Paul Donahoe lost, 2-1, in the final.
Paul Donahoe, the Edinboro University wrestler we have been following this year, lost in the final of the 125-pound class of the NCAA’s wrestling championships, 2-1 in triple overtime, to Troy Nickerson of Cornell in St. Louis. It was Donahoe’s first loss this season.
The winning point was awarded to Nickerson on a technical violation in the second OT, when Donahoe (35-1) clasped his hands illegally in trying to prevent Nickerson (25-0) from escaping. The ESPN announcers, who did a lousy job of explaining the violation to a non-wrestling audience, made it sound like the equivalent of missing a chip-shot field goal in a football game.
“It will take Paul Donahoe a long time to forget about the fact that he lost an NCAA championship because of a technical violation against him,” one of the ESPN commentators said.
“I got lucky he had that lock-and-hand call,” Nickerson said after. Nickerson was very gutty, wrestling with a bad shoulder that popped out at one point and temporarily stopped the match.
Donahoe, who came to prominence after being caught posing nude on a gay porn site, looked stunned after, offering Nickerson perfunctory congratulations before running into the tunnel and the locker room. I imagine losing this way has to be more disappointing than being dominated. To my untrained eye, both wrestlers looked evenly matched and the bout could have gone longer if not for the violation.
I know a lot of our readers were rooting for Donahoe since many thought he got a raw deal being kicked off the Nebraska team (for which he won the national title in 2007) after his nude photos were discovered. Donahoe, who is straight, further endeared himself this week with his very gay-friendly comments to the Boston Globe.
ESPN made reference Saturday to Donahoe being kicked off the Nebraska team for an “improper photo shoot,” but did not go beyond that. However, during Friday’s semifinals, the ESPN team did mention that it was a photo shoot for a site frequented by gay men, which probably had viewers running to the Web to search “Paul Donahoe” and “gay porn.”
I would love to hear from wrestling experts on the nature of the violation, how common it is and what you thought overall of the match. Or simply if you thought Donahoe looked terrific wearing white.
Update: Fleshbot has its take (they also have the pics that got Donahoe in trouble) along with the video of the final.
on Mar 21st, 2009 at 8:51 pm
I watched all but this first match — holy shamoly that was some good stuff. I should have gone to wrestling meets as a student when I still had an excuse
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 1:16 am
Sorry Paul. That sucks.
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 1:39 am
There is this silly thing called ’scholastic style’ which is what Americans wrestle in HS and University.
The rest of the world and the Olympics wrestle ‘FreeStyle & GRECO’.
It is the one singular reason why our wrestlers usually get blown away internationally even when they are always in better shape.
The major difference in styles is the ‘hand clasp’ (duh!)… allowed in international style and disallowed in ’scholastic’.
Most Americans wrestle internationally off season, but have to get back into the scholastic mode in the season.
This call is very common with younger high schoolers who are training for an international shot, and yet dealing with summer camps and off season freestyle tournaments.
If there is one single reason why youngster Henry Cejudo won our only GOLD in Beijing, it is that he was never ‘corrupted’ by having to wrestle scholastic in college.
He went immediately to international after high school, and was able to concentrate on the international style & strategy.
If you watch inyternational style, it is more action, more aggressive, and more logical because it encourages/rewards risks and throws like in judo.
I coached 15 years scholastic, and I was bored with the slow pace of these NCAA scholoastic matches.
It is a boring strategy of score quick, sit on your lead, and avoid risk.
Better to watch the Russian Satieyev who wrestled 3 Olympics and won 3 Golds.
But it is a political issue with the NCAA and the USOC about scholastic vs. international.
Scholastic style is much harder on the knees than international because it is so reliant on those very explosive side single legs that blow out the knees.
It is always a heartbreaker to have come so far and lose it because of a criteria call.
But IMHO, it meant Paul was wrestling more instinctively/organically because he went for the most effective move for the situation… a freestyle counter.
