Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets had wrestling at two different times during the history of their athletics.  They began wrestling in the 1947-1948 season & then dropped it for a period of time before reinstating the program in the 1963-1964 season.  Georgia Tech would then drop wrestling again after the 1988-1989 season.


As to who the Yellow Jackets best wrestler was?  Most agree on one name

James Pond

A native of Atlanta, James Pond won Georgia state titles wrestling for the now defunct North Fulton High school.  He originally went to Oklahoma to wrestle for the Sooners but came back to Atlanta to attend Georgia Tech for a number of reasons.  One, because of Georgia Tech's phenomenal engineering program. Two, to be closer to home.  Three, because the Yellow Jackets had recently reinstated their wrestling program.

Pond would win multiple SEIWA titles & help the Yellow Jackets to their only team SEIWA championship in 1966.  In the same season, Pond became Georgia Tech's only All American with a sixth place finish at the NCAA championships.

Later Pond taught at both Simon Fraser in Canada and Oregon State.  He became the head of the Oregon chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & as the Director of Mentor Graphics a multi-million dollar company, Pond to this day is a huge supporter of Oregon State Beaver wrestling.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = California

A lot of names and little information about them, The Golden Bears had varsity wrestling up until their last season of 1978-1979.  Finishing a high ninth at the 1952 NCAA tournament, ironically enough it was their last two seasons of 1978 & 1979 they finished in the top twenty-seven (during a time when their were about 150 Division I programs verses the 80 we have today) after a period of time of not doing as well.

Names & strictly accomplishments in the PAC-12 & NCAA were about all I could find on the great wrestlers of Cal.  I wasn't able to find pictures or much information about these wrestlers.  If you have more info please let me know.

Edgar Nemir

Born in Waco, Texas had it not been for his family moving, Nemir may never have stepped onto a mat.  An AAU champion for Cal, Nemir would go on to win a silver medal at the 1932 Olympic games. He later became the head boxing coach at Cal in the 1934-1935 season & would coach the Golden Bears up until the NCAA decided to stop sponsoring boxing after the 1959-1960 season.  Nemir was also an officer in the Navy & he dabbled in Hollywood for a while as well.

177 lbs
Bentley Lyon 

Lyon finished in seventh place at the 1951 NCAA championships as a junior.  He'd come back in 1952 winning both a PAC-12 title & an NCAA title cementing himself as the Golden Bears greatest wrestler.

137 & 130 lbs
Alan Seigal 

A two time PAC-12 champion, Siegal finished in fifth place at the 1965 NCAA championships.

115, 118 lbs
Gordon Yamamoto 

Yamamoto was a three time NCAA qualifier for the Golden Bears in 1968, 1969 & 1970

126, 134 lbs
Carlos Rodriguez

A three time NCAA qualifier, Rodriguez was a PAC-12 champion his senior year of 1977

Steve Warren 

A 1967 high school state champion wrestling for El Camino high school, Warren won PAC-12 titles for the Golden Bears in 1968 & 1969.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Auburn

Whenever you talk about wrestling in the south there is always a sense of mystique that comes along with it.  Those of us from the Midwest and northeast and even those from the western part of the United States look at it differently than we do wrestling in our parts of the country.  There's a lot of mystery that surrounds it. A lot of questions that get asked. A lot of assumptions that are made.

The thought of wrestling in the south being any good to some is asinine.  Yet in the case of Auburn, they may not have been Dan Gable's Iowa Hawkeyes, but under the leadership of long time coach Swede Umbach the tigers won 25 Southeastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (SEIWA) conference titles.  Later when the SEC (Southeastern Conference) added wrestling to their athletics, Auburn won four titles out of the twelve conference tournaments that ended up being held.

Another question I get all the time in regards to southern teams like Auburn is whether the squads were made up of local southerners or if in order to be competitive they had to recruit from "Up north."   The answer may surprise you.  Yes, they did get wrestlers from other regions of the states, but there were more wrestlers from the south than what you would think.

The best in Auburn wrestling?   Let's take a look.

118 lbs
Tony Leonino

One of the outsiders that wrestled for Auburn was Tony Leonino who won an Ohio high school state title for Stow Monroe Falls in 1979.  Wrestling for the Tigers he made an immediately impact, placing fourth at the Midlands less than a year after graduating high school.  As a true freshman, he placed seventh at the 1980 NCAA's.  He would qualify again in 1981 and then be forced to find a new home to wrestle at as football coach/athletic director Pat Dye made the announcement that Tiger wrestling would not continue in the 1981-1982 season.  He finished up his career at Kent State.

123 lbs
Tony "Sonny" Dragoin 

Now Sonny Dragoin on the other hand was a native of Alabama. A medic during World War II & a semi-professional baseball player, Dragoin had already lived an interesting life before he came to Auburn to wrestle for Swede Umbach.  During his time at Auburn he won four SEIWA titles and placed fourth at the 1951 NCAA championships.

Post graduation, he stayed on at Auburn where he taught P.E. and coached the men's golf team. He lead the Tigers to SEC titles in 1976 & 1981.  He later became a wrestling official.

Jamie Milkovich 

Another recruit out of Ohio, Jamie Milkovich came to Auburn to wrestle for his older brother Tom.   While competing for the Tigers, Milkovich accumulated 98 victories, placing seventh as a junior at the 1980 NCAA's and fifth as a senior at the 1981 NCAA's. Immediately after graduation he came back to his high school of Maple Heights and took over as head coach of the program.  As last counted Milkovich had 434 dual wins, ninety-four state qualifiers and fifty state place-winners.

134 lbs
Clar Anderson 

Clar Anderson was only a sophomore when Auburn announced that they were discontinuing wrestling. The 1981 All American who finished in sixth place for the Tigers at the NCAA tournament had to find a new home.  He chose Oklahoma State.

Wrestling for the Cowboys, Anderson won a National title as a junior in 1983 after having to sit out the 1982 season due to transfer rules.  In 1984 as a senior he finished in fifth place.

After college, Anderson got into coaching.  He coached the Duke Blue Devils for a long period of time.

177 & 150 lbs
John Stallings

Another southerner, this time from Atlanta, Georgia, John Stallings won four high school state titles for Woodward Academy before coming to Auburn.  Wrestling for the Tigers he qualified for the NCAA tournament three times.  His sophomore season he entered the SEC tournament with a 5-4-1 record, winning the title with an upset victory over a two time SEC champion.

167 lbs
Mike Roberts

Mike Roberts was a four time NCAA qualifier for the Tigers qualifying in 1970, 1971, 1972 nd 1973.

175 lbs
Dan Montrone 

Montrone was an All American for the tigers in 1950, placing fourth at the NCAA championships.

177 lbs
Eli Blazeff 

Yet another victim of Auburn's discontinuation of wrestling, Blazeff placed seventh as a sophomore for the Tigers at the 1981 NCAA championships.  Forced to find a new home after Dye's decision, he transferred to Michigan State.  Wrestling for the Spartans he placed fifth in 1983 as a junior and took third as a senior in 1984.  He won four matches that year, twenty one of them by fall.

190 & 177 lbs
George Calloway

Calloway was a three time SEC champion winning titles in 1972, 1973 & 1974

HWT
Dan McNair 

Whenever anyone asked me who the best wrestler was that I could think of from Louisiana, for years I always answered, "Daniel Cormier."   Then Mark Palmer, one of the head writers for intermatwrestle, wrote an article on Dan McNair of New Orleans.  McNair began wrestling his junior year of high school and during that season, he didn't win a match.  He'd get better.  A lot better.

Wrestling for Auburn, McNair won the 1953 NCAA title.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Utah

Another program we lost in the land of the Mormons was the University of Utah.  While not as prominent of a team as was Utah State, they still produced a fair number of quality wrestlers. Let's take a look at some of them.

118 lbs
Sam Arishita

Also a black belt in judo, Sam Arishita won two Utah high school state championships for West high school in 1963 & 1964 before he came to Utah. Competing for the Utes, he won two Western Athletic Conference titles in 1966 and 1970.  Post college, he served in the United States Army and taught both judo and wrestling at Skyline high school.

118 lbs
Bruce Geier

Another two time NCAA qualifier for the Utes was Bruce Geier who came to Utah from Michigan where he placed fourth at the 1969 state tournament wrestling for Livonia Franklin.

126 lbs
Doug Bingham

The story of the late Doug Bingham is a tragic one.  The two time NCAA participant was was competing in a match against Dave Edington of Wyoming.  During the match Bingham suddenly stopped moving.  His heart had stopped beating.  While medical staff tried to save his life, it was too late Bingham was already gone.  He left behind a wife and three kids at the time of his death.

Up until Utah dropped their wrestling program, an award was given out annually to the most valuable wrestler of the team in Bingham's honor.

137 lbs
Ron Lemmon 

Ron Lemmon was a three time NCAA qualifier for the Utes in 1967, 1968 & 1969.

