During the final rounds of the last two NCAA 133-pound championships, one area made the difference for Matt Valenti.
It was the senior's ability to ride his opponent in both of the bouts to garner the same result - a national title.
"When you're able to ride somebody like I did for a full period, it really starts to take the wind out of the guy," Valenti said.
On Saturday, the punished was Coleman Scott of Oklahoma State for a 4-2 victory and in 2006 it was a 3-2 win over Chris Fleeger of Purdue.
Yet in this year's match, Valenti did not score the first points over Scott like he did against Fleeger.
Scott jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a takedown, the first points Valenti had conceded during the tournament.
But after Valenti tied it with a reversal, riding time proved essential in giving him the edge, as he rode Scott the rest of the period.
"I could feel a change in him," Valenti said. "I could tell that he started to doubt himself a little bit and essentially started to break mentally a little bit. This year I really fed off of it quite a bit."
And that time Scott spent on the bottom was the turning point of the match. Scott couldn't mount a counterattack as the clock wound down and Valenti gained momentum.
"During the victory I was excited, I had a lot of adrenaline going and escaped very quickly off the bottom" to earn an escape point and put a comeback out of reach.
It may have seemed like deja vu, though, for Valenti. In 2006 the All-American also managed to close out the second period on top for the critical riding time point after Fleeger initially chose the bottom.
And with back-to-back national titles also comes consecutive EIWA co-wrestler of the year honors for Valenti.
But there is just one thing Valenti is missing from his perfect championship experience.
"It kinda bugs me, but it's kind of bittersweet - that I still haven't scored a takedown in the national championship match," Valenti explained.
He took home the pair of titles with a combination of riding time, two reversals and one escape.
But he couldn't have his cake and eat it too.
