Column: With grace, Mark Hall takes loss and moves forward

[Tim Owen/BWI staff]

Mark Hall was the first starter in Penn State's practice room Wednesday, eager to move ahead. My column about how he's handled his first dual meet loss and what we might be able to expect moving forward.

Wrestling Column: With grace, Hall takes loss and moves forward

 

[tikk10]

Most kids would've denied that the environment played a factor whether it did or not. He's got a great head on his shoulders.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

nice article!

 

[dropster45]

Attitude is everything!

 

[NittanyChris]

Great read!

Interesting to compare the grace, maturity, and levelheadedness in Hall's media interactions versus the approach of Thomas Gilman.

Very excited to see how he grows and improves after that loss.

We Are!!!

 

[dropster45]

Great read!

Interesting to compare the grace, maturity, and levelheadedness in Hall's media interactions versus the approach of Thomas Gilman.

Very excited to see how he grows and improves after that loss.

We Are!!!

Yes Indeed. "I danced with him, we danced, I'm a dancer..." WTF!

 

[pete_k]

A question for this board...one of the comments was that he expended a lot of energy riding the guy out in the first period. Of course my experience goes back a long time ago (50 Years!), but i always figured that it took much more energy to be the guy on the bottom (of course back then you could ride the legs and not be called for stalling). Comments?

 

[dropster45]

A question for this board...one of the comments was that he expended a lot of energy riding the guy out in the first period. Of course my experience goes back a long time ago (50 Years!), but i always figured that it took much more energy to be the guy on the bottom (of course back then you could ride the legs and not be called for stalling). Comments?

Yep, scratched my head on that one too. Carrying the other guys weight is much more energy intensive. Just ask the opponents of Mr. Retherford...

 

[RoarLions1]

A question for this board...one of the comments was that he expended a lot of energy riding the guy out in the first period. Of course my experience goes back a long time ago (50 Years!), but i always figured that it took much more energy to be the guy on the bottom (of course back then you could ride the legs and not be called for stalling). Comments?

Just general comment...imo, the offensive (top) guy rides to tire the defensive (bottom) wrestler, and that will pay off later. Of course there's always the "he should be trying to turn him" thing too.

Most riding is more tiring for the defensive guy. The exceptions could include, fighting off a reversal, or some of the pretzel-twists these guys get into, in which case the offensive guy is expending just as much or more.

 

[bwfight]

I think this may be indicative of the size/strength differential there appeared to be between Mark and Meyer. I know that Mark's size has been discussed on this forum and he certainly seemed to be able to handle Crutchmer who looks big compared to Mark, but I think this will be part of the adjustment he will continue to make.

 

[El-Jefe]

Depends on the ride, doesn't it? If he's broken down, you're applying forward pressure, he's working harder.

If you're following him around because you can't keep him down, maybe you're working harder, or at least harder than you should need to.

A lot of wrestlers today use rides where both guys end up in a seated position (crab ride or claw + spiral), and then the top guy has to work core hard to stay forward with little or no leg drive.

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

A question for this board...one of the comments was that he expended a lot of energy riding the guy out in the first period. Of course my experience goes back a long time ago (50 Years!), but i always figured that it took much more energy to be the guy on the bottom (of course back then you could ride the legs and not be called for stalling). Comments?

I think it was a reference to being surprised a little by how much energy he needed to keep Meyer contained on bottom -- Meyer is a big, powerful 74 lber. Keep in mind, Hall has seen lots of big, strong, well-developed, seasoned veterans on the Freestyle circuit....and been very successful against them, but you don't do a lot of "mat wrestling" in Free. Obviously, Hall did a lot of folk mat wrestling in high school, but the amount of energy he would expend riding a good high school wrestler is probably infinitesimal compared to how much he expended against Meyer.....and it took him by surprise (it isn't like you can change your mind AFTER your already there and have expended the energy). I think he is saying it was a "tactical" error and that he should have stayed to what was successful in Free against opponents that were bigger, stronger and more seasoned......IOW, he should have released Meyer and used his energy to take him down a few more times to build a big lead in the first period.....then make a tactical decision as to how to play the mat wrestling periods. What he is saying makes sense - if he had used that energy for TDs in the first, he would have points and a big lead to show for it.....as it was, he had NOTHING to show for all the "riding" he did in the first except a loss of energy (as Meyer was able to eliminate the RT-adv over the rest of the match).

 

[pete_k]

thanks to all for the great discussion on my question!