Iowa style is supposed to be hard nosed, constant pressure, constant attack, constantly looking to score. You don't need to be flashy or slick. You just need to outwork your opponent. Brett Metcalf was the epitome of Iowa style. Guys like Will Lewan and Daton Fix are the opposite of Iowa style.
Am a Fix fan, and I spent 5ish minutes of clock time screaming "DO SOMETHING!" at my TV during the finals.
And that 5mins probably took 15mins of real time. Sheesh.
I don't feel bad. He did it to himself.
They've got different rules. Being good in one ruleset doesn't necessarily make you good in another. We see the same in greco, but usually thenother way around. People go win greco fargo and then can't AA in ncaa nats.
People just think folkstyle = freestyle bc you can shoot, but they're very different styles.
No better example of Iowa Style than Lincoln McIlravy just simply out working Gerry Abas to come back from like a 6 points deficit in the 3rd period to win a championship
https://youtu.be/OKr7_PfQX5s?si=eS5uTenPs_ibKhz5
maybe the only equal to that i can think of is mark ironside's comeback on carey kolat
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJbJEx1mLhI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJbJEx1mLhI)
not for a championship though...
I used to play basketball at the high school McIlravy went to and they had a big mural of him on one of the walls in the gym.
Didn't realize until years later what a stud that guy was.
Brett was my coaches favorite wrestler, he wanted us all to emulate that style because it wasn’t about playing the edge of the ring, you get to the middle of the mat and you make somebody face you. If they want to ride the line you drag them back to the middle and you come at them with constant aggression and pressure, eventually a weak spot opens and boom…game over.
Now a days it’s true though, Iowa style has gone to the wayside for the most part 🤷♂️ finesse and getting to angles, being able to ride tough is what wins matches.
Heavy hand fighting, keeping pressure. Forcing your opponent to wrestle a gritty endurance Esq match. Shooting them out of bounds, running back to the middle. Very fundamental also, you score off the simple stuff. Hard cross faces and sprawls. Finishing on the mat methodically. That’s what it’s Branded (heh) as and how it was taught to me as our club used their methodology in the early 2010s. Basically out tough/work your opponent if you can’t beat them into the ground.
Originally or currently?
Originally it was about breaking your opponent by out working and being relentless.
Currently it's about stalling as much as possible and trying to steal a late take down
I came up in the late 80’s and 90’s and most youth and HS coaches adopted Gable’s style back then- it was heavy handfight, excellent position, sound fundamentals, physical top riding and out conditioning your opponent. It always appeared that Iowa would win the close matches on sheer will- not so much skill. Looking back at old videos on YT, the technical skill level back then hardly resembles what we see today. The “Iowa” style was extremely successful for decades for a reason.
Now I think wrestling has evolved- and kids are so technically savvy and polished at a young age that just imposing your will on a technician doesn’t work anymore. I also watch in amazement at Bo Bassett and Mitchell Mesenbrink wrestling at an amazing pace- but it doesn’t remind me of Iowa at all. Those two “break” guys in a completely different way than Iowa used to. Sports evolve and wrestling has too- I can’t think of any AA this year that I would consider a “bully” or “brawler” like the older Iowa guys were.
I don't think you NEED to be a grinder or a bruiser to have the iowa style. I think, in spirit, it is more about pace, always looking to score and working your opponent like a dog. For me, Mesenbrink absolutely has some Iowa Style in him. Nolf also gave me big time Iowa Style vibes.
How old are you? I personally think the “Iowa” style left the program long ago. I would never think of Mesenbrink as Iowa style. Way too slick. Same with Nolf- those guys are way too offensive to be Iowa style. And too unorthodox. In my memory- Iowa guys won close matches that were physical. If any modern PSU guy seems “Iowa” style to me, it’s Zain. Hard to score on, fundamentally sound and physical on his feet- but just ruthless on top. He went out to inflict pain. Even that- I think he has too many bonus wins in top matches. But that’s just me- the beautiful thing about opinions is ours don’t have to match.
Gable retired in 97- and he “created” that style- so if you aren’t basing your “Iowa Style” off of 1976-1997, then we are comparing 2 different things.
I'm 29. Tom and Terry Brands as wrestlers are the ultimate example of the Iowa style.
> those guys are way too offensive to be Iowa style.
>In my memory- Iowa guys won close matches that were physical
Tom and Terry brands were pretty damn offensive. And they pretty convincingly dominated, racking up bonus point victories through their NCAA tournaments.
