The Coolest Scramble in NCAA Wrestling History

First, let me say this: If Jesse Delgado had wrestled for your favorite team, you would've ******* loved him. LOVED HIM! As a wrestler, he was a super hard-working, extra clean technician, as well as a nice and mild-mannered fellow who just happened to be magic in scrambles. He had a system that I call The Delgado System (or "TDS").

This video shows a scramble in the 2014 NCAA Championship match between Jesse Delgado and Nashon Garrett at 125 pounds. The scramble is the "Coolest" for a number of reasons, including: 1. THE OPPONENT: This scramble came against Nashon Garrett, a four-time EIWA champion and NCAA All American, a one-time NCAA champion (a year later at 133), and a future member of the USA Senior National Team. 2. THE TIMING: This was sweaty palms time, heart palpitations time, NCAA Finals time with the #1 seed (ILLINOIS' Delgado) versus the #2 seed (Cornell's Garrett). 3. THE TECHNICAL SKILL INVOLVED: As noted above, Delgado was a magician when he employed The Delgado System. Watch carefully as he will jump to his opponent's leg at the same time the opponent is shooting in, then in basically the same movement, he's twisting over and, in the same chain technique, uses his right leg to trap Garrett's left leg, so he can then pick it up. Now he has both of Nashon's ankles! He then gains elevation by sitting up, turning into his opponent, and exerting massive pressure on him. 4. THE REACTIONS: This goes way beyond the usual "Coach's Lean" in the chair, although there's a lot of quality that. Coach Jeremy Hunter jumps around like his wife is giving birth to eight babies, while Coach Mark Perry's mouth forms an "O" so big you could land a dirigible. Delgado is nonplussed. In fact, in many of these scramble situations during his career, it was as if Jesse was jumping into a hole like a gopher or a chipmunk, then after some time, he would pop his head out and look around to see what all the commotion was about. 5. THE OPPONENT'S DEFENSE: There wasn't much Nashon Garrett could do, but like a true champion, he notices his proximity to the out-of-bounds line, and he rolls for it. 6. DELGADO IS AN ILLINI: And I'm an ILLINI fan. So, sue me. But in court, on the witness stand, after being sworn in to tell the truth and the whole truth, you'll have to admit that Jesse Delgado was the greatest scrambler in the history of NCAA wrestling, so help you God. And don't sit there and look at me with that lie on your face. Just don't. An important fact about this match is that Delgado used multiple scrambles to negate Garrett's offense, and Garrett had one of the best--the strongest and quickest--freight train doubles for a lightweight in NCAA wrestling history, but the winning points in this championship finals match came from an ILLINI takedown, not a scramble. Credits: The original video is from NCAA Championships; the music is by the ILLINI Marching Band, Gary Smith Conductor. Thumbnail photograph by FightingILLINI.com. Original video here: