all on board the Metcalf bandwagon now after his performance, but this is excessive. Taghavi beat him 6-2 (or 6-1) and 4-0 in two minute periods under the current rules, that's 10-2 in four minutes, so it's not "quite a bit more decisive." Taghavi has always been considered a defensive, counter wrestler anyway, so he doesn't put up as many points usually as the other top guys who he has beaten for two world championships. It'd be awesome if Metcalf has reached or surpassed his level, which isn't out of the realm of possibility, but this match certainly doesn't demonstrate that.

[jstock 125]

Will be interesting to see the head to head results with the new rules. Less tactical BS and more real wrestling. As predicted before WTT, the rules fit Metcalf's style, hopefully he can translate that to wins at Worlds.

This was quite a bit more decisive a win than two-time world champ Taghavi's 3-1, 2-0 win over Kellen last month.

I'm all on board the Metcalf bandwagon now after his performance, but this is excessive. Taghavi beat him 6-2 (or 6-1) and 4-0 in two minute periods under the current rules, that's 10-2 in four minutes, so it's not "quite a bit more decisive." Taghavi has always been considered a defensive, counter wrestler anyway, so he doesn't put up as many points usually as the other top guys who he has beaten for two world championships. It'd be awesome if Metcalf has reached or surpassed his level, which isn't out of the realm of possibility, but this match certainly doesn't demonstrate that.

[quanon 161]

Metcalf finished 2nd at Yarygin beating the Russian Nationals runner-up in the semis. He won the FILA test tournament and has beaten accomplished wrestlers like Garcia from Canada -- and this is all under the old rules. Do you even pay attention to international results or are you just assuming this based on his style? Metcalf has actually done better against international competition than many of our guys who seemed better suited to freestyle coming out of college. He just had huge expectations because of his folkstyle dominance, but appears to coming into his own finally, which is great timing with the rule change.

Metcalf has had good results before, but I don't ever recall him wrestling this well. In the FILA test tournament where he beat Hasanov, for example, Hasanov looked awful, and Metcalf looked sloppy. He looked great this weekend.

[WildTurkey44 321]

Congrats to Brent! He had a great weekend of wrastlin. I'm thrilled for him

[wrestlingnerd 2,999]

Metcalf finished 2nd at Yarygin beating the Russian Nationals runner-up in the semis. He won the FILA test tournament and has beaten accomplished wrestlers like Garcia from Canada -- and this is all under the old rules. Do you even pay attention to international results or are you just assuming this based on his style? Metcalf has actually done better against international competition than many of our guys who seemed better suited to freestyle coming out of college. He just had huge expectations because of his folkstyle dominance, but appears to coming into his own finally, which is great timing with the rule change.

Metcalf has had good results before, but I don't ever recall him wrestling this well. In the FILA test tournament where he beat Hasanov, for example, Hasanov looked awful, and Metcalf looked sloppy. He looked great this weekend.

 

To this point, how many points were scored on Metcalf this weekend? This may have been his best freestyle tournament performance ever.

[bwh27 31]

Defensively that may be the case, and the 6-minute matches have allowed him to put up more points. I think 2nd at Yarygin may have had tougher competition on paper, but they're not peaking for that event, and he put up wider scores against very tough competitors. So I'd tend to agree, his best tournament yet. FILA test tournament was also very impressive with the win over Hasanov, even if he looked off.

 

I feel like Hasanov has never reached his potential, when he's hitting on all cylinders the guy has tremendous skills, but he hasn't performed (relatively) for major tournaments. He was very close with Kumar in 2010 Worlds when he won bronze. However, I've never seen him as effective as Yonemitsu at 2012 Olympics or Sahin winning 2007/2008 titles and think that he should have reached that level. Might never happen since he's only competed at 74kg this season.

 

/End Tangent Rant

[rossel3 77]

as the Russians came to cheer Rocky

 

and Flying Tiger has become a Metcalf fan

 

perhaps there is hope for peace in the world ;)

[quanon 161]

I feel like Hasanov has never reached his potential, when he's hitting on all cylinders the guy has tremendous skills, but he hasn't performed (relatively) for major tournaments. He was very close with Kumar in 2010 Worlds when he won bronze. However, I've never seen him as effective as Yonemitsu at 2012 Olympics or Sahin winning 2007/2008 titles and think that he should have reached that level. Might never happen since he's only competed at 74kg this season.

Hasanov won Junior Worlds in 2009, so he still has some time to figure things out. I agree, he's impressive when he's on. There's a lot of depth in the world in the middleweights, and it's difficult to win it all.

[bwh27 31]

Hasanov won Junior Worlds in 2009, so he still has some time to figure things out. I agree, he's impressive when he's on. There's a lot of depth in the world in the middleweights, and it's difficult to win it all.

That's true, but in general eastern European wrestlers peak earlier than Americans and frequently their world champions disappear at an earlier age than we'd consider prime. That's partially due to intense competition of course. A big question is whether Azerbaijan still trusts Hasanov as their 66kg guy through 2016 or if they have a young guy we don't know. If Asgarov is moving to 66kg as rumored then that answers the question. He was the most impressive wrestler at the Olympics perhaps excepting Burroughs, and he's still very young despite being three years removed from a World silver (at age 17).

[Matburn155 3]

I really would like to see Metcalf meet (and beat) Hasanov under the new rules. Those guys go at it hard and do not like each other.....Could be the makings of another Terry Brands vs Jesus Wilson in the hockey arena!

[Flying-Tiger 617]

I found Taylor v Dake on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_trsIIpM48

[quanon 161]

That's true, but in general eastern European wrestlers peak earlier than Americans and frequently their world champions disappear at an earlier age than we'd consider prime. That's partially due to intense competition of course. A big question is whether Azerbaijan still trusts Hasanov as their 66kg guy through 2016 or if they have a young guy we don't know. If Asgarov is moving to 66kg as rumored then that answers the question. He was the most impressive wrestler at the Olympics perhaps excepting Burroughs, and he's still very young despite being three years removed from a World silver (at age 17).

Asgarov's a stud. I think they kept him off the team for a year the last time he jumped up in weight. I have no inside info, but my guess at this point, just based on my eyeballs, is that it should be Asgarov at 66 and Hasanov at 74 going forward. Who knows -- Aliyev might keep Hasanov off the team, or Hasanov might decide to stay at 66.

[NJWC 305]

"Don't bother. He has never been a fan of Metcalf because of what he does to a lot of New Jersey studs he faces. i.e:Burroughs, Molinaro, Russell,Caldwell-All-Star match, etc.".

 

Lol, Caldwell crushed Metcalf in the biggest match of his collegiate career, and Burroughs is so far past Metcalf it's not worth discussing.