Panther78 31 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 Being new to the board and relatively new to the sport of wrestling I notice that most of the discussion is about the Division 1 wrestlers and programs! I am curious if there are many stories of successful transfer athletes in wrestling from the lower divisions up to Division 1! Take it easy on a rookie sticking his neck out :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MSU158 1,513 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 It happens very often if being a multi-year starter is considering successful. Even if not, there have been many AA's and even Champs that started in DII or lower. Jacobe Smith of OkState was one of the most recent AA examples. He was a 2x Junior College champ before transferring and taking 8th as a Junior, but not placing last year after a very odd set of weight changes at the very end of the season. TJ Williams of Iowa is probably the most successful example. He took 2nd as a freshman in Junior College before going 98-1 at Iowa over 3 seasons taking 1st, 3rd and 1st. 1 Panther78 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishbane 118 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 Here are a few more examples. Cormier was a 2x JUCO champ and transferred to OSU. He lost in the R12 as a junior and lost in the final to Cael as a senior. Jody Strittmatter was a 2 time Division 2 champ at Pitt-Johnston and transferred to Iowa where he finished 3rd and 2nd at the national tournament. I think both of the Abdurakhmanov brothers wrestled JUCO before transferring to D1 programs and becoming AAs. Pat Downey was kind of one of these too. He was D1>JUCO>D1>D1 and was an AA in his second D1 stint. Former UFC champ Rashad Evans was a JUCO>D1 transfer, but I don't think he was an AA in College. 1 Panther78 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TripNSweep 465 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 Steve Fittery transferred from a D-II school and was an All American at American U. Muhammed Lawal transferred to Oklahoma State from Central Oklahoma (DII) and did pretty well at DI. 1 Panther78 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryCallo 41 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 I think Gwiz is the most recent best example. AA for Binghampton then TR to NC State and won 2 NCAA titles, plus a 2nd, I believe. Not sure if Metcalf and the others who transferred from VT to Iowa with Brands count - did they ever wrestle for VT? 1 Panther78 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MSU158 1,513 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 6 minutes ago, JerryCallo said: I think Gwiz is the most recent best example. AA for Binghampton then TR to NC State and won 2 NCAA titles, plus a 2nd, I believe. Not sure if Metcalf and the others who transferred from VT to Iowa with Brands count - did they ever wrestle for VT? Methinks you may want to read more than the title of the thread............ 1 Roadkill reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WF89 109 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 Marty Morgan and Ryan Lewis. Both went from Then d2 NDSU to Minnesota. Morgan won a national title and Lewis was a runner-up. 1 Panther78 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishbane 118 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 18 minutes ago, TripNSweep said: Steve Fittery transferred from a D-II school and was an All American at American U. American had a handful of transfers that became AAs under Mark Cody. Fittery from D2 and Ganbayar Sanjaa and Abdurakhmanov from juco. 1 Panther78 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTG119 817 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 8 minutes ago, WF89 said: Marty Morgan and Ryan Lewis. Both went from Then d2 NDSU to Minnesota. Morgan won a national title and Lewis was a runner-up. Lesnar was another good transfer for Minnesota. Juco champ before joining the Gophers I think 2 Panther78 and WF89 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryCallo 41 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 Never Mind! 1 NJDan reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishbane 118 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 Brock Lesnar was a juco to D1 transfer who won NCAAs at D1. Rulon Gardner went from juco to Nebraska and was an AA. Gardner's teammate at Nebraska, Matt Lindland, was also a juco transfer. I think he did not AA at Nebraska, but I'm pretty sure he won the big 12 as a senior and was the undefeated 1 seed going into nationals. 2 Panther78 and Housebuye reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishbane 118 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 Kelvin Jackson transferred from juco to MSU and won a national title in 1995. Charlie Jones won a national title at Purdue after transferring from a junior college. Tony Davis transferred from a juco to Northern Iowa and was their last national champ before Drew Foster. Not a transfer, but in 1986 Edinboro was D2 the next year they moved up to D1 and were 8th as a team at nationals with 3 AAs. One of them, Dean Hall, had an unusual path. He was at OSU for two years then transferred to Edinboro when they were in D2. He won D2 nationals in 1986 which at the time came with a bid to D1 nationals and became a D1 AA. The following year Edinboro moves up to D1 and he makes the finals and losses to Haselrig. D1>D2>D1 1 Panther78 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gambatte 49 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 In the reverse direction, Warren Crow transferred from Cornell to Albany State where he was a 2x College Division champion, OW, was a Division I AA (4th, 123 lbs, 1966) in the era when College DII & DIII schools competed in the DI nationals, plus defeated Rick Sanders in the semis of the College Division Championships when he was voted OW. 1 Panther78 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigD236 7 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 Bryce Meredith- NC State to Wyoming. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Novak 147 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 Warren Crow was an incredible talent. Pride of Schenectady. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTG119 817 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 1 hour ago, Fishbane said: Not a transfer, but in 1986 Edinboro was D2 the next year they moved up to D1 and were 8th as a team at nationals with 3 AAs. One of them, Dean Hall, had an unusual path. He was at OSU for two years then transferred to Edinboro when they were in D2. He won D2 nationals in 1986 which at the time came with a bid to D1 nationals and became a D1 AA. The following year Edinboro moves up to D1 and he makes the finals and losses to Haselrig. D1>D2>D1 Somewhat similar....Joe Gonzales wrestled at a juco, then the University of Oklahoma, then at Cal St Bakersfield which was D2 at the time. Two time D2 champ, which qualified him for D1, where he placed 2nd (losing a classic final to Gene Mills) and 1st (going 55-0 for season). Later also placed 3rd in world in free. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTG119 817 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 1 hour ago, Gambatte said: In the reverse direction, Warren Crow transferred from Cornell to Albany State where he was a 2x College Division champion, OW, was a Division I AA (4th, 123 lbs, 1966) in the era when College DII & DIII schools competed in the DI nationals, plus defeated Rick Sanders in the semis of the College Division Championships when he was voted OW. A pretty notable reverse was Gable’s ISU ‘mate Chuck Jean who won D1 twice before transferring to NAIA Adams St where he won two more titles. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chitown 22 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Fishbane said: Kelvin Jackson transferred from juco to MSU and won a national title in 1995. Charlie Jones won a national title at Purdue after transferring from a junior college. Tony Davis transferred from a juco to Northern Iowa and was their last national champ before Drew Foster. Not a transfer, but in 1986 Edinboro was D2 the next year they moved up to D1 and were 8th as a team at nationals with 3 AAs. One of them, Dean Hall, had an unusual path. He was at OSU for two years then transferred to Edinboro when they were in D2. He won D2 nationals in 1986 which at the time came with a bid to D1 nationals and became a D1 AA. The following year Edinboro moves up to D1 and he makes the finals and losses to Haselrig. D1>D2>D1 Charles Jones was NAIA runner-up and 3rd at Olivet Nazerine in 1989 & 1990, not JUCO. He then transferred to Purdue where in 1991 he was 3rd at 167 where he lost to Kevin Randleman (they had some great battles), and then in 1992, he won it all at 167 beating Todd Chesbro in the finals. Due to military service he was like a 24 year old freshman. https://www.teamusa.org/usa-wrestling/features/2008/january/24/african-american-ncaa-champion-17886?p=1 "Charles Jones, Purdue - At the age of 28, Charles Jones became the oldest wrestler ever to win an NCAA title when he captured the 167-pound crown in 1992. Jones wrestled for two seasons for the Boilermakers and posted a career mark 67-4-0. He was also a Big Ten champion in 1992 and finished third in the 1991 NCAA tournament.:" 1989 NAIA 177 pounds Champion Kenny Rucker, Northern Montana Runner-Up Charles Jones, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 3rd Hugh Meek, Carson-Newman (Tenn.) 4th Joseph Giacometto, Black Hills State (S.D.) 5th Gianni Buono, Simon Fraser (B.C.) 6th Kurt Olson, Jamestown (N.D.) 7th Bob Waldner, Chadron State (Neb.) 8th Terry Ochsendorf, Southwest State (Minn.) 1990 NAIA 167 pounds Champion Tim McDaniel, Adams State (Colo.) Runner-Up Trevor Wilson, Dickinson State (N.D.) 3rd Charles Jones, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 4th Clint Woodward, Southern Oregon 5th Shane Snyder, Western State (Colo.) 6th David Tawater, Fort Hays State (Kan. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TobusRex 1,826 Report post Posted May 22, 2019 It's been a long time ago (1982), but Karl Lynes was a JUCO National Champ and transferred to OSU his last two years. He AA'd in 4th place his Sr year. I'm sure there are probably several other Juco guys that moved up and AA'd. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TobusRex 1,826 Report post Posted May 22, 2019 On 5/20/2019 at 8:08 PM, KTG119 said: Lesnar was a shaved gorilla for Minnesota. Juco champ before joining the Gophers I think FIFY Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TobusRex 1,826 Report post Posted May 22, 2019 On 5/20/2019 at 11:08 PM, KTG119 said: A pretty notable reverse was Gable’s ISU ‘mate Chuck Jean who won D1 twice before transferring to NAIA Adams St where he won two more titles. Wow, that's kinda weird. Why'd he do that? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jchapman 1,070 Report post Posted May 22, 2019 9 minutes ago, TobusRex said: Wow, that's kinda weird. Why'd he do that? He killed a deer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TobusRex 1,826 Report post Posted May 22, 2019 1 hour ago, jchapman said: He killed a deer. They kicked him out for deer hunting? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TobusRex 1,826 Report post Posted May 22, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, jchapman said: He killed a deer. LOL...found this. Jean must've been completely nuts. http://www.usawks.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=129920 my favorite part of the article: I threw that bloody carcass across Gillespie's new Gran Torino, which made him mad. A few days later, we had a keg party and barbecued Sammy. Edited May 22, 2019 by TobusRex Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Panther78 31 Report post Posted May 22, 2019 12 minutes ago, TobusRex said: LOL...found this. Jean must've been completely nuts. http://www.usawks.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=129920 my favorite part of the article: I threw that bloody carcass across Gillespie's new Gran Torino, which made him mad. A few days later, we had a keg party and barbecued Sammy. Or this one....... Many years ago, Manny Holmes was the 167-pounder for Mason City (Iowa)Community College. The Iowa State freshmen were scheduled to wrestleManny's team. A quote from Holmes in the Mason City newspaper - "It'stoo bad Jean won't be down to 167 for this match" - made its way toAmes."I cut 33 1/2 pounds in three days to get to 167," Jean said. "Manny was down 17-1 when I pinned him."Please, young Jeff Long, take this advice: When referring to Chuck Jean as "Chicken Wing," never forget to smile. 1 Chitown reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites