Beat the Streets 2014May 2, 2014 by Christian Pyles
Can Penn State's Taylor, Ruth Compete With The Big Boys?
Can Penn State's Taylor, Ruth Compete With The Big Boys?
Can Penn State's Taylor, Ruth Compete With The Big Boys?
Christian Pyles
It’s a fair question. Their folkstyle chops are incredible. However, are they ready for the worlds finest Freestyle technicians?
For me, it is problematic to lump the two together. I feel Taylor is further along as a Freestyler than Ed. Look no further than his incredible (and it was incredible) performance against Jordan Burroughs, the World’s finest wrestler. While it’s true international opponents will pose threats to David that Jordan may not (and vice versa). I believe Taylor is in a league of his own offensively. While we still don’t know where he stands from a Par Terre perspective, I can foresee him being at least marginal from there in short time.
In David’s match with JB, he was able to do what only about 3 or so guys on Earth have been able to do with Jordan, and the list may not even be THAT long. He scored tons of points, and relatively speaking he did a solid job slowing down the most gifted offensive wrestler of our time. Is DT ready? No doubt in my mind.
The Truth’s upside is incredible. He made amazing jumps from last Freestyle season to this one. However, he’s still quite green. His Par Terre game concerns me a bit, and I worry about how much he gets exposed on his own shots. I believe that International competition will be better suited than Americans at countering these shots for exposure. So I worry that he’s just going to be a bit outfoxed due to his frequent attacks(which I love) and increased opportunity for exposure.
However, give him a few months under Cael and company’s Freestyle leadership and all those weaknesses will be shored up, and I suspect we’ll see more Par Terre skill as well. He was right there with Foster, who had the most impressive World Cup of any American, so we know Ed is close. In Freestyle a small disparity in Par Terre skill could mean a tech. Ed will need to avoid the turns and exposures off his own shots to win. If he does that, he wins. I’m just not sure he’s there yet. Here's where he's at now:
Christian Pyles
It’s a fair question. Their folkstyle chops are incredible. However, are they ready for the worlds finest Freestyle technicians?
For me, it is problematic to lump the two together. I feel Taylor is further along as a Freestyler than Ed. Look no further than his incredible (and it was incredible) performance against Jordan Burroughs, the World’s finest wrestler. While it’s true international opponents will pose threats to David that Jordan may not (and vice versa). I believe Taylor is in a league of his own offensively. While we still don’t know where he stands from a Par Terre perspective, I can foresee him being at least marginal from there in short time.
In David’s match with JB, he was able to do what only about 3 or so guys on Earth have been able to do with Jordan, and the list may not even be THAT long. He scored tons of points, and relatively speaking he did a solid job slowing down the most gifted offensive wrestler of our time. Is DT ready? No doubt in my mind.
The Truth’s upside is incredible. He made amazing jumps from last Freestyle season to this one. However, he’s still quite green. His Par Terre game concerns me a bit, and I worry about how much he gets exposed on his own shots. I believe that International competition will be better suited than Americans at countering these shots for exposure. So I worry that he’s just going to be a bit outfoxed due to his frequent attacks(which I love) and increased opportunity for exposure.
However, give him a few months under Cael and company’s Freestyle leadership and all those weaknesses will be shored up, and I suspect we’ll see more Par Terre skill as well. He was right there with Foster, who had the most impressive World Cup of any American, so we know Ed is close. In Freestyle a small disparity in Par Terre skill could mean a tech. Ed will need to avoid the turns and exposures off his own shots to win. If he does that, he wins. I’m just not sure he’s there yet. Here's where he's at now: