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Bull/Joseph

Just got home from the dual. I fast forwarded right to this match. I absolutely love watching these 2 battle. All out war. Blood, sweat and giant cajones. That match is what great college wrestling is about. I hope we get to see them wrestle 2 more times. 174 was great aswell. We all got our money's worth forsure!
Couldn't agree more. Both are champs in my eyes, it's just unfortunate someone will have to lose. The Alex and Eli thing is captivating and heart wrenching for that family.
 
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I will stand by this observation. The Bull is a stud and their matches can go either way. The big difference come March is I think the Bull's body breaks down in a tough tournament setting. Whether it be the cut/weigh in or just multiple matches per day over several days, he isn't the same guy deep into the event. On the other hand Cael has our guys in optimal tourney shape, and we get stronger the deeper we go. Assuming they are on opposite sides of the bracket there is a good chance they won't meet but if they do I think Cenzo has his best match against him yet for the victory.
 
If Bull makes it to the semifinal and wins Friday night. He'll be more than ready to go on Saturday night. It seems that in the past his biggest challenge was getting through Friday. This year will be more manageable for him.

In terms of his tactics, he was begging for Cenzo to launch him. Brands said in his presser that he shoulda saved that for deep in the 3rd period. I expect to see them in that 50/50 position again.
 
He did a blow by handshake. Rewind and you can see it
The fact is the handshake should be eliminated - show me a legitimate hand shake from the losing wrestler, from most any team. It's all the limp wrist look away style. Just don't do it anymore. After the team match is over is all that is necessary.
 
I will stand by this observation. The Bull is a stud and their matches can go either way. The big difference come March is I think the Bull's body breaks down in a tough tournament setting. Whether it be the cut/weigh in or just multiple matches per day over several days, he isn't the same guy deep into the event. On the other hand Cael has our guys in optimal tourney shape, and we get stronger the deeper we go. Assuming they are on opposite sides of the bracket there is a good chance they won't meet but if they do I think Cenzo has his best match against him yet for the victory.
He's becoming more of a pinner so while what you are saying is correct for his past, I think that may change.
 
Cenzo made two huge adjustments in this match - one, obviously, was the lateral drop in response to Marinelli's outside trip.

But the other was simply the fact that he completely shut down Marinelli's right high crotch in neutral.

And I don't know how Marinelli's gonna compensate for that, because that is, by far, his best chance at scoring on Cenzo consistently - especially since Cenzo now has a significant and deadly counter for those outside trips.

I look forward to more matches either way, because those two guys are both great wrestlers.
 
The fact is the handshake should be eliminated - show me a legitimate hand shake from the losing wrestler, from most any team. It's all the limp wrist look away style. Just don't do it anymore. After the team match is over is all that is necessary.
Or, we can encourage athletes to respect their opponents, win or lose, with a firm handshake. We can either lower the standards or we can rise to meet them. We (wrestling fans) love to talk about how our sport builds character. But I agree with you that too often these days the losing wrestler cannot seem to look his opponent in the eye and offer a normal handshake. I didn't see anything atypical in the Marinelli / Joseph handshake. And personally, I think it's unfortunate that this has become the typical ending to a hard fought match. I mean, there shouldn't be a reason to talk about the handshake after a match like that!
 
The fact is the handshake should be eliminated - show me a legitimate hand shake from the losing wrestler, from most any team. It's all the limp wrist look away style. Just don't do it anymore. After the team match is over is all that is necessary.
Which means only the HWTs would need to control their emotions on the spot. Everyone else gets a cooling off period.

Also unclear how this would work in a tournament setting

Or, maybe the refs could grab wrists and force a real handshake if one does not happen voluntarily.
 
PS, DeSanto screamed in Suriano's face, and Cruiseliner Nick still gave him a firm handshake. So it is still possible.
Of course it is - Spencer Lee allowed Piccinnini to dance around the mat until he shook his hand. All I'm saying is I don't care what team you pick, a respectful handshake after a tough match is few and far between.
 
To this point last season, he had six pins. This year he's had seven.
Fair enough, but if you have watched his matches they are much more dominant and he's not getting beat up nearly as much. I would agree that is what his issue is with the NCAA. By the way, his draw last year didn't help that issue either.
 
Couldn't agree more. Both are champs in my eyes, it's just unfortunate someone will have to lose. The Alex and Eli thing is captivating and heart wrenching for that family.
Also, PD3 is an NCAA champ in his eyes!

Why believe our eyes that see the NCAA bracket when we can believe our other eyes! ;)
 
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Cenzo made two huge adjustments in this match - one, obviously, was the lateral drop in response to Marinelli's outside trip.

But the other was simply the fact that he completely shut down Marinelli's right high crotch in neutral.

And I don't know how Marinelli's gonna compensate for that, because that is, by far, his best chance at scoring on Cenzo consistently - especially since Cenzo now has a significant and deadly counter for those outside trips.

I look forward to more matches either way, because those two guys are both great wrestlers.
Good post.

Pretty amazing to see the coaching adjustments Cenzo has made to counter Marinelli and RBY to neutralize DeSanto. Gotta believe we see something similar with Hall and Kemerer.
 
Fair enough, but if you have watched his matches they are much more dominant and he's not getting beat up nearly as much. I would agree that is what his issue is with the NCAA. By the way, his draw last year didn't help that issue either.
Had you said those things, I wouldn't have pointed out the flaw. I agree with your other points, even though they won't help him beat Cenzo again. ;)
 
A couple of questions Joseph related and I figured I would put them here instead of in a new thread.

