Zain Retherford is set to wrestle Yianni Diakomihalis again on September 2 at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA. This time we’ll start off by re-wrestling match No. 2 from Final X, Rutgers. If Zain wins that match he’ll be the rep in Kazakhstan. If Yianni wins the first match on Labor Day we’ll go to a deciding match No. 3 later that day. 

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Over the last few months, the Yianni/Zain saga has become my absolute favorite rivalry in our sport. I went through the four matches that Diakomihalis and Retherford have wrestled so far this year with a fine-tooth comb to see what we can learn from the series so far, and maybe more importantly, what we can expect to see on Sept. 2 in Wilkes-Barre. 

What To Do

Admittedly I got a bit obsessed this weekend and started down the Yianni/Zain rabbit hole and I haven’t looked back, so instead of one big tech notes article like I do for most monster matchups, I'm going to roll out four tech notes article this week giving rundowns in each of the most influential positions to these (and most) wrestling matches. Neutral offense, neutral defense, par terre, and scrambling/non-controlled exposure.

Where To Start

As a jumping-off point, here is every score in the four-match series as it was scored on the day of the event. I realize that Final X match 2 is supposed to be stricken from the record books, but the information that is gathered in that match is vital to painting the full picture of the series. 

Par Terre offense is the easiest category totally, but don't overlook its importance. There are gems hidden in the numbers (or lack of numbers) that have influenced this series in various ways. 

Zain is the only participant wrestling on Sept. 2 in Wilkes-Barre who has scored in the par terre position in this series. That came as a bit of a surprise to me. Yianni is such a savvy freestyle wrestler that one would think that in a four-match series against anyone he’d be more than likely to score from the top position at some point. 

While you can look at the numbers in the cells of the spread and see what technique Zain has used to score, what the spreadsheet doesn’t tell you is when those techniques were applied. The only points that have been attributed to par terre wrestling in this series have come in transition. The first was when Zain wisely kept the legs split after finishing a double from the ground at the U.S. Open. The other was a transitional front side lace that also came as a result of a double by Zain.

Yianni has put a goose egg on the board in the par terre category, but it’s not for a lack of trying. Zain’s par terre defense has kept him in some of these matches. For example, the final score at their last meeting was 9-5. The last two points were scored by Zain in junk time when Yianni conceded a takedown to let the clock run out, so with about 25 seconds left in this bout the score was 9-3. One thing that you don’t get from the reading the spreadsheet is that Yianni was in deep on leg lace twice in this match and was unable to convert said laces into points. 

What It All Means

While par terre has not been an absolute difference-maker in this four-match set, it has played a part. Zain seems to be winning the par terre war both offensively and defensively. In a series that has been as tight as this one has every point is crucial — no matter what position they come from. With that said, there are small adjustments to hand placement and application of pressure that Yianni can make to both of the laces that you see above that will likely earn him an extra two points on each of those takedowns. The question is, has par terre offense been a focal point in training over the last few weeks in Ithaca? I guess we’ll find out on Labor Day.