Hawkeye Wrestling Club Brent Metcalf’s World Championship run gets underway today in Las Vegas and we will be providing coverage of his matches. Metcalf is currently the #2 ranked wrestler in the World at 65 kg and will face Norbert Lukacs of Hungary in the first round.
Match One vs Norbert Lukacs (Hungary) 11-0 TF METCALF
Solid match for the Brentcalf in his 2015 World debut, Metcalf went out and dominated to pick up his second career World Championships win. He started out with a 1-0 lead on a shot clock point, but with under a minute left in the first period Metcalf poured it on, racking up five takedowns in the match – including one with :04 left in the first, Metcalf won 11-0 midway through the second period. There is not a whole lot to add here other than that Metcalf was able to hit the left high crotch pretty much whenever he wanted to in this match, and Lukacs wasn’t stopping it.
Match Two vs Katai Yeerlanbieke (China) 5-3 METCALF
It was by no means a pretty win, and not nearly as dominant as the first, but American fans will take what they can get as Metcalf moves on to wrestle in the third round of the World Championships. This is the first time in his career that he has made it past the second round, and it was about as hard as one would expect. Metcalf was able to take a 2-0 lead in the first and ended with a 4-2 lead after trading exposures. In the second he gave up a point for not scoring on the shot clock to make things 4-3. With under five seconds Yeerlanbieke got around Metcalf and had Metcalf’s right knee inches (maybe just an inch) from the mat, but without the third contact point, no takedown was awarded (Twitter Video Replay here). China challenged the call, though the call would not be overturned giving Metcalf his fifth point in the match. What. A. Match.
An addition match note would be to comment on Yeerlanbieke was able to snap Brent down in the first and he fell hard to the mat. Metcalf also needed a brief injury time in the first period for something related to the head. We will see the effects moving forward, if any.
Match Three vs #1 Seyed Mohammadi (Iran) 5-4 MOHAMMADI
Metcalf goes down just shy of the quarterfinals in a battle between the World’s #1 and #2 ranked wrestlers. It was a match that started very slow, with neither wrestlers showing any willingness to risk a counter by their opponent and the first point was awarded to Mohammadi when Metcalf failed to score on the shot clock. Mohammadi then picked up a takedown off a snap to a single to take a 3-0 lead into the break. In the second Metcalf was able to get to the legs of Mohammadi and he cut the lead to 3-2. Metcalf kept the pace up and took a fairly committed high crotch attempt, but Mohammadi fought it off. With short time Metcalf gave up another takedown off a go behind attempt making it 5-2 with ten seconds left. Metcalf came off the whistle and got a takedown and with six seconds left had both feet to go for the leg lace, but didn’t have it tight enough to get the roll. Metcalf quickly tried to switch to a gut wrench, but time expired.
Americans and Hawkeye fans will now have to root for Mohammadi to reach the finals of this weight to pull Metcalf into the repechage and a chance for bronze. If there is one consolation to losing to the #1 ranked wrestler in the World it’s that he is the favorite to reach the finals and to give Metcalf another shot.
Thoughts on Metcalf’s bracket and road to the Gold medal
What to watch for on Day Four (Takedown Wrestling)
Brackets (Trackwrestling)
All Mat Streams
A: http://livestream.com/accounts/5297069/events/4324165
B: http://livestream.com/accounts/5297069/events/4324171
C: http://livestream.com/unitedworldwrestling/events/4324176
D: http://livestream.com/unitedworldwrestling/events/4324183