Wrestling is a Numbers Crunching Sport

Mike Johnson of Manassas, Virginia has gone way beyond the call of duty. He's put together an incredibly detailed — and fascinating — 18-page analysis of some of the numbers and statistics from the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships which has been posted at the WrestlingReport.com website.

These stats are kept meticulously even in high school. Some wrestlers go crazy for this information, and not just the recruiters. Programs scour the nation for people with large amounts of matches wrestled, massive amounts of pins, technical galore and so much more. Fans automatically are drawn to the wrestlers that have large numbers. Once they’re drawn in, they’ll start researching the numbers. Ask any wrestling fan that avidly follows a wrestler about the persons stats and they’ll be able to tell you how many wins they had, how many losses, how many of those wins were from pins, techs, how long the longest match lasted and how long the shortest match was.

Some people may think that only a mathematician can handle so much numbers and what they mean, but wrestlers, coaches and fans seek them out. They crave them. The championships is no exception. I was able to make it out to Omaha this past year and everyone was talking about Metcalf, Palmer, Ohio, Iowa, Cornell… and their numbers. They talked about Jayson Ness, the 133 pounder from Minnesota who went undefeated the entire season, along with the eight others that came into the three day tournament with an undefeated record. On the way out, they were talking about the five seniors that completed four years as four-time All Americans and the five that became the only ones with an undefeated season.

If you still don’t believe me that wrestlers, fans and coaches are numbers driven, Mike Johnson, of Manassas, Virginia, has compiled an 18 page report of numbers from the NCAA championships in Omaha. I might not be that convincing, but that report will convince almost anyone.

Finally!!

I’m here!! A couple people have emailed me and asked if I was going to make it to the tourney this year. This is the first time that I’ve been able to and I’ve had plans to make it since November. So yes, I had plans. I left Provo yesterday at 6:00 PM MST. Thanks to Wyoming weather and road closures, I didn’t get to Omaha until just now. The weather shut down a 100 mile stretch of I-80, so here’s the route we had to take.
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Worst. Drive. Ever. That’s right. State highways at 3 in the morning up to Casper and then back down. Well, the good thing is my photographer and I are both safe, the fourth session starts in just under an hour and a half and the bad news is my photographer is asleep as I write this… We’ll be there tonight. Look for pics on the FaceBook page tonight along with some more blog posts!! (These ones about wrestling, not random travels…)

Metcalf vs Palmer 2010 Big Ten Championship Match

This is probably one of the biggest matches of the season so far. #1 Brent Metcalf (who was previously undefeated in the season) vs. #2 of Ohio State Lance Palmer. They had met 4 times before this, and each time Metcalf came out on top. This time, he nearly got pinned. So what’s the difference? What happened that he lost 9-3, taking second in the Big 10 and getting a number 2 seed for the Nationals?

Anyone who has watched wrestling will remember the push from last year, but more than that, the huge upset that the Caldwell/Metcalf match generated. Metcalf has demonstrated in the past that he can wrestle under pressure: he’s won the Big 10 conference twice and was the first Big 10 wrestler to earn Outstanding Wrestler at the conference two times in a row. He’s a Div. 1 champion from 2008, two time All American, and the list goes on and on. The question isn’t “Can he wrestle?” Whoever asks that should go watch some of the videos and come back with a different opinion. But our question is, “What is going on with Metcalf the past year when he’s under pressure?”

Watch the video and give us some feedback.

Metcalf vs. Palmer (from 2009)

Metcalf vs. Palmer (from 2009)

Picture of the Month

Pretty proud of myself cuz I took this shot myself! This was the first time that I have been able to see Iowa wrestle. I am now a fan!

So even though it doesn’t look like it, there was hardly any light in the gymnasium (they actually did this in a high school). I showed up late because of the long three hour drive just in time for Metcalfs match. It was super short and I couldn’t get any good shots, so I wasn’t too happy, but I got this and thought it looked pretty cool.

Jeb Clark (UVU) takes on Ryan Morningstar of Iowa in the 165 lb match up

Jeb Clark (UVU) takes on Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) in the 165 lb match up