Current WWE Talent With An Amateur Wrestling Background

Adrian Jaoude 
2009, 2013, 2014 and 2015 World Team Member for Brazil
2011 Pan-American Team Member for Brazil


A.J. Styles
Wrestled for Johnson High School in Gainsville, Georiga
Wrestled Collegiality for Anderson College


Akam
Wrestled for Simon Fraser in College.
2011 Pan-American Silver Medalist


Angelo Dawkins
Wrestled collegiality for Harper College


Apollo CrewsWrestled in High School in Florida


Ariya Daivari 
Wrestled in High School in Minnesota


Big E 
Wrestled for Wharton High in Tampa, Florida
Won a High School State Championship


Bo Dallas
Wrestled for Hernando High School in Brooksville, Florida
Two Time State Qualifier


Bob BacklundWrestled for Princeton High in Princeton, Minnesota
Took 2nd in the Minnesota State Championships
Wrestled for Waldorf College
Took 3rd and 2nd at the NJCAA Championships
Wrestled for North Dakota State University
National Champion and 5th place at NCAA Division II Championships


Bray WyattWrestled for Hernando Highs School in Brooksville, Florida
2005 State Champion @ HWT


Brock LesnarWrestled for Webster High School in Webster, North Dakota
Took 3rd in North Dakota State Championships
Wrestled for Bismark State
Won NJCAA Title
Wrestled for Minnesota
Took 2nd and National Champion in NCAA Division I


Corey GravesWrestled for Linwood High School in Linwood, Pennsylvania



Dan Matha Wrestled for McDowell High in Erie, Pennsylvania


Dolph ZigglerWrestled for St. Edwards High in Lakewood, Ohio
Set School record for Pins
Took 5th at the 1998 Ohio State Championships
Wrestled for Kent State in College
Won the 2000, 2002 and 2003 MAC Conference Championship


Chad GableWrestled for St. Michael-Albertsville High School in Albertsville, Minnesota
Won a Minnesota High School State title
2012 Olympian in Greco-Roman Wrestling


Jerry BriscoThree time Oklahoma High School State Place-Winner
Wrestled for Oklahoma State in College


GoldustWrestled for Mecklenberg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina


Jason JordanWrestled for Andrew High School in Tinley Park, Illinois
Placed 3rd in 2005 and 6th in 2006 at Illinois State Championships
Wrestled for Indiana in College
Three Time NCAA Division I Qualifier


KalistoWrestled for Currie Metropolitan High in Chicago, Illinois


Kurt AngleWrestled for Mt. Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Took 3rd in 1986 and won the 1987 Pennsylvania State Championship
Wrestled for Clarion in College
Three time NCAA Division I Finalist and Two Time NCAA Champion
1995 World Gold Medalist
1996 Olympic Gold Medalist


Mick FoleyWrestled for Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York 

Mike RotundoWrestled for Oswego High School in Oswego, New York
Took 4th Place at the 1976 New York State Championships
Wrestled for Syracuse in College
3rd 1978, 5th 1979 and 1981 EIWA Champion


Otis DozovicWrestled for Superior High School in Superior, Wisconsin
Took 3rd in 2009 Juniors in Freestyle
Wrestled collegiality for Augsburg College and Colorado State-Pueblo
2014 Pan-American Bronze Medalist in Greco-Roman


Norman Smiley Wrestled for Miami Beach High in Miami, Florida


Randy OrtonWrestled for Hazelwood Century High School in Florissant, Missouri


Satender DagarWrestled in his home country of India


Sawyer FultonWrestled for Ashland University
2001 4th and 2012 3rd in the NCAA Division II Championships


Terrance Jean Jacques Wrestled for Rutgers, Iowa and Rhode Island College
Placed 2nd at the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships


Tucker KnightWrestled for North Marion High School in Aurora, Oregon
Took 6th, 2nd, 2nd last three years of high school at Oregon State Championships
Wrestled for Portland State, Cal State Bakersfield and Arizona State in College
Took 8th place at the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships


Vince McMahonWrestled for Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia


Xavier WoodsWrestled for Sprayberry High School in Marietta, Georgia


Kofi Kingston
Wrestled for Winchester High School in Winchester, Massachusetts
1998 3rd and 1999 2nd at High School State Championships
4th at All State in 1999


Dean Ambrose
Wrestled for Amelia High School in Amelia, Ohio

Top 10 "CAME OUT OF NOWHERE" At the NCAA Tournament in the 21st Century Moments

The NCAA Division I wrestling tournament is a favorite among wrestling fans for many reasons. It's an exciting, fun filled three days of the best collegiate wrestling has to offer. Anything can, and often does happen. Among what makes the NCAA tournament such a phenomenal event, are the moments when someone comes out of nowhere to to do the unexpected. When someone defies all odds and as impossible as the task seemed that was put in front of them, they were somehow able to accomplish it.


While there are certainly more than 10, I have decided to narrow it down to what I believe are The Top 10 "CAME OUT OF NOWHERE" at the NCAA Tournament in the 21st Century Moments.

#10 Conor Youtsey
Michigan
2015 and 2016 NCAA Tournaments 

There have been a good number of wrestlers over the years that have entered the NCAA tournament unseeded and came out with an All American medal, but not many can say the did it more than once. Michigan's Conor Youtsey can. As a sophomore in 2015, after finishing in fifth place at the BIG 10 championships, Youtsey was unlikely candidate for All American honors. Yet he defied the odds as he upset #16 Paul Petrov of Bucknell, #3 Joey Dance of Virginia Tech and #7 Eddie Klimara to take a sixth place finish at the NCAA's.

It was a question to wrestling fans whether Youtsey was for real or if he had simply had a one hit wonder awesome tournament. When he finished sixth at the BIG 10's  a year later, and this time entered the NCAA tournament with a losing 12-13 record, the general consensus was the latter. Yet Youtsey silenced his critics once again, this time knocking off #6 Eddie Klimara, #8 Barlow McGhee of Missouri, #10 Conor Schram of Stanford and #9 Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa to capture a fifth place finish.

A decision to initially skip out on his senior season for a career opportunity lead to Youtsey missing nearly all of the the season up until the BIG 10 tournament. While he had only a dozen matches and a 6-6 record entering the NCAA's, this time fans were more cautious before betting against him. Unfortunately for the talented Wolverine, this time the cards were not stacked in his favor. Youtsey would end up going 0-2 at the 2017 NCAA tournament ending his bid to become the first wrestler in the history of Division I wrestling to earn three All American awards without ever having the benefit of a seed.

#9 Bobbe Lowe
Minnesota
2003 NCAA Tournament 

Golden Gopher fans had high expectations for the 2002 NJCAA champion transfer from Iowa Central Community College, but it looked as if they were going to have to wait a year or two for him to adjust to Division I wrestling before those expectations were met.  After a sixth place finish at the BIG 10 tournament, Lowe was not a likely All American entering the NCAA's with a 15-17 record.

Yet he got the maroon and gold faithful to their feet when he gave #9 Jason Powell of Nebraska a scare in the first round in an exciting 8-6 loss. He would then grit his way through four consolation matches including a 12-7 victory over returning All American and #8 seed Skyler Holman of Oklahoma State who had majored Lowe earlier in the season. Taking eighth place All American honors, Lowe would end his season with a 19-20 record.

#8 Kyle Blevins
Appalachian State
2012 NCAA Tournament 

You can talk to someone all day long about someone's potential, but until they wrestle up to that potential, all it is, is talk. That is the case with former Mountaineer Kyle Blevins of Appalachian State. The ability to achieve high honors in wrestling was always there, it was simply having those tools and talents come together at the right time that proposed the challenge. A third place finish at the Southern Scuffle gave precedence to Blevin's capability but losing in the finals of the Southern Conference championship gave more doubt than hope.

