Welllllll .......
Somewhat against my better instincts, we ventured down I287 to Piscataway and Rutgers Athletic Center/Louis Brown Athletic Center/Jersey Mike's Arena to watch Rutgers host Virginia Tech.
First thing when you arrive, you get a rude welcome - parking in the lot at the RAC now costs $30, which seems like highway robbery. It's more than the price of the majority of tickets. I'll also note that Rutgers' "sell out" standard is a little fluid. They don't sell the 300 level seats for wrestling matches, so a sell out is, say, about 1/4 empty. Even with that, for the opening home match against a (theoretically - we'll see how the season works out, I'm skeptical about VT's lineup after its start) top 10 team, the crowd was a relatively light (compared to what was expected) 5100+ and not the sell out Rutgers was hoping for. Still a good (maybe even great) crowd by college wrestling standards.
Anyway, if anyone is fearing a significant change in action in D1 wrestling matches due to the changing of points for takedowns, relax. We waited until the 12th period of the meet to get our first takedown. In the first 3 weights (started at 125), there was a total of four escapes. Nine periods of wrestling and nothing other than four escapes - Peterson from Rutgers had the only point during the match and Mitch Moore duplicated that at 141. Neither guy did anything other than hold on on top, but they stalled the entire two minutes without getting dinged. Latona from VT got the first takedown of the match in overtime at 133 after a 1-1 regulation score. Henson from VT got the first takedown in regulation with a third period takedown at 149, breaking the "no offensive points" streak at 11 periods (total scoring through almost 4 matches was six escapes at that point). He won 5-1, tacking on a riding time point.
Ironically, we went to a D3 dual at our alma mater last Saturday and the rule changes seemed to work as intended - there was a lot of action and a lot of bonus point victories. Two good wrestling programs with the right aggressive philosophy will do that. Not so much last night. I'm trying to remember four matches to kick off a meet that had less scoring, but I'm drawing a blank.
Andronian came out strong at 157 against a Rutgers backup but seemed to lose the thread a bit, getting sloppy and getting taken down to jeopardize the major but he recovered enough to squeeze out a 13-5 major decision (the only bonus point of the night).
165 saw Brazilian jujitsu convert Hipolito come out like a house on fire, getting a takedown pretty much right off the opening whistle. He cut Rutgers' Anthony White immediately (apparently, according to a VT wrestler sitting next to us, he has been wrestling folkstyle for less than 5 years. He certainly didn't seem to have a clue on top) and got another takedown. Then, he too, took his foot off the gas (or got gassed). He got another takedown and then struggled the rest of the match. He got taken down to make the match close, then recovered for a late takedown to wind up on top 13-7.
174 featured Mekhi Lewis against 2022 AA Jackson Turley. Match was probably closer than VT would have liked and Lewis also seemed to forget that if you win by 8, you get a major. Up 7-2 with riding time virtually locked, he waited a little too long to cut Turley and wound up running out of time, leaving with an 8-3 victory, one takedown short of the major. That team point could have had a huge impact for the dual. Score was now 16-6 in favor of VT.
184 the dangerous 9/7 ranked Brian Soldano took the mat for Rutgers against 21/20 ranked Sam Fisher. It looked like scouting has caught up to Soldano. Fisher was patient and ready for Soldano's unusual style. The match had a good amount of action and was close. But Soldano doesn't seem to have a proactive takedown in his repetoire and lost 10-9. Definitely the most entertaining match of the night. VT was up 19-6, so the match, barring some weird stuff, was VT's to take home at the end of the night.
After a period of 197, it was clear we were looking at another 1 takedown match (and probably another at 285), so we cut out. Both 197 and 285 turned out to be exactly that with Rutgers winning both, leaving the final score 19-12, and we got out of the high-priced parking lot ahead of traffic (which is a nightmare if you are in the teeth of it) and home smoothly. Rutgers continued their drought against top 10 teams dating back to Nebraska at home in January 2016. I don't see that streak ending this season.
Looking to seeing more offense on Sunday at West Point to wash the taste of the first 4 matches last night out of our mouths.
