Buck Nasty - The Catch Scouting Report on Johnny Buck

(A playlist of the matches used for this scouting report can be found here.)

Johnny Buck is the second half of what looks like the most competitive and potentially exciting first round matchup at the 2018 World Catch Wrestling Tournament. Sharing a bracket with Curran Jacobs, Buck is a similarly sized and similarly experienced competitor who, on paper, looks like a great foil for the CWA champ.

Buck wrestled for The Citadel in college at multiple weights - 174lbs, 184lbs, 197lbs, and heavyweight (285lbs). His official collegiate record, excluding tournaments where he competed unaffiliated, was 44-45. In addition to folkstyle, he competed at the national level in freestyle, Greco-Roman, and Sambo. After college, he tried his hand at mixed martial arts, accumulating a 13-10 professional record, including three submission victories, and two appearances for Bellator. Buck received his initial catch training from the legendary Billy Wicks and Johnny Huskey, and is currently coached by Joel Bane of Snake Pit USA.


Buck's tough to scout because so much of the available footage is from his MMA career. In that context, he's got a really basic wrestler's game centered on a driving double leg, usually cutting an angle to finish. He doesn't have a lot of setup to it but does have a quick trigger on reactive takedowns. If he gets in on his man's hips but can't finish (often against the fence in MMA), he'll typically switch to a single and crotch lift. He's got ok defense - head pressure, whizzer, front headlock, the basics. He's not explosive but is persistent. Very tough and never stops moving forward. In catch, he seems to like a one on one wrist ride, which he can turn into a nasty hammerlock or armbar turn for a fall. It's the sort of thing that reminds me why catch as catch can is my favorite ruleset.

He's not great pummeler or handfighter and can definitely be had in the clinch by someone with good throwing skills. So-so top pressure; like Jacobs, he's more of a mover and a floater. In MMA he wasn't aggressive looking for finishes, preferring to grind out safer wins, but that looks less true in catch competition.

Buck has a lot of undocumented catch competition experience that I wish I had a chance to take a look at for a more full evaluation. From what I've seen, I think Buck/Jacobs is going to be the standout match not only of the first round, but of the tournament as a whole. Jacobs looks to be the more accomplished and polished wrestler in the neutral position, and a more explosive and fluid athlete, so I make him the favorite, but all reports have Buck taking this competition very seriously. Call it 55/45, Jacobs.

While I was writing this, Josh Barnett and his opponent, Christopher Crossan, were forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injuries. Barnett protege Erik Hammer and BJJ black belt/Divison II wrestling veteran Pat Stano will replace them, and the bracket has been shuffled a little bit. I'm going to try to get scouting reports for both men, as well as final entrant Jon Zhang, done by tomorrow night. Keep checking back! 

(For more on the 2018 Catch Wrestling World Tournament, including tournament scheduling and bracketing, see Snake Pit USA and Catch Wrestling U.)