At the US Open last month, Woods ended up placing fourth, losing twice to Aden Valencia. His first loss against Valencia came in the quarterfinals, a 5-4 decision that saw Woods take a 4-0 lead midway through the first period, only to see his lead slip away in the final half of the second period.
Valencia would earn an activity clock violation point before scoring on an inside trip for four points with thirty-four seconds remaining in the match. From there, it was all defense for Valencia and Woods would have to bounce back from watching a healthy lead fall by the wayside. For Valencia, in the semifinals, Valencia would lose to the eventual Open champion in Joey McKenna, 9-6, and he find himself in the wrestlebacks.
In those same wrestlebacks, Woods and Valencia would meet up a second time, this time in the third-place bout. Again, it would be Woods going into the break with a lead, 3-0 this time due to a takedown and an activity clock violation, but the same story was destined to unfold.
Once the second period began, Valencia attacked the former Hawkeye with a carry that would seat Woods down to his hip. The two would be grounded out of bounds, but a review would score Valencia with a takedown. The score was now 3-2, Woods, and it remained this was until a restart with about fourteen seconds remaining in the match—they had both been here before in the quarterfinals.
Off that restart, Valencia shot off the whistle and captured Woods’ left leg. Woods defended and the clock continued to tick away, but, with three second remaining, and coming from a seatbelt position, Valencia would limp arm out of a Woods’ whizzer and come behind for a takedown and a 4-3 win with no time left on the clock.
With that win, Valencia had proven that he could come back on Woods and win. And with that second loss, Woods knew he had to tighten up the back half of his matches if he was going to be able to push forward through the Challenge Tournament come May.
Enter this past weekend and the quarterfinal round of the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. Valencia, the four seed, would face Woods, the five seed, and now it would appear to be a matter of seeing if Woods could not only take a lead, but if he could maintain it.
As had been true in each of the previous two matches, Woods was clearly the aggressor early in the match, so much so that he would score his first points on an activity clock violation by Valencia before scoring his first takedown of the period with about forty seconds remaining in the first period.
And, heading into the break, a very familiar story: Woods would be leading, 3-0. Now it was time to see how Woods would respond and deal with the Valencia surge that had defeated him twice at The Open.
Almost immediately into the second period start, Valencia would begin his comeback.
Roughly six seconds into the second period, Valencia would score on the same inside trip to Woods’ left side that he had used weeks ago at The Open. This time, however, Woods would fight his chest forward and only concede two points instead of a four-point exposure. The score was now 3-2, Woods.
With the final period now reaching the halfway mark, Woods was warned for passivity, and in the following sequence, as Woods defended a hi-crotch by moving out of the shot and look to counter, Valencia would jump out and through, exposing his own back, and four points were being offered—those points, however, would not hold in confirmation.
Now, with one minute remaining, the hand fight and intensity picked up considerably, and this was where Valencia had earned his previous wins. From an over-under position, Valencia, with a left-handed underhook, dropped to his knees while attempting to throw Woods by, the two would end up on the mat and Valenica would score a takedown out of the scramble as Woods tried to face him. Valencia was now up 4-2 with forty-five seconds remaining and an ending that was becoming much too unbearable.
Out of the restart, now with thirty-six seconds remaining, Woods chased, and Valencia would be hit with a passivity call. Unfortunately, in those seconds, time had dwindled away; there were now only twenty-five seconds remaining in what appeared to be another spoiler for Valencia.
However, as Woods battled for an opening through his left-handed underhook and forward pressure and head snaps, Valencia would take a momentary pause with four seconds on the clock and, at that same moment, Woods dropped to a low double, securing both legs, pressured forward, and scored a takedown and 5-4 decision with no time remaining.
The score would ultimately be adjusted to 6-4 after a failed challenge by Valencia’s corner, and Woods’ hand would be raised as he was able to flip the current script with Valencia as Bryan Adam’s “Summer of ’69” was the backdrop song bellowing how “nothing can last forever.”
Where Woods had faltered in their previous bouts, he was now able to work past, showing his growth and ability to endure, and he was advancing to the semifinals against the bracket favorite and one seed, Jesse Mendez.
In his semifinal matchup, Woods would start off a little passive, but he slowly picked up his pace and, when the final minute of the first period came, he would rack up nine points in a matter of seventeen seconds.
With Mendez on the activity clock after his second passivity warning, and then off a Mendez shot, Woods would find his takedown off a head pinch to a go behind. From there, Woods would create a great separation with three consecutive gut wrenches. Add the activity clock violation by Mendez, and just like that, Woods was up 9-0. After a step out by Woods, the break would see a 9-1 lead by the underdog as each went to his own corner.
Coming out for the final period, Woods would maintain his hand fight and levels, but Mendez would ultimately score around the one-minute mark. Woods would earn another takedown, and, as wrestling Freestyled itself out, that takedown would make the difference. Mendez would go on a run of points, but he would not be able to earn enough to topple Woods.
The match ended in Woods’ favor, 11-9, and he was now into the finals.
In the championship bout of the Challenge Tournament, the road to a best-of-three series for the World Team, now came down to one match between Woods and a very difficult wrestler in Brock Hardy.
And as Woods had done in his previous two matches, he came out in the first period and opened the match with a healthy lead heading into the break.
In the match versus Hardy, Woods earned six points in the first forty seconds in the match. His first two came within the first ten seconds when he took a low sweep single to his left and wrestled himself behind Hardy for a 2-0 lead. His next points came in the form of a four-point move via a chest wrap from feet to back, showing his strength, awareness, and ability to use position.
Into the break, 6-0, Woods would come out and have to fend off his opponent in the second period. Chasing six, Hardy was going to have to come after Woods with a great deal of firepower if he was going to push himself into a position to win the match.
As the second period opened, Hardy came forward and went into his offense. In doing this, he earned a pushout of Woods and now trailed, 6-1.
After a blood timeout, Woods would get to another low single to Hardy’s right, elevate it, and score a takedown to extend his lead, 8-1. Once on top, Woods would again show his power, once more with a gut wrench and another two points. Woods now led, 10-1, and he found himself one point away from a technical superiority.
In the next sequence, however, it would be Hardy with a take down and one turn. In that fight, Woods, who was seemingly caught in a leg lace, would find Hardy’s angle, hang on, and bring the position to a stalemate.
With the score 10-5, in favor of Woods, there would be another blood timeout for Woods. And now, time was of the essence. Hardy was running out of time to come back, and Woods was needing to hang onto his lead in order to move into the finals of the World Team Trials.
As the clock ticked down, Hardy tried, repeatedly, to attack Woods, but Woods was able to defend, win, and come away punching the air in celebration as the winner of the Challenge Tournament and now finalist for the World Team Trials.
In regard to what allowed Woods to win that match against Hardy, he was clear: “I had to wrestle my match,” Woods proclaimed. “That has been the key to my development in this journey in Freestyle. Freestyle is fairly new to me, and I’m picking at it. And this is just a step in the right direction. I’m very excited to get to Final X.”
Hardy, who has been a very difficult opponent for many, was certainly a challenge for Woods as well.
“Hardy is a very unorthodox wrestler and where he lets you get,” Woods commented. “You have to wrestle him with a high IQ. I have a lot of respect for him, and he has helped make me better.”
From here, it is now onto Joey McKenna in a best-of-three series for the 65kg spot on the World Team. This year’s World Team Trials will take place on June 14th, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Here is a look at Woods’ Challenge Tournament at 65kg:
QTR-F • defeated Aden Valencia (4), California RTC / TMWC • Dec, 6-4
SEMI-F • defeated Jesse Mendez (1), Ohio RTC / TMWC • Dec, 11-9
FINALS • defeated Brock Hardy (2), Nebraska RTC / TMWC • Dec, 10-6
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• TC LIFONTI / LEAD WRITER FOR ILLINOIS MATMEN / tclifonti.com