If that wasn't enough, Blevins not only entered the NCAA tournament unseeded, he lost his first round match to #5 Mike Evans of Iowa. It was a long road, tough road ahead for the senior in his last opportunity to All American. Yet the switch that had been turned on and off throughout the season suddenly turned to the on position, and it was kept on as Blevins won six matches in a row to finish in fourth place. Along the way he knocked off #8 Robert Kokesh 4-3, #9 Conrad Polz 4-2 s.v. and #7 Josh Asper 5-2. Some will read this entry and think that teammate Austin Trotman the #8 seed that year at 184 lbs should also be on this list.

#7 Brandon Becker
Indiana
2005 NCAA Tournament 

The rookie Hoosier looked to wrap up a respectable freshman campaign after a fifth place finish at the BIG 10 tournament and a 13-7 loss to Fresno State's Jim Medeiros in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It didn't seem likely that Becker would work his way back onto the award stand.

Yet he did and he did so in fashion. A minute and fifty-five second fall of Lock Haven's Seth Martin, followed up by a 12-3 major decision over future All American Matt Kocher of Pittsburgh and a 6-4 s.v. over Nathan Galloway of Penn State landed Becker in the blood round.

Who would Becker had to beat in order to be named an All American? None other than #1 seed Alex Tirapelle of Illinois. In what was arguably the biggest upset of the tournament Becker knocked off the returning two time All American in a wild 8-7 match. His upsetting ways did not end there either, as he also stuck #11 Chris Horning of Clarion in 4:03 and defeated #10 Brian Stith of Arizona State 10-6 to capture fifth place.

It wouldn't be long until Becker silenced any who wondered whether he was for real or not, as he finished off his career with two BIG 10 runner-up finishes and two more All American finishes of seventh and fourth place.

#6 Phil Davis
Penn State
2005 NCAA Tournament 

2005 must have been the year of the rookie, as yet another freshman makes the list. During his initial season at Penn State, the goofy kid with the lanky arms and bad hair cut wasn't on anyone's list to pull off the upsets that he did at the NCAA tournament.  At the Big 10's he dropped a 2-1 decision to Illinois's Tyrone Byrd and fell victim to Ryan Flaherty's dreaded headlock in 1:38 finishing in fourth place.

Unseeded at the NCAA's he defeated #10 Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell 7-1 in the first round and Arizona State's #7 Ryan Bader 3-1 in the second round. After dropping a 9-4 decision to eventual champion Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State, Davis used a unique version of a cradle to rack up ten points that Hofstra's Chris Skretkowicz despite scoring three takedowns of his own could not answer back in a 12-6 victory. Davis finished in seventh place, this time avoiding Flaherty's headlock and defeating the Badger 5-0.

#5 Mario Stuart
Lehigh
2001 and 2004 NCAA Tournaments 

 They say the odds of winning the lottery are one in fourteen million. Now, imagine winning it twice. That describes the career of Mario Stuart. The former Mountain Hawk not only defied the odds once, he did it twice.  As a freshman in 2001, he entered the NCAA tournament with a 5-9 record. He shocked the Iowa City, Iowa crowed with a 7-6 victory over #12 Tom Noto of Hostra, following up two more wins over #5 Matt Ridings of Oklahoma and a 17-9 major decision over Ahmed Sanders of Central Michigan to make the semi-finals. He would drop 20-4 technical fall to eventual NCAA champion Stephen Abas before eventually winding up in fifth place.

Many considered Stuart's run through the 2001 NCAA tournament to be nothing short of a miracle. A stroke of luck that would not happen again. In 2002 he went 2-2 at the NCAA tournament and had to give up his spot on the varsity in 2003 to Terrence Clendinin due to injuries. The odds were not in Stuart's favor.

After a second place finish at the EIWA tournament, Stuart entered the NCAA's with a 15-8 record. One of the eight losses was to his first round opponent, #4 Tom Clum of Wisconsin, who had defeated Stuart 8-0 major decision only a few weeks earlier.  There was no being conservative about it. As soon as the match started, Stuart was deep in on Clum's leg, had it high in the air and scored his first of  what would be three takedowns in an 8-2 victory.

