The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Counts credits learning judo as part of recent success
For three years in the mid2010’s, Jared Counts was a state champion in judo.
Now, some five years since his last judo title, Counts is dominating on a different mat, as the North Ridgeville junior has been on a mission over the past month, going 7-1 along with recording a second-place finish at the Southwestern Conference Tournament. For the first time since he started wrestling, Counts (14-3 on the season) truly feels comfortable on the mat.
“Jared has really started to come into his own,” North Ridgeville coach Joel Melvin said. “He’s is really starting to figure things out and is learning how to wrestle the right way.”
While Counts had some success in his first two years with the Rangers, his judo background also creeped into the picture — and sometimes not in a good way. While the goal of judo is the same as wrestling, judo’s more throwing based, with no contact allowed below the belt when you’re standing.
Because of this, Counts almost always went to throw his opponent in wrestling, whether it was there or not.
“I’m not going to lie, I had to kind of reassess the way I coached him because some of his throws aren’t exactly textbook,” Melvin said. “He was hitting a lot of headlocks. I don’t necessarily approve of headlocks because they’re seen as a desperation move.”
But for a while, moves like that were that Counts knew. His judo titles came in 2014, 2015 and 2016, a testament of the hard work he’d put in at practice six days a week. Counts began his wrestling journey in 2015, where he first started practicing at the Cardinal Club in Avon. After 2016, he dropped judo and stuck with wrestling.
“Judo’s all throwing so it’s almost like (Greco-Roman wrestling) at that point but when you’re on the bottom you can choke, submit, do armbars, that kind of thing,” Counts said. “(Wrestling) wasn’t that different because I had a little bit of training with jujitsu also which really helped me.”
It wasn’t long into his time as a wrestler that Counts began to see the benefits of his judo background. Not only did he begin to see things differently than his teammates, but he quickly found out that it was almost impossible for any of his teammates to throw him due to the hip strength he built up through judo.
“My hips are really flexible and I’m able to move a lot easier than some other people which helps a lot with movement and that kind of stuff,” Counts said. “I look at moves in different ways sometimes.”
When Counts started wrestling with North Ridgeville, one of Melvin’s assistants mentioned that Counts’ wrestling style was reminiscent of Shaun Minter, a North Ridgeville wrestler from the early 2000’s. From there, Melvin began to help Counts find the perfect mix of Judo and wrestling.
“We kind of had to go back had to work with him on feeling things out for when the best time to hit those moves is,” Melvin said.
“I had to learn his style and the movement of his hips because judo is so heavy on hip movement. It’s been a learning process for me in a good way.”
For Counts, the biggest thing he’s been working on is trying to stay off his back. In judo, you have to have your back on the mat for 20 seconds to be pinned. In wrestling, you only have a second.
“Going to my back has been my biggest problem,” Counts said. “In judo it’s not that bad to be on your back so I sometimes end up on my back in wrestling. I’ve gotten better with wrestling and trying to forget rolling over to my back and stuff like that.”
Counts and 120-pounder Zach Orseno (15-1) have turned into a dynamic lower wight-tandem for the Rangers. They’ve been helping each other off the mat as well, as Counts credits Orseno with helping him buy in this year.
“Zach’s been really motivating me and helping me take wrestling more seriously,” Counts said. “He’s helped me become a better wrestler. I’ve really been focusing on my bottom technique and I’ve also been moving around up top which has allowed me to set things up a lot easier.”
Counts isn’t the only North Ridgeville wrestler with a mixed martial arts background, as 220 pounder Eddie Powers has a background training in jujitsu.
“This is all new to me as far as incorporating martial arts backgrounds into wrestling,” Melvin said. “I’ve never had to deal with that before. It’s forced me to learn it so that way I’m able to pick up certain tendencies.
“I can say that both Jared and Eddie have amazing hips and are able to use them to their advantage in finishing moves or countering an opponent’s throw. It makes them multi-dimensional which will always benefit them. We have some middle school wrestlers who have been training in jujitsu and I know that Eddie has trained in jujitsu.
“It’s definitely beneficial to them as long as they know the differences. We had a problem with grabbing clothing and uniforms because that’s what you do in the martial arts world, but you can’t do that in wrestling. I encourage our boys to do freestyle and Greco-Roman. Greco’s all throws so it’s sort of like judo.”
For Melvin, it’s not so much about what wrestlers are comparting in, it’s the fact they’re competing in general.
“The more opportunities they have to compete, whether that’s in wrestling or martial arts is going to benefit them in the long run.”