Berger's Disappointment @ 157

[NitInVA]

Did anyone at PPG on Saturday night pay attention to the 157# podium ceremony?

Berger kept his face down the whole time for pictures, when all other athletes heads are up and are proud of what they accomplished. When walking off the podium on the way to the tunnel, similar to how some wrestlers hand off their headgear to fans, he actually went out of his way and placed his trophy on the wall for some kids to take. Wanted no part in having a 2nd place trophy.

In listening to his semifinals interview he said he actually had to take a couple weeks away from wrestling and watching film as coaches thought he was obsessing too much over Nolf. Berger said he has watched so much video on him he could make books. In the end, he could never crack the Nolf code. Heck of a competitor, and glad Jason went out of his way to acknowledge him when others may have taken the opportunity to capitalize on the trash talk.

 

[RandyL]

Sometimes disappointent is just so intense.
Perhaps with a little time, he will respond the congratulatory way that Imar did with VJ.

 

[y2jriden]

Looked like he patted Nolf on the back and said good job. People handle disappointment in different ways. I didn't think he did anything wrong on Saturday night.

 

[okinburg1]

I'm guessing that in 10 or 20 years he's going to wish he had kept that trophy...

 

[RandyL]

Looked like he patted Nolf on the back and said good job. People handle disappointment in different ways. I didn't think he did anything wrong on Saturday night.

Yeah, I didnt mean to suggest that he had. But we still might hear something from him re Nolfs gracious remarks.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Berger is a great wrestler. He was a 4X Oregon State Champion in high school, and only lost 3 HS matches. Yet he faced Nolf @ Dapper Dan, and lost to him.

Like Nolf, he redshirted, and then made NCAAs all 4 years. He DNP in 2016, lost to Nolf in the semis in 2017 and finished 5th, placed 3rd in 2018, and placed 2nd in 2019, as he lost to Jason in the final. It's hard to say how he would have done if Nolf were at another weight, as the brackets would have been different. In 2019, he only lost to Jason @ NCAAs. In 2018, he lost to Hidlay in the quarters (by 1 point). As mentioned above, in 2017 he lost to Jason in the semis, then KemDawg in the consolation semis. You could argue that he would have won in 2019, and made the finals in 2017, if not for Jason.

Jason showed him a lot of respect in his interview after the match.

 

[Str8DBLz]

Jason Nolf and Tyler Berger finished their HS careers in Pittsburgh (dapper Dan) and now at their College Career in Pittsburgh (NCAA's) with he same outcome. Guess Da-Burgh is just not Tyler's city.

 

[Conewago]

I've made a few snide comments at Berger's expense, but he doesn't come across as a thug or a waste of oxygen. Just a bit of a goof! Nothing really wrong with that, like Jason said.

Anyway, I think we've all heard stories of athletes throwing their second place medals in the trash can, so it's not like he'd be the first

 

[Dogwelder]

Jason Nolf and Tyler Berger finished their HS careers in Pittsburgh (dapper Dan) and now at their College Career in Pittsburgh (NCAA's) with he same outcome. Guess Da-Burgh is just not Tyler's city.

Over-under on number of additional times Berger will visit Pittsburgh in his lifetime: 0.5

 

[Dogwelder]

... he actually went out of his way and placed his trophy on the wall for some kids to take. Wanted no part in having a 2nd place trophy.

I hope somebody safeguards the trophy for a decade or two and then offers it back to Berger, perhaps after Berger has kids.

 

[RandyL]

It is easy to forget how many truly wonderful wrestlers never win even one championship, despite sustained excellence over their caeers.
Tyler Cadldwell of OK/OK ST always comes to mind for me..always a Burroughs, a Taylor in their way.

 

[McScoreley]

In many ways, I think Tyler's obsession with Nolf (in a competitive way) worked in his favor .... besides being 3X AA, he improved on his finish EACH year.

