Johnny Thompson vs Ryan Lewis NCAA's 2003

[jasonruberg]

I remember Ok St. intensive camp when tompson was a freshmen. My older brother was on his team. What a stud he became almost out of no where. you the man Johnny!

[dirtbikefan07]

tompsons wife and dad are both my art teachers

[kkhwt]

I remember watching for the first time and thinking how much it SUCKED that ESPN would begin in the second period; imagine if the Super Bowl two years ago started in the second half and they said "Here's Devin Hesater's historic return" and showed a highlight clip of it; people would be PISSED! Now ESPN got the clue and shows the whole match; the fans in the stadium haave to wait, but now the whole country gets to see the whole match.

[phillipstraz]

I don't mean to cause any sort of controversy, I think Thompson deserved to win even though it breaks my heart to see how badly Lewis wanted it. Nonetheless, watching this match my junior year of highschool finally taught me how to stall effectively. I guess that you are all defending Thompson validates my point. It is (kind of) subtle, but JT's "shooting" and hanging onto the legs is merely smart stalling. Smart enough to win NCAAs and help me out quite a bit Sr year. Thanks JT :)

[jurom7]

Lewis shouldn't let Thompson to get in on his legs. First line of defense is head, second is hands, and third hips. Lewis needs to defend better, maybe at the first line or the second line. That is how you become a Champion.

[LoStNuMbErZ]

thompson picked his shots and capitalized lewis was definately the agressor but thompson was equally clearly not stalling... It hurt me to watch this match because lewis was so close to winning but just made some tactical errors that costed him.

[jr153]

People calling stalling on Thompson? He was in on the legs most of the match. What Thomspon had is good defence.

[rmolitor]

I'm also a huge Gopher fan... and this was a very well wrestled match by JT. His shots were far superior to RL's and the penetration on JT's shots were much deeper. Lewis is a "goer" and it put him in the championship match twice so you can't really knock his style of pressure and driving forward. I rememebered the match being more one sided (validating stalling), but rewatching it, JT clearly won and really only started skating with maybe 20 seconds left in the 3rd period.

[toolmantooltime]

Im from minnesota and I thoughtit was a great match I didnt see anything that made me want to call foul

[TheFirstSecond]

well they're both studs...does it really matter?

[bscott140]

Lewis never had any effective takedown attempts. He never had a good game plan in going after JT. JT dictated his wrestling style on Ryan and won. JT capitalized on his opportunities and Ryan never made his. IMO.

[Notbadphonedaddy]

I have nothing against Minnesota or Ryan Lewis. In fact I like the Golden Gophers and was always a fan of Lewis's, but this crybaby B.S. of Thompson "Stalling" the whole match is complete horse shit. Double Leg Takedowns are not defensive takedowns, they're offensive takendowns. Thompson wrestled smart and used his head during the match. Nough said.