#60: 2019 U.S. Open Scoring Breakdown

Download the full scoring breakdown at therudis.comCurrent EventsThis episode Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan present detailed statistics pulled from data collected by Askren and his team of the 2019 U.S. Open. Before getting into the numbers Askren talks about the sad news that hit the wrestling community this week, David Taylor will not compete at Final X as he recovers from an injury suffered at Beat The Streets. This gives Pat Downey the nod to take the 86 kg spot on Team USA. Askren talks about the importance of Taylor taking the time to heal because although it seems far away, the Olympic Trials are only 10 months away. Askren did think that if David Taylor was hurt we would have seen Bo Nickal drop down to 86 kg and take his chances beating Pat Downey over staying at 92 and facing J'Den Cox. When Nickal didn't drop down, Askren thought Taylor wasn't hurt.How to Compare (13:26)Askren and Dernlan will breakdown scoring statistics taken from the 2019 Men's Freestyle U.S. Open. Dernlan mentions if you're comparing the U.S. Open Stats to the 2018 World Championships Stats you should compare the percentages over the amount. Askren recorded more matches from the 2019 U.S. Open than he did from the 2018 World Championships. There are more points scored in the round of 16 at the U.S. Open. Askren says this could be due to the U.S. being more offensively aggressive but most likely it's because the defense at the international level is better.Trends (19:20)The two categories that scored the most points in both sets of data by a long shot is Shots and Shot Defense. Knowing how to get to the legs and finish and knowing how to defend against them getting to your legs are still the best ways to score. Another similarity is that there isn't a trend in techniques or ways of scoring by weight class. One thing Dernlan points out is that when you're looking at the wrestlers competing at the U.S. Open most of them don't have international experience and their freestyle is limited to their domestic experience.Defensive Scores (27:58)The number one biggest difference for Askren comes in defensive scores. At the World Championships, the number four shot defense was a dump whereas dump at the U.S. Open was number one. This shows the international wrestlers aren't as familiar with folkstyle defense. It also shows wrestlers with a folkstyle background fresh out of or currently competing in college are less dialed into and more loose with their defense not worried about giving up back exposure.