1981 NCAA Wrestling Champions

[jerseywrestling 105]

Flash back to 1981! 

NCAA Champions 

118 - Gene Mills, Syracuse
126 - Dan Cuestas, Cal State-Bakersfield
134 - Jim Gibbons, Iowa State
142 - Andre Metzger, Oklahoma
150 - Nate Carr, Iowa State
158 - Ricky Stewart, Oklahoma State
167 - Mark Schultz, Oklahoma
177 - Ed Banach, Iowa
190 - Tom Martucci, College of New Jersey
UNL - Lou Banach, Iowa

Check out all the medalists! 

http://www.jerseywrestling.com/ncaa_medalists.php?year=1981

[KTG119 819]

first SI article I ever read about wrestling

https://www.si.com/vault/1981/03/23/825484/lookalikes-do-alike-the-mighty-banach-twins-captured-individual-titles-as-lowa-took-yet-another-ncaa-championship-its-sixth-in-seven-years

[Gantry 1,675]

What can some of the gurus and old timers tell us about Cuestas, Stewart and Tom Martucci?  Those are the three names on there I don't really know anything about. 

[jchapman 1,096]

John Doe was a hammer at 134.

[KTG119 819]

53 minutes ago, jchapman said:

John Doe was a hammer at 134.

He made weight

[scribe 1,655]

He married Jane 

[Cary by the Lake 50]

**** Before Security got really tight at the NCAAs, I was lucky enough to meet and speak to the medal winners at Jadwin Gym.  A friend of mine and I saw something going on behind some partitions while we waited for the Parade of Champions.  We decided to investigate.  All the place winners were there in uniform.  We had the opportunity to talk and take pictures with many of them: Darryl Burley, Jim Gibbons, Ricky Dellagatta, Colin Kilrain and Jim Reilly, Ed and Lou Banach, Steve Sefter, Bruce Baumgardner, 
Randy Lewis, Dave Schultz and Ricky Steward and a couple of others.  The pictures are among about 15-20 boxes in our spare room.  Maybe some day I will have the time and energy to go through the boxes and find the pictures.  

[WillieBoy 713]

51 minutes ago, Cary by the Lake said:

**** Before Security got really tight at the NCAAs, I was lucky enough to meet and speak to the medal winners at Jadwin Gym.  A friend of mine and I saw something going on behind some partitions while we waited for the Parade of Champions.  We decided to investigate.  All the place winners were there in uniform.  We had the opportunity to talk and take pictures with many of them: Darryl Burley, Jim Gibbons, Ricky Dellagatta, Colin Kilrain and Jim Reilly, Ed and Lou Banach, Steve Sefter, Bruce Baumgardner, 
Randy Lewis, Dave Schultz and Ricky Steward and a couple of others.  The pictures are among about 15-20 boxes in our spare room.  Maybe some day I will have the time and energy to go through the boxes and find the pictures.  

Better do it soon before the dyes fade too much on some of the color images. You should still have may in decent condition if they were kept in dark areas. Way different from what many will find in another 25 or so years with their digital photos. Many will no longer be able to be read by any computers. CD/DVD storage - you might not be able to find a player outside a museum. Even the best digital storage media starts losing information within 5 years - so good luck with that.

The days of the old shoebox full of prints from the grandparents is gone. We can still print from glass plates from the 1800's but many can't print from digital files done 10 years ago because bits and bytes/whatever is missing in the file and it can't be opened to even see what is on it.

 

[Cary by the Lake 50]

**** I saw the pictures about 2-3 years ago,  before we made our latest move and they looked great even though they are over 35 years old.

[MadMardigain 1,273]

Was The College of New Jersey DIII at that time too and Martucci got the prior benifit of lower division champs competing in DI championships. Or did it just drop down a few divisions since the 1980’s?  I always like hearing about the lesser known lower divisions guys making a major DI championship run when that was still an option.  

[Sheerstress 102]

1 hour ago, MadMardigain said:

Was The College of New Jersey DIII at that time too and Martucci got the prior benifit of lower division champs competing in DI championships. Or did it just drop down a few divisions since the 1980’s?  I always like hearing about the lesser known lower divisions guys making a major DI championship run when that was still an option.  