Bob Kawa

Wrestling at three different weight classes Bob Kawa participated in three NCAA tournaments.  He once wrestled Dan Gable and put Gable to his back.

157 & 167 lbs
Frank Hankin 

A graduate of Yuma high school Frank Hankin would go on to win three Skyline Conference titles for the Utes also placing fourth at the 1961 NCAA tournament.

152 & 158 lbs
Charles Sheperd

The Utes sole four time NCAA qualifier, Charles Sheperd went to the NCAA's in 1968, 1969, 1970 & 1971.  At the 1970 NCAA's he made All American status by placing fifth.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Utah State

Their are eleven colleges/universities in Utah today that provide athletic programs for their students.  Only one of them, Utah Valley, a Division I school has wrestling.  Had none of the programs in Utah ever dropped, there would be six.  One of those six was Utah State.  A program we lost after the 1988-1989 season.

During their time on the mat, the Aggies won two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference West Division titles and two Pacfic Coast Athletic Association titles.  A solid program that provided the high school wrestlers of Utah a place at home to wrestle.

Now you may not think much when someone mentions Utah high school wrestling but lets keep something in mind.  Two time NCAA runner-up Ryan Lewis of Minnesota is from Utah.  Three time NCAA All American/National Champion Aaron Holker of Iowa State (also wrestled for BYU before they dropped their program) is from Utah.   Then a guy you may have heard of by the name of Cael Sanderson, who went 159-0 in four years of varsity wrestling, winning four NCAA titles for Iowa State is also from Utah.   You'd think a state that produces the greatest collegiate wrestler of all time would want to provide more opportunities in the case that maybe there's another Cael Sanderson out there and he's from Utah too.  Guess not.

Let's look at the best wrestlers the Aggies produced.

118 lbs
Alfred Castro

Had it not been for an unfortunate shoulder injury that kept him from competing his senior season, Alfred Castro would've likely ended his career as the Aggies first (and only) three time All American.  After qualifying for the NCAA championships as a freshman in 1984, Castro would win two Pacific Conference Athletic Association (PCAA) titles, being named the PCAA wrestler of the year as a junior in 1986. During his sophomore and junior seasons he placed seventh and eighth at the NCAA championships.  He was also selected for team West in the East Vs West All Star classic.

126 lbs
Cordell Anderson 

A four time Utah high school state champion, Anderson captured All American honors twice for the Aggies placing sixth in both 1985 and 1986.

134 lbs
Dave Zuniga 

Forced to find a new home after Utah State dropped their program, Zuniga was a two time NCAA qualifier for the Aggies before transferring to the University of Minnesota.  Wrestling for the golden gophers, Zuniga made the NCAA finals in 1990 taking runner-up honors and then finished his career with a seventh place finish in 1991.

The three time Wyoming high school state champion of Worland High would go on to international success taking a bronze medal at the 1995 Pan-American championships and then a silver medal at the 1999 Pan-American championships.

145 lbs
Wayne Carlson 

A native of Wasatch High school, Carlson captured All American honors for the Aggies in 1968 with a sixth place finish at the NCAA's.  He would later coach football & wrestling while teaching science at Park City high school.

150 lbs
Scott Cook 

Cook was an All American for the Aggies placing seventh at the 1987 NCAA championships.

150, 158 & 167 lbs
Greg Williams 

And speaking of Utah Valley whom I mentioned at the begging of the article guess who wrestled for the Aggies?  That's right the Wolverines head coach Greg Williams.  Williams a native of San Diego, California won a state title for University High in 1979.  Wrestling for the Aggies he was a three time NCAA qualifier, capping off his senior year with a seventh place finish at the NCAA championships.

177 & 191 lbs
Tom Foster 

A standout for the Aggies who was also on the football team, Tom Foster participated twice in the NCAA championships, placing third as a senior in 1966.



Utah State also had Lenard Hansen at 191 & Bob Broughton at HWT who placed sixth and fourth respectively at the 1965 NCAA tournament.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Nebraska-Omaha

This one has been tough to write about.  Tough because over all Nebraska-Omaha was such a great team. Arguably the best team that we ever lost.  Eight national team titles. One in NAIA and seven in NCAA Division II.  As I began writing about some of their best wrestlers, I soon realized I was at seventeen names.  I could easily go and add another seventeen.  I know after this is posted I'll get a dozen, maybe even two dozen responses, "How could you forget ___?"  "Why did you leave off______?"  Honestly all jokes aside I could write a novel on the wrestlers of UNO.


