70's/80's Wrestlers v. Today's Best

 
nooks said:
Thoughts?
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Not to take anything from the elite guys of the 70's/ 80's, overall the wrestlers of today have more resources to better their craft. The cream of the crop is more than it was because the practice rooms are more competitive. I was looking at an NAIA school, Campbellsville's last year recruiting class and it's ridiculous. Ohio state recruiting class got guys that could start somewhere else that will strengthen the practice room. Just seeing what Ohio State and Penn State did last year at the NCAAs was an answer to this question; not just Ohio state's point total, but the accolades those guys have( Mark Hall was a high school state champ in the 3rd freaking grade!!!).
 
I can’t relate to 70’s wrestling but the 80’s I can. A lot meaner wrestling in the 80’s. Very brutal. The rules allowed for it.
Today’s coaching is much better across the board as the information super highway has taken over and has aided in coaching and filling of positions and camps and private lessons and........


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access to the highest levels of coaching at the youth levels.
I was at a youth dual tournament in pa this weekend.
The 8-9 year olds can wrestle at a higher level than 90 % of high school kids
my just turned 8 year old has to work on what to do when he get gets in on a shot and a kid goes to ancle pass him
then he has to work on hiding his ancles to stop it--
 
If you go back and watch state finals or NCAA finals from even 20 years ago, they don't hold up real well. The overall quality of wrestling now is SO much better. Largely a byproduct of the internet, in my opinion.
 
The best wrestlers of the 70's and 80's could still be the best today with some exceptions obviously. IMO.
 
Also look at BTW, the Burnetts. Their Dad was in one location. Now they are in Elyria, Milan, and Perrysburg. Then you got Joey Simcoe in Tiffin and now also in Milan. I didn't have this in my day like my son does today. My son is better as a freshman than I was as a state runner up senior.
 
So, imagine how good the 70's/80's wrestlers would be with access to everything today's wrestlers have. Then ask yourself how today's wrestlers would be under the environment of the 70's/80's. Discuss....
 
There is no question that the majority of kids today are "technically" better, overall. In the 70's/80's my observations are that kids were more focused on physical training and mental toughness due to the "culture" of the times (boys will be boys) and the sport was more violent. It was a tough guys sport, or you didn't last. Not saying that it still isn't, but it was no place for soccer mom boys back then.
I still love Coach Wayne Baumen's credo that "the kid who wins the fight will win the match." Today, it seems the most technically coached kid usually wins...
 
Truth in all that above, but enrollment numbers factor in. I do believe 1979 was Ohio's peak in enrollment. But wrestling is the sport that attracts those tough kids in our ever changing soft society. Yesterday is always tougher and better for an older generation. World War 2 vets still think their 70s/80s grandchildren are soft. But today's time is better in the sport of wrestling. Whether it's Flo, Big Ten channel or ESPN's better coverage of Nationals. The 70s and 80s wrestlers didn't watch wrestling like today's wrestlers. I say wrestling is going in the right direction while society is not and let the old man talk about his better glory days. Todays kids are better, bottom line.
 
I also think it is tougher now for a beginner to succeed in the sport at the highest level. Back then it wasn't all that uncommon for new wrestlers to come in, be the "toughest" or work the hardest, and wind up as a state champ within a short time. It seems less common now that a kid comes out of the hallway and wills his way to the top.
 
Today's wrestlers are being taught/led/manicured by the greats of eras past...You throw any superior wrestler from any era and put them in the environments our kids have now and I truly believe that the best would still be the best..Dan Gable is a Bad no matter wrestling in the 70s or today Doug Blubaugh would've figured out how to be a champion today just as he did when it was his time..with that said I believe the Burroughs/Snyder etc of today would've had the same success in any era due to the unbelievable will and want to at all cost attitudes that all these champions share from any time period. Lions who lived in 1930's were the kings of the jungle then just as the Lions roaming today!!
CHAMPIONS WILL BE CHAMPIONS!
Awesome thread though sorry for the ramble just my $.08
One last thing on the enrollment statement..1979 there weren't 365 day a year Hockey Soccer Lacrosse Mens Volleyball Baseball etc...Today's kids and psycho parent specialization has killed enrollment numbers more than anything and it sucks for HS sports but it does make the ones who do participate superior today just due to simply time on task...Done swear
 
Shawn Garel. He was the quickest wrestler I have ever seen. He was the Barry Sanders of wrestling. He had a gift from God that you couldn't coach and was the best I have ever seen.
 
TKDWN...Very true about Garel...and kinda to my point. I remember occassional kids out of nowhere, who would explode onto the scene from unknown H.S.'s and mediocre coaching and just physically dominate with either uncanny quickness, or brute strength. Guys like Craig Miller, Todd Darbyshire, Dave Brown, Tom Coffing, or Monte Dagley. Rarely does this happen anymore. The best are almost always from the coaching mills teams, with all the year around apparatus that goes with it. Sort of miss those spectacular unknowns.
 
mauled

Wonder what todays kids would think about a Doug Blubaugh or Dan Gable in their face or what to do if they did get taken down. Might not ever get up. Technically today far more advanced, but not near as mean. In the Dayton area, Darbyshire was definately the the guy that comes to mind. He pinned most he wrestled.
 
Darbyshire was good, but I think a bit of a one hit wonder. He took 5th as a Junior, and only won it once. But, I will say, when he pinned Silvestro of St. Eds in the State Finals it was one of my favorite moments of the State ever. It looked like in that match he could not wait to pin Silvestro, that was electric. But overall I don't think he measures up to a Heffernan or DeAnna in similar weights. No Disrespect to him, he was a beast.
 
darby

6th soph yr, 3rd jr yr. (39-1) lost to silvestro 7-6, champ sr yr. 32-0 only 1 loss in two yrs. 71-1, 54 of them pins. not bad
 
My first camp was a Dan Gable Camp at Walsh University. Gable was demanding to say the least. Lee Kemp showed up and they grappled for quite a while but I mostly saw attempted leg trips. This was in 1977 and I was taught well!
 
I watched an interview with Olympic champ Kendal Cross where he said that what seperated him from the best in H.S. was the ability to get back points. He said that if it were just takedowns & escapes he still would have probably been a multiple state champ, but his matches would have mostly been pretty close.
I think that is what would also distinguish guys like Heffernan and DeAnna from a Darbyshire...They would rule on the takedowns/escapes. To be a great pinner though, especially against other great wrestlers...you have to take chances, That's what makes guys like Darbyshire fun to watch. Maybe the best ever in that regard was John McGhee from Akron Coventry. Aggressive, ruthless & reckless. Miss that kind of wrestling...especially in H.S.
 
nooks said:
I watched an interview with Olympic champ Kendal Cross where he said that what seperated him from the best in H.S. was the ability to get back points. He said that if it were just takedowns & escapes he still would have probably been a multiple state champ, but his matches would have mostly been pretty close.
I think that is what would also distinguish guys like Heffernan and DeAnna from a Darbyshire...They would rule on the takedowns/escapes. To be a great pinner though, especially against other great wrestlers...you have to take chances, That's what makes guys like Darbyshire fun to watch. Maybe the best ever in that regard was John McGhee from Akron Coventry. Aggressive, ruthless & reckless. Miss that kind of wrestling...especially in H.S.
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Bryce Andonian
 
This discussion is had across all sports. Football in the 50s, 60s and 70s versus today. Would today's kids hold up under the physical toughness of even 20 years ago when concussion protocol was well barely me ntioned. My last HS football game was 20 years ago this month and I never knew the phrase concussion protocol til well these last 8-10 years. The strength and conditioning training is arguably better today though across all sports. As has already been mentioned due in large part to the access and sharing of information via the web. Today's wrestlers have far more in the way of opportunity to wrestle in the off season with more access to private gyms, private coaching, etc.....

Would Gable have succeeded as a high school or collegiate wrestler in 2018???
 
SCBUCKEYE99...Yes, Gable would not only have succeeded, but dominated, just as he did. I think that the overall consensus here is that other than technical changes,(year round training, nutrition and access to better coaching) the boys from yesteryear who won then, would also win now. Personally, I just like the "style" from yesteryear better...More "balls-to-the-wall" so to speak.
 
Most modern kids would fold under the physicality of the guys from the 70s and 80s. It was much more in your face then.
 
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