Ohio seems to dominate when it comes to High School wrestling, but it doesn't seem
to translate into College domination. a select few go onto All American status, but you
just don't see the same names on the national level as you would think.
Just wondering?.........

Stalling on top!

Cthelites you hit the nail on the head. PA a kids come in with much better mat skills. It's unbeleivable how quickly the top man gets hit for stalling and the bottom man can curl up in a fetal position and nothing gets called. Was at Darby saturday and that was something that just jumped out at me. You can be great on your feet but if you have limited mat skills it hurts. The way its is ref'd in Ohio doesn't help either.

Just 2 years ago, Ohio was going on about a 2-3 year run of having the most All Americans. They aren't doing that bad at the college level. I do agree with mat wrestling as why they don't have the same national success as they do in HS though. This state focuses on takedown wrestling. Just a mass chain effect. The refs call stalling too quickly on the top man, so wrestlers don't even bother to ride their opponents, so coaches tend to focus on the neutral position for the majority of their practices.

We have a history of great ones in college, however - that is just the top level kids (Musser, Heskett, Dustin, Taylor, etc). We are so much better than other states in HS because we're "good" on our feet, & if you can take a guy down & get out on bottom - there's no reason you should lose, but....... we do. I agree w/ the above post & it stems from opens via 15 years ago to present. Return to the middle & go neutral. We do lack mat skills (reversals, riding ability, etc). Having Ed's, Walsh of old, & Graham in state makes us look good on the high school national stage, generally speaking.

also, the type of takedowns we are good at - solid shots, head inside single, are great - but there's something to be said about creating offense from front headlocks, throws, & upper body ties (ala Hetag Pliev). The other problem with solely "leg attacks" is that the score can remain fairly close. I really like the way Bo Jordan wrestles due to his ability to take his opponent to their back. It shows that his drilling is designed in "5 point" sequences. When he hits his stuff - it's w/ the intention of getting 5. At his foundation is his single (which he can finish for two anytime he wants), but w/ him always looking to taking a guy to their back makes him “that much more” dangerous.

Agree about stalling effecting riding skills at the next level... I for one would like to see riding time but it isn't as exciting for the average fan even though I think the wrestling I saw this year at districts was a lot of snoozing time. The other thing I think goes with what I just said... You see a couple good kids go at it by playing defense. Waiting for the other kid to make a mistake. I think this hurts our top guys because they struggle creating opportunities when they need them most against other top kids. Seems to me ohio has become very conservative... Also what percentage of our kids are doing freestyle and/or greco?

College is a big jump up. High school success doesn't always translate Into college. Kind of like how college football success doesn't always transfer into NFL success

Because Ohio refs don't like riding.

I agree with BearBoy69,. NCAA is a whole different level of wrestling and most can't handle it. Give it a try before you bad mouth the kids..

Ohio will be doing better in the future.