Watching these two wrestlers I believe I am seeing a distinction that might be cause for discussion. No one doubts Nolf's a game which is to attack with superior athleticism, gas tank, and balls. The question I have is what happens when he meets his equal? When Mark met Zahid and Bo this year he had to draw upon his experience wrestling opponents who possessed some clear superiorities. At the Junior worlds last year Mark's semi-final opponent was arguably a better athlete but Mark was able to break him mentally. Zahid in particular left Mark with few obvious avenues of attack while Bo's strength represented a clear gas tank challenge. In both cases Mark accepted the limitations of his situation and found a way to win. As Nolf enters senior level international competition does he posses the ability to beat someone as good or better than he is? Mark uses counter wrestling and scrambles. What will Nolf use?
Nolf and Hall
- Thread starter PSUisawesome
- Start date
Imo, he will need some added muscle as per DT, he already has the attitude and skillset
Interesting. I see it as two different mindsets. Nolf an animal attacking non stop. Hall a cerebral chess master who's never seen a position he hasn't been before and learns from it.
What's the right way? Million dollar question. That's what makes this sport great to a fan like me who's never stepped on a mat but enjoys watching the many styles in this sport.
Kind of like the age old question. Would you rather be the unstoppable force or the immovable object
What's the right way? Million dollar question. That's what makes this sport great to a fan like me who's never stepped on a mat but enjoys watching the many styles in this sport.
Kind of like the age old question. Would you rather be the unstoppable force or the immovable object
In a recent podcast Ben Askren was talking about having had an opportunity to wrestle with Jason. Ben said that he expected Jason to be strong, but that he was even stronger than anticipated.
is cenzo stronger than Jason? Another example is when DT wrestled Jordan Burroughs, was ahead, but couldn't stop that double and lost.
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Mark will be much stronger at 174 next year....He was always under weight this year....Hitting the weights will make him much stronger....Never going to be that tall though...He is the best scrambler at 74 in the country....DT says that is his strong point....He is very good win guys shoot on him....He will attack much more next season since he will be much stronger to finish....
I expect to see Nolf develop further, with experience. As good as he is, I don't see him as a finished product, after 2 years of top-level college competition. He can develop a better tactical sense of how to win matches against a formidable opponent (the question being....will he see a really formidable opponent in college, or maybe get this valuable experience through free style). I'm reminded of how Quentin Wright won the NCAA title at 197 against Kilgore, how Megaludis finally broke through as a senior, and how Matt Brown eventually got to the top of the podium. In all those examples, experience and maturity helped win against opponents who seemed every bit as good.
I can't think of a better place for Nolf to improve than the PSU wrestling room, and also with the Nittany Lion WC guys, along with coaching from Cael and company.
SIAP.
I am not the biggest freestyle fan.. actually don't like it, BUT in watching it, I think one of Nolf's biggest problems may just be his style. He exposes himself to a lot of potential back points at the freestyle level. I may be way off as again, not the biggest follower of freestyle but I have thought that about him as he transitions in a couple years to freestyle as an issue.
I am not the biggest freestyle fan.. actually don't like it, BUT in watching it, I think one of Nolf's biggest problems may just be his style. He exposes himself to a lot of potential back points at the freestyle level. I may be way off as again, not the biggest follower of freestyle but I have thought that about him as he transitions in a couple years to freestyle as an issue.
The Wright-Megaludis-Brown example was what I was getting at. Through no fault of his own Nolf does not seem like somebody whose had to beat an equal on a big stage. Yet
*cough* IMAR *cough*
Jason's win over IMAR, dramatic as it was, came during a dual meet, while IMAR got the wins in B1G tournament and then NCAA Tournament. So the "big stage" win vs an equal hasn't come yet. Of course, we haven't found anyone other than IMAR so far that would qualify as an "equal" of Jason Nolf, and those matches came during his redshirt freshman year. But I take the point of PSUisawesome about Nolf's development; overcoming someone who seems equally or better talented, and doing it in a major championship, has yet to be accomplished.
Who cares if Nolf hasn't, in some opinions, overcome someone deemed his equal. He is a national champion and we're damn lucky to have him. Yeesh!
Yes, and we're too dam early in his career to attempt to Define the kid, let it play out
I didn't want to step in anyone's toes but the key word here is beat.*cough* IMAR *cough*
Nobody's defining anybody just thought this discussion would be a little more interesting than one about HR calling us Rapey.
Agreed, just think he completed his sophomore year though, bigger sample will help us sort it out
True and it's going to be awesome to watch it play out between now and 2020. My guess is that we'll see 3-5 lions on the Olympic fs team.
