2010 NCAA Champ - Kyle Dake, Cornell

Not only did 141lb Kyle Dake from Cornell impress everyone winning the NCAAs as a true freshman, he did it with humility and determination. This is a shot from the finals against Montell Marion of Iowa. I just love this shot. [Backstory: at the 2010 NCAAs I got food poisoning Friday night along with a bunch of other media folks. I was double evacuating all night, and missed the medal rounds Saturday morning. (The first full round of wrestling I've ever missed.) With difficulty I rousted myself in the afternoon to accept my NWMA photographer of the year award and crawled to the finals. I was not feeling well at all. On a good day the finals are tricky to shoot, there's a lot going on with where we are allowed to shoot from, and our lenses are pointed toward the light, making all the settings we've worked on for two days obsolete. You would think great shots are a dime a dozen, but they are not. I didn't know immediately that this was a good shot. On a SLR camera the shutter actually blinds the shooter for a split second, since so much happens in wrestling in that split second, my mantra is "If you see the action, you've missed the shot."]

More photos from this match can be seen on Tech-Fall.com.

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2010 NCAAs - Dake vs Marion - 141lbs NCAA finals