1996 Trials Finals Terry Brands v/s Kendall Cross Bout 3

[@byl15]

This match still rivals any match to date. Instant classic. Two absolute monsters!

[@wsucoug171]

Epic match. You got the feeling maybe Brands was a better wrestler, but Cross’ ability to hit the big move at any point made the difference.

[@uc9218]

Kendal was the better wrestler that year and has the Olympic Gold Medal to show for it.

[@jeffallen6754]

U C Brands could have also won it. Cross was just so long brands could finish much on him.

[@chriskarsseboom2200]

No cross won the gold that year. Freestyle is about big moves.

[@steinervision7643]

Kendall was clearly the better wrestler . Brands was a beast !

[@arthurgoerner488]

I wrestled in college same time as these guys, wrestled in many tourneys with Iowa. Brands was an absolute hammer and Cross was Houdini. Better were the ones right before, Randy Lewis, Smith and Jordan. Those are some of the guys I would like to see wrestle these guys today. I have yet to see anybody that I could say would definitely beat Smith or Lewis, Smith especially, as he was a genius. Lewis was the strongest guy I ever touched, bar none. Jim Jordan was an absolute beast as well.

[@JS45678]

I think Alexandr Karelin would probably have beaten Smith, Lewis, and Congressman Jordan. 🙃

[@billpryor8764]

Karelin wasn’t on steroids right?

[@arthurgoerner488]

@@JS45678 I think you are right, lol.

[@coachalgarin]

Kendal such an amazing defensive/counter wrestler

[@cdcaleo]

One of the best American counter wrestlers. Russians tend to have a larger pool of counter wrestlers and work to develop that style, but Cross was one of the rare Americans to do so, and it won him Olympic gold.

[@Cupid76]

The REAL Olympic Gold Medal Match...

[@steinervision7643]

Kendall Cross was a great wrestler, great to see these old timey matches!

[@AntiPattern328]

Holy shit! I remember watching this way back when! Talk about some tough boys!

[@johnhanselman6371]

Tough MEN

[@pablofonseca13411]

I love both of these warriors.. it is the last of them.. Wrestling has changed for sure.. the time was different and in my humble opinion much more difficult to wrestle.. there was no stalling and push outs.. those are truly important to understand go wrestling... five minutes of pure wrestling was even tougher..

[@baccaratfitness2360]

Well no stalling actually made it easier.

[@ryanpoopypie2498]

more scoring in the first 20 secs then 8 min of Fix

[@ethansoete4704]

There was no scoring in the first 20

[@willlancer7831]

@@ethansoete4704 exactly lol

[@chrisE815]

Fix and RBY- Stall city 😂😂😂

[@Joeblow-ms3cv]

Haha 😃

[@mikemurray5563]

Kendall Cross is a class act, top notch wrestler and his shoes are pure fire l.

[@rncgsu]

Too bad no time travel because I would love to see Spencer Lee against these guys. What a battle that would be.

[@aydensalberg8789]

rncgsu Spencer Lee would tech in 37 seconds

[@arthurgoerner488]

I wrestled in about 5 tournaments with the Brands Brothers. Saw them up close. Hell, Grand Valley State Tourney in college, I wrestled Randy Lewis in the finals, my teammate wrestled Terry Brands in the finals. (We lost, pretty big). I have watched Lee closely. Tom Brands vs Lee is a good match. Trust me, Lee wins. He is a tad quicker, and more precise. Brands was a hammer, plain and simple. The Iowa style, power moves, position, aggression, conditioning. Lee is a little sharper, a little smarter, and just as tough, with more poise. Brands wrestled like you had his family hostage, hyper aggressive and emotional. Lee is cold. Tom Brands? He was 134/142, a little bigger, also more poised than Terry, in my opinion. Tom and Lee at the same weight? Closer, but still Lee. Now, if you could put Lee and Randy Lewis in the same weight, Lee gets stomped. Believe it. Of course, I wrestled Lewis in '87, and he was already a gold medalist by then, and that is how i remember him. Lee may get that good, yet. He just does not have the killer instinct and big, feet-to-back moves that Randy could hit on world champions in his sleep. Lee might get a lead on Lewis, but he would NEVER keep up on the score. Lee would get 2, Lewis would get 4. That would happen for the whole match.

[@shawndoig4392]

@@arthurgoerner488 I think Tom had the better poise. Tom won three national championships and a gold medal. Terry would just go to pieces emotionally sometimes and I think that’s why he came up short at times. He was still great but Tom was better.

[@arthurgoerner488]

@@shawndoig4392 You are correct! I got them mixed up. I had better edit. Thank you.

[@HD__Room112]

Brands of 1996 vs Lee of 2021? Lee would tech him in the first period. Why? They are/were both epic wrestlers but wrestling has evolved so much is 25 years. Brands would have zero experience against the techniques of Lee.