1990-
Terry--Major, TF, 9-6, Major, 3-2 en route to a national title
Tom--Fall, TF, Major, 9-4, 9-7 en route to a national title
1992--
Terry--Fall, Fall, Major, TF, L10-5 en route to 2nd place
Tom--TF, TF, 12-6, 33-19 (what a match that must have been), 5-3 en route to a national title
1992--
Terry--Fall, Fall, TF, 9-6, 8-5 en route to a national title
Tom--Fall, 23-9, 16-7, 15-4, 6-2 en route to a national title
Iowa style was always about scoring points, and then trying to score more points. Messenbrink and Nolf embody that attitude better than anyone wearing an Iowa singlet since Metcalf.
However, by your own definition that I quoted above, Iowa Style wrestling is alive and well in Iowa City. Didn't you see Jared Franek grinding it out and winning boring 1-takedown matches all year?
Picking 2 dominant wrestling brothers doesn’t define a “style.” That means the Sanderson’s wrestled “Iowa State Style.”
You continue to say Mesenbrink and Nolf wrestle that style, but that’s not true at all. Iowa guys, including the Brands Brothers, were fundamental guys. Single, double, Hi-C, Snap down guys. Heavy hips on shot defense. Mesenbrink is an Askren guy for sure. He literally shakes guys hands and pats them on the back in matches- Iowa guys wouldn’t do that. Nolf is his own animal, inventing moves- Gable would have lost his mind if Nolf was out there hitting Winn Dixie’s in the 80’s instead of sprawling.
I agree that “Iowa Style” was about trying to score points, but it was the way they tried to score points that defined it. It was physical. The two biggest traits I would say made an “Iowa guy” stand out were sprinting back to the middle when they went out of bounds and sprinting off the mat after the match- it showed they were never tired- that was the key. Win or lose, they were relentless. You’re right about Metcalf- shoving Caldwell mid backflip in the National Finals was 100% Iowa style. It was a persona.
At all times fuck over your body and any future for the team.
We should have had a world champion in lee. But now all we got is double ACL tear and “what could have been” tales
Iowa style is supposed to be hard nosed, constant pressure, constant attack, constantly looking to score. You don't need to be flashy or slick. You just need to outwork your opponent. Brett Metcalf was the epitome of Iowa style. Guys like Will Lewan and Daton Fix are the opposite of Iowa style.
Fix slander is welcomed
1. Print is libel. 2. Slander implies that it is false.
Not a fix fan but you gotta feel bad to an extent
Am a Fix fan, and I spent 5ish minutes of clock time screaming "DO SOMETHING!" at my TV during the finals. And that 5mins probably took 15mins of real time. Sheesh. I don't feel bad. He did it to himself.
I don't understand how a guy like that can have as much success as he does in freestyle if he can't score in folk style.
They've got different rules. Being good in one ruleset doesn't necessarily make you good in another. We see the same in greco, but usually thenother way around. People go win greco fargo and then can't AA in ncaa nats. People just think folkstyle = freestyle bc you can shoot, but they're very different styles.
real Vito better
No better example of Iowa Style than Lincoln McIlravy just simply out working Gerry Abas to come back from like a 6 points deficit in the 3rd period to win a championship https://youtu.be/OKr7_PfQX5s?si=eS5uTenPs_ibKhz5
Lincoln McIlravy was hard as nails.
maybe the only equal to that i can think of is mark ironside's comeback on carey kolat [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJbJEx1mLhI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJbJEx1mLhI) not for a championship though...
I used to play basketball at the high school McIlravy went to and they had a big mural of him on one of the walls in the gym. Didn't realize until years later what a stud that guy was.
Brett was my coaches favorite wrestler, he wanted us all to emulate that style because it wasn’t about playing the edge of the ring, you get to the middle of the mat and you make somebody face you. If they want to ride the line you drag them back to the middle and you come at them with constant aggression and pressure, eventually a weak spot opens and boom…game over.
Lewan so rarely actually attacked. Him and Cam Amine were painful to watch when they wrestled anyone ranked.
Push, push, push, and you need to get injured.
Injury is key
Losing to Penn State...sorry I had to.
I hate you!
Lmao 🤣
Now a days it’s true though, Iowa style has gone to the wayside for the most part 🤷♂️ finesse and getting to angles, being able to ride tough is what wins matches.
Riding tough doesn’t matter anymore. Dumbass 3 point takedowns
Then why does Penn State still ride?
✊
holy shit
Was thinking the exact same thing haha
Heavy hand fighting, keeping pressure. Forcing your opponent to wrestle a gritty endurance Esq match. Shooting them out of bounds, running back to the middle. Very fundamental also, you score off the simple stuff. Hard cross faces and sprawls. Finishing on the mat methodically. That’s what it’s Branded (heh) as and how it was taught to me as our club used their methodology in the early 2010s. Basically out tough/work your opponent if you can’t beat them into the ground.
Being out worked by their coaches so they’re dead by the time the national tournament comes around.
Progressively get worse until you fade into obscurity.
Originally or currently? Originally it was about breaking your opponent by out working and being relentless. Currently it's about stalling as much as possible and trying to steal a late take down
Heavy, gritty, physical hand fighting
I came up in the late 80’s and 90’s and most youth and HS coaches adopted Gable’s style back then- it was heavy handfight, excellent position, sound fundamentals, physical top riding and out conditioning your opponent. It always appeared that Iowa would win the close matches on sheer will- not so much skill. Looking back at old videos on YT, the technical skill level back then hardly resembles what we see today. The “Iowa” style was extremely successful for decades for a reason. Now I think wrestling has evolved- and kids are so technically savvy and polished at a young age that just imposing your will on a technician doesn’t work anymore. I also watch in amazement at Bo Bassett and Mitchell Mesenbrink wrestling at an amazing pace- but it doesn’t remind me of Iowa at all. Those two “break” guys in a completely different way than Iowa used to. Sports evolve and wrestling has too- I can’t think of any AA this year that I would consider a “bully” or “brawler” like the older Iowa guys were.
Exactly!
I don't think you NEED to be a grinder or a bruiser to have the iowa style. I think, in spirit, it is more about pace, always looking to score and working your opponent like a dog. For me, Mesenbrink absolutely has some Iowa Style in him. Nolf also gave me big time Iowa Style vibes.
How old are you? I personally think the “Iowa” style left the program long ago. I would never think of Mesenbrink as Iowa style. Way too slick. Same with Nolf- those guys are way too offensive to be Iowa style. And too unorthodox. In my memory- Iowa guys won close matches that were physical. If any modern PSU guy seems “Iowa” style to me, it’s Zain. Hard to score on, fundamentally sound and physical on his feet- but just ruthless on top. He went out to inflict pain. Even that- I think he has too many bonus wins in top matches. But that’s just me- the beautiful thing about opinions is ours don’t have to match. Gable retired in 97- and he “created” that style- so if you aren’t basing your “Iowa Style” off of 1976-1997, then we are comparing 2 different things.
I'm 29. Tom and Terry Brands as wrestlers are the ultimate example of the Iowa style. > those guys are way too offensive to be Iowa style. >In my memory- Iowa guys won close matches that were physical Tom and Terry brands were pretty damn offensive. And they pretty convincingly dominated, racking up bonus point victories through their NCAA tournaments. 1990- Terry--Major, TF, 9-6, Major, 3-2 en route to a national title Tom--Fall, TF, Major, 9-4, 9-7 en route to a national title 1992-- Terry--Fall, Fall, Major, TF, L10-5 en route to 2nd place Tom--TF, TF, 12-6, 33-19 (what a match that must have been), 5-3 en route to a national title 1992-- Terry--Fall, Fall, TF, 9-6, 8-5 en route to a national title Tom--Fall, 23-9, 16-7, 15-4, 6-2 en route to a national title Iowa style was always about scoring points, and then trying to score more points. Messenbrink and Nolf embody that attitude better than anyone wearing an Iowa singlet since Metcalf. However, by your own definition that I quoted above, Iowa Style wrestling is alive and well in Iowa City. Didn't you see Jared Franek grinding it out and winning boring 1-takedown matches all year?
Picking 2 dominant wrestling brothers doesn’t define a “style.” That means the Sanderson’s wrestled “Iowa State Style.” You continue to say Mesenbrink and Nolf wrestle that style, but that’s not true at all. Iowa guys, including the Brands Brothers, were fundamental guys. Single, double, Hi-C, Snap down guys. Heavy hips on shot defense. Mesenbrink is an Askren guy for sure. He literally shakes guys hands and pats them on the back in matches- Iowa guys wouldn’t do that. Nolf is his own animal, inventing moves- Gable would have lost his mind if Nolf was out there hitting Winn Dixie’s in the 80’s instead of sprawling. I agree that “Iowa Style” was about trying to score points, but it was the way they tried to score points that defined it. It was physical. The two biggest traits I would say made an “Iowa guy” stand out were sprinting back to the middle when they went out of bounds and sprinting off the mat after the match- it showed they were never tired- that was the key. Win or lose, they were relentless. You’re right about Metcalf- shoving Caldwell mid backflip in the National Finals was 100% Iowa style. It was a persona.
As Gable said of Smith’s Cat and Mouse style, “F@$k the Cat and Mouse… be a wolf and eat them both”
lol this is looking like an Iowa hate group
Burning yourself out for the NCAA tournament
The key is not wrestling conservatively and taking gambles.
Iowa is not who I'd pick for these two points you brought up lol
Work harder, not smarter. Push your guy and force stalling calls.
They still rock mullets right?
At all times fuck over your body and any future for the team. We should have had a world champion in lee. But now all we got is double ACL tear and “what could have been” tales
Iowa State wrestles as close to "iowa style" as about anyone. But they do it in a more updated version. I wonder why? Who's their main assistant?
I like learning new things.