This isn't wrestling
Anyone who watched the 140-pound finals in the Class AA regional tournament Saturday in Johnstown had to be shaking their heads when it was over. Burrell's Devon Maloney had beaten West Greene's Kory Bissett, 1-0, in a what has to be described as a bout but was far from it.
There were no great shots, no technical maneuvers, no defensive miracles that saved points. It was nothing more than a tug-o-war in an arena full of people. The problem in this bout was that Maloney used a different tactic on Bissett, mainly trapping Bissett's leg throughout the entire second period.
On each restart, Maloney would trap Bissett's leg and the two would play out the same scenario time after time. Bissett would twist and turn and try to free himself. Maloney would cling to the leg and counter each attempt. The reason this worked was that Maloney was never warned for stalling. It's a judgment call. As long as the referee let it go, Maloney was more than happy to continue the leg-trap.
To be fair, Maloney was not doing anything illegal, immoral, obscene or against the spirit of the rules. As long as the referee allowed it, then why stop? And Bissett needed more offense, especially in the first period. But this was not good wrestling and the small splattering of applause from the approximately 2,500 fans let you know how unimpressed they were with the bout.
This six-minute bout took about seven minutes in real time. It's pretty simple to let the clock run when nothing is happening. The referee should have warned Maloney for stalling after the third or fourth leg trap but it didn't happen. Since Maloney lost the previously three bouts against Bissett, he had to feel that a win is a win is a win.
But this was as ugly as they come and set wrestling back a couple decades.
There were no great shots, no technical maneuvers, no defensive miracles that saved points. It was nothing more than a tug-o-war in an arena full of people. The problem in this bout was that Maloney used a different tactic on Bissett, mainly trapping Bissett's leg throughout the entire second period.
On each restart, Maloney would trap Bissett's leg and the two would play out the same scenario time after time. Bissett would twist and turn and try to free himself. Maloney would cling to the leg and counter each attempt. The reason this worked was that Maloney was never warned for stalling. It's a judgment call. As long as the referee let it go, Maloney was more than happy to continue the leg-trap.
To be fair, Maloney was not doing anything illegal, immoral, obscene or against the spirit of the rules. As long as the referee allowed it, then why stop? And Bissett needed more offense, especially in the first period. But this was not good wrestling and the small splattering of applause from the approximately 2,500 fans let you know how unimpressed they were with the bout.
This six-minute bout took about seven minutes in real time. It's pretty simple to let the clock run when nothing is happening. The referee should have warned Maloney for stalling after the third or fourth leg trap but it didn't happen. Since Maloney lost the previously three bouts against Bissett, he had to feel that a win is a win is a win.
But this was as ugly as they come and set wrestling back a couple decades.
posted by Joe Tuscano at
11:53 PM
1 Comments:
I watched this same tactic used against Shawn Whyte. He was in incredible shape, but the other wrestler would just hang on or lay on the mat and do nothing. Every now and then woth 2 seconds left a ref would give a token stall call, but too little,too late. Wrestling is a very physiclaay demanding sport, where conditioning should matter...but through the years I've seen too many quality wrestlers lose because of stalling, not being called. Injury time-outs to get air is another matter, and because I do not want to doubt a childs health I will not get to far into that.....
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