Jason Nolf retires from wrestling

[ChickenBrother]

Maybe I haven’t been paying enough attention but this is surprising to me. Still in his athletic prime at 28, he just retired Burroughs and has been beating everyone not named Kyle Dake lately. Heir apparent to rep USA at the 2028 Olympics at 74 kg. Dake is 33 and I don't see him making another Olympic run at 37. So in terms of both age and career, Nolf is pretty much where Dake was about 5 years ago.

Former Penn State wrestler, 3-time NCAA champion announces retirement

Jason Nolf was one of the most decorated wrestlers to walk through Penn State's hallowed halls.

www.pennlive.com

He looked great at CJI last weekend against Tye Ruotolo. Their match starts at 5:28.

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EDIT: Here's an interview from last week, talking about CJI. Given that he just walked away from wrestling, it sounds like he's considering either sub grappling or MMA or both. Dude is an exciting scrapper who's been cross-training grappling for a long time.

 

[JacJeanFinger]

He's in Austin to train bjj full time. Despite the losing debut, it looks like he lubs, I mean, he loves what he's doing for a new career.

 

[dsdoubled]

Wow this is surprising. But it does bring to mind the potential problem USAW is possibly looking at which is the current superstars aging out and there not being many new ones coming up behind them. And good as Nolf is, he doesn't seem to have that special something that guys like Burroughs, Snyder, Taylor, Dake, Cox, Green, and Gilman had.

Guys that looked so promising or guys that were stuck behind superstars are either underperforming, not focused on competing, or aging out themselves. Dieringer, Imar, Mark Hall, Mekhi Lewis, Marinelli, Machiavello, Suriano, etc. It's clear these guys won't be winning world/Olympic medals.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Wow this is surprising. But it does bring to mind the potential problem USAW is possibly looking at which is the current superstars aging out and there not being many new ones coming up behind them. And good as Nolf is, he doesn't seem to have that special something that guys like Burroughs, Snyder, Taylor, Dake, Cox, Green, and Gilman had.

Guys that looked so promising or guys that were stuck behind superstars are either underperforming, not focused on competing, or aging out themselves. Dieringer, Imar, Mark Hall, Mekhi Lewis, Marinelli, Machiavello, Suriano, etc. It's clear these guys won't be winning world/Olympic medals.

Do you think any of our U20 USA squad competing in Spain next week looks promising? Of the 2024 Olympic medalists, I'd assume Lee and Brooks will stick around for next Olympics. And I'm wondering if Elor will drop off and go to grappling - she's apparently BJJ purple and is in a relationship with Mica Galvao who took gold at ADCC last weekend.

I feel like Nolf might actually make some waves in grappling and possibly MMA once he polishes up his sub game. His wrestling and top control is superior to any grappler at this point and his sub awareness is already good enough to have given CJI #1 seed Tye Ruotolo a competitive match.

 

[dsdoubled]

Do you think any of our U20 USA squad competing in Spain next week looks promising? Of the 2024 Olympic medalists, I'd assume Lee and Brooks will stick around for next Olympics. And I'm wondering if Elor will drop off and go to grappling - she's apparently BJJ purple and is in a relationship with Mica Galvao who took gold at ADCC last weekend.

I feel like Nolf might actually make some waves in grappling and possibly MMA once he polishes up his sub game. His wrestling and top control is superior to any grappler at this point and his sub awareness is already good enough to have given CJI #1 seed Tye Ruotolo a competitive match.

Honestly I'm kinda out of the loop with the U20 guys. I usually really start paying attention when guys get to a point where they are close to making waves at NCAAs and definitely the senior scene. Our developmental program is bigger than ever so there's got to be some really good guys coming up, like the Iowa HW Ben Keuter, but in previous generations the next breed was pretty much already identified.

And don't get me wrong, there's good young guys, like the Askren protege that gave Brooks a good match at trials, but I'm talking about gold medals. Who is the next Snyder/ Dake/Burroughs/Taylor etc?

 

[dsdoubled]

Do you think any of our U20 USA squad competing in Spain next week looks promising? Of the 2024 Olympic medalists, I'd assume Lee and Brooks will stick around for next Olympics. And I'm wondering if Elor will drop off and go to grappling - she's apparently BJJ purple and is in a relationship with Mica Galvao who took gold at ADCC last weekend.

I feel like Nolf might actually make some waves in grappling and possibly MMA once he polishes up his sub game. His wrestling and top control is superior to any grappler at this point and his sub awareness is already good enough to have given CJI #1 seed Tye Ruotolo a competitive match.

As for Nolf, he's got to be thinking MMA. I mean, unless he just really loves submission grappling, how many wrestlers of his caliber get into it if it's not to prepare for MMA?

Penn State hasn't been too significant a pipeline for MMA but they did bring us Phil Davis, Ed Ruth, Dom Bradley.

