Wrestling Match

I posted a video of the first place wrestling match I lost 10-9 (This is the first time I wrestled in front of a crowd in over 32 years). I really think I won the match with a takedown with one second left (11-10) but the ref was flirting with the tap girl (the girl that lets him know that time for the period has expired) and called us out of bounds. College rules state if any part of either opponent is in bounds then the match is still in bounds. This was the best match of the bracket and the one I will remember for losing. I gave up 10 points in a 3 minute match so I made a bunch of mistakes. It was also a good contrast in wrestling body types tall v. stocky. My opponent Steve was a nice guy. Here is the tale of the tape:

Me: 5’11”, 147.9 pounds, 50 years old; Steve: 5’5”, 147.7 pounds, 47 years old, Steve says he can bench press close to 300 pounds (I will not even say how much I bench press) and we both had to cut 10 pounds to make the weight 150 pound weight class.

I debated posting the video because I am so pitifully slow, but considering my neurological condition (my muscles contract at a slower rate among a plethora of other symptoms that are not conducive to wrestling or athletics) I should not be too surprised. I would have done better if the periods were longer and there was no rest between periods – my strength is my conditioning and it takes me a bit to get going. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a39GRWp70Jo

Here is the rundown of the play by play (three one minute periods with 30 seconds of rest):

Point system:

Take Down: 2 points

Reversal: 2 points

Escape: 1 point

When in control exposing your opponents back to the mat: 2 Points for 2-4 seconds; 3 points for 5 consecutive seconds

Violations: 1 point

Period 1: Steve tries a front head lock throw. It was not locked up very tight and we get into a scramble. The ref awards him 2 almost instantly for a takedown (probably wrong, but he eventually gains control anyway – I almost roll through and catch him on his back). I could have better avoided the move if I lowered my level more. I work into what is called a Peterson Roll for the 2 point reversal and get 2 back points for a 4-2 lead after the first period. One more second and I would have had 3 back points. I think the referee could have started counting back points sooner, but it was close.

Period 2: It is my choice and I select top. I get the leg in and the referee took his time, but eventually awards me 3 back points and then I make the biggest mistake of the match. I get high and instead of bailing out and giving Steve just the reversal he gets both the reversal and 3 back points to tie the match at 7-7 through 2 periods.

Period 3: It is Steve’s choice and chooses bottom. Steve escapes for 1 point and then I take an atrocious take down attempt that leads to an easy take down for Steve to go up 10-7. I waited a few seconds before pointing to the fact that Steve was locking hands (The referee finally calls it and awards 1 penalty point for me) and then I get an escape to cut the lead to 10-9. It seems I get an easy take down for 2 to win the match but it is not awarded. You can see I am frustrated and we reset with one second left. I did not want to be a sore loser so I really do not contest the call too hard. Everyone that has seen the video and the match live says I got screwed, but the truth of the matter is that I made several mistakes during the course of the match that also cost me the victory.

My coach is also a youth coach with me and the kids had a meet that conflicted with my meet so he could not attend. So my coach was my wife (I think she did great considering she does not know much about the sport), but you can hear Steven’s coach during the match (head coach at Denver North High School).