Most Entertaining NCAA wrestlers

[Elevator 307]

My nominees by weight:

125 - Vito (relentless offense and some crazy funk) HM: Courtney (speed and pace); Glory (top wrestling and pace)

133 - RBY (speed and level changes)  HM: Byrd, ADS, Hines 

141: Eirman (he's got some fun tricks):  HM: Rivera (point scoring and slick)

149: Lovett (dangerous from everywhere)  Yianni is almost too dominate to be entertaining - unless you are a Cornell fan

157: Humphreys (king of funk and dangerous everywhere like Lovett)  HM: Teemer (has some lethal attacks)

167: Hamiti (impressive that he is always looking for back points) HM: O'Toole

174: O'Malley (will throw)  

184: Poznanski (keeps it interesting in every position)  HM: Keckeisen

197: With AJ sidelined, Dean because he can turn even the top guys  HM: Caffey

285: Steveson - standout among big men that may be among the most entertaining class of Hwts ever  - a lot of these guys really wrestle with actual leg attacks.  But only Steveson may hit the back flip after!

 

Obviously we all have favorites and styles and guys who win for our favorite teams will seem most entertaining.  

Also, with the list above, I will concede that I have not seen everybody in the top 30 at every weight.  No doubt some great entertaining wrestlers I have missed.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mphillips 1,825]

Andonian. 

[Frank C 5]

Taylor Venz

Andonian

 

 

 

 

 

[Elevator 307]

Venz certainly has had some entertaining moments!  I will have to dig up some video on Andonian.  Truth is I do not see many ACC matches until post-season and there may be more deserving nominees from the ACC and other secondary conferences.

[Wrestle81 83]

125 west Virginia, 133 Iowa 141 south Dakota 149 Nebraska 157north Dakota 165 Wisconsin 174 Nebraska 184 northern Iowa 197 Wisconsin hwt Minnesota

[Fletcher 1,131]

I have no idea how you can have pre-injury Ferrari on this list. He's one of the most conservative wrestlers out there.

Unless you're talking about entertaining off the mat, but I assume you're too smart to mistake off-the-mat antics for wrestling entertainment.

[fadzaev2 549]

I'd put  RBY in my #1 slot...Steveson at #2

Edited February 25 by fadzaev2

[Chucktown_Luke 38]

125 - Vito(Cornell), HM- McKee(Minny)

133- Desanto (Iowa), HM- RBY (PSU)

141- Seabass(Rutgers), HM- Eierman (Iowa)

149- Andonian (NC State), HM- Lovett (Nebby)

157- Ed Scott(NC State), HM- Humphries (Lehigh)

165- Hamiti (Wisconsin), HM- Tanner Cook (SDSU)

174- O’Malley (Drexel), HM- Ethan Smith(tOSU)

184- Keckesien (UNI) HM- Venz (Nebby)

197- Yonger Bastida (Iowa State)  HM- Owen Pentz (NDSU)

HWT- Gable (Minny), HM- Cassiopi (Iowa)

NC State leads the way with 2 starters in my list. Iowa has one starters and 2 HM’s. Minnesota and Nebraska each have 2 wrestlers listed. 

[Elevator 307]

16 minutes ago, Chucktown_Luke said:

125 - Vito(Cornell), HM- McKee(Minny)

133- Desanto (Iowa), HM- RBY (PSU)

141- Seabass(Rutgers), HM- Eierman (Iowa)

149- Andonian (NC State), HM- Lovett (Nebby)

157- Ed Scott(NC State), HM- Humphries (Lehigh)

165- Hamiti (Wisconsin), HM- Tanner Cook (SDSU)

174- O’Malley (Drexel), HM- Ethan Smith(tOSU)

184- Keckesien (UNI) HM- Venz (Nebby)

197- Yonger Bastida (Iowa State)  HM- Owen Pentz (NDSU)

HWT- Gable (Minny), HM- Cassiopi (Iowa)

NC State leads the way with 2 starters in my list. Iowa has one starters and 2 HM’s. Minnesota and Nebraska each have 2 wrestlers listed. 

good list!  I will try to hunt some video on these guys before NCAA's  - More fun when you have seen some matches before the big dance.

[Elevator 307]

57 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

I have no idea how you can have pre-injury Ferrari on this list. He's one of the most conservative wrestlers out there.

Unless you're talking about entertaining off the mat, but I assume you're too smart to mistake off-the-mat antics for wrestling entertainment.

I take your point, but there is a spectacle that AJ brings to a match that tends to entertain - probably a character flaw of mine. 

[Elevator 307]

1 hour ago, Wrestle81 said:

125 west Virginia, 133 Iowa 141 south Dakota 149 Nebraska 157north Dakota 165 Wisconsin 174 Nebraska 184 northern Iowa 197 Wisconsin hwt Minnesota

West Virginia can be an entertaining state depending on your perspective, but I doubt many can make 125!  

[Wrestleknownothing 1,664]

Put me down for some Nick Lee. I find forward pressure very entertaining. 

[flyingcement 917]

DeSanto is the number one most entertaining to me.  It's because of the combination of his persona and his wrestling style. 

