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By Josh Jensen, 09/03/20, 5:00PM MDT

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Behind the Accolades: A Study of Potential 4-Time State Champions 

4-time state champions are a rarity. As the season approaches, there are often a lot of questions. This year, there are many and the wrestling community needs to be ready to pivot and adapt quickly to changes. Regardless of these circumstances, we have three wrestlers going for their fourth individual state championships this season. Jacob Finlinson, Brian Evans and River Wardle who slot in at 2, 6, and 16 in the current Beehive 25. Let's examine the skills and tactics behind the nine collective state gold medals of these stellar competitors that have separated them from the field. 

 

River Wardle (Wasatch)

Wardle is one of Utah's most dynamic wrestlers. He has a deep bag of tricks, puts points on the board, and is a showman. Last season, Wardle would've won an end of season award from me called, "Season Reversal" or something along those lines. He came out on the wrong side of an upset to Pineview's Riley Helt and dropped two more matches on the backside of the bracket to finish in sixth at the L.I.T. After that weekend, the boards became home to comments along the lines of, "everyone has figured Wardle out" Wardle bounced back in short order and had a fantastic season. He placed at the Doc B,  RTOC, and was a Rockwell Rumble finalist before capturing his third state championship. 

Free Flowing and Methodical 

Wardle has always been a fantastic technician. It's how he was so successful as a freshman and that technique has only become more dangerous as he has gotten stronger and faster with maturity. 

 

Wardle's patience in scramble and finish positions is something that sets him apart from the field. Whether someone gets to his legs, or if he's in on his leg attack, he's well trained and knows what he wants to do in almost every position. Sometimes high school wrestlers have the tendency to freak out in these positions. They'll rush a finish or initiate a scramble without knowing what their next step will be. Wardle has great motion on his feet that is very free flowing and guys have a hard time getting a read on him. He will get to a single leg or high-crotch and work through his finishing series. It's very systematic as you can see in the GIF below:

 

 

  1. Take the dominant angle

  2. Anchor above and below opponent’s knee

  3. Hook the ankle to fully isolate the leg

  4. Attack the opponent's free leg.

 

Wardle’s technical prowess on the mat rivals his abilities on his feet. From the top position I’ve seen Wardle bundle up just about everyone in cradles. His cradles always start from lacing over his opponent’s ankle with what many call an Iowa ride. Using the Iowa ride creates great cradling opportunities, coupled with Wardles long arm for his size and you have a lot of problems. The Iowa ride is dependent on what the bottom wrestler does. If they look toward the Iowa ride, they find themselves in a nearside cradle. If they allow Wardle to elevate their leg with the Iowa ride, he forces them to post on their other leg which opens up the crossface cradle. If you’re a cradler or striving to be one, I highly recommend using the Iowa has home base for making it happen. 

 

Jacob Finlinson (Westlake)

The 2019-2020 season was a coming out party for Jacob Finlinson. He finally earned some respect from the critics of his freshman and sophomore campaigns. He finished third at the Rockwell Rumble with a win over a California state placer. In the postseason, he had a big hurdle to clear named Drew Lang who was also a defending state champion. They wrestled at sectionals and state and Finlinson took the series 2-0 with a 1-0 decision and a 6-4 win in sudden victory to stay on track to be a four-time state champion. 

Systematic Funk 

Finlinson, much like Wardle, has long limbs that he uses to his advantage. However, unlike Wardle, Finlinson specializes in slowing down the pace of his matches and using unorthodox defense to thwart takedown attempts and score his points. 

 

In the early 2000s, Ben Askren brought scramble techniques into the mainstream as wrestling. We can thank the “Askren Effect” for a lot of what Jacob Finlinson does. Finlinson’s legs aren’t difficult to get to but that’s all a part of his plan. He wants his opposition to attack his legs because he is so comfortable defending in these positions and likes to utilize his funk wrestling. He is also fantastic at making mid-match adjustments like he did in the state finals against Drew Lang. Lang took him down twice early in the match but Finlinson adjusted his defense and Lang wasn’t able to score again despite getting back to Finlinson’s legs on multiple occasions. In the early going, Lang would get to Finlinson’s legs and Finlinson would look to lock in the crotch and crowd Lang’s hips to force stalemates but Lang did a good job of staying busy and scoring takedowns, Finlinson adjusted his approach by going on the offensive when Lang got to his legs. Here is the exchange that won him the match. 

 

  1. Catch the ankle and tight waist combination 

  2. Use tight waist to knock opponent to their hip

  3. Use free hand to break grip on the leg

  4. Go behind to score 

On top, Finlinson does a great job of staying behind his opponents arms and staying tight to them. This makes it easier for him to utilize his long arms to trap near and cross wrist ties which turns into tilits, bars, and half-nelsons. His scrambling ability also translates well into the top position when his opposition attempts maneuvers such as granby rolls because he’s good at moving through those positions and capitalizing in unorthodox exchanges and flurries of action.

 

Brian Evans (Beaver)

If you’ve been around Utah wrestling for the last few years, you’ll know that there is a whole gang of Evans brothers down in Beaver that can wrestle with the best of them. Brian has already matched the three state titles won by his older brother Kyle and will look to surpass him this season. Last season, Evans won his third state with a win over a tough Jaxon Morlan. He’s been in the All-Star Dual, made national dual teams, placed at the Rockwell Rumble and is as experienced as anyone on the mats in Utah. 

Three Pronged Offense

Unlike the previous two wrestlers we looked at, Evans has a short, stout frame and uses it to his benefit. He keeps a very low, square stance similar to the one you may be familiar with seeing Kyle Dake utilize. Low, square stances are great for defense. It’s a shorter route to get to a good sprawl position, it’s a harder stance to break and is a good stance for avoiding shots like low singles where the opponent wants the weight of his opponent distributed to the front leg. That’s a window into Evans’ defense. Now, let’s dig into his great three-pronged offense. 

 

Evans has built his offense in the neutral position around three primary techniques: the ankle pick, the slide-by, and the duck under. Using these three attacks in a system creates a snowball effect. For example, I’ve seen Evans attempt a duck under on his left side only for his opponent to escape to his right which puts all of their weight on their left leg and he will pick that ankle. That’s one example. This system of attack is radial and can start and end any of those three points. It’s fantastic because he can alternate between targeting either side of his opponent’s body depending on their lead leg, defensive reactions, and other factors. 

 

  1. Look to duck under 

  2. See which escape/counter route they take 

  3. Take advantage of the opening 

On the mat, Evans does a great job of riding his opponents. He does great work with leg rides paired with a power-half and has excellent positional awareness. At the 2020 Rockwell Rumble, Evans rode River Wardle for the entire second period which isn’t an easy task by predominantly using double leg rides and a power half. 

What They All Have in Common

In many aspects, these great competitors couldn’t be more different. You can look at their physical attributes for starters, then their style of wrestling followed by their personalities, and the training they get from their respective programs. 

 

However, if there’s one thing coaches and wrestlers can learn from these three regardless of how their upcoming seasons play out, is that anyone can make what they have work. Wrestlers can be tall, short, introverted, extroverted, unathletic, athletic freaks and everything in between. It doesn’t matter. Wrestling allows for a lot of amazing creativity and everyone can make it their own and be innovators. It’s why we love the sport. These three athletes have very similar credentials, but very different approaches. If we’re lucky, we’ll see some of them face off against each other this season. I wish them all the best!