He was beaten by the rules which reward a very weird strategy that rewards a non-fighting control strategy, and rewards stalling with ‘riding time’.
As for the ‘white singlet’, you wonder about the coaches.
Bruce Baumgartner I believe is still there at Edinboro, and was a frosh at Manchester when I was coaching next door at Hawthorne NJ.
My female AD made the mistake one year of ordering white singlets.
After 2 years, it was an obviously bad choice, because of parental complaints.
It seems the damn boys kept staining their crotches with urine etc… and the stain would not bleach out.
Now for all of that free analysis, please go vote for the Rasslers against the Cheerleaders in the OutSports Poll: http://www.outsports.com/os/index.php/Local/2009/LGC-Round-3-Cheer-New-York-vs.-Golden-Gate-Wrestling-Club.html
..and I will take more questions…
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 1:40 am
I saw the match and I was so disappointed for Paul.
I agree though, he looked SMOKING HOT in that white singlet!
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 1:43 am
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 1:51 am
… Maybe to simplify what I said previously…
Imagine being in a fight and not being allowed to clasp your hands because it is ‘unfair’.
What do you do?
You avoid fighting and just stall by ‘riding’ and tiring your opponent into boredom.
Why do you think UFC, BJJ, and Submission style are so popular?
They build on instinctual/organic fighting/wrestling techniques.
I cannot wait for the day we finally get rid of Scholastic Style so I can coach kids FreeStyle & GRECO, and watch real wreslting.
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 5:55 am
I was hoping he would win just so they would have to interview him. I wanted to know what he voice sounded like.
What I found strange was that Paul lost on some technical violation while the winner got two injury breaks after it looked like he had been pinned. It didn’t seem fair to me.
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 6:40 am
Hey Scott, you can actually find a lot of videos of him on the web, and not the nude ones.
He’s got a bit of soft voice, something I wasn’t expecting.
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Great run Paul! I think his experience just shows what you can do when you put your mind to it despite adversity. He’ll always be a winner in my book!
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Gene wrote:
“I coached 15 years scholastic, and I was bored with the slow pace of these NCAA scholoastic matches.
It is a boring strategy of score quick, sit on your lead, and avoid risk.”
Then it wasn’t just my untrained eye. The matches were boring and I do recall the Olympics being much more exciting. Thanks for the explanation!
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
With Wrestling, one has to differentiate motives and reactions (techincal/athletic, role model/self identification, or simply voyeur). This is the old canard about wrestling being homoerotic.
It is only a third true. Every wrestler, gay or str8 will tell you there is huge difference between competing, watching as a competitor, or just guy watching. I am not judging the motivations and reactions, just trying to make a point about respecting where the motives & reactions are coming from.
If I were a short muscular kid with dyslexia and learning disabilities (me), I would hero worship Paul, and be motivated to become a wrestler. Paul is a great role model for these short boys to identify with… a class act. That juvenile hero worship is so common with boys, str8 or gay… you should not read too much into it. But it is a very important part of the hard wiring of young boys, especially young gay boys who especially need the experience of athletics.
But thes boys are being screwed by Title IX denying them programs and scholarships. We already lost men’s gymnastics… where are our porn stars going to come from? Most of them are a lot shorter than you realize, and it is that intense muscular proportion that tantalizes.
Yes Paul is cute, and looks great in that white singlet, and I will be the FIRST in line to buy any porn or ‘exhibition’ he is in… that is my ultimate type
!
.
But from an athletic perspective, I watched Paul’s match in the video, and was just bored to tears because of the style restrictions
I would BET $ that in a classic freestyle or even a brawl, Paul’s more instinctive fighting style would have prevailed, and given us a more exciting bout. Nickerson was a classic monkey on your back riding staller, who squeeked by on techicalities that rewarded his running away from Paul.
Besides the hand clasp techinality, International Style does NOT reward ESCAPES with points like ’scholastic’ does. How do you win a fight with an ESCAPE? Nickerson won a point for an ESCAPE… techincally ok, but from a macho perspective, not acceptable since he did not convert it to a takedown.
So if you take my analysis to the logical conclusion, Paul was the superior athlete & fighter, beaten by stupid rules.
Ask a young wrestler who he admires and why, and you would be surprised what the motivations are.. from body type to style to personality. It is rarely the performance in a single bout.
e.g… My most favorite wrestler in the Paul mode is Gene Mills…
another short aggressive powerhouse from the ’70s/’80s denied an Olympic Medal by Carter canceling the 1980 Moscow Olympics over Afghanistan.
Lets not over value the medal at the expense of the gem we have in Paul.
Now vote for the Wrestlers in the OutSports Poll… we are close: http://www.outsports.com/os/index.php/Local/2009/LGC-Round-3-Cheer-New-York-vs.-Golden-Gate-Wrestling-Club.html
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I don’t know about other people but I NEVER find NCAA championship wrestling boring!
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 pm
That’s just because you like the college boys, Jay.
I’ve already given my synopsis on Paul in today’s post but I will say that Paul seems like a gentle creature when not wrestling. His short stature is interesting to. Whatever girl or guy he finds, he’ll keep that person happy.
I only say guy or girl because despite what he’s said I like to think differently on the basis that a lot will say that to protect themselves.
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 7:41 pm
The match of Paul’s that really showed his class was against Anthony Robles, the black dude with one leg. Anthony made the cover of USA Wrestler last week, and was given the usual human interest treatment (very deservedly).
Paul’s only notoriety leading up to the finals was this web site exposure.
Never mind that Paul was seeded first, had to change schools for one season, and retrain with another coach.
With all due respect to Edinboro, it is not a Nebraska.
So who had the most to deal with this year? Paul.
Imagine having to wrestle the sentimental crowd favorite Robles as the #1 seed.
How to win and move on without looking crass or disrepectful… not easy when you are so focused in the semifinals.
IMHO, Paul did the job, no more, no less, and did not run up the score like I think he could have in 2 situations.
There was no hot dog dancing or flips, no crying, no drama.
It was a respectible loss for Robles and a sold win for Paul.
That Robles match showed me more about the warrior Paul than the Nickerson match did.
If you know the sport, programs, coaches, traditions, etc.. all play a critical role in molding a champion.
It is like changing shrinks mid treatment.
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Gene I have to agree with you about one thing. Collegiate wrestling is not homoerotic. At least not to me. Then again, a lot of porn stars are former wrestlers and gymnasts
on Mar 22nd, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Thanks DJ
on Mar 23rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Gene and I disagree on folkstyle (scholastic) being boring. I don’t find it boring, but I do think it is an inferior style because it rewards glorified stalling, so you really have to be a technique junkie to enjoy aspects of it. Only Americans use folkstyle and it hurst us when we compete internationally.
Grabbing around a guy’s waist when he’s trying to get away is a good way to strop someone fleeing; it’s illegal in scholastic style because if they’d allow it they would REALLY stall all match long. I won’t go into detail here, but it’s actually a good offensive position in freestyle, which is why freestylers drop their hips to the mat.
The bad thing about folkstyle is not that it is boring: the bad thing about it is that it s destructive to knees and ankles. That’s why our wrestlers peak in their early 20s, while wrestlers from other countries keeping ticking into their late 30s.
Me, I was just bummed Ohio State narrowly missed capturing its first ever national title. It’s a recruiting thing: they lose too many good wrestlers to Michigan colleges….
on Mar 23rd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I think Paul Donohue is pretty hot, but his teammate that got kick out as well, Kenny Jordan to me was the hotter one….does anyone knows what happened to him, what he is up to now?
on Mar 26th, 2009 at 11:07 am
I would have been more upset by his loss if the winner of the match hadn’t been from my alma mater, and yes, the style makes college wrestling more difficult to watch.
on Apr 2nd, 2009 at 1:50 am
I heard that Kenny Jordan was enrolled at Purdue and may try out for next season. I can’t substantiate this though.