Post by yankeekev on Oct 31, 2007 11:28:38 GMT -5
All this reminiscing got me to thinking.........what was my favorite wrestling match EVER?
At any level it would easily be when my 14-10 16yr old son upset the 27-4 3rd ranked wrestler at 160 last yr which qualified him for the state tourney. Took him down 3 times and totally dominated the match, winning 7-3 and coming thru some very exciting scrambles.
In college it would be a toss up between 1984 Chris Barnes goes up and beats Iowa's 190 pounder (some amazing scrambles in this one as well) in which I was so loud that Gable actually charged the stands and was coming to get me! I got nervous when his Heavyweight came with him (although I am sure Gable could have probably done more damage to me than him) but he was only coming to restrain his coach from doing something he might regret later. I'm not sure why he was so upset, all I said to him was he needed to sit down and shut up (I was 18 and probably had a little false courage in me so it may have been worded a hair different). That was in the old Gallagher Iba, before they raised the roof and added all those seats. There was 5500 in the gym and my ears were still ringing 2 days later. That was a definite turning point in the Iowa dynasty.
But I still can't beat the 1st match I saw as a freshman at OSU. We had an up and coming sophomore from a well known family.
Wisconsin was coming to town and the feature match was defending National Champion (he went on to win it again this year) and #1 ranked Jim Jordan against our home grown talent John Smith. Jordan was physically larger than our 150#er and he truly dwarfed John. The skill these two exhibited in the flurries that seemed almost non stop was unreal. Jim would shoot and John would turn into the rubberband man and get out of it. John would get in really deep and Jim would use masterful balance and strength to get out of it. John escaped and more scrambles ensued. The crowd was extremely supportive, erupting with every shot,,,every near miss. Jordan chose neutral as he had been in on 2 very close to finishing shots and probably 4 more good ones. John had already used some injury time as his knee got twisted in one of the scrambles. More shots,,more near misses,,more counters,,more countering counters,, Jordan is in deep BLAAAAA.....time expires and John wins 1-0. John limps off the mat with an extremely hard fought victory.....Jim stomps off using the horrible taste of defeat to drive him....he never takes his eyes off of Smith as he paces back and forth behind the Wisconsin bench, and then he drops to the floor and rips off 30 push ups. Jumps up and paces, again never taking his eyes off of John, and then he drops down and rips off 25-30 more, the crowd starts counting them off for Jim, giving him the business....I honestly doubt he heard us. All of his focus was on John, the match that just was, all the near misses, what he was going to do the next time they met...you could see the wheels turning and the taste of defeat burning him up. Jim ripped off at least 150 push ups before he settled down. Yep this one is still my favorite!
At any level it would easily be when my 14-10 16yr old son upset the 27-4 3rd ranked wrestler at 160 last yr which qualified him for the state tourney. Took him down 3 times and totally dominated the match, winning 7-3 and coming thru some very exciting scrambles.
In college it would be a toss up between 1984 Chris Barnes goes up and beats Iowa's 190 pounder (some amazing scrambles in this one as well) in which I was so loud that Gable actually charged the stands and was coming to get me! I got nervous when his Heavyweight came with him (although I am sure Gable could have probably done more damage to me than him) but he was only coming to restrain his coach from doing something he might regret later. I'm not sure why he was so upset, all I said to him was he needed to sit down and shut up (I was 18 and probably had a little false courage in me so it may have been worded a hair different). That was in the old Gallagher Iba, before they raised the roof and added all those seats. There was 5500 in the gym and my ears were still ringing 2 days later. That was a definite turning point in the Iowa dynasty.
But I still can't beat the 1st match I saw as a freshman at OSU. We had an up and coming sophomore from a well known family.
Wisconsin was coming to town and the feature match was defending National Champion (he went on to win it again this year) and #1 ranked Jim Jordan against our home grown talent John Smith. Jordan was physically larger than our 150#er and he truly dwarfed John. The skill these two exhibited in the flurries that seemed almost non stop was unreal. Jim would shoot and John would turn into the rubberband man and get out of it. John would get in really deep and Jim would use masterful balance and strength to get out of it. John escaped and more scrambles ensued. The crowd was extremely supportive, erupting with every shot,,,every near miss. Jordan chose neutral as he had been in on 2 very close to finishing shots and probably 4 more good ones. John had already used some injury time as his knee got twisted in one of the scrambles. More shots,,more near misses,,more counters,,more countering counters,, Jordan is in deep BLAAAAA.....time expires and John wins 1-0. John limps off the mat with an extremely hard fought victory.....Jim stomps off using the horrible taste of defeat to drive him....he never takes his eyes off of Smith as he paces back and forth behind the Wisconsin bench, and then he drops to the floor and rips off 30 push ups. Jumps up and paces, again never taking his eyes off of John, and then he drops down and rips off 25-30 more, the crowd starts counting them off for Jim, giving him the business....I honestly doubt he heard us. All of his focus was on John, the match that just was, all the near misses, what he was going to do the next time they met...you could see the wheels turning and the taste of defeat burning him up. Jim ripped off at least 150 push ups before he settled down. Yep this one is still my favorite!