[flyingcement 917]

125: Vito Arujau / Patrick McKee

133: Austin DeSanto / Lucas Byrd

141: Sebastian Rivera / Ryan Anderson

149: Bryce Andonian / Austin Gomez / Ridge Lovett

157: Josh Humphreys / Ed Scott

165: Dean Hamiti / Tanner Cook

174: Mickey O'Malley / Mikey Labriola

184: Parker Keckeisen / John Poznanski

197: Yonger Bastida / Cam Caffey

285: Gable Steveson / Joe Doyle

Edited February 25 by flyingcement

[Wrestle81 83]

Chucktown Luke.....very good list!

[lu1979 571]

22 hours ago, Chucktown_Luke said:

125 - Vito(Cornell), HM- McKee(Minny)

133- Desanto (Iowa), HM- RBY (PSU)

141- Seabass(Rutgers), HM- Eierman (Iowa)

149- Andonian (NC State), HM- Lovett (Nebby)

157- Ed Scott(NC State), HM- Humphries (Lehigh)

165- Hamiti (Wisconsin), HM- Tanner Cook (SDSU)

174- O’Malley (Drexel), HM- Ethan Smith(tOSU)

184- Keckesien (UNI) HM- Venz (Nebby)

197- Yonger Bastida (Iowa State)  HM- Owen Pentz (NDSU)

HWT- Gable (Minny), HM- Cassiopi (Iowa)

NC State leads the way with 2 starters in my list. Iowa has one starters and 2 HM’s. Minnesota and Nebraska each have 2 wrestlers listed. 

Andonian belongs on any list of most exciting wrestlers but he is with Va Tech - NC St has their own exciting 149 guy in Tarique Wilson.

[Chucktown_Luke 38]

6 hours ago, Wrestle81 said:

Chucktown Luke.....very good list!

Thank you sir! Tanner cook probably has the most go-for-broke style on the list. Ethan Smith is probably the wrestler who would not end up on many others lists but he seems to be involved in matches with a lot of scoring, at least when I am watching.

[Chucktown_Luke 38]

3 minutes ago, lu1979 said:

Andonian belongs on any list of most exciting wrestlers but he is with Va Tech - NC St has their own exciting 149 guy in Tarique Wilson.

Yes, my mistake! Wilson is a very exciting wrestler to watch. He is on a tear this year. Will be exciting to see how he matches up with the top guys. 149 probably has the most depth of exciting wrestlers. Andonian, Lovett, Gomez, Wilson, Yianni…

[Wrestle81 83]

I've been watching Tanner Cook since he was a pee wee wrestler in upstate NY.... I'm rooting for him

[hawkfan69 4]

On 2/23/2022 at 5:07 PM, Elevator said:

My nominees by weight:

125 - Vito (relentless offense and some crazy funk) HM: Courtney (speed and pace); Glory (top wrestling and pace)

133 - RBY (speed and level changes)  HM: Byrd, ADS, Hines 

141: Eirman (he's got some fun tricks):  HM: Rivera (point scoring and slick)

149: Lovett (dangerous from everywhere)  Yianni is almost too dominate to be entertaining - unless you are a Cornell fan

157: Humphreys (king of funk and dangerous everywhere like Lovett)  HM: Teemer (has some lethal attacks)

167: Hamiti (impressive that he is always looking for back points) HM: O'Toole

174: O'Malley (will throw)  

184: Poznanski (keeps it interesting in every position)  HM: Keckeisen

197: With AJ sidelined, Dean because he can turn even the top guys  HM: Caffey

285: Steveson - standout among big men that may be among the most entertaining class of Hwts ever  - a lot of these guys really wrestle with actual leg attacks.  But only Steveson may hit the back flip after!

 

Obviously we all have favorites and styles and guys who win for our favorite teams will seem most entertaining.  

Also, with the list above, I will concede that I have not seen everybody in the top 30 at every weight.  No doubt some great entertaining wrestlers I have missed.

 

 

 

 

 

Rby is by no means the most exciting 133

[Chucktown_Luke 38]

8 hours ago, Wrestle81 said:

I've been watching Tanner Cook since he was a pee wee wrestler in upstate NY.... I'm rooting for him

As a former Jackrabbit, I am certainly rooting for him as well

[Elevator 307]

3 hours ago, hawkfan69 said:

Rby is by no means the most exciting 133

Would not expect an Iowa fan to jump on the RBY as entertainer bandwagon.  If you only saw his matches against ADS, probably would not nominate him.  But his body of work from neutral is there. I think it is something like 80+ takedowns on the season while yielding only one.  Among the very best at combining motion, level changes, pace, and penetration - not sure anyone has been faster.

[Schuteandscore 170]

Ridge Lovett all day

[Mphillips 1,825]

6 minutes ago, Schuteandscore said:

Ridge Lovett all day

I read that in Shane Sparks voice...

[Elevator 307]

Hamiti

9 minutes ago, Mphillips said:

I read that in Shane Sparks voice...

Ridge Lovetts!!!!