R12 as a FR
5th as a SO
3rd as a JR
2nd as a SR

Brackets were different each year but facts are facts, the kid must be one hell of a worker cause he improved like hell.

 

[nitlion6]

Did anyone at PPG on Saturday night pay attention to the 157# podium ceremony?

Berger kept his face down the whole time for pictures, when all other athletes heads are up and are proud of what they accomplished. When walking off the podium on the way to the tunnel, similar to how some wrestlers hand off their headgear to fans, he actually went out of his way and placed his trophy on the wall for some kids to take. Wanted no part in having a 2nd place trophy.

In listening to his semifinals interview he said he actually had to take a couple weeks away from wrestling and watching film as coaches thought he was obsessing too much over Nolf. Berger said he has watched so much video on him he could make books. In the end, he could never crack the Nolf code. Heck of a competitor, and glad Jason went out of his way to acknowledge him when others may have taken the opportunity to capitalize on the trash talk.

Yet somehow in the match of his dreams. The match he obsessed over. The match where preparation and opportunity came together, Berger did nothing except what he always does with Nolf. He wrestled as hard as he could to not get teched.
If he was going to win he needed to score but his plan lacked the mental preparation to risk being scored against so he never allowed himself to absorb the risk that one needs to attack.

His preparation did seem to raise his skillset above the other competition. Berger wrestled tough getting to the finals.

 

[RandyL]

I dont thnk Berger could make much of an adjustment to deal with Nolf.
His style I think is quite similar, just not as good.
Kinda Nolf lite.

 

[ac98]

i was at the NCAAs the year Kolat upset Troy Steiner in the semis. Steiner walked off the podium and dumped his 3rd place trophy in the trash. Gable walked up behind him and took the trophy out and handed it one of his assistants.

 

[Still in State College]

There was no real benefit to just riding Nolf in the second period. He never got close to a turning combination let alone an actual turn. If he really wanted to win he should have erased the RT at most and tried on his feet.

 

[Brian LB-U]

Berger gave it his all, no question in my mind. He's a tough kid. Sure, he ran his mouth a bit concerning his intentions re:Jason, but for all we know he might have just been pulling a "Larry Owings" trying to get into his superior opponent's head. No big deal.

 

[Lyons212]

Berger cannot beat Nolf, he does not have the horsepower. The wrestlers that gave Nolf challenges were IMAR, Pantaleo and Hidlay all very physical and strong wrestlers.

 

[NittanyLion84]

Yet somehow in the match of his dreams. The match he obsessed over. The match where preparation and opportunity came together, Berger did nothing except what he always does with Nolf. He wrestled as hard as he could to not get teched.
If he was going to win he needed to score but his plan lacked the mental preparation to risk being scored against so he never allowed himself to absorb the risk that one needs to attack.

His preparation did seem to raise his skillset above the other competition. Berger wrestled tough getting to the finals.

This
If he really wanted to take Nolf’s head, he would have came out and let it fly. In all likelihood, he would have gotten pinned, none the less, he would have had a chance to get lucky and catch Nolf. Instead, he seemed more intent on not getting teched.

 

[McScoreley]

Honestly, I think one of the biggest issues with Berger's statement is right after he made it: he knew he couldn't afford to get pinned. Losing is fine but to say you're leaving with someones head then getting pinned just looks as bad as can be.

We've talked about it a lot on this forum but I think it's almost a consensus agreement here that it's much more honorable getting pinned letting it fly and give yourself that 10% chance (i.e. Sammy Brooks to Bo) but to the average fan or just the people who watch ESPN, it's the most shameful way to lose a wrestling match. So ironically by making that statement, he basically took away the only style that would give him any kind of chance of winning.

He seemingly wrestled with the intent not to get exposed vs actually attacking Jason.

 

[Str8DBLz]

It was his head gear he put on the wall not his trophy

Did anyone at PPG on Saturday night pay attention to the 157# podium ceremony?

