So the rumor on Cole is that he has been battling injuries all year. I dont ever recall seeing what those injuries are though. He never really looked injured, but he was far from the explosive force that we saw in freestyle at junior nationals.
What if the staff used the shortened season and injuries to force Cole to develop more offense outside of his front headlock game?
Think about it. All though dual season, he barely if ever, used his front headlocks this year. No snap down setups even, which might be his best weapon. There is a case to be made that no one got close enough to let him set up the front headlocks and snaps, but Cole didnt force it either. He stayed at distance and was often looking to shoot doubles and sometimes work underhooks. It was confounding to me that this was the main point of his offensive attack all year. It seemed to me that he was purposely avoiding using his biggest and best offensive attack for the entire season. Maybe he was.
Before the ACC tourney, I had thought that maybe that was the plan all along. Develop a more varied offensive attack during the season then let the whole package loose come tournament time.
After the Hillegas and Wilson matches, I was certain that I was wrong. That was the same Cole we saw all year. Then we saw him tear apart the Duke kid with front headlocks. Me- "Meh, why doesnt he wrestle like this all the time? Maybe it is confidence related."
Then, he did the exact same thing to Courtney.
Hmmm. Interesting.
But that match showed something different. His posture was different. He was more upright. He was looking to engage the head and neck and work off of his heavy snapdown, which he did really well. He was taking shots off of the reaction to the snap and getting really deep, really easily. Courtney was obviously taken by surprise by this and he had no answers. By the second period, Courtney was afraid to shoot. His posture became more upright too to avoid those heavy snaps. He was competely taken out of his offensive game. It really was a sight to see.
Now, Ive heard a lot recently from guys saying that winning ACCs would be great but that the national tourney is the real prize. Perhaps this was a tell on the plan for Cole.
Maybe after the Wilson loss, they took the reins off and told him to do his thing. It certainly looked that way. He was decisive, purposeful, and every bit as explosive as we saw at juniors nationals. If that is the case, we could be looking at another star come next season.
Im not going to make any grand predictions for this year, but if Cole wrestles at NCAA like he did against Courtney, he will be a really tough out and have a chance at the podium.
Thats the real question though.
Has Cole been unleashed or was this just a flash in the pan?
What if the staff used the shortened season and injuries to force Cole to develop more offense outside of his front headlock game?
Think about it. All though dual season, he barely if ever, used his front headlocks this year. No snap down setups even, which might be his best weapon. There is a case to be made that no one got close enough to let him set up the front headlocks and snaps, but Cole didnt force it either. He stayed at distance and was often looking to shoot doubles and sometimes work underhooks. It was confounding to me that this was the main point of his offensive attack all year. It seemed to me that he was purposely avoiding using his biggest and best offensive attack for the entire season. Maybe he was.
Before the ACC tourney, I had thought that maybe that was the plan all along. Develop a more varied offensive attack during the season then let the whole package loose come tournament time.
After the Hillegas and Wilson matches, I was certain that I was wrong. That was the same Cole we saw all year. Then we saw him tear apart the Duke kid with front headlocks. Me- "Meh, why doesnt he wrestle like this all the time? Maybe it is confidence related."
Then, he did the exact same thing to Courtney.
Hmmm. Interesting.
But that match showed something different. His posture was different. He was more upright. He was looking to engage the head and neck and work off of his heavy snapdown, which he did really well. He was taking shots off of the reaction to the snap and getting really deep, really easily. Courtney was obviously taken by surprise by this and he had no answers. By the second period, Courtney was afraid to shoot. His posture became more upright too to avoid those heavy snaps. He was competely taken out of his offensive game. It really was a sight to see.
Now, Ive heard a lot recently from guys saying that winning ACCs would be great but that the national tourney is the real prize. Perhaps this was a tell on the plan for Cole.
Maybe after the Wilson loss, they took the reins off and told him to do his thing. It certainly looked that way. He was decisive, purposeful, and every bit as explosive as we saw at juniors nationals. If that is the case, we could be looking at another star come next season.
Im not going to make any grand predictions for this year, but if Cole wrestles at NCAA like he did against Courtney, he will be a really tough out and have a chance at the podium.
Thats the real question though.
Has Cole been unleashed or was this just a flash in the pan?