Its interesting bc in the last 5 - 10 years a ton of top wrestlers have come to MMA. But how many of them became legit contenders in the top shows? A lot have done well but many have also been kinda middle of the road.

 

[maximus__]

Do you think any of our U20 USA squad competing in Spain next week looks promising? Of the 2024 Olympic medalists, I'd assume Lee and Brooks will stick around for next Olympics. And I'm wondering if Elor will drop off and go to grappling - she's apparently BJJ purple and is in a relationship with Mica Galvao who took gold at ADCC last weekend.

I feel like Nolf might actually make some waves in grappling and possibly MMA once he polishes up his sub game. His wrestling and top control is superior to any grappler at this point and his sub awareness is already good enough to have given CJI #1 seed Tye Ruotolo a competitive match.

I thought he basically admitted to greasing vs Tye?

Makes you wonder if wrestling wise that might be why he isn't quite there.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Honestly I'm kinda out of the loop with the U20 guys. I usually really start paying attention when guys get to a point where they are close to making waves at NCAAs and definitely the senior scene. Our developmental program is bigger than ever so there's got to be some really good guys coming up, like the Iowa HW Ben Keuter, but in previous generations the next breed was pretty much already identified.

And don't get me wrong, there's good young guys, like the Askren protege that gave Brooks a good match at trials, but I'm talking about gold medals. Who is the next Snyder/ Dake/Burroughs/Taylor etc?

Yeah I'm also guilty of following guys only after they've distinguished themselves somewhat at NCAA or senior level. I split my attention span across wrestling, BJJ, Judo and MMA so I'm not super well-informed on up and comers unless they generate special interest. I did find it interesting that Tazhudinov proved beating Snyder and Sadulaev at worlds last year wasn't just a fluke, although it sucked Sadulaev wasn't there repping Russia.

As for Nolf, he's got to be thinking MMA. I mean, unless he just really loves submission grappling, how many wrestlers of his caliber get into it if it's not to prepare for MMA?

Penn State hasn't been too significant a pipeline for MMA but they did bring us Phil Davis, Ed Ruth, Dom Bradley.

Its interesting bc in the last 5 - 10 years a ton of top wrestlers have come to MMA. But how many of them became legit contenders in the top shows? A lot have done well but many have also been kinda middle of the road.

Agreed. Different sport, so hard to say if he's going to transition well or not but I think Nolf comes off like a scrapper with a fighter mentality. He's the same age as Bo Nickal and has a comparable (arguably better) pedigree but yeah, we'll have to wait and see how he does.

 

[ChickenBrother]

I thought he basically admitted to greasing vs Tye?

Makes you wonder if wrestling wise that might be why he isn't quite there.

Lol at "admitting to greasing." Nolf addresses this in the second OP vid at 8:00. He says he shaved his legs but didn't grease. After he broke Tye's grips several times with his knees, he says he thought Tye asked him during the match, "So you use knees too?" and he responded, "Yeah." But apparently Tye actually asked "So you greased too?"

Maybe he did grease (I don't know) but lol at him being dumb enough to admit it during the match. In his defense he says he WANTED Tye to try to hold his leg more so he could go for the Winn Dixie (reverse triangle) counter he was known for in college.

 

[maximus__]

Lol at "admitting to greasing." Nolf addresses this in the second OP vid at 8:00. He says he shaved his legs but didn't grease. After he broke Tye's grips several times with his knees, he says he thought Tye asked him during the match, "So you use knees too?" and he responded, "Yeah." But apparently Tye actually asked "So you greased too?"

Maybe he did grease (I don't know) but lol at him being dumb enough to admit it during the match. In his defense he says he WANTED Tye to try to hold his leg more so he could go for the Winn Dixie (reverse triangle) counter he was known for in college.

I hadn't seen a second video of him denying it. Only the first and stuff like this.

Jason Nolf Jokes About Greasing Accusation After Match with Tye Ruotolo at CJI

In a surprising twist following their electrifying match at the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI), Jason Nolf has found himself at the center of controversy after Tye Ruotolo accused him of greasing. The accusation, which has sparked debate within the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) community, was met...

www.bjjee.com

I just thought he had gotten some of that Nicky Rod b cream...



Just grease them all up I reckon. They can slide around the walls of the alley.

 

[Söze Aldo]

You know wrestling is having a hard time monetizing as a sport when its stars go to BJJ to try to make money.

 

[dsdoubled]

You know wrestling is having a hard time monetizing as a sport when its stars go to BJJ to try to make money.

Wasn't it a million up for grabs though?

 

[Söze Aldo]

Wasn't it a million up for grabs though?

Yeah for the first time ever and only for the Craig Jones Invitational The ADCC offers 10k prizes.

CJI was great but it's not confirmed they will be coming back for next year.