This one in a way is a bit personal for me because the father of one of the kids I was in youth wrestling with wrestled for UNO.  I found out about it shortly after my high school career had come to an end.  I had finished in third place at sectionals, one match shy of qualifying for districts.  Needless to say my high school career didn't turn out at all like I had wanted it to.  I was very depressed and bitter about it.  Tony Johnson, the father of my youth wrestling teammate A.J., talked to me one night about it.  He told me that his high school career didn't turn out the way he had wanted it to either.  He went on to community college where he placed seventh at the NJCAA's as a freshman & third as a sophomore. He then attended Nebraska-Omaha and took seventh as a senior at the 1996 NCAA Division II tournament.  It was words of encouragement and moreso his way to telling me that it was still possible to be successful in college even if things hadn't gone my way in high school.  I'm not here to get into that any further.  You clicked on the link to read about the best in UNO wrestling but I share that to show why  it hit me on a personal level a little more than it usually does when we lose a team. People like Trev Alberts have no idea the dreams and legacies that they destroy with their avarice.  Whenever I think of Maverick wrestling, I always think of Tony Johnson.

115 lbs
Curlee Alexander

Not much is said about UNO's time in the NAIA. It is often overshadowed by their immense success in NCAA Division II.  However, it ought to be talked about more often because they were still very good when they were in the NAIA.   One of their best during this time was four time All American Curlee Alexander.   He'd finish fourth, sixth and third before capping off his career as an NAIA champion in 1969.

Post college Alexander would stay in the Omaha area coaching at both Omaha Tech high school and Omaha North High school.  All together he won seven Nebraska high school state team titles and he coached fifty individual high school state champions.

126 lbs
Phil Gonzales

Another great during the Mavericks time in the NAIA was local Phil Gonzales.  He won a Nebraska state title for Boys Town in 1969 before winning NAIA titles for the Mavericks in 1972 & 1973.

118 & 126
Matt LaRock

A great lightweight for the Mavericks was four time NCAA Division II All American Matt LaRock. He placed sixth in 1998 as a freshman, eighth in 2000 as a junior and took runner-up honors in both his sophomore year of 1999 and senior year of 2001.

126, 134 & 141 lbs
Braumon Creighton

Baumon Creighton didn't have to travel far to attend UNO, as he won a state championship for nearby Millard North high school.   Wrestling for the Mavericks Creighton would place fifth and third in his first two seasons before capping his career off as a two time NCAA Division II champion.

Post high school Creighton coached at Palo Alto high in California.  He also coached the junior world team and has his own wrestling school the Creighton School of Wrestling.

125 & 133 lbs
Cody Garcia

A native of Hutchinson High school, Garcia won three Kansas high school state titles before coming to UNO.  While wrestling for the Mavericks he won a national title in 2006 finishing in third in 2009 and second in 2010.  He had 84 career falls, 34 of them coming as a senior.

Post college he got into coaching.  Bethany College and Baker University among them.

142 lbs
Ryan Kaufman

The late Ryan Kaufman won a national title for the Mavericks in 1981 and finished in third place in 1982.  We lost Kaufman to a horrific car accident in 1991. For years UNO hosted a tournament named in his honor the Kaufman-Brand Open.  Upon UNO's discontinuation of wrestling, Maryville has sense hosted.

149 & 157 lbs
Todd Meneely

Another local, Todd Meneely put together a phenomenal high school career of 155-3 winning four state titles for Omaha Skutt Catholic.  The "Mythical Creature" also won both Freestyle and Greco-Roman junior titles in 2002 as well.   Wrestling for the Mavericks, Meneely won three NCAA Division II titles.

150 lbs
Mark Manning

One of the most successful Division I wrestling coaches in wrestling today, Mark Manning began collegiate wrestling career at the University of Nebraska.  He'd transfer to Nebraska-Omaha where he put together an impressive record of 123-23 winning two DII titles in 1983 and 1985. He finished fifth his junior year of 1984.  Post college Manning wrestled internationally for a bit taking a silver medal at the 1989 Pan-American championships.

As of today Manning is the head coach at the University of Nebraska.  He's coached the Cornhuskers to eight top ten NCAA finishes, two of them top four finishes.   His team is currently ranked seventh in the country and seven of his wrestlers are ranked in the top twenty.

