Jake Varner

[bigvern77]

Congrats Jake! Well deserved!

[seanlove22]

Agreed! Varner doesn't get a ton of recognition, but he was a pretty dominant collegiate wrestler in being a 4X finalist and 2X champ, and has done very well on the international circuit. Now he can add a Gold medal to that list. You could see the Sanderson influence as he was all over those ankles.

Also, how about 2 golds and 1 bronze for the Big 12 (Big 10 can't claim Burroughs)?

Pretty good performance for the freestyle team, 2 golds and a 1 bronze with Dlagnev and Herbert in the mix as well. I just hope Herbert not medaling does not cost him a spot on the Howard Stern Show. I was looking forward to Jake talking about wrestling on the show, and explaining the "ball grab".

[PapaBearSLIM]

Originally Posted by seanlove22

You could see the Sanderson influence as he was all over those ankles.

During the replay of Varner's beautiful 1st period ankle pick from a collar tie, the random guy that NBC gave a mic to described it as "He goes high and then the leg tackle!"

And somebody should have whispered in his ear that Varner's gold medal match winning point was score by a securing a takedown and not by putting his opponent into the "protection area"

[lookleft goright]

I am just glad that Varner did not put an illegal fist to the back and get thrown out of the tourney.
Great job freestylers!!!

[greenlantern]

is it me or was he more agressive in his finals match then any of his college matchs

[Spandex Bandit]

Originally Posted by greenlantern

is it me or was he more agressive in his finals match then any of his college matchs

I think the adrenaline of being in an olympic gold medal match would make most people more aggressive.
Thank you for your observations, professor.

[Mr. White]

Originally Posted by Spandex Bandit

I think the adrenaline of being in an olympic gold medal match would make most people more aggressive.
Thank you for your observations, professor.

As much as I like to bust gl's chops, he's got a point here. Varner was not the most exciting wrestler to watch in college. You can probably also chalk that up to the fact that he's been training in freestyle for a few years now, and freestyle tends to reward aggressiveness moreso than NCAA folkstyle (probably stating the obvious here).

Congrats to Varner, that semis match was intense! I'll never forget the 2nd period tiebreak. The look on that dudes face was priceless.