Berger kept his face down the whole time for pictures, when all other athletes heads are up and are proud of what they accomplished. When walking off the podium on the way to the tunnel, similar to how some wrestlers hand off their headgear to fans, he actually went out of his way and placed his trophy on the wall for some kids to take. Wanted no part in having a 2nd place trophy.

In listening to his semifinals interview he said he actually had to take a couple weeks away from wrestling and watching film as coaches thought he was obsessing too much over Nolf. Berger said he has watched so much video on him he could make books. In the end, he could never crack the Nolf code. Heck of a competitor, and glad Jason went out of his way to acknowledge him when others may have taken the opportunity to capitalize on the trash talk.

 

[Str8DBLz]

I'm going to bet on under

Over-under on number of additional times Berger will visit Pittsburgh in his lifetime: 0.5

 

[y2jriden]

Did anyone ever circle back here to point out that Berger did tweet something out thanking fans including Iowa and PSU?

 

[matter7172]

Did anyone ever circle back here to point out that Berger did tweet something out thanking fans including Iowa and PSU?

Yep. Nice gesture by him.

 

[KSLion]

Did anyone at PPG on Saturday night pay attention to the 157# podium ceremony?

Berger kept his face down the whole time for pictures, when all other athletes heads are up and are proud of what they accomplished. When walking off the podium on the way to the tunnel, similar to how some wrestlers hand off their headgear to fans, he actually went out of his way and placed his trophy on the wall for some kids to take. Wanted no part in having a 2nd place trophy.

In listening to his semifinals interview he said he actually had to take a couple weeks away from wrestling and watching film as coaches thought he was obsessing too much over Nolf. Berger said he has watched so much video on him he could make books. In the end, he could never crack the Nolf code. Heck of a competitor, and glad Jason went out of his way to acknowledge him when others may have taken the opportunity to capitalize on the trash talk.

As Nolf mentioned, he wanted to win badly and no one can hate him for that. If you don't want to win in your chosen sport you have no business competing.

From where I sit, Berger's only mistake was use of the wrong tense when publicly discussing his tournament wrestling achievements. He should've waited until it was over and used the past tense instead of loudly speaking in the future tense before it began -- and he may well have learned a useful life lesson in the process.

 

[Dogwelder]

Berger’s positive self talk was the same as Nico’s or Cael’s/Q’s. But young people these days want to overshare everything to the whole world ...

 

[McScoreley]

I know Nico put signs everywhere declaring himself the National Champion that year.

What did Cael and Q do?

 

[Dogwelder]

I know Nico put signs everywhere declaring himself the National Champion that year.

What did Cael and Q do?

I think Q told the story that weeks before his first national title, during a practice before Big Tens, out of the blue, Cael yelled out to everybody something like, “Quentin Wright, 2011 NCAA Champion!”

 

[jrd23psu]

Berger just doesn't have the skill and athleticism to beat Jason. There is no shame in finishing second at the NCAA tournament. Berger was unlucky enough to have a generational talent at his weigh for four straight years.

BTW - for those that do not know, Tyler Berger has beaten Jason Nolf. The Flo Nationals 2013 finals. Berger dec Nolf. 2-0. It's the first time they wrestled and the only time Berger has beaten him, but he has beaten him.

 

[RandyL]

That would be what?...summer before Jr yr of h.s.?
freestyle?
It was good match in DD Classic, then Nolf pulled away in college

 

[midniteride]

That would be what?...summer before Jr yr of h.s.?
freestyle?
It was good match in DD Classic, then Nolf pulled away in college

2013 @ Indiana State, college rules.

 

[SUPERTODD]

Yet somehow in the match of his dreams. The match he obsessed over. The match where preparation and opportunity came together, Berger did nothing except what he always does with Nolf. He wrestled as hard as he could to not get teched.
If he was going to win he needed to score but his plan lacked the mental preparation to risk being scored against so he never allowed himself to absorb the risk that one needs to attack.

His preparation did seem to raise his skillset above the other competition. Berger wrestled tough getting to the finals.

It’s like someone said, David Taylor maybe, you have to wrestle to score all the time, not just in the big matches, and cant just turn it on when you feel like it. I think we saw this with Hall and Joseph. They wrestled tight matches a lot more frequently this year than Nolf and Nickal and when they needed to be able to score they could not when it counted.
If Berger’s whole goal was to beat Nolf he needed to be trying to score points every second, all year in order to have a chance to hang with Nolf.

 

[jschrantz]

It’s like someone said, David Taylor maybe, you have to wrestle to score all the time, not just in the big matches, and cant just turn it on when you feel like it. I think we saw this with Hall and Joseph. They wrestled tight matches a lot more frequently this year than Nolf and Nickal and when they needed to be able to score they could not when it counted.
If Berger’s whole goal was to beat Nolf he needed to be trying to score points every second, all year in order to have a chance to hang with Nolf.

Hidlay had a real shot and he certainly wasn’t working to score points all the time. Berger simply lacked the strength to hang

 

[SUPERTODD]

Hidlay had a real shot and he certainly wasn’t working to score points all the time. Berger simply lacked the strength to hang

Hidlay is a significantly better defensive wrestler than Berger because of his strength. Hidlay was the first guy in the last 3 years who could stop Nolf when he was in deep on an attack.

 

[jschrantz]

Hidlay is a significantly better defensive wrestler than Berger because of his strength. Hidlay was the first guy in the last 3 years who could stop Nolf when he was in deep on an attack.

Yes, that was the key

 

[PapaBearSLIM]

I'm going to bet on under

Like most people he won't be back. Most folks outside of Pittsburgh need a very compelling reason to visit.

 

[PapaBearSLIM]

It’s like someone said, David Taylor maybe, you have to wrestle to score all the time, not just in the big matches, and cant just turn it on when you feel like it. I think we saw this with Hall and Joseph. They wrestled tight matches a lot more frequently this year than Nolf and Nickal and when they needed to be able to score they could not when it counted.
If Berger’s whole goal was to beat Nolf he needed to be trying to score points every second, all year in order to have a chance to hang with Nolf.

I disagree. Nolf is an offensive juggernaut. It goes against the wrestler's mindset we all want to see in our guys but realistically if guys let the fur fly they may score (Nolf has been taken down by guys no where near Berger) but are likely to get bonused. There were 2 ways to beat him, IMO. Pin him or figure out a way to shrink, slow and steal the match (the same way outmatched wrestlers have tried to beat studs since forever). I think this was more Berger's plan. His best chance even if not getting a turn was to ride/wear and hope it pays off later.

 

[El-Jefe]

Who in the country ** didn't ** wrestle tight matches a lot more frequently than Nolf and Nickal?

8 of those other guys won national titles.

 

[PSU87]

Berger just doesn't have the skill and athleticism to beat Jason. There is no shame in finishing second at the NCAA tournament. Berger was unlucky enough to have a generational talent at his weigh for four straight years.

BTW - for those that do not know, Tyler Berger has beaten Jason Nolf. The Flo Nationals 2013 finals. Berger dec Nolf. 2-0. It's the first time they wrestled and the only time Berger has beaten him, but he has beaten him.

Nolf had mono that year

 

[lionlover]

Berger just doesn't have the skill and athleticism to beat Jason. There is no shame in finishing second at the NCAA tournament. Berger was unlucky enough to have a generational talent at his weigh for four straight years.

BTW - for those that do not know, Tyler Berger has beaten Jason Nolf. The Flo Nationals 2013 finals. Berger dec Nolf. 2-0. It's the first time they wrestled and the only time Berger has beaten him, but he has beaten him.

Didn't know that; thanks! Must be an added burr under Berger's saddle knowing that his skill set declined relative to Nolf .