USA vs. Russia November 19, 2010

For anyone who is interested...if you are in the lower New York area this weekend, USA is wrestling Russia in a dual meet at Hofstra University at 7:30pm this Friday, November 19, 2010. Tickets are $20 at the door. This is the first time the US has wrestled Russia on Long Island since the 1970's. Its going to be awesome!

Let us know who wins, Jimbo.

Hmmmm. I may have to take a trip up there and watch that Friday then the Abu Dhabi Trials on Saturday.

Primetyme199 wrote:

Hmmmm. I may have to take a trip up there and watch that Friday then the Abu Dhabi Trials on Saturday.

I would if I were you. The lineup the USA is putting out is nasty...and Russia just won the World Championships as a team with 5 world champions out of 7 weight classes this past September.

So, the USA won 6 out of 7 matches, but Russia brought their (B) team instead of their starters. It was still amazing though. Some big moves at the buzzer to win, some great scrambles, etc. USA looked pretty sharp. Hopefully we will be catching up to the Russians in the next few years. Not since 2003 were we at their level. The past 7 years they have been just flat out better. Hopefully a resurgence is coming.

jimbojones1950 wrote:

So, the USA won 6 out of 7 matches, but Russia brought their (B) team instead of their starters. It was still amazing though. Some big moves at the buzzer to win, some great scrambles, etc. USA looked pretty sharp. Hopefully we will be catching up to the Russians in the next few years. Not since 2003 were we at their level. The past 7 years they have been just flat out better. Hopefully a resurgence is coming.

How old are the competitors for the US?

Our 121 lbs is still in college, our 132 just graduated 2 years ago, our 145 graduated last year, our 163 graduated 2 years ago, our 185 graduated 2 years ago, our 211 im not sure and our 264 graduated a couple years ago. So everyone is around 23-26 for the most part, so still pretty young. But as far as catching up to Russia, its going to be more about these guys staying around longer so the next crop that will comprise the US team have to go through the old team members to get a spot. Too often now, in the US, people win one world title or olympic medal or make one run at them, and retire, coach, or go mma, so the next group of guys dont even have to beat the former team members to get on, they just beat a field of guys who never made the US team to begin with. Its a matter of depth and our athletes competing and training with each other on a regular basis. In Russia, their top guys all live near each other and train with each other year round. In the US, most guys on our team coach at a college, so they are not getting the competition they need for most of the year, then meet at the olympic training center 8 weeks out of a competition for a training camp. Its just not enough time training with the best consistently. In Russia, their wrestlers get paid like pro athletes in the US, so its easy to keep all the top guys living around each other and training together all year round. There are a lot of factors and problems, but I think the US will be competing neck and neck with Russia in another few years.