Wiltz

Please stop doing interviews and talking about Metcalf. You sound like a kid who got his lollipop taken away from him.

First Metcalf is scared and now he is not athletic. Give me a break Bubba.

http://www.centredaily.com/sports/story/480285.html


Sunday, Mar. 23, 2008
Jenkins falls in finals at 149
By Guy Cipriano
ST. LOUIS — Penn State sent the ideal personality to the mat to undertake perhaps the most challenging task in college wrestling this season.

Sophomore Bubba Jenkins went to Beijing last summer with almost no international experience and won a world junior freestyle title.

So the thinking went like this: Jenkins at least stood a chance against sophomore Brent Metcalf, one of the best conditioned and most talented wrestlers Iowa has sent to the NCAA Championships this decade.

As expected, Jenkins embraced the lights, cameras, live television audience and crowd of 16,154 fans.

Yet he couldn’t find a way to break Metcalf.

Jenkins squandered a 4-1 lead and fell to Metcalf 14-8 in Saturday’s 149-pound final at Scottrade Center.

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The loss was Jenkins’ third to Metcalf this season.

Metcalf pinned Jenkins in the third period during a dual meet in Iowa City and majored him 15- 3 at this month’s Big Ten Championships. Jenkins finished his sophomore season 26-6, with all six of his losses coming against Big Ten wrestlers.

“I don’t take anything from it,” Jenkins said. “I’m an NCAA finalist and All-American which is good. I closed the gap. The first time he pinned me, the second time he majored me and this time he beat me by a little bit. I’m done with moral victories. I want to win and I think this is going to make me work harder.”

For the second time this season, Jenkins opened a lead on Metcalf by recording two first-period takedowns. Jenkins also led Metcalf 6-1 during the dual meet in January.

This time, Metcalf (39-1) methodically trimmed the lead. Metcalf took Jenkins down 21 seconds into the second period to claim a 5-4 advantage. Jenkins escaped to tie the bout.

The decisive move came later in the period when Metcalf grabbed Jenkins’ knee. Jenkins locked his hands around Met-calf’s left knee. After spending 10 seconds on the mat, Metcalf broke the hold and took Jenkins to his back for a period-ending five-point move.

“That was definitely a big takedown,” Metcalf said. “It was the point where it put the match just out of reach. I knew finishing that was going to be big. It turned him into an all-or-nothing mode.”

Metcalf took Jenkins down two more times during the third period to win his first national title.

“Metcalf is a great competitor and he goes 100 percent all the time,” Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. “We closed the gap and made a lot of adjustments. Without the five-point move, it’s a 5-5 match going into the third period.”

The loss ended a solid national tournament for Jenkins, a Virginia Beach native who won Beast of the East and senior national titles during his high school career. He entered the event seeded sixth and defeated four wrestlers, including last year’s 141-pound finalist Ryan Lang of Northwestern and two-time All-American J.P. O’Connor of Harvard. Jenkins then hit a late five-point move to defeat North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell 12-8 during Friday night’s semifinals. Caldwell was the only wrestler to defeat Metcalf this season.

Less than 10 minutes after his finals loss, Jenkins, who competed at 157 last year, said he wants to redshirt next season.

“Even in a redshirt year, I want to go undefeated and come back as a junior and win this thing,” Jenkins said. “I’m tired of people putting me as the underdog. I’m tired of being the background guy.”

It took a spectacular wrestler to prevent Jenkins from achieving his goal this season.

Metcalf waited two long years to participate in the national tournament.

He committed to Virginia Tech after finishing— this one requires a second look — 228-0 during his career at Davison High School in Michigan. His coach at Virginia Tech, and his coach now, Tom Brands, elected to redshirt Metcalf in 2005-06.

“He just keeps going,” Jenkins said. “He’s not athletic. He’s not superior in moves than anybody else. It’s not who wants it more. I can tell you I wanted it a lot more than probably he did or Iowa fans think he did.

“I wanted it so bad. The game-plan was to just keep battling until I felt him break and hold out. He just keeps pushing through. I guess that’s what makes it tough. He has the confidence.”

__________________
"He quits, not because he wants to, but because he has to. He has no choice.
" -Tom Brands 01/20/08

Stardust

Okay. And without Bubba's 5 point move, he loses to Caldwell and doesn't even make the finals. So what.

As for Bubba's comments about wanting it more than Metcalf, come on. I've been a fan of Bubba's for a few years now, but this is kinda ridiculous.

__________________


Super 32 Challenge - November 1, 2008
NC Mat

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can" -- John Wesley

vaisforlovers

Ya know, i've been thinking..if Metcalf didn't take him down or put him to his back all match..bubba would have won..

Sunderland is capt. obvious.

JensenS

He's a young kid, and some young kids are best served not to have microphones shoved in front of their face constantly especially after a high profile event like the NCAA finals. Everyone and their brother was saying he had no shot in the match, and he came out and went toe to toe, just got beat.

All Iowa fans really need to do is say "scoreboard", and be done with it. The fourteen threads bashing Jenkins over on the Iowa board are a little over the top.

Wiltz

I wasn't trying to bash Bubba, well maybe a little. He just comes off a little ridiculous. He is a hell of an athlete and a wrestler. Just not a very savvy interviewee.


Jensen you don't find his statements about Metcalf odd?

__________________
"He quits, not because he wants to, but because he has to. He has no choice.
" -Tom Brands 01/20/08

JensenS

I find them very odd, but I assume they come out of his disappointment with his loss, and just not really knowing what to say when he gets microphones shoved into his face ten minutes after the conclusion of the match. He'd been obliterated by Metcalf twice before this, and I'm sure he'd heard plenty of people tell him about it. This time like I said he stood tall in there against him and got after it.

If you would ask me "Well Jensen, wouldn't the better course be just not to say anything?" I would respond "Yes Wiltz, it would."

But then I think it comes back to being a young kid on a high profile stage.

By the way, I know you weren't bashing Jenkins, but I was just trying to make sure this thread didn't go the way of the fourteen "Bash Bubba" threads over on the Iowa board.

Wiltz

I only saw two threads at the Iowa board. One was pertaining to the Scared article and then this article with the non-athletic statement. I'm not condoning bashing him. I just think someone should pull this kid aside and say "I'm disappointed in how I finished ect... I plan to work harder and beat him next time." Not things like "He was scared and Non athletic.".

Get the kid some PR classes and then give him the microphone. (Obscure Movie reference) It reminds me of the scene from Bull Durham where Crash Davis has to teach Nuke how to do a boring interview.

__________________
"He quits, not because he wants to, but because he has to. He has no choice.
" -Tom Brands 01/20/08

JensenS

14 was obviously hyperbole, you should know me better by now...

Stardust

That's a positive aspect of this forum that I mentioned in another thread -- for the most part, people don't get vicious here.

I had to delete MANY comments from all the youtube videos from NCAAs...

__________________


Super 32 Challenge - November 1, 2008
NC Mat

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can" -- John Wesley

JensenS

Indeed, but we've also had a very large influx of new posters registering. New posters who don't know whats expected here as of yet.

That was more for them, than for the old crowd.