After dropping a 12-5 decision to future four time All American Sam Hazewinkle of Oklahoma in the quarter-finals, Stuart defeated Matt Pitts of Chattanooga 14-9, Rob Rebmann of Drexel 7-3 and Vic Moreno of Cal Poly 4-2 sudden victory to place himself in the bout for third place. He would drop his final match 9-1 major decision to Hazewinkle to finish off his career with a fourth place finish.

#4 Chris Rodrigues
North Carolina
2002 NCAA Tournament 

If there ever be a wrestler that fit the bill "Inconsistent" best, it was former North Carolina lightweight Chris Rodrigues. Rodrigues would score a huge win over a highly ranked opponent and then turn around and lose to another team's backup. You never knew what to expect from the unique and mysterious grappler.

A four time state champion out of Georgia, and a highly sought after recruit, wrestling fans had high expectations for Rodrigues who began his career at The University of Michigan.. Unfortunately for Rodrigues, A.J. Grant was already in the position as the Wolverine's 125 lbs wrestler. As a result, Rodrigues transferred to the University of North Carolina.

After finishing as the ACC runner up with an overtime loss to North Carolina State's George Cintron, Rodrigues entered the NCAA tournament unseeded. He would drop a 7-3 decision to Edinboro's Shawn Bunch in the first round before making one of the most storied runs through the consolation bracket that wrestling fans have ever witnessed.

After a 5-3 victory over Drexel's Rob Rebmann, Rodrigues would face none other than A.J. Grant, the very one who had beaten him in Michigan's practice room. This time would be different as Rodrigues would come from behind to put Grant on his back and score a fall near the end of the second period.

In his next match, Rodrigues faced three time All American Leroy Vega of Minnesota. Down 2-1 with less than a minute left in the match, Rodrigues scored a reversal and held on long enough to erase riding time, to pull off a shocking 3-2 upset.

If that weren't enough, in the blood round, down 8-3 with less than ten seconds left on the clock against Oregon's Shaun Williams, Rodrigues hit a cement mixer and with one second remaining in the match secured a fall for All American honors. He would drop his next two matches, finishing in eighth place.

The next year as a sophomore Rodrigues continued his roller coaster ways with impressive wins and head-scratching losses. He handed Nick Simmons of Michigan State his only loss by fall in his entire career. And by entire career, it is not meant just college. Entire career meaning, the entire time Simmons wrestled. The only time Simmons ever lost by fall. He then turned around and lost a match to Jacob Gray of Edinboro who was unranked at the time.

There was a Chris Rodrigues who took a 14-4 beating at the hands of Travis Lee and there was a Chris Rodrigues that gave Lee who won the NCAA title the following year in 2003 a scare in a 8-6 sudden victory loss. You just never knew which Chris Rodrigues was going to show up.

Whether he would have ever made All American status again, won an NCAA title or finished somewhere in between will forever remain a mystery. Shortly into his junior season, Rodrigues and North Carolina decided to part ways and Rodrigues's wrestling career came to an end.

#3
Josh Moore
Penn State
2004 NCAA tournament 

You may wonder why Josh Moore is on this list. Especially for the 2004 NCAA tournament, considering that he was the #6 seed and that he had finished an impressive third place at the 2003 NCAA tournament. At first glance it doesn't make much, if any sense for Moore to be a on a list like this.

Yet upon further inspection, once it is put into context, it makes perfect sense for Moore to be on this list. You see Moore didn't just finish in fourth place at the Big 10 tournament. He got his rear end handed to him twice. Illinois's Mark Jayne threw Moore around in a 13-5 demolishing and then Wisconsin's Ed Gutnik shut down everything Moore tried to do in a 14-4 annihilation.

Many fans of three time finalist/two time NCAA champion Johnny Thompson were worried about the Cowboy making his fourth finals appearance as he was having his most challenging year yet. The weight cut to 133 lbs was taking a toll on Thompson as he took six losses into the NCAA tournament.

There was speculation that someone, somewhere along the way would knock Thompson off. It was simply a question of who. Many names were brought up including Darrell Vasquez of Cal Poly, Mark Jayne of Illinois and Travis Lee of Cornell, all three of whom already owned victories over Thompson during the season. No one thought the answer would be Josh Moore.

After avenging his loss to Gutnik with a 1-0 victory, Moore wrestled one of the most tactical matches of the tournament against Thompson. Capturing Thompson in what can only be described as a "Moore" cradle, Moore got out to an early 5-0 lead that an aggressive Thompson could not overcome. Even Thompson's patented "snake", which he would later use in victories over both Jayne and Lee, was of no use. He tried to put Moore into the move, but Moore was one of the only wrestlers Thompson ever faced that was able to avoid being turned in it. Moore would then be taken down three more times with Thompson's other go to move the double leg, but Moore escaped each time holding on for an 8-7 victory.

After a 5-4 victory over Vasquez in the semi finals, Moore would drop a 7-3 decision to Iowa State's Zach Roberson in the finals. Who by the way, Thompson had beaten in every meeting the two ever had, including three times earlier that season, twice by fall. Parity anyone?

#2 Kevin Tao
American
2013 NCAA Tournament 

Kevin Tao's 2013 NCAA tournament run is amazing for a lot of reasons. Perhaps none more significant than the fact that he wasn't even supposed to be there. Tao was not one of the original 33 wrestlers who qualified for the tournament. He was originally going to stay home, until another wrestler withdrew from the tournament and Tao took his place.

Having failed to place at both the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and the Southern Scuffle, Tao seemed a likely candidate to go 0-2. After all his first round opponent was Binghamton's Donnie Vinson who had pinned Tao in under a minute earlier in the season. Yet Tao showed the Des Moines, Iowa crowd why the NCAA tournament  an be such a magical place with a 3-2 tiebreaker victory.

In the second round Tao would face Navy's Ray Borja who had defeated him at the EIWA championships 5-3 sudden victory. This time Tao would take complete control of the match cruising to a 9-3 victory.

If it had been a Hollywood film, Tao would have continued winning and became the first, "wasn't even supposed to be there" All American in NCAA history. Unfortunately real life doesn't always work the way it would in the movies and Tao dropped two heartbreakers in a row to finish one match shy of All American honors.

#1 Justin Gaethje
Northern Colorado
2010 NCAA Tournament 

It's one thing to make All American honors without being seeded. It's a whole other thing to make All American honors without even being ranked. After a fifth place finish at the Western Wrestling Conference, neither W.I.N. or Intermatwrestle.com had Gaethje ranked in the top twenty. Had it only been a few years prior before the new "Craig Henning" qualification rules went into effect, Gaethje's season would have came to an end and no one would have thought the less of it.

Yet he was granted an at large selection and he made the most of his first NCAA tournament appearance. A 6-4 victory over #8 Bryce Saddoris of Navy, a 3-2 tiebreaker over #9 Matt Moley  of Bloomsburg and a 6-5 tiebreaker over Shane Vernon of Oklahoma landed the future MMA superstar in seventh place.

No longer under the radar, Gaethje would win the Western Wrestling Conference championship the following year, but fail to make the same magic happen at the NCAA tournament that he had the year before.



As said before there are more. Josh Arnone of Cornell and his 2007 run. Pittsburgh's Carl Fronhofer's run in 2003. The list is long. If you have one that you feel should have been included on this list, please share. Bryce Meredith in 2016....There are wrestlers from nearly every NCAA tournament ever held that could be on this list.

5 Wrestlers Who Would Have Benefited From The 118 lbs Weight Class

We've seen it numerous amounts of times in wrestling. A wrestler will struggle with bigger, stronger opponents and then drop down a weight class to be more competitive. Yet, if you are at 125 lbs, collegiate wrestling's lowest weight class, there is no going down.

At one time the NCAA had a 118 lbs weight class. If you go back far enough, 115 lbs. This weight class lasted through the 1997-1998 season. After the death of three wrestlers, all of whom died from excessive weight cutting, the wrestling community decided to reevaluate the weight classes and make changes to reflect health and safety. The 118 lbs weight class was eliminated.