I believe he's the only Div III wrestler to ever win a Div I title, before they ended the practice of allowing Div II and III champs to advance to the Div I tournament.

https://archive.bloomu.edu/sports/wrst99/martuccibio.htm

[gimpeltf 1,531]

1 hour ago, MadMardigain said:

Was The College of New Jersey DIII at that time too and Martucci got the prior benifit of lower division champs competing in DI championships. Or did it just drop down a few divisions since the 1980’s?  I always like hearing about the lesser known lower divisions guys making a major DI championship run when that was still an option.  

No. But Trenton State was

 

19 minutes ago, Sheerstress said:

I believe he's the only Div III wrestler to ever win a Div I title, before they ended the practice of allowing Div II and III champs to advance to the Div I tournament.

https://archive.bloomu.edu/sports/wrst99/martuccibio.htm

Ken Mallory Montclair State

[Gambatte 49]

On 10/11/2019 at 12:12 PM, Gantry said:

What can some of the gurus and old timers tell us about Cuestas, Stewart and Tom Martucci?  Those are the three names on there I don't really know anything about. 

Along with a couple other fans on this thread, I was there as a spectator. Ricky Stewart had a fireman's carry that was killer and no secret to any of his opponents. He hit Dave Schultz with it and stuck him just like that, BAM. A week or two prior to the NCAAs they met in the Big 8 finals and Schultz prevailed 4-2.

Edited October 12, 2019 by Gambatte
typo

[Gambatte 49]

17 hours ago, MadMardigain said:

Was The College of New Jersey DIII at that time too and Martucci got the prior benifit of lower division champs competing in DI championships. Or did it just drop down a few divisions since the 1980’s?  I always like hearing about the lesser known lower divisions guys making a major DI championship run when that was still an option.  

Before there was even DII and DIII there was College Division and NAIA. And Prior to 1962(?) there wasn't even a "Small" College Division. Several teams now DI were either NAIA or College Division such as Cal Poly and Lock Haven. Other schools such as SIU Carbondale, Moorhead State, Adams State, Portland State competed in NAIA and/or the Small College Division. There is a handful of NCAA DI champions from that era :

Lock Haven: Elliot Gray Simon, Bill Blacksmith, Fred Powell, Ken Melchior
Portland State: Rick Sanders
Cal Poly: Tom Kline
Adams State: Nick Corollo
SIU Carbondale: Don Millard
Moorhead State: Bucky Maughn

Edited October 12, 2019 by Gambatte
typo

[Sparky 36]

Remember that, before 1971, the NCAA tournament was essentially an "open" tournament.  Schools could send who they wanted or, in some cases, didn't send wrestlers to the tournament because it cost them money.  

There were no qualifiers.  Those started with a district concept in 1971 before moving to using conferences, a couple of regions, and the College Division (later Div 2 and 3) as qualifiers. 

[cangemi 221]

I think Joe atiyah was 1 seed didn't make weight became silver medalist for Syria

Martucci was at LSU had Atiyah in weight went back Trenton state beat tough Tony Smith in finals D111 and went on roll to win D1 s

D11 had Gonzalez  champ year before Cuestas . Where takedown machine.

Gonzalez, Azevedo, Cuestas Cal State

Back to back to back

 

Want see fun match you tube 79 finals Gonzalez vs Mills. Wild

Frank C

 

 

Edited October 16, 2019 by cangemi

[KTG119 819]

Cal-St Bakersfield late 70s / early 80s was 'lightweight U' with Azevedo and Gonzales and the Cuestas bros. 5 1st places out of 8 finals appearances from that crew.   

[jeffrideal 116]

I thought this was interesting and something I did not know (but probably should have known). 

"But other schools had more disappointments than Iowa. Oklahoma, which came in with serious hopes of challenging Iowa, was blitzed early. The Sooners won two titles, Andre Metzger (142) and Mark Schultz (167), but a heavy favorite, Mark's brother, Dave, lost in the 158-pound finals. Dave is intent on international competition and doesn't exactly mouth the stuff of which OU recruiting brochures are made. Even before Dave lost, he was saying, "You've got to be crazy to wrestle. Everybody knows there's no money in it, and the way Title IX is going, there probably won't be any wrestling either. Plus, I don't like school. I'm just going along, making a little progress toward a degree. I guess I'm just a flake." Says one teammate, "He's a flake.""

Edited October 16, 2019 by jeffrideal

[Peso 331]

Think of the talent in that OSU room over a 4 year period.  Kenny Monday, Dave Schultz, Mike Sheets, Ricky Stewart.