Check out his second professional MMA fight. Dude taps out in the first round. Thoughts?
Your Thoughts on Ben Askren’s Second MMA Fight
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Monthly Archives: April 2009
Who is Going to Replace Sanderson?
“The resources there are unbelievable,” Sanderson said of the State College, Pa., campus. “There was a lot of weighing things. It was back and forth in my mind. I didn’t really have a wrong answer. I could stay here, where I love Iowa State and that is never going to change. This is the place that I wanted to win at. This is home. You can’t go wrong. It’s just the potential and the possibilities of Penn State. It’s the highest-regarded institution in sports, in the East and maybe in the country… My intention was never to use Iowa State as a steppingstone. Leaving, I know that’s a tough thing. But I know it’s tougher on me than any one of our fans. Nobody cares more about Iowa State wrestling than I do.”
So if that’s the case, who is going to replace Sanderson at Iowa?
Dan Gable’s Take on Cael Sanderson’s Switch to Penn State
Cael Sanderson Left Cyclones for Penn State
So this is a good point that Gable brings up. Why would Cael have left Iowa if he wants a national championship? Yeah, Penn State has the second best high school wrestling program in the nation – second to Utah (he said this jokingly – Pennsylvania has the best in the nation) and they have great ice cream. But why would he leave a school that has more dual meets and more national titles for a team that is statistically second? I mean come on! Penn State placed 15th compared with Iowa’s two! TWO! And your rival is ONE! Why would someone leave a huge fight with a rival for the number one spot? The other thing that they bring up is the money, but Cael has repeatedly denied that it was the money that attracted him to the job.
So here’s the big question – will Dan Gable take a coaching job at his old alumni? “Anything’s a possibility!” I just hope that Dan wakes up three days in a row saying that he needs to coach there. But if it’s not there who will it be? It seems that he pokes fun a bit when they ask him if he’s the best coach in the nation, but look at his stats. Not only his his dual record impressive, he has placed every qualifiying wrestler into the NCAA tournaments. That’s three years, 30 wrestlers for 30 wrestlers. 100%. So if Dan Gable doesn’t want to fill those shoes, who will want to?
[audio=http://www.wrestling411.tv/wp-content/uploads/DanGable_4_18_09.mp3]
Thanks to Wrestling 411 for the audio file!
Anthony Robles: Is he Really That Good or do Others Not Take Advantage of his Leg?
In case you have never seen Anthony Robles wrestle, I’ve put a video from YouTube here so that you can see him. You can also do a YouTube search for him or check out Anthony’s bio on ASU’s site.
[flashvideo file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGiQodgxFg0 /]
Now, before I begin this post, I don’t want to take away from any of his stats or what he’s been able to do for the sport of wrestling. I think back to when I wrestled and I know without a doubt that if I were in his shoes, I would NOT be on the mat. Having said that, I want to take a look at a wrestling match with Robles from the eyes of the dude wrestling him.
Anthony Robles upends Stanford's Tanner Gardner (photo from DailyLife.com)
First off, the most obvious. He’s missing a leg. That brings us to the second thing: just because he’s missing a leg doesn’t mean he’s disabled. Robles has the upper body strength of AT LEAST a 150 or 157 lb wrestler. He can bench – repping the bar – around 300 lbs. That’s a grip I do NOT want to tango with! So him not having a leg is his benefit at this point: he weighs 125 lbs but can grapple with Metcalf. Scary thought if your toe is on the line with him. He’s got the grip of an ox, and like the commentator said on the video, once he has it, he doesn’t let go.
Another thing that he has to his advantage is that he stays low to the mat. This makes it very hard, nearly impossible to shoot on him. As any coach knows, the first step to shooting in is setting up. The next thing is to change levels by dropping your hips to get under the dude’s hip. But how can you change level to get under when the dude is almost laying on the mat?
The other – very obvious thing – is you can’t do a double very well. You would just have to pick him up and turn the corner. Assuming of course that you solved to problem of changing levels. And how about a single? I think it would be better just to tackle the dude, or spear him. If you do that, though, be sure to bring him to the mat safely and to get your two points.
But how can someone use a one legged wrestler to their advantage. Well first off, Robles does a very good job at using it to HIS advantage. The first thing he does in all the matches I’ve seen is he drops to one knee. Now, if his opponent were to somehow draw Robles to him, and make him stand up, that would create two things. First, he would be a little off balance. Keep in mind, the kid played football, so he knows how to get around with just one leg. The other thing is something not so obvious but the commentator on the video brings out.
Anthony Robles escapes from a hold by Columbia's Brandon Kinney (photo from DailyLife.com)
When Robles is on the ground, he’s coiled up like a snake, using his back leg to spring forward. When his opponent gets within “striking range” he reaches out and grabs him, just like a snake. Only this snake isn’t going to let go. So if you get Robles to stand up, it takes away his ability to coil himself up on his leg like that.
So what sayest thou? Am I full of crap on all of this or are there really some things that puts Robles at a disadvantage because of his missing leg?
Again, I don’t want to take away from anything that Robles has done; he’s an All American wrestler and rightfully so. He deserves it. But if I had to go up against him, these are the things that I would try and do to have some sort of chance against him… Let me know what you think!