145 & 150 lbs
Dhafir Muhammad

Born Roy Washington in Georgia, he later changed his name to Dhafir Muhammad before sadly passing away in 2003 at the age of 56.  Growing up poor Muhammad worked hard farming in both Georgia and South Carolina throughout most of his youth.  He moved to New York in high school where he was first introduced to wrestling.  He fell in love with the sport, soon excelled at it and was offered a scholarship to wrestle at UNO.

Competing for the Mavericks he had immediate success making the NAIA finals as a freshman in 1967 and barely losing 8-7.  He settled for silver that time, but that'd be the only time.  He won three NAIA titles the next three years.

167 lbs
Jeff Randall

A two time NCAA Division II All American, Randalll finished in third place in 1987 & as the runner-up in 1988.

177 lbs
Paul Jones

Jones was a two time NCAA Division II runner up in 1985 & 1986

165 and 174 lbs
J.D. Naig

A native of Emmetsburg, Iowa, Naig went 2nd-State Qualifier-fourth-Champion for the E-Hawks during a high school career of 165-27.  Determined to have even more success in college, Naig would finish in third place at the 2004 NCAA Division II tournament as a freshman before going on to win three titles in a row.

Today Naig works as a chiropractor.

177 lbs
Mel Washington

The brother of Dafhair Muhammad, Mel Washington was a phenomenal talent himself. Not only did he excel in wrestling, but he was a great football player too.  Playing defense for the Mavericks he set a number of records on the gridiron.  In wrestling, he finished in third place at the NAIA tournament as a freshman in 1968 & as the 1970 NAIA runner up as a junior.  His sophomore and senior seasons of 1969 & 1971 he won the NAIA title.   In 1971, he was also named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.

190 & 177 lbs
RJ Nebe

A five time All American for the Mavericks, Nebe finished third-third-runner up-national champion at the NCAA Division II tournament.  Invited to participate in the 1988 NCAA Division I tournament after his DII title appearance, Nebe would finish in sixth place.  Overall as a Maverick he put together a 153-31-4 career record.

Post college he would go on to coach the Omaha Skutt Catholic high school team to eight Nebraska high school state team titles.  He then got into color commentary for wrestling before passing away in 2007 from Leukemia.

HWT
Mike Rigatuso

Having success at both the NCAA DII and DI levels, Rigatuso won two DII titles in 1982 & 1983.  During these years NCAA DII champions were invited to compete in the DI tournament.  He finished in sixth and fourth place respectively.

HWT
Les Sigman

There are only a handful of four time national champions at any level and its hard to believe that one of them, Les Sigman, wrestled for a school that no longer has a wrestling program.  Sigman won NCAA Division II titles for the Mavericks in 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Amherst

I don't know a whole lot about Amherst wrestling. I know that they had varsity wrestling for a long period of time and they were quite good at it.  I know of 19 NEIWA (New England Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) titles that they won over the years.  12 at the University level and seven at the College (Division III) level.   They may have won more.  Today Amherst has a club team that competes in the NCWA.  It'd be a perfect area to once again reinstate their varsity program.

Their best wrestlers?

150 lbs
Martin Butler

From what I have been able to gather from Amherst wrestling history, their best wrestler would have been Martin Butler. Wrestling from the 1980-1981 season through the 1982-1983 season, Butler won three NEIWA titles and secured All American status on three occasions. After placing sixth as a sophomore he made the NCAA Division III finals his final two years.

After college, Butler became a radiologist. His son Blaise wrestled for both Virginia and Missouri during his career winning both ACC & MAC titles.

158 lbs
Eric Vance 

The other great in Amherst wrestling history is Eric Vance a two time NEIWA champion who finished in fifth place at the 1981 NCAA Division III championships.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Idaho

Two time Pacific Coast Conference North Division Champions, the Idaho Vandals had wrestling at two points in their history.   The first era of Vandal wrestling came to an end because of World War II. Like most schools during the war, athletics were dismissed so that young men & women could serve their country in a time of need.  When the war ended, there were schools that resumed their wrestling programs and schools that did not.  Idaho was one that did not but they would for a short time again years later.

The best wrestler in Vandal history?

John Caccia Sr

John "Babe" Caccia a legendary football coach that coached Idaho, Idaho State & the Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimoes was a two time Pacific Coast Conference North Division champion during his time at Idaho.  He of course also played football & was a member of the baseball team as well.

When he returned to Idaho to coach football years later, he reinstated the wrestling program as well.  During this time he qualified HWT Larry Mosma to the NCAA tournament. I'm not for sure but I believe that the wrestling team was once again discontinued upon Caccia's departure.