Best NCAA Wrestlers who Never won an NCAA title

[headshuck 2,309]

Brandon Eggum

[PSUMike 445]

McMullan finished 3-2-3-3 at NCAAs, so yes, he had 4 total losses (@ NCAAs)

 

That qualifier was needed. The way it was worded looked like he lost 4 matches ever. 

[Cletus_Tucker 890]

Nick Simmons comes to mind.  The East Lansing strangler (4 X AA) was just miserable o deal with on the mat, but did not manage to bring a title home.   Shame, really.   

[BigTenFanboy 1,738]

Sam Hazewinkle

[NYWRESTLER94 221]

Tyler Caldwell, beats Howe in the semis but lost to Burroughs in the finals then has Dake and Taylor in his weight and Taylor the following year. 4x AA but always had that super stud in his weight class

[EarlD1CW 12]

My first two podcasts were on this topic....I broke down the careers of the (in my opinion) 15 wrestlers of the 2000's who were not NCAA Champions. 

 

Part One

 

http://suddenhistory.libsyn.com/sudden-history-episode-1

 

Part Two

 

http://suddenhistory.libsyn.com/sudden-history-episode-2

[Billyhoyle 2,028]

Adam Coon will be my pick after this season. J.D. Bergman is another really great wrestler who didn't win, but in his case it was because he was a tweener. Had issues making 197, but was too small for Fox the year he went to 285.

[gowrestle 651]

Chuck Barbi - Oklahoma State

Phil Simpson - Army

Bill Luckenback - East Stroudsbirg

Mitchell Port - Edinboro

[treep2000 973]

If anything, this just goes to show how special this particular era is for us fans.  The list of greats that never won an NCAA championship is already super impressive, and we're only on page 2.  Think about:

a.) Retherford is doing

b.) Dake's 4x and Stieber's 4x, running nearly concurrently

c.) What Kyle Snyder is doing (quite frankly, when comparing to history, is entering a new echelon of greatness territory)

d.) What IMART has done, 1,1,2,?

e.) What Cox just did (1,5,1,1)

f.)  What Heil is doing

g.) The "rise" in volume of HS age kids that can "compete" with NCAA Champions (Lee, Fix, Pico, Arujau, Yianni, Snyder, Hall, Martin, etc. etc. etc.)

 

All of this is happening now, or just recently happened.  And then, we look back on history, and see all of these "greats" and their inability to accomplish.

 

Here's my question:  Was there simply more "parity" then, or are the greats of this era truly executing technique, skill, strength, determination to a greater degree and we are witnessing some of the best individual wrestler's of all time, all at the same time? 

 

Given the evolution of our sport's technique, new strength training regimens, the ongoing pyramid scheme of mentorship, the rise of OTC's, etc., my gut is telling me that we are seeing (without truly realizing it) that our production of the highest level wrestlers is actually "higher" than in yesteryear. 

[GRECOROCKS 0]

Abas Fresno State

[lu1979 393]

Colin Kilrain was one of Lehigh's great wrestlers in the early 80s.  3X NCAA 3rd (I think he was seeded 1st 2 Xs) 4X EIWA Champ,  Lost in NCAA semis all 3 years.  Had wins over Ed Banach. Great athlete great guy. Originally from Massachusets which was unusual then.

[ConnorsDad 596]

That qualifier was needed. The way it was worded looked like he lost 4 matches ever.

 

 

Pretry sure EVERY 4-time qualifier who did not win it has 4 losses!

[Housebuye 2,224]

Pretry sure EVERY 4-time qualifier who did not win it has 4 losses!

Most have far more than 4

[Billyhoyle 2,028]

Most have far more than 4

Interesting..I wonder who has the most losses at the NCAA tournament. Maximum is 12.

[stp 547]

Zeke Jordan.

[KTG119 820]

Interesting..I wonder who has the most losses at the NCAA tournament. Maximum is 12.

vague recall of this being a discussion topic way back (or maybe more than once). Not sure if this is your winner, but hard to beat:  Mammen Hvy from Ok St '89-'92 had 11. (2 6th places, 1 8th, 1 5th)  

[PhiferFuqua 187]

Interesting..I wonder who has the most losses at the NCAA tournament. Maximum is 12.

Ben Bennett (CMU) had 11 (6th, 8th, 6th, 4th), which is only one off the max. I don't think there has been anyone else with that many in the past 25 years.)

[WillieBoy 713]

Cody Sanderson looked pretty good on the mat. Twice wrestled for the Title while at Iowa State.

As a Coach he appears to be doing very well.

[Mokoma 282]

I would vote for Chris Fleeger.  2nd, 3rd and 2nd in 3 years competing.

[ConnorsDad 596]

Most have far more than 4

It was said tongue in cheek. They obviously have way more than 4 unless they lost in the finals every year

[stp 547]

 

f.)  What Heil is doing

  

 

He makes me wonder if any other multiple NCAA champs have had so many close matches.

[MidwestMauler 1]

Ben Bennett (CMU) had 11 (6th, 8th, 6th, 4th), which is only one off the max. I don't think there has been anyone else with that many in the past 25 years.)

Mike Evans went 6 6 6 and pretty sure he was rd of 16 as a freshman. That'd be 11 also.

[RichB 197]

Randy Stottlemeyer was sixth three times. in 74-77-78 FFT the 5th place match all 3 years. In 76 he (3rd seed) lost in the consolation quarterfinals by 13-1 to Cysewski , Iowa, unseeded (indicating he was less than 100%. Had there been a 7-8 match he was would have faced 4th seed Gonzales, UCLA. Very good chance Randy loses or ffts the bout and ends with the max 12 loses.   

[lu_alum 794]

Colin Kilrain was one of Lehigh's great wrestlers in the early 80s.  3X NCAA 3rd (I think he was seeded 1st 2 Xs) 4X EIWA Champ,  Lost in NCAA semis all 3 years.  Had wins over Ed Banach. Great athlete great guy. Originally from Massachusets which was unusual then.

 

He's a good one.   

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/06/09/kilrain-promoted-special-ops-commander-nato-belgium.html 

 

Pretty successful wife as well:

https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kilrain.html 

[maj 9]

Nick Simmons comes to mind.  The East Lansing strangler (4 X AA) was just miserable o deal with on the mat, but did not manage to bring a title home.   Shame, really.   

 

It's a shame Keller didn't knock his head off