Last Year’s Ironman: A Fresh Look Inside the Data
The
Ironman Tournament at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls,
Ohio on December 7 - 8, 2001 was the first major confrontation
between Blair and other contenders for the 2001-2002 mythical
national crown, and indeed it was the only time all season that
Blair and eventual USA #2, Great Bridge of Chesapeake, VA, faced
each other.
Blair’s
six individual championships were the biggest factor in its Ironman
success in 2001. However, other factors, such as extensive bonus
points Ð especially from pins, contributed to the victory and
were particularly significant in regard to the margin of victory.
Note: 81% of Blair’s Ironman wins produced bonus points,
and 25% of Blair’s team points came from those bonus points.
In
the interest of keeping Blair and its wrestling fans on the cutting
edge, we have developed a wrestling box score at the end of this
article that is intended to give a comprehensive statistical summary
of the performance of each Blair wrestler, and a quick insight
into the sources of Blair’s composite 287.5 points.
Looking
at the box score, we see at a glance that despite having just
4 bouts, Mark Perry earned the most team points, 31.5, because
he had 3 falls and 1 tech fall, and finished in first place. Immediately
behind Mark were fellow champs Zack Esposito and Matt Palmer,
each of whom contributed 31 team points, though each got his 31
differently than the other. To illustrate, Zack had 3 pins and
1 major, while Matt, not surprisingly, had 4 tech falls and a
major.
Blair’s other three Ironman 2001 champs were very close behind.
Specifically, Ryan Davis had 30.5 team points, from 2 pins, 1
tech, 1 major, and a championship; Kurt Backes pulled in 30 team
points, from 2 pins, 2 majors, and a championship; and Max Meltzer
contributed 29 team points, which he garnered from 1 pin, 3 majors,
and a championship.
One
of the more enlightening set of statistics from the box score
for last year’s Ironman concerns Gregg Romano, who earned
17.5 team points, a very healthy total for a fifth place finish.
Seems Gregg ended up with 5 wins -- 3 pins, a tech fall, and a
major decision. So Blair got bonus points from every one of Gregg’s
victories. Moreover, he won his 5th place bout 16 to 0 --- over
the very same Dayton Carroll wrestler, David Clements, who had
beaten Gregg (10 to 7) in the second round. Amazing.
Looking
at overall Blair team points in last year’s Ironman, the
6 champs produced 183 of the 287.5 points, and those 183 points
included 96 placement points (16 x 6). However, as mentioned earlier
it is noteworthy that Blair received a quarter of its team points
as bonus points from the individual bouts of its 13 wrestlers
(no 275 lb wrestler was entered). These 72.5 team bonus points
were achieved as follows: 25 pins produced 50 team points, 7 tech
falls garnered 10.5 team points, and 12 major decisions got the
final 12 team bonus points.
As
reflected in the Ironman box score, 81.4 % of Blair victories
at Ironman 2001 produced bonus points. Large margins of victory
in individual matches have played a key role in the team’s
overall recent success, whether in dual meets or tournaments.
For example, the 58 to 3 dual meet win over nationally ranked
El Reno of Oklahoma at the opening of last season included 4 pins,
3 tech falls, and 1 major decision. The 38 to17 Final Four victory
over highly ranked Easton included 3 pins, 2 tech falls and a
major decision. Moreover, in Fargo 2001, 68.7 % of Blair’s
victories in Junior and Cadet freestyle were by tech fall or pin;
and in Fargo 2002, 64.0 % of Blair victories were by tech fall
or pin.
Ironman
2001: Blair Box Score
| Wt |
Wrestler |
Class |
Wins
|
Losses
|
M.
Dec’s
|
Tech’s
|
Pins
|
Place
|
Team
Pts
|
| 103 |
Thurgood |
2005 |
2
|
3
|
|
|
1
|
6th
|
11
|
| 112 |
Preston |
2003 |
4
|
1
|
|
|
3
|
2nd
|
26
|
| 119 |
Bogart |
2004 |
4
|
3
|
|
|
2
|
6th
|
8
|
| 125 |
Romano |
2004 |
5
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
5th
|
17.5
|
| 130 |
Meltzer |
2002 |
5
|
0
|
3
|
|
1
|
1st
|
29
|
| 135 |
Morris |
2003 |
2
|
2
|
1
|
|
1
|
dnp
|
7
|
| 140 |
Davis |
2003 |
5
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
1st
|
30.5
|
| 145 |
Perry |
2003 |
4
|
0
|
|
1
|
3
|
1st
|
31.5
|
| 152 |
Esposito |
2002 |
5
|
0
|
1
|
|
3
|
1st
|
31
|
| 160 |
Palmer |
2002 |
5
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
|
1st
|
31
|
| 171 |
A.
Maciag |
2004 |
3
|
3
|
1
|
|
2
|
6th
|
14
|
| 189 |
Backes |
2002 |
5
|
0
|
2
|
|
2
|
1st
|
30
|
| 215 |
M.Maciag |
2003 |
5
|
1
|
1
|
|
2
|
3rd
|
21
|
| 275 |
No
Entry |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Totals |
|
54
|
15
|
12
|
7
|
25
|
1st
|
287.5
|
| Bonus
Pts. |
|
|
|
12
|
10.5
|
50
|
|
72.5
|