Somewhat against my better instincts, we ventured down I287 to Piscataway and Rutgers Athletic Center/Louis Brown Athletic Center/Jersey Mike's Arena to watch Rutgers host Virginia Tech.
First thing when you arrive, you get a rude welcome - parking in the lot at the RAC now costs $30, which seems like highway robbery. It's more than the price of the majority of tickets. I'll also note that Rutgers' "sell out" standard is a little fluid. They don't sell the 300 level seats for wrestling matches, so a sell out is, say, about 1/4 empty. Even with that, for the opening home match against a (theoretically - we'll see how the season works out, I'm skeptical about VT's lineup after its start) top 10 team, the crowd was a relatively light (compared to what was expected) 5100+ and not the sell out Rutgers was hoping for. Still a good (maybe even great) crowd by college wrestling standards.
Anyway, if anyone is fearing a significant change in action in D1 wrestling matches due to the changing of points for takedowns, relax. We waited until the 12th period of the meet to get our first takedown. In the first 3 weights (started at 125), there was a total of four escapes. Nine periods of wrestling and nothing other than four escapes - Peterson from Rutgers had the only point during the match and Mitch Moore duplicated that at 141. Neither guy did anything other than hold on on top, but they stalled the entire two minutes without getting dinged. Latona from VT got the first takedown of the match in overtime at 133 after a 1-1 regulation score. Henson from VT got the first takedown in regulation with a third period takedown at 149, breaking the "no offensive points" streak at 11 periods (total scoring through almost 4 matches was six escapes at that point). He won 5-1, tacking on a riding time point.
Ironically, we went to a D3 dual at our alma mater last Saturday and the rule changes seemed to work as intended - there was a lot of action and a lot of bonus point victories. Two good wrestling programs with the right aggressive philosophy will do that. Not so much last night. I'm trying to remember four matches to kick off a meet that had less scoring, but I'm drawing a blank.
Andronian came out strong at 157 against a Rutgers backup but seemed to lose the thread a bit, getting sloppy and getting taken down to jeopardize the major but he recovered enough to squeeze out a 13-5 major decision (the only bonus point of the night).
165 saw Brazilian jujitsu convert Hipolito come out like a house on fire, getting a takedown pretty much right off the opening whistle. He cut Rutgers' Anthony White immediately (apparently, according to a VT wrestler sitting next to us, he has been wrestling folkstyle for less than 5 years. He certainly didn't seem to have a clue on top) and got another takedown. Then, he too, took his foot off the gas (or got gassed). He got another takedown and then struggled the rest of the match. He got taken down to make the match close, then recovered for a late takedown to wind up on top 13-7.
174 featured Mekhi Lewis against 2022 AA Jackson Turley. Match was probably closer than VT would have liked and Lewis also seemed to forget that if you win by 8, you get a major. Up 7-2 with riding time virtually locked, he waited a little too long to cut Turley and wound up running out of time, leaving with an 8-3 victory, one takedown short of the major. That team point could have had a huge impact for the dual. Score was now 16-6 in favor of VT.
184 the dangerous 9/7 ranked Brian Soldano took the mat for Rutgers against 21/20 ranked Sam Fisher. It looked like scouting has caught up to Soldano. Fisher was patient and ready for Soldano's unusual style. The match had a good amount of action and was close. But Soldano doesn't seem to have a proactive takedown in his repetoire and lost 10-9. Definitely the most entertaining match of the night. VT was up 19-6, so the match, barring some weird stuff, was VT's to take home at the end of the night.
After a period of 197, it was clear we were looking at another 1 takedown match (and probably another at 285), so we cut out. Both 197 and 285 turned out to be exactly that with Rutgers winning both, leaving the final score 19-12, and we got out of the high-priced parking lot ahead of traffic (which is a nightmare if you are in the teeth of it) and home smoothly. Rutgers continued their drought against top 10 teams dating back to Nebraska at home in January 2016. I don't see that streak ending this season.
Looking to seeing more offense on Sunday at West Point to wash the taste of the first 4 matches last night out of our mouths.
