Junior Worlds Results and Discussion

[armspin 257]

Great match between Dhesi and Coon. Dhesi is SOO slick. Now he gets his shot at Petroshvilli. Pretty excited.

 

And it's rare to see the whole officiating crew and score keepers all suck in unison like this one. Right guy won still... Get it together guys.

[NJDan 1,113]

Am I imagining this, or has Gabe Dean gotten a lot faster since the NCAA tournmament. 

 

In the college season, he seemed amazingly solid, poised and strong.  But he also appeared a bit lumbering, like a bear.  Now he looks cat quick.

 

[MA_Wrestler 169]

Thanks for the info on the finals. If anyone sees mat assignment posted somewhere, like 55kg on B, 66 on C or whatever, please let me know.

[MadMardigain 1,636]

I haven't been keeping up on all the smaller details of this one. Are they keeping a actual team result for Junior Worlds, and if so are we in contention for the title? Or has Russia, Iran, etc racked up enough golds and silvers to stay well ahead of even our nice performance?

Edited August 10, 2014 by MadMardigain

[MA_Wrestler 169]

According to the article on themat we are guaranteed 52 points, Iran guaranteed 56. We have 4 going for a medal they have 3 but 2 in finals. Head to head at 66 with us and Iran

[MA_Wrestler 169]

Bronze for Gilman! Great match too!

[dclark145 16]

Any certain reason why they're using Angry Birds plush toys as challenge cubes?

[MadMardigain 1,636]

Any certain reason why they're using Angry Birds plush toys as challenge cubes?

I've been chuckling about that one all week.

[MA_Wrestler 169]

Tough loss for Pico in the finals. I'm sure his critics will have plenty of negativity after he loses, but I think he wrestled damn well this tournament, he is only 17 so he is on the young side for this age division and I'm sure he will win a title or 2 at this level before all is said and done. He is a lot of fun to watch, that Iranian was just too much, 9-2 final I believe.

[MadMardigain 1,636]

Well Dean made his Bronze look easy.  Won by Injury Default.

[Specops76 1]

Well Pico was completely dominated by the Iranian in his finals match (almost teched). I guess all the senior level hype on him was a little premature.

 

He should probably stay at the junior level for the next year or two before jumping up to seniors. He's still pretty young so no reason to rush to the senior level and ruin his confidence.

[ElChangodeAmor 12]

Pico just needs to develop more on his takedowns.

The Iranian used his snaps to keep Pico off of his and the snatch single isnt working on the longer guys. 

But no Shame in a silver, and he feeds off losses.

[AnklePicker 649]

As one of the members of the Cadet World Greco coaching staff, I appreciare the comments and discussion regarding the success of our Greco teams at the Cadet and Junior Worlds. We don't lack talent; there are plenty of outstanding young Greco wrestlers in the US- some do not know that they are Greco wrestlers yet, but they are there. We don't lack training; two-time Olympian and World medalist Shawn Sheldon was the other Cadet World Greco coach (here is a link to our training camp interview:

). The Cadet World Greco team training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado with the Senior Greco team. The kids were prepared and in shape, except the lone wrestler whose coaches kept him back in Illinois to train, showed up to Slovakia 5 kg over, and then did not make weight. What our younger Greco wrestler lack is experience. I'm not talking about the experience young American wrestlers get at Fargo or the FILA Cadet or Junior Nationals. The "style" of Greco most of the kids at these tournaments use is ineffective at the international level. We need to get our best Cadet and Junior Greco (and freestyle too) wrestlers to Europe and compete against the best. The World Championship should NOT be a wrestler's first international experience. We are not that far apart from the rest of the world in terms of talent, tactics, and conditioning; we just lack the experience against the best competition in the world.

 

I would love to see a sort of USEOC program for high school kids developed so we can identify our best young Greco prospects and begin training to win World and Olympic medals starting in high school. I understand that this idea is completely counter-intuitive to our current system ("why would I give up my dream of winning NCAA titles?") but could begin to turn the tide in Greco. We train Greco all year, travel to Europe and the Middle East, seek out the best competition week in and week out, and in time the US could be a powerhouse in Greco. It would take a lot of money and a school who is willing to balance education and travel. Had there been a program like this in place when I was in high school, I would have jumped at it. Just like the best high school programs travel to find the best competition possible, we need to do the same for our rising Cadet and Junior Greco wrestlers.

 

But there are people out there who do not value the importance of Greco and think it is a complete joke, and a waste of time. They think it's borning. And herein lies the problem- getting people to buy into a style they don't really understand. The big question I get regarding Greco is: "how will this help my folkstyle?". What do college wrestlers do much better than most high school kids: keep position and hand fight effectively. Hmmm...where can we learn these skills? Can you say Greco? Plus, most of the techniques that set up takedowns in Greco can be used to set up takedowns in folkstyle.

 

Think a little outside of the box on this: in order for the US to be successful in Greco, we need to get our wrestlers started young, get them international experience, and build a solid program. I think Matt Lindland will do a good job of this as the National Team coach. Steve Fraser did a great job too- I don't want to take anything away from him. Give Lindland an opportunity to implement his system before we get too critical of him. I welcome all coments and ideas. Feel free to email me at: headlock1145@gmail.com.

 

And I am very serious about wanting to start a USEOC type program for high school kids. I would love to brainstorm ideas and methods to get the ball rolling...as well as how to fund it. Please email me at the above address if you would like to share your ideas.

 

Prebes Prebish

http://grecomoses.com

First off I think it would be wise to NOT try to sell Greco as a complement to folkstyle but rather as a great style in and of itself that offers the same opportunities as freestyle.  I would set up regional training centers that focus on GR wrestling.  You guys select the coaches and the goal is to get as many competitors as possible to Fila Cadets and Juniors and the regional tournaments.  I would then fundraise like crazy to offer international wrestling opportunities (tournaments/camps) to the top 3 place winners of that tournament.  That would be the incentive you use to get kids to want to participate and coaches to help coach.   

 

I would also have much more correspondence with all coaches at the HS level.  As a HS coach in NJ we have a coaches email network with every coach in the state.  It's too easy in this day and age not to be communicating with all of the coaches in the country.  Send an email looking for candidates.  There's just not enough recruitment effort going on.     

[MA_Wrestler 169]

Coon with the pin, 6 medals! 4-for-4 today, outstanding!

 

I don't think it will be enough to catch Iran, who also finishes with 6 medals, but 3 of them gold and 3 bronze. We finish with 2 silver and 4 bronze. Russia had 3 gold and 2 bronze, I am assuming they are in 3rd? They had 5 medals but their other 3 didn't make a medal match, while the US and Iran had 6 medals and each had 1 wrestler fall short in the bronze match.

 

Overall team performance was outstanding in my book. Bittersweet to end without any gold, I really thought Pico, Snyder and Coon all had real chances to win this tournament. However, to bring 8 guys and have all 8 be this competitive is just awesome. On the other hand the cadet team took home 3 golds and added a silver, but the other 4 guys were not nearly as competitive and I believe 3 of them failed to win a match.

 

Great tournament, I can not wait for the senior worlds next month!

[Hofman19 24]

Just to follow up MA's excellent post, Iran did in fact win the tournament by a margin of six points.  The final tally was 64-58.  Russia took 3rd with 49 team points.  

[Jaroslav Hasek 2,067]

10 wrestlers finish in the top 10. and i would put money on valencia medaling if his weight class was wrestled all over again.

 

great job by the US squad. iran was just better and looked crazy good today. will be fun watching things shake out in the near future. 

[OKnowwhut 59]

To me; Gabe Dean, Thomas Gilman and Joey McKenna showed a lot of character and growth yet I can’t get it out of my mind how impressive was the development of Anthony Valencia.

Kudos to all  ... The USA junior team (all styles) took an encouraging step up!

[2td3nf 588]

Yeah, some heartbreaking, tough losses there, but oh well, that's sports. Solid job by Team USA.

 

The Iranian that wrestled Pico looked huge - like a 74kg. Wonder how much he cuts? Perhaps another Taghavi on the way at 66/65 for Iran?

 

Did Bill Zadick make the trip? Didn't see him in any of the videos.

 

Not a real big deal, but loved the music the DJ played at the arena. FILA, I mean UWW, you gotta keep that DJ. I'm sure the other countries were familiar with and enjoyed the music selection too.

[KurtAngle 0]

That adds up to 9 Bronze between the top 3 nations.

Edited August 10, 2014 by KurtAngle

[Hubbard 426]

Alireza Karimimachiani blew me away.  I had him winning the tournament beforehand but not in this fashion.  Pico is a weapon.  He and Snyder have two more to go.  Crazy thinking about that.  Geno is on another level.  Not sure if he'll be the rep. at Senior Worlds though.  This US team on paper was very good, and they were VERY good on the mat.  I'm a Canadian who has always admired the USA Wrestling infrastructure.  The Russian heavyweight was way undersized and did not have the talent to overcome that.   Was smart of him to bump up though to avoid Gogaev. 

 

It was clutch time and Dhesi punched it home.  Two sickos.  Let's hope for more wars from these two.

[de4856 379]

Well the Men's Freestyle teams have been on a roll as of late, we won the Pan Am's with 5 Gold, and 3 Bronze medals. At the University's we again took 1st as a team and had 2 Golds, 4 Silvers, and a Bronze medal. At the Cadets we took 3rd as a team with 3 Golds, and 1 Silver. Today we took 2nd and have 2 Silvers, and 4 Bronze medals. Nice job guys. Whatever our coaching staff is doing, it seems to be paying off. Hopefully this trend continues next month at the Senior Worlds.

[de4856 379]

Well the Men's Freestyle teams have been on a roll as of late, we won the Pan Am's with 5 Gold, and 3 Bronze medals. At the University's we again took 1st as a team and had 2 Golds, 4 Silvers, and a Bronze medal. At the Cadets we took 3rd as a team with 3 Golds, and 1 Silver. Today we took 2nd and have 2 Silvers, and 4 Bronze medals. Nice job guys. Whatever our coaching staff is doing, it seems to be paying off. Hopefully this trend continues next month at the Senior Worlds.

[tec87 349]

I posted this right after the cadet worlds in another thread.

 

In recent years, the Greco success hasn't really improved much but the freestyle success has been great in recent years and hopefully bodes well for the senior level in the future. Also, I didn't realize the US has had a strangle hold on 63kg in Cadet Freestyle in recent years.

 

Cadet Freestyle

2011: 1 Gold-Adam Coon 100kg, 1 Bronze-Sam Brooks 85kg

2012: 1 Gold-Zain Retherford 63kg

2013: 1 Gold-Aaron Pico 63kg

2014: 3 Golds-Spencer Lee 50kg, Mason Manville 63kg, Mark Hall 76kg, 1 Silver-Jordan Wood 100kg

 

Cadet Greco

2011: No Medals

2012: No Medals

2013: 2 Bronze-Cade Olivas 42kg, Jon Jay Chaves 69kg

2014: No medals

 

Junior Freestyle

2011: 1 Silver-Logan Stieber 60kg

2012: 1 Silver-Pat Downey 84kg

2013: 1 Gold-Kyle Snyder 96kg, 1 Silver-Alex Dieringer 74kg

2014: 2 Silvers-Joseph McKenna 60kg and Aaron Pico 66kg, 4 Bronzes-Thomas Gillman 55kg, Gabe Dean 84kg, Kyle Snyder 96kg, and Adam Coon 120kg

 

Junior Greco

2011: 2 Bronze-Ellis Coleman 66kg, Toby Erickson 120kg

2012: 1 Bronze-Jesse Thielke 60kg

2013: 1 Bronze-Sam Stoll 120kg

2014: 1 Bronze-Adam Coon 120kg

Updated success from last 4 years on junior and cadet level.

[Brutus81 4]

The talent has always been there, but this excellent result was due to the program that we in the US have in place and the focus on the international style in younger and younger age groups.

 

Very, very gratifying.

[Plasmodium 2,304]

Anybody know if Pico's opponent is related to Alireza Yazdani?  There are only a few Yazdanis in Foeldeak and they have the same coach listed (perhaps, national coach?).  

At any rate, he looks great and poised  to make some noise on the senior circuit.