[@simpultra]

Sometimes the better wrestler doesn’t always win

[@TwelveNurFace]

Oh..

[@musicfan5520]

Kendall's technique is a joy to watch, took brands to school. pure class in & out of the mat

[@reggieglubber5420]

Wrong. Brands won that match.

[@JoseDelgado-pi3ui]

@@reggieglubber5420 Based on what? Using 1996 scoring, 8 to 7 is the correct score.

[@reggieglubber5420]

@@JoseDelgado-pi3ui Based on what? Read my comment again and get informed.

[@reggieglubber5420]

@@JoseDelgado-pi3ui I heard they used 2020 scoring during this match. The refs were able to extrapolate new rules and regulations for 2020 just before this match.

[@richardlopez4889]

Reggie Glubber what????

[@blumpkinspicelatte4580]

Wouldn't that have been a touch fall at 1:15 when Brands rolled one way to the other but both shoulders were on the mat for a split second?

[@KusHNinja]

"L e t M e G o L e t M e G o"

[@JS45678]

The post match fence climb with brother Tom hanging on him. 😃

[@garrettfrey9990]

Glad they changed the rules. Brands wins by tech with today's scoring.

[@DimMakTen]

Cross has no shame the way he Injury stalls fuck me

[@QueekHeadtaker]

lol people always have to cry about something, this is the only sport where people get upset when someone takes a 'shameless' 5 second time out.

[@richardpytel8078]

Kendall reminds me of Randy Lewis

[@JS45678]

Hard to believe Kendall Cross won his final 3 out of 4 matches against Terry Brands, this being the third of those four. He was truly the better freestyle wrestler and proved it.

[@jerryjonesjr5150]

Crawled away like a baby lol

[@daytonasayswhat9333]

They’re such spoiled brats.

[@steventhury8366]

@@daytonasayswhat9333 I don't think that. The Brands are so crazy intense. Maybe if you trained with the intensity they did, you u would've cried even more. They are as good as they are because they really hate to lose. It was a good match. Kendall is phenomenal and a class act

[@daytonasayswhat9333]

Steven Thury You have no idea how hard I did or did not train. Speculating makes you look silly. Crying is one thing. No shaking hands and having a hissy fit is another. Just downright childish and poor sportsmanship. Boo.

[@steventhury8366]

@@daytonasayswhat9333 Your amateurish reaction validates my point.

[@daytonasayswhat9333]

Steven Thury What was amateurish? And isn’t this “amateur” wrestling, anyway? And what are your wrestling credentials? I bet mine are better. I was New England champion and a prep all American in high school. I wrestled in college where I was all -league a coiled of times, a team captain twice, competed in Europe and was a two time academic all American. I bet I’d smoke you. Even today.

[@austinhavard9850]

Bro what is this scoring?

[@mikeohara5083]

This is old school scoring. I remember this when I was a kid. Best scoring system imo. Everything now is so convoluted.

[@emmanueludoh77]

Takedown = 1 point Back exposure = 2 points Feet to back = 4 points Grand amplitude throw = 5 points No push out points Obviously there's more but those are the basics.

[@mikeohara5083]

@@emmanueludoh77 feet to back is 3 not 4. In some cases it could be 4 just for the lift but that is a rarity. 5 point throws are a rarity as well because the throw and form have to be perfect. Not saying that there have not been a lot but having refereed in the 90s for 5 years at the state level I have only given out two 5 point throws. That is out of hundreds of matches. But just my opinion the old school scoring system was better.

[@emmanueludoh77]

@@mikeohara5083 Thanks for the great info Mike. I stand gratefully corrected.

[@emmanueludoh77]

@@mikeohara5083 Correct me if I'm wrong but back then, a wrestler was penalized for stalling/passivity by being placed in the down (par terre) position. Nowadays they are placed on the 30-sec shot clock.

[@jeffreystrain2651]

wrestling has matches, not bouts

[@daytonasayswhat9333]

I love seeing the Brands brothers lose.

[@ButterBradb]

What a shitty cope

[@David-ws2mf]

such weird energy. whatever happened to respecting greatness?

[@wadewishloff870]

Kendall dominates Brands …. Awesome!

[@garliechetz]

dominates?

[@wadewishloff870]

Ya, then sticks him and goes on to be an Olympic Champion. Lol

[@avidadolares]

First time watching wrestling, I see. Its ok to not know much about it but dont embarrass yourself by saying dumb things, cupcake.

[@iDelphicc]

That’s crazy that Cross could stall and fake injuries the entire match

[@toddwilliams4493]

And yet it was Brands who crawled off the mat

[@TwelveNurFace]

Huh..Was he faking when he put brands in danger twice for the fall while he had to fight his a** off just to even stay in the match?

[@RuthDiMartino]

It was nice to see Brands twist Cross’ fingers and then get tossed on his back.