Most agree with the changes that were made. The pros of the decision have been illustrated well in the past twenty years. Not everyone is happy though. Ask NCAA champion and 1982 World Bronze Medalist Joe Gonzalez his opinion on the elimination of the 118 lbs weight class. He'll tell you how he feels.

"Wrestling is one of the only sports that gives small, short guys an opportunity to show how good of athletes they are." Says the former Road Runner. "Eliminating 118 lbs is discriminating to the kids that finish their high school career wrestling at a lower weight class. It's like college wrestling is telling those kids they aren't welcome. It is very exclusionary. It isn't right."

 Gonzalez has a point. Wrestlers that wrestled in yesteryear's 103 lbs or 112 lbs weight class as seniors had a weight class they could naturally grow into at 118 lbs. Today's seniors that graduate at 106 lbs would be able to as well.

The truth is, not everyone is big enough to be a 125 lbs wrestler. Not everyone can put on enough size and strength in order to be competitive at the weight class. Looking over the past 19 years, there have been a number of wrestlers who would have benefited from a 118 lbs weight class. We'll take a look at five of those wrestlers.

Jesse Miramontes

The current MMA fighter, Jesse Miramontes had an impressive arsenal of upper-body maneuvers, including a nasty cement mixer that he surprised quite a few opponents with during his time at Cal State Fullerton. Matter of fact, he upset his way to a PAC-12 title in 2004 using the move. Yet the element of surprise is all he had. His small stature and undersized build made it difficult for him to execute his techniques against larger opponents. Had he wrestled during a time when the 118 lbs weight class was still in existence, he would have fared better as a collegiate wrestler. Probably would have racked up a lot more pins too.

Eric Olanowski

Eric Olanowski is another wrestler that comes to mind. He was one of the best 112 lbs wrestlers in the entire country when he graduated high school in 2007. Gaining six pounds to wrestler at 118 would have been a more realistic and doable task than was the trying to put on the 13 lbs to wrestle at 125. If you watch any of his matches, you'll notice that his techniques are there, he simply didn't have the size or strength to execute them effectively.

Thomas Williams

Jermaine Jones (No picture could be found) and Thomas Williams fall into the same category. Both were standout wrestlers in high school whose collegiate careers never rose to the heights that they should have because neither was suited for 125 lbs. Had 118 lbs still been a weight class during their time, both Jones at Ohio State and Williams at American would likely have been stars.

Luke Smith

When it comes to the long list of great talents that never achieved All American honors, the reasons as to why vary greatly. In the case of former Central Michigan Chippewa Luke Smith, there not being a 118 lbs weight class is why. Despite being smaller and almost always giving up both size and strength, Smith still managed to be rather competitive at 125 lbs. He had many quality victories over highly ranked opponents and finished in the top twelve at the NCAA tournament. Had Smith had the option of wrestling at 118 lbs, he likely would have contended for an NCAA title.



Of course this is all speculation and a subjective view of what could have been. 125 lbs isn't going anywhere as college wrestling's lowest weight class. The chances of 118 lbs ever coming back to wrestling may not be 0%, but they might as well be. The point of this article isn't to campaign for the return of 118 lbs. It is simply to make point that there were cons to the elimination of the weight class and despite the many positives that came about, there were negatives too.

And with the question already being begged at this time, it might as well be asked.

Who over the years would have benefited from a 241 lbs weight class? Who would have benefited from a time when the HWT class had no weight limit?

