Dave Schultz battles a jacked Russian

20 year old Dave Schultz battles a tough Russian at the 1980 World Cup in Toronto. This footage was shot by the legendary wrestling videographer Don Ernst, who gave it to me while I was making the film Team Foxcatcher (Netflix). Listening to Don's commentary from behind the camera makes this match all the more thrilling. There's an absolutely epic Dave Schultz story that accompanies this match, but I have not yet been given permission to spill the beans. If you think you know, leave something in the comments...

[@charlesdowthomson]

My High School record was 74 wins, 8 losses, one tie. I was pinned only once in my life, by Dave Shultz, novice tournament, Sophemore year, 1975, Palo Alto, CA. I had no idea who he was, thought he looked rather wimpy. Was glad he outgrew me... never had to wrestle him again... I remember what a decent and humble person he was...

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

If you have to get pinned, may as well be by one of the best to ever do it. Very cool.

[@charlesdowthomson]

Exactly!

[@markr5132]

Yes, unlike his one year younger brother gymnist turn wrestler Mark he didn't look inshape at all back in high school. However the wreslters at our school all said that he was plenty strong and used leverage to make him feel like a heavy weight. p.s. He beat a heavy weight in a high school tourey when our heavy weight was a no show. The guy was one of the top heavyweight wrestlers in the nation and looked like a body builder-& Dave dominated him, he let him up then on purpose the took him down three times a row.

[@charlesdowthomson]

@@markr5132 Did you go to Paly?

[@markhildy]

Can any of you explain what the penalties against the russian were? And why he protested the outcome?

[@markschultz8982]

This match is pure gold. I wish we could find the full matches for me and Dave at the 1981 NCAA finals in Princeton, NJ. Thanks for posting this. It's the first match of Dave ever caught on tape.

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

Of course, Mark. I’ll ask around about 1981 NCAA’s but those are a little harder to come by. Have you ever asked Gordon Connell?

[@keysersoze5920]

Please accept my (horribly late) condolences, Mark. Met your bro at a dual meet back in high school. Helped me out with some moves. Was so kind and genuine, but I think you’ve always known this.

[@lawsonransom8318]

I could pin you.

[@joeb6671]

@Mark My late wrestling coach Clyde Forrest always spoke highly of you and Dave. He stated that Dave beat his wrestler Chris Bodine in the California State finals Dave’s senior year. Hope you are doing well. I think if you would have stayed in MMA you would have been an all time great.

[@jerrymartin1098]

I’m pretty sure you would of ruled UFC with the proper trainer like today and the right people around you, your the king and always be

[@keysersoze5920]

RIP Dave. Thanx for helping me out in high school. Great wrestler, greater person.

[@RoscoPColetraneIII]

Always beware of the “lanky wimpy quiet guy” standing behind the scenes. They’ll f*** your day up, and mine too. Great video! I can’t believe I’m 42 and just now saw this.

[@jackschwartz1945]

I wrestled Dave after he just won Nationals and pinned Chuck Yagla. In the Olympic tryouts at 163 in Fullerton Ca. I wrestled Dave in the 4th round and It was 9 minute matches back then (3,3,3). I took Dave down 6 times and leading 6-0 after 2 periods. We ended up tying 6-6. I wrestled him 3 times in a 3 year stretch and tied 5-5 and lost 4-2, He never stopped and was in better shape than I ever was in.

[@chuckerroo5977]

Not many can say that

[@user-lu1lw7oq8e]

💪✊️🌟🇺🇦🇺🇸

[@theriskid]

What a gem.💎Thanks for sharing!

[@dirtworshiper2800]

WOW. That was frickin amazing. Dave just had more stamina. Thanks for posting.

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

Right? Love this match.

[@billybud9557]

I had the great honor to both meet and wrestle with this man. The match above shows his technique, but another great asset was his gas tank. Many international opponents ran out of gas against this NCAA 158 pound runner up, NCAA 167 pound champ, and eventually, Olympic Champ. We miss you, Dave.

[@jimquantic]

I'm starting to think all high school wrestlers, should join the cross country team. Not all runners want to, or can be wrestlers but it seems to me, all the great wresters are serious runners, they know if you got nothin left in the 3rd period, you can't go far.

[@theupscriber65]

I'm super old and reliving my youth through this video. I was tough once back when I was raslin and gas was 25 cents a gallon. Me and my best gal would get one malt with 2 straws at the sodi shop. Now I'm just wrinkly and useless.

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

Useless?! I doubt that. I’m early 50’s. Hoping as I grow older I can find more productive things to do using my mind rather than body. Write a book maybe?

[@christopherhall1021]

I thought I saw most of Dave’s international matches. This one ☝️ was rare and it was a gem 💎. It showed a passive side of his style that changed by the mid to late 80s when he destroyed opponents from everywhere. I love it!!! RIP DS

[@johnfeilmeier8465]

Dave wrestled internationally and it was such a more physical style that they learned and he brought back to the USA

[@ralphiewigs2208]

I'm a couple of years younger than Dave Schultz, but I wrestled in California and heard about him from coaches and other wrestlers who went to the state tournament (not me 🙂). It's so fun to finally see him in action, especially the young Dave. Thanks for your great content and I'm a recent subscriber. I'm dying to hear the epic story!

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

I’m dying to tell it! Gotta wait for the nod from Nancy Schultz…

[@user-ph4fr3rn1b]

These Russians were all roided up, what an absolute disgrace. What a true Champion Dave was.

[@ghostsofVTurbexSkysthelimitvid]

I dont know much about dave, but i love these old sports clips, this one looks pretty rare , so thanks !!!

[@devianarrow2713]

That was an incredible comeback.

[@gearbarrel6237]

Love these older clips!!!!❤

[@isiahwashington2999]

When you watch great wrestlers, they are always just a hare away from a pin. Shocking how talented they are

[@arcstatic8950]

Wrestling is an amazing sport!

[@michaelbradford4444]

Enjoy your videos , keep em coming !

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

Thanks, Michael! Will do.

[@83457]

He loved that double wrist lock position.

[@davidroosa4561]

that was his brother.

[@markr5132]

I went to Palo Alto high school and was a year behind Dave. If any athlete was the pride of the school it was Dave. Probably 1/3 the spectators at the wrestling matches where there to see Dave. I was more of a weight lifter and Dave was always nice except I noticed he would cut in front of line to get a drink of water at the weight room water fountain ?? I asked a wreslter buddy of mine why he did that and that I was going to call him out on it next time. He told me don't even think about it, he is just baiting you so he will have an excuse to take you down and put the hurt on you. From that point forward when Dave would cut in front I said you go right ahead Dave and take your time, I know what your up to and I will let you cut in front of me any time your want! He would give me a big smile almost embarrassed that his reputation had proceeded him. Dave is a testimony to focusing on what you love in life, and 1/2 the time he would go to class in his wrestling outfit but he didn't care, it saved hime time as he would wrestle with Stanford westling team in the then the high team later in the day. It was his identity and he was happy with it. Godspeed Dave you had a hell of an impressive life.

[@charlesdowthomson]

I went to Cubberly, Palo Alto's other High School, same years as Dave. We never won more than a few matches at meets... but I won mine... Dave outgrew me...

[@philippinepalestra]

It's my first time to watch Dave Schultz wrestle with . . . hair, lol! I had two coaches who wrestled him in world championships and the Olympics: Lodoi Enkhbayar of Mongolia ang Han Myung Woo of South Korea. They both lost to the legendary Dave, and those losses are on record and that's what they told me. 🤼

[@tokesalotta1521]

This is an example of having the better cardio. Some guys add on so much muscle, and then they get a guy with endurance that can hang in there, run them out of breath, amd then just walk all over them

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

IMO conditioning was the Achilles heel of the Soviets back then. Gable exposed them, creating the model for how Americans could win. And we used this model for a long time. Although now things are different. Russian wrestlers have filled that hole, and we have caught up technically. Much different ball game now.

[@KrispeKreme]

I wonder how those 80s era eastern bloc athletes put on so much muscle? guess we'll never know.

[@TheGallows978]

I remember attending a college dual match between Iowa and Oklahoma. Iowa was the best at the time, but OU was very good as well. The match ended 19-19 and was as exciting as any sporting event I saw that year. The highlight was when Mark Schultz came from behind to beat Ed Banach in the final seconds of their match. I don't remember Dave's match as well, he was so clinical. We never expected him to lose. There were 4 Olympic champions in that match with the Schultz and Banach brothers. I need to find a write up of that match to see how good my memory is.

[@user-wi5dc9qp9p]

God bless that was some wrestling. The way DS went over the top on the second headlock takedown the crowd came alive and it turned him on.

[@caveman726]

That was Great!!!

[@billyrock8305]

Dave went on to be an incredible hockey player with the Philadelphia Flyers. Incredible athletic talent. Pounded the entire Russian hockey team. The Hammer. 👍

[@tarisco614]

Not sure if this is a joke or not, but that's a different Dave Schultz. This is the one who worked at a place called Foxcatcher that was ran by a member of the du Pont family. John du Pont, who was very mentally ill, ended up murdering him.

[@joep5146]

I never knew any of these guys and didn't wrestle (big regret). But I love the sport, support both PSU wresting and USA wrestling, and can't get enough of the American greats like Dave and Mark Shultz. Dave put on a master class in technique and leverage in this one. I wonder what was going on in the Russian's head as he was getting flipped like a burger toward the end. Nyet!

[@pablogaviria9265]

The “ Professional Wrestler “ , Dr. D. David Schultz ?

[@guillermomaguire5394]

the russian was hitting solid cross hand sweep singles. still the best basic shot today, imo.

[@chrisputnam6227]

I believe the mat ref was a soviet and it looks to me that he desperately did not want to award Dave the match.

[@WiscoWrestler]

I wish singlets were low cut like those. They're pretty sick

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

When I was growing up we wore higher cut for collegiate style, and lower cut, like that, for freestyle. I also never wore socks when wrestling freestyle. No idea why I thought that was a good idea.

[@jeffgoesrandom4217]

Like wrestling a brick wall for Schultz.

[@georgepalmer5497]

Dave Schulz's hands looked like a big handicap in this match. He couldn't hold on to his opponent too well with his hands like that.

[@jerrymartin1098]

Wow, and he wasn’t on any roids, and he beat all of them

[@caveman726]

Out of time? Definitely was inbounds on the beginning of the turn -to seal the win!

[@metou3072]

It's very easy to be a spectator and say why didn't you just do this... But I have never been more tired and exhausted in my life than after wrestling someone a full match that is just as good or better than yourself

[@isiahwashington2999]

Seems to me inevitable as Dave Schultz was just wearing him down in the third

[@gregorydryden7865]

Dave Schultz epitomized the toughness, grit, and never say die mentality of American Wrestling. He learned Russian and trained with the Russians to learn their techniques. The Russians called him "sly fox", they had great admiration for Dave.

[@TheCaliRhino]

It's so weird to only get 1 point for some of theses takedowns, how does Dave have 2 points if he only had 1 takedown & I counted 4 if not 5 takedowns for the Russian? I wrestled in HS in the late 90's & early 00's, it was always 2 points for a TD, 1 point for an escape, 2 points for a reversal. I'm sure the scoring system must've changed in those 20 years.

[@maquih]

Freestyle rules, he got bonus points for turning the Russian at the end.

[@SMJ95]

I thought the Russain should’ve received more points for the throw on the very first exchange.

[@daminschultz3881]

Figured before watching, Dave would struggle a bit from strength, but big guys always gas. Was right.

[@JOZONER]

FOXCATCHER

[@djredrover]

Who is the Russian guy? Kind of looks like one of the Saitiev brothers.

[@midlincolnresearch6007]

commentator at one point names the Russian as Petrenko. Never heard the name, but great match for Dave! Was is it 68kg youth?

[@midlincolnresearch6007]

Saitiev at that time probably was not even born

[@djredrover]

@@midlincolnresearch6007 I literally thought that after I posted the comment ahah. But doesn't he look/move like Buvaysar?

[@Jaybird165]

@@djredroverAre you serious? Buvaisor was tall and skinney! He used his leverage to toss people around! This Russian was jacked and chock full of roids!

[@ifyouseekay1000]

Nikolai Petrenko

[@djalalmalaev5285]

Эту схватку Шульц проиграл. Как бы судья не помогал. Кто в борьбе разбирается, со мной согласится. Дейв Шульц- великий борец, но этот поединок он проиграл.

[@alxsmac733]

Oh, it's *this* World Cup. I know the story ;-)

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

Tell it

[@alxsmac733]

@@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt I too do not have permission to spill the beans but it comes from a very reliable source

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

@@alxsmac733 Yes. I have 4 or 5 sources. Who is yours?

[@alxsmac733]

A fellow from Pennsylvania in your documentary.

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

@@alxsmac733 Brian Dolph. Yes, he tells the story well.

[@DJ-iv2xo]

Is he the wrestler who was murdered?

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

Yes. You can check out my Netflix Original film Team Foxcatcher for the whole story.

[@TheTallhillbilly]

The Russian was stronger starting out but he started fading

[@Scrooks1]

The Russians cheered Dave!

[@davidroosa4561]

what makes you think the guy was "Russian"? he's representing the soviet union. he could be from any of 15 countries that made up the soviet union. Russians only made up half the population of the soviet union

[@l.rongardner2150]

"jacked" or "roided up"?

[@ImOnlySIeeping]

Corrupt ref gave Schultz the match

[@markr5132]

Do you even know what your talking about or just a troll? Can you explain?

[@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt]

Traditionally FILA officiating was controlled by European countries, and usually Eastern European. Americans were getting screwed on the regular back then. So you have an interesting take here. The match is controversial, without a doubt. So even though I see it differently, I do see how someone could view it that way.

[@dkitt-1]

@@CoachesCornerWrestling-ue9mt Can't view a ref as corrupt if he gives Dave the stall points. Plain and simple.

[@oldtoothlesslion3975]

Still get verklempt