Anyone besides me that would like to see Joseph shoot a bit more at Bull’s legs, even just to keep him honest? I think Joseph is capable of doing that more period, but doesn’t prefer it because of his strength up high.

Second, does Joseph wrestle any Greco? Personally, I find Greco boring, but it seems like Joseph would be a natural for that style. I imagine he and Manville would have had some epic room battles against each other.
 
Fair enough, but if you have watched his matches they are much more dominant and he's not getting beat up nearly as much. I would agree that is what his issue is with the NCAA. By the way, his draw last year didn't help that issue either.
Actually the numbers don't support this.

NCAA Most Dominant points thru Feb 3 of each year: 2019 = 4.69, 2020 = 4.00

Throw out the Cenzo loss: 2019 = 4.69, 2020 = 4.50 -- still not more dominant this year.
 
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A couple of questions Joseph related and I figured I would put them here instead of in a new thread.

Anyone besides me that would like to see Joseph shoot a bit more at Bull’s legs, even just to keep him honest? I think Joseph is capable of doing that more period, but doesn’t prefer it because of his strength up high.

Second, does Joseph wrestle any Greco? Personally, I find Greco boring, but it seems like Joseph would be a natural for that style. I imagine he and Manville would have had some epic room battles against each other.
Cenzo REALLY likes freestyle.
 
Cenzo made two huge adjustments in this match - one, obviously, was the lateral drop in response to Marinelli's outside trip.

But the other was simply the fact that he completely shut down Marinelli's right high crotch in neutral.

And I don't know how Marinelli's gonna compensate for that, because that is, by far, his best chance at scoring on Cenzo consistently - especially since Cenzo now has a significant and deadly counter for those outside trips.

I look forward to more matches either way, because those two guys are both great wrestlers.

Actually, a straight bear-hug has been what AM has been using effectively against VJ (used it to counter VJ's double-over inside trip). We saw it again this past Friday. Was really touch-&-go and a little surprised VJ is still willingly allowing this 50/50 position to occur - very dangerous, VJ allows his hips to get to close, he gets sucked in and is going straight to his back. Cael said it best - they both like to go big from the top, so we'll probably see it again even though it is very 50/50 and one of them is going to their back. The risk-reward is not there for either wrestler but they both just keep going there and probably will again.
 
Cenzo made two huge adjustments in this match - one, obviously, was the lateral drop in response to Marinelli's outside trip.

But the other was simply the fact that he completely shut down Marinelli's right high crotch in neutral.

And I don't know how Marinelli's gonna compensate for that, because that is, by far, his best chance at scoring on Cenzo consistently - especially since Cenzo now has a significant and deadly counter for those outside trips.

I look forward to more matches either way, because those two guys are both great wrestlers.


Watched the match again last night with this in mind. I appeared as though Cenzo was intentionally baiting Alex into that trip,the very instant Alex attempted to hook Cenzos leg, Cenzo nailed that perfect toss.
 
Watched the match again last night with this in mind. I appeared as though Cenzo was intentionally baiting Alex into that trip,the very instant Alex attempted to hook Cenzos leg, Cenzo nailed that perfect toss.
I tend to agree but after the points Cenzo seemed to shut it down. The bull was the aggressor most of the match, although you could argue he had to be being down 6 early.
 
Actually, a straight bear-hug has been what AM has been using effectively against VJ (used it to counter VJ's double-over inside trip). We saw it again this past Friday. Was really touch-&-go and a little surprised VJ is still willingly allowing this 50/50 position to occur - very dangerous, VJ allows his hips to get to close, he gets sucked in and is going straight to his back. Cael said it best - they both like to go big from the top, so we'll probably see it again even though it is very 50/50 and one of them is going to their back. The risk-reward is not there for either wrestler but they both just keep going there and probably will again.

I posted about this earlier. It was very scary! I mean Cenzo won, so it worked out, but it just seemed like it could have gone either way. For the sake of my heart, I'm hoping Cenzo shoots some doubles and leg attacks next time!
 
Unfortunately for Illinois, Terry also taught the move to Deuce Rachal one year, in early April.
I remember watching this dual while driving to the Missouri with the Madrigals.

He coulda been a hero by just not getting pinned as the Illini would knock off the Hawks... he tried to launch Stoll LOL

We talked about that WTF moment for about 2 hours of the trip. That ill fated decision may have affected recruiting which is disappointing in Champaign anyway.
 
I remember watching this dual while driving to the Missouri with the Madrigals.

He coulda been a hero by just not getting pinned as the Illini would knock off the Hawks... he tried to launch Stoll LOL

We talked about that WTF moment for about 2 hours of the trip. That ill fated decision may have affected recruiting which is disappointing in Champaign anyway.
Rachel did all the work for Stoll that night, but IMO if they wrestled that match, that night 20 times Stoll gets a pin 16 or 17 times anyhow.
 
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I tend to agree but after the points Cenzo seemed to shut it down. The bull was the aggressor most of the match, although you could argue he had to be being down 6 early.

Yes. It was the opposite in the earlier matches when Cenzo was behind big and had to try to come back.
 
Yes. It was the opposite in the earlier matches when Cenzo was behind big and had to try to come back.

Wasn't Cenzo ahead in their first match when many of us feel he went for an unnecessary throw which Bull countered.

But I guess I see you point that after that throw he was behind.
 
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... I[t] appeared as though Cenzo was intentionally baiting Alex into that trip,the very instant Alex attempted to hook Cenzos leg, Cenzo nailed that perfect toss.
Now it will be interesting to see whether that counter move will work again for Cenzo, or whether The Bull can also cook up a surprise. It’s very exciting and nerve-wracking.
 
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