Ending with heavyweight just kind of feels right, doesn’t it? That sentiment may be one of the only consolations after hearing the news that world and Olympic champion Helen Maroulis will not be competing this coming weekend at Final X in Lehigh, PA. 

As far as I'm concerned, Adam Coon vs. Nick Gwiazdowski may be one of the most anticipated heavyweight matchups since Gwiz met Kyle Snyder in the NCAA finals at the world’s most famous arena back in March 2016. 

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Size Matters

While size by itself probably won’t be the deciding factor this weekend, anyone who says that it simply doesn’t matter in our sport is delusional. Adam Coon uses every bit of his 6-foot-5 frame to bully guys around the mat. That becomes increasingly problematic when you have to deal with an out bounds line that costs you a point every time that you step on the other side of it. 

Coon has wrestled Gwiazdowski a few different times and has never won, but don’t hand the USA plaque to the Gwizard of Raleigh just yet. Coon has added a few things to his game since then. He’s also added a few pounds to his size as well. 

Since the last time that they met in freestyle in 2015 at the World Team Trials in Madison, WI, Coon has put on 40lb. Think that's just lip service that Coon mentioned in the post-match interview above? Take a look at the split screen below. The picture on the left is taken at the 2015 NCAA Championships. The picture on the right is from this year's NCAAs. Let’s just say that in the pic on the right the “M” and the “N” are pointing in different directions. 

Gwiz Is Not A Normal HWT

The above headline may be misleading. Nick Gwiazdowski and Adam Coon are both far from typical heavyweights, but the implication is that Gwiz wrestles much more like a smaller guy than most heavyweights. While I realize that Coon has the clear-cut size advantage, you will have to remember that Gwiazdowski has made strides forward in using this more dynamic style against bigger opponents. 

Zach Rey, another lumbering 125kg-er always posed a big problem for the slightly undersized Gwiazdowski. In the 2015 World Team Trials, Rey beat Gwiz 7-1. In the Olympic Trials in 2016, Gwiz wrestled Rey again—this time closing the gap but still dropping a 4-2 decision. The 2017 U.S. Open finals are where Gwiazdowski finally broke through and beat the much larger Rey 3-2. 

Like I mentioned earlier, Gwiz wrestles more like a middleweight than a heavyweight, which is really a euphemistic way of saying that he has the audacity to take a multitude of leg attacks on guys who weigh upward of 275lb. The biggest trouble in this endeavor is generally correcting your body position after all that weight comes crashing down on your head. Gwiz has developed a few little tricks to help him along the way. 

When I teach kids, I talk to them about getting their head in a very specific spot on the body when they’re attacking a leg. I call it the “No-Can-Defend Zone.” It's the spot 4 inches from the armpit closer to the center of the chest. Why is this spot considered the “No-Can-Defend Zone”? First, if your head is there, it’s extremely difficult for your opponent to get weight on you because they can’t bend at the hip very well. Another reason is that it’s extremely difficult to muster any power in with your arm from that angle. 

Watch the clip below: Gwiz gets caught underneath a larger opponent. Instead of trying to drive up to his feet with his head down, he pivots on his right knee about 90 degrees. Then he lets his lock slide up a little bit to fix his body position and adjusts his head to the “No-Can-Defend-Zone.”