Metcalf v Armenia (spoiler alert)

[rossel3 77]

Metcalf wins by TF against Armenia guy who took 5th at last year's Worlds.

[wrestlingphish 645]

Metcalf's time is over blah blah blah

[wiedsworld 14]

Metcalf barely won against India after leading 5-0. He needed a late TD to come from behind. He can't finish his single leg very well against these guys.

[2td3nf 537]

Metcalf wins by TF against Armenia guy who took 5th at last year's Worlds.

 

That guy took 5th at 60kg in 2013 World's. Metcalf wrestled 66kg at 2013 World's.

 

Safaryan from Armenia was the 66kg World champ in 2013.

[2td3nf 537]

Metcalf barely won against India after leading 5-0. He needed a late TD to come from behind. He can't finish his single leg very well against these guys.

 

Metcalf is a stud. Most all of these world guys are studs too. Every match is different.

 

At times, Metcalf dominates with hi-c's and leg attacks. Other times, it seems like opponents are ready for it. (What do I know, but I'd love to see Metcalf go a little more upper body in neutral.)

[wiedsworld 14]

Metcalf looked good against the Iranian in the 2nd period, nice comeback.

[superold 34]

Metcalf looked good against the Iranian in the 2nd period, nice comeback.

 

Very good comeback. If Metcalf can find a way to score early and get an early lead or stay even with the top guys, his conditioning would be a much bigger factor. Instead of playing "catchup", he can start playing "pull away". I'm sure the U.S. coaches will be working on him with that leading up to the bigger tournaments.

[GoNotQuietly 892]

Brent looked stellar after getting hit with one of the nastiest footsweeps i have ever seen in my life. We were always about a weight apart in h.s. and college and he had one of the most unstoppable gut wrenches I have ever seen. I am surprised he doesn't go for more turns in international competition.

[Jaroslav Hasek 1,890]

metcalf was inspiring. he earned that. very fun match.

[de4856 360]

I am not sure what the deal is with Metcalf, he looked okay against Armenia, but against India, he looked gassed, very gassed in fact. But keep pushing and got a victory. Against Iran, wow. He was getting trashed yet managed to "break" the Iranian. Good for Brent. As far as the future for Brent, who knows. He can't keep falling behind like that and expect to have a high winning percentage. But I think he's the guy right now. Maybe Jordan Oliver, or Kullen Russell might be the next guy up at some point. But Today though, Brent was a hero.

[barrett 0]

Metcalf is very tough when he is on his offense. He has gotten much better at finishing, he wasn't getting crotch lifted, and his pace is fantastic. Many of his problems with the high level guys come when they shoot. Against Iran he looked very slow and heavy footed when the Iranian shot, and he looked great the other 90% of the time. It's almost as if years of constant attacking have left him inexperienced when guys are actually good enough to control ties and get to their own offense. I mean how often did he have to worry about defense in the past?

[GranbyTroll 430]

Metcalf is very tough when he is on his offense. He has gotten much better at finishing, he wasn't getting crotch lifted, and his pace is fantastic. Many of his problems with the high level guys come when they shoot. Against Iran he looked very slow and heavy footed when the Iranian shot, and he looked great the other 90% of the time. It's almost as if years of constant attacking have left him inexperienced when guys are actually good enough to control ties and get to their own offense. I mean how often did he have to worry about defense in the past?

 

Metcalf hit and finished a sweep single. That's miles of progress from last year.

[de4856 360]

I just hope for Brent's sake that he get himself a World Medal, (the sooner the better).

[NJDan 593]

Could Metcalf's problem be cutting weight? After all, he was 149 in college and is now 143, 5 years later. I know it's "night before" weigh-ins, but still. There was a 2KG allowance for the World Cup-- maybe that helped.

[armspin 257]

Honestly there is nothing new to see here. Metcalf has beaten many world class opponents and won high level medals in the years past. He has hyper aggressive offense and pushes forward a lot. The very strong guys (Taghavi) can control the ties and shut him down, the great counter wrestlers can throw him (Frayer etc). The rest get overwhelmed. His mat awareness regarding croth lift counters may have improved a bit but overall he remains what he's been for a while: a very good wrestler with specific holes in his game.

[Cletus_Tucker 890]

armspin has it right. You're not going to find a bigger Metcalf fan than me but his goal of multiple olympic golds just isn't going to pan out. At this point I would love to see him earn 1 world level medal, I'm just not encouraged that it's in the cards for him.