Wrestling success is rooted in vengeance. I’ve seen a lot of 3x state champs go on to be absolute nothings in college and kids who only won one or even none go on to be multiple time NCAA champs.
I felt bad for him... Working that hard, getting to that point, and to have that finish... it was almost shock and disbelief. That young man still handled himself well after the loss, but I understand his disappointment.
The sport is one of the greatest because anything can happen within seconds. I wasn't even ranked and went all 3 rounds with a number one ranked wrestler in the State. I was just proud he didn't pin me.
a spladle is from the same position as a merkle. People us merkles as offensive moves. You can force a scramble and do a spladle then when things get wierd, which technically isn’t really offensive or defensive once the scrambled starts. You can also hit the spladle from on top by getting to the outside if the get into a wide tripod. Or you can do what he did here, do a slide by to the merkle position with the hip to hip legs locked and hit the spladle.
Saw a teammate in the state semifinals use the same pinning combination and refs called a defensive pin. Uproar in the team section. Kid was hyper emotional. One of the two worst situations I had to see a wrestler go through. Another was a teammate way ahead in the state semis get called for an illegal slam, his opponent get up to continue only to gave the opposing coach yell at him to get down, rush over and say his shoulder was too hurt to finish the match... but the shoulder was healed enough within about three hours to wrestle and win the state final by tech fall.
Because when he gets to college hell be nothing special. Everyone there is multi time state champs as well. He won't be getting 10 second spladle pins in college
