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Nolf and the huge gap to the field...

Wrestlestat has all the data you want.

Pantaleo was Nolf's only 1 score match since his freshman year. Zain had the three I referenced above.

I'm not sure what specific data you want, but this isn't a 100% objective data-driven thing. Part of it is an eye-ball test, subjective opinion.

In my opinion, Sorenson was closer to beating Zain than any of Nolf's opponents have been (excluding the first year on the mat for each, in which they both had guys they went 1-2 against). Sorenson held Zain to a decision 3 times in 2017 and 2018 with 2 of those matches being victories of 2 points or less.

Zain is an all-timer. But so is Nolf. And in my opinion, Sorenson was closer to Zain than anyone was to Nolf (again, excluding the first year on the mat for each).

We're comparing 2 all-time greats, with virtually no space between them. BUT, for sake of argument Zain DESTROYED Pantaleo 3 times, with 3 punishing falls. Nolf beat Pantaleo 6-4 in their one meeting so far.
 
We're comparing 2 all-time greats, with virtually no space between them. BUT, for sake of argument Zain DESTROYED Pantaleo 3 times, with 3 punishing falls. Nolf beat Pantaleo 6-4 in their one meeting so far.
Someone is going to argue that Michigan was " beatdown week" so Nolf was at a disadvantage when he wrestled Panteleo. Lol
 
We're comparing 2 all-time greats, with virtually no space between them. BUT, for sake of argument Zain DESTROYED Pantaleo 3 times, with 3 punishing falls. Nolf beat Pantaleo 6-4 in their one meeting so far.

Well in fairness ... Zain had to work extremely hard to beat Deakin in his senior year at the Keystone Classic and only managed to major him with a last second takedown. Nolf, however, utterly destroyed Deakin from the get-go.

Both tech-ed Micah Jordan (16-0 and 16-1) but Nolf did it 2 1/2 minutes faster.

These comparisons don't always hold water for a variety of reasons (stylistic differences, among other reasons). For example, DT almost always destroyed opponents far worse than Dake (and everyone else) but never managed to solve the matchup with Dake himself in college.
 
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IMHO this entire thread is just semantics. Nolf is awesome, Zain was awesome, Ruth & DT were awesome. They were all different wrestlers. Trying to determine which of those (or any other awesome wrestler like Cael) is an exercise in futility. They were/are ALL AWESOME and lots of fun to watch.
 
IMHO this entire thread is just semantics. Nolf is awesome, Zain was awesome, Ruth & DT were awesome. They were all different wrestlers. Trying to determine which of those (or any other awesome wrestler like Cael) is an exercise in futility. They were/are ALL AWESOME and lots of fun to watch.

100% agree. They are all so great. It is all about preference and what you like to see. I never thought I'd enjoy watching a wrestler as much as I did David Taylor. In my opinion, he is easily a top 5 all-around talent despite only winning 2 titles. What he did at NCAA's to anyone not named Bubba Jenkins or Kyle Dake is simply remarkable. Then, Jason Nolf came along. In my opinion, Nolf is the most innovative wrestler I've ever watched. We are beyond lucky to have had these absolutely amazing talents. If I had to rank them, it would look like this (though I have no issue with someone ranking them in any order)

1. Nolf - He is just one of a kind with his innovation & relentless style.
2. Taylor - Simply a joy to watch. Always looking for ways to score.
3. Bo - So exciting to watch. He is so clutch.
4. Zain - I can't believe I have him 4. Just an absolute bruiser.
5. Ruth - I can't believe I have him 5. I've never seen someone look so calm during a match. I used to laugh when he'd have a single leg in the air, try a couple of trips and if they didn't work, he decided not to waste energy and just took him out of bounds because he knew he would just score when they went back to the middle.

These were just for fun, and obviously, I didn't include some other guys who could be in the conversation. I can't even tell you the amount of joy I've gotten watch these guys compete. I am also proud of the way and each and everyone of them handled themselves as well.
 
Some guy named Cael was 40-0 with 23 pins, 11 TFs, 2 major decs, and two forfeits in 2002. Both regular decisions were to Jon Trenge.
And, as I recall, he handled Trenge in final with the outcome never in doubt. I can't recall if he gave up a takedown to him or not. I do recall that Cael ankle picked Trenge at least twice in their finals match that year. I don't recall what happened in their earlier bout.
 
I had to look up this Nolf guy that you are talking about. Not impressed. I mean freshman year loses twice to some guy from Illinois on the big stages that he had dismantled earlier in the season. Talk about regression. Had an ok soph year. Saw him literally give up against I think a dude from Rutgers of all places and was so embarrassed that he took the rest of the regular season off. Then come nattys gets an amazing draw to get a fellow competition dodger in the quarterfinals who just happens to be from the same hs club. As an Iowa fan, I think the Hawks really lucked out when he chose Penn St. With all of the data points above, how could anyone possibly feel Nolf is that much better than the field?

Disclaimer: For anyone that reads this as anything but sarcasm and posts a rebuttal needs to immediately delete their rivals account and rethink their life choices....
What does being gullible to sarcasm have to do with one’s life choices? Asking for a friend.
 
What does being gullible to sarcasm have to do with one’s life choices? Asking for a friend.

Someone didn't read the disclaimer very closely. Instructions were clearly given, but not followed. (insert winky face here)

Seriously though, Nova and Mvattivo summed it up well. All great wrestlers with different styles that were/are very entertaining to watch. Any true wrestling fan appreciated their skills, even when they were beating on their teams guy.
 
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