First Year of State Tournament per State

Alabama - 1959
Alaska - 1972
Arizona - 1953
Arkansas - 2009
California - 1973
Colorado - 1933
Connecticut - 1966
Delaware - 1957
Florida - 1965
Georgia - 1961
Hawaii - 1966
Idaho - 1963
Illinois - 1937
Indiana - 1922
Iowa - 1921
Kansas - 1930
Kentucky - 1965
Louisiana - 1945
Maine - 1959
Maryland - 1970
Massachusetts - 1968
Michigan - 1948
Minnesota - 1937
Mississippi - None
Missouri - 1972
Montana - 1956
Nebraska - 1928
Nevada - 1969
New Hampshire - 1972
New Jersey - 1934
New Mexico - 1969
New York - 1963
North Carolina - 1931
North Dakota - 1958
Ohio - 1938
Oklahoma - 1922
Oregon - 1947
Pennsylvania - 1938
Rhode Island - 1954
South Carolina - 1970
South Dakota - 1953
Tennessee - 1961
Texas - 1999
Utah - 1938
Vermont - 1942
Virginia - 1967
Washington - 1923
West Virginia - 1948
Wisconsin - 1940
Wyoming - 1974

Does Amateur Wrestling Have "Heels"? Do We Need Them?

Think of all of the great people you have known in wrestling. Whether it be on a personal level or someone you watched from the stands, its not hard to come up with a list of admirable people in our sport. After all wrestling prides itself on the people it produces. We as a community take as seriously, if not more seriously who people are off the mat, as we do who they are on it. As good of a wrestler as Dave Schultz was, it is not his World or Olympic medals that make people remember him. It was his personality. How he treated people, and made everyone he ever came in contact with feel that they were his friend and that he cared about them. That's what made him the beloved man that he was and makes him 21 years post his death as sorely missed today as he ever was. We have a lot of heroic individuals that are easy to cheer. Most wrestlers are. Yet do we have any "bad guys"?

In professional wrestling, there are "good guys", the ones the fans like and cheer, called babyfaces. There are also "heels", the ones that fans dislike and boo. The "bad guys". Does amateur wrestling have heels? And furthermore does amateur wrestling need heels? In almost all other sports, it isn't hard to think of the athletes, who for various reasons were disliked by the fans. Football has its Michael Vick's, as baseball has its Barry Bond's and basketball has its Dennis Rodman's. It's not difficult to find or think of controversial figures, in the wide world of sports.

Are these people good for sports? Or, are they not? Do they, with their antics draw attention and hype up a crowd? Or do they put a black eye on the sport and bring it shame? Many amateur wrestling fans are also fans of MMA, and often the build up to the fight is every bit as exciting as the actual fight itself. Again, the level of humility and sportsmanship that wrestlers show one another is a uniqueness, that makes wrestling such a special sport. Yet ask yourself if the most recent MMA bouts would have drawn the crowds they did had the fighters sat around shaking hands and paying one another compliments instead of the back and forth trash talking that did occur. Love or hate professional wrestling, it is a multi-million  dollar business. Ask anyone who has been successful in it, from Vince McMahon to Eric Bischoff and they'll tell you that heels draw money.

So who are our heels and what effect did they have on amateur wrestling? While this article won't name them all, it will take a look at 10 wrestlers who at least at some point in their careers would have been considered heels.

10. Aaron Pico

It doesn't matter how good you are at the sport. Even when you can back it up, the fans of amateur wrestling don't like to hear it. Aaron Pico can walk the walk as well as he can talk the talk, but we're the type of sport that likes all of the talking to be done on the mat. We don't like for someone to sit and run their mouth about how good they are, even if they are that good. When Aaron Pico recently took a shot at Zain Retherford, saying that had he been wrestling at the World Team Trials in Lincoln, Nebraska, that Retherford wouldn't have stood a chance, not everyone took it well. Many were angry with Pico over his comment and in the minds of some, his comments made him an instant heel. While he still has a rather large fan base that continue to support him as he makes a name for himself in MMA, there are those, just as eager to see him get beat. If Pico were to wrestle Retherford in an exhibition, say at the NWCA All Star Classic, this match alone would make Princeton a standing room only event.

9, Shawn Charles

Shawn Charles has over twenty years of collegiate coaching experience and in that time he was never anywhere for longer than five years. All in all, he was at nine different schools during his tenure as a coach and his departures were not always on good terms. Charles has an abrasive personality that doesn't mesh well with everyone he comