How Many “Room Guys� became National Champs?

[grappler6 152]

Konrad was pretty under the radar til his senior Fargo I believe.

 

He came for little money.

 

Tim Hartung was another small time recruit that had a lot of success.

 

 

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[tec87 349]

Branching off of Konrad, while he wasn't an NCAA champ, NCAA runner up to Rowlands one year was Pat Cummins. Cummins was a walk on at penn state and earned a scholarship after placing at ncaas his junior year.

 

(At least that's how the story was told on espn during the finals that year)

Edited October 19, 2017 by tec87

[tigerfan9311 223]

Mark Ellis, Mizzou?

[Plasmodium 2,220]

Big Bruce was never a state champ. He prolly wasn't highly recruited, but I freely admit I don't actually know that.

[pjm46 83]

Branching off of Konrad, while he wasn't an NCAA champ, NCAA runner up to Konrad one year was Pat Cummins. Cummins was a walk on at penn state and earned a scholarship after placing at ncaas his junior year.

 

(At least that's how the story was told on espn during the finals that year)

 

I don't believe Cummins ever qualified for states in PA. And I believe he was actually the Runner Up to Rowlands the year Mocco redshirted.

 

The next year is when the Konrad/Mocco rivalry started.

[JBluegill133 289]

Did we come to a conclusion on the definition of "room guy"?

[Plasmodium 2,220]

Mark Branch said he was recruited to be a room guy.  4x finalist, 2x champ, no redshirt.

[Frank_Rizzo 336]

Mark Hall of Penn State went from virtual unknown to true freshman national champion.  I can't believe we're deep into Page 2 of this thread and no one has mentioned him yet. 

[MadMardigain 1,594]

Mark Hall of Penn State went from virtual unknown to true freshman national champion. I can't believe we're deep into Page 2 of this thread and no one has mentioned him yet.

It was an amazing climb from only being a runner up in a lesser wrestling state like Kentucky. Edited October 19, 2017 by MadMardigain

[gopher_fan_90 41]

Mark Hall threw everyone for a loop by competing in HS for his RS season. Was able to develop without the publicity of colleges getting a look at him at opens. Please know that this is 100% satire and sarcasm.

[BigTenFanboy 1,790]

Mark Hall threw everyone for a loop by competing in HS for his RS season. Was able to develop without the publicity of colleges getting a look at him at opens. Please know that this is 100% satire and sarcasm.

 

Kinda like the Palmer bros did too. Unfortunately for the younger Palmer injury prevented us from seeing what he could actually do at the NCAA level.

[tec87 349]

I don't believe Cummins ever qualified for states in PA. And I believe he was actually the Runner Up to Rowlands the year Mocco redshirted.

 

The next year is when the Konrad/Mocco rivalry started.

you're right, it was Rowlands. Not sure why I was thinking Konrad. Lol

[jchapman 1,320]

I'm going to quibble with the above definitions of "room guy". I say it's someone who the coaching staff never expected to crack the starting lineup; hence the name "room guy" - they'll only wrestle in the room and not in front of a crowd.

That's all I have to add to this conversation.

Using this definition, Dan Dennis came a few seconds away from going from room guy to national champ.

[Fletcher 1,094]

Using this definition, Dan Dennis came a few seconds away from going from room guy to national champ.

Interesting example. He started his true frosh year, but I don't remember why. Was there an injury that opened a spot for him?  If he wasn't a room guy when he began at Iowa, he certainly became one after Slaton transferred in.

Dennis' finals match still breaks my heart and is one of my least favorite matches to watch.

Edited October 19, 2017 by Fletcher

[Nelson*0.5 0]

Konrad was pretty under the radar til his senior Fargo I believe.

 

He came for little money.

 

Tim Hartung was another small time recruit that had a lot of success.

 

 

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Way wrong. He was under no one's radar. Konrad was a top age level national wrestler throughout high school. He was a Junior National champion in both styles after placing in both styles the year before and was a first team HS All American. He was brought in by J to continue the long string of great MN heavyweights. He knew Lowney from the old hood, which gave J an inside track to getting him, but he was the highest recruited heavyweight that year and had many offers.

 

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[Ari Gold 47]

Though not a National Champ, Craig Brester was initially a walk-on at Nebraska, and turned into a monster. He would be a NC in most eras.

 

 

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[Tofurky 611]

Steve Marianetti, a state runner-up his senior year in 1990, wasn't offered scholarship money until Johnson and Heffernan came to the program in 1992.

[grappler6 152]

Way wrong. He was under no one's radar. Konrad was a top age level national wrestler throughout high school. He was a Junior National champion in both styles after placing in both styles the year before and was a first team HS All American. He was brought in by J to continue the long string of great MN heavyweights. He knew Lowney from the old hood, which gave J an inside track to getting him, but he was the highest recruited heavyweight that year and had many offers.

 

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I heard it from the man himself. Perhaps just being modest.

 

 

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[Nelson*0.5 0]

I heard it from the man himself. Perhaps just being modest.

 

 

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Definitely being modest. He was the #1 heavyweight recruit that year.

 

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[TarpHawk 12]

Brad Penrith. Steve Knight was the recruit at 126.

[Husker_Du 838]

Great topic. Great topic!

 

as someone who loves wrestling recruiting and how the recruits pan out, i love it.

 

although some of the names thrown around are certainly not accurate.

 

i'd propose that we limit them to guys that were never close to sniffing a ranking - either in their weight or in their graduating class. (which probably (at least to me and my knowledge) limits this to the last 15-20 years).

 

let's consolidate to the names that really fit the description - with another caveat - must have reached an ncaa final.

 

Dennis

Ryan Williams

Matt Murray

Lavion Mayes

Moore

Hatchett

Gavin

Ty Wilps

Hamlin

Brester

Phil Davis

Cummins

Dudziak

 

Guys before my time re: their HS rankings

Greg Parker (Princeton)

Carl Fronhofer (Pitt)

Kevin Hoy (Air Force)

Ben Heizer (UNI)

Ryan Fulsaas (Iowa)

 

again, great discussion and feel free to let me know if you disagree with my parameters/definitions or candidates, and add to the list of candidates.

[Tofurky 611]

Great topic. Great topic!

 

as someone who loves wrestling recruiting and how the recruits pan out, i love it.

 

although some of the names thrown around are certainly not accurate.

 

i'd propose that we limit them to guys that were never close to sniffing a ranking - either in their weight or in their graduating class. (which probably (at least to me and my knowledge) limits this to the last 15-20 years).

 

let's consolidate to the names that really fit the description - with another caveat - must have reached an ncaa final.

 

Dennis

Ryan Williams

Matt Murray

Lavion Mayes

Moore

Hatchett

Gavin

Ty Wilps

Hamlin

Brester

Phil Davis

Cummins

Dudziak

 

Guys before my time re: their HS rankings

Greg Parker (Princeton)

Carl Fronhofer (Pitt)

Kevin Hoy (Air Force)

Ben Heizer (UNI)

Ryan Fulsaas (Iowa)

 

again, great discussion and feel free to let me know if you disagree with my parameters/definitions or candidates, and add to the list of candidates.

Depends on the guy and the room they are in. Ben Heizer was a sought after recruit by NIU (not UNI) and certainly not a “room guy” by Dave Grant and his Northern Illinois Huskies team standards.

 

 

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[KTG119 820]

there's so many different ways to look at defining room guy that I'm not sure we will ever get a consensus on a list to answer original post (or at least a consensus on a long list). walk on does not necessarily mean room guy due to scholly $ available. a walk on at Iowa back in the day might have had any number of other options and $ available elsewhere. Ray Brinzer, Tom Ryan, a couple of transfers who I think got no $ (at first anyway) and I'm sure Brinzer could have gone home to a bunch of Pa schools and gotten something and Ryan was EIWA champ at Syracuse so again thinking he would have been much more than a room guy at any number of eastern schools. and of course they ended up being top notch at Iowa (though not champs as specified in original post). 

Willie mentioned Ryan Williams earlier. Not sure what if any $ he was getting when he first came to ODU, but I'm fairly sure he was looked at by Martin and staff as an under the radar, steal kind of guy vs just a guy to get beat on in the room.

it is a cool topic though, just not sure where the line between walk on, dark horse, slightly off the radar guy, etc and room guy truly lies. 

[Husker_Du 838]

yeah, the definition of 'room guy' is certainly not an easy one to pin down.

[TobusRex 2,107]

Though not a National Champ, Craig Brester was initially a walk-on at Nebraska, and turned into a monster. He would be a NC in most eras.

 

 

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Only thing that held him back was Varner. Brester probably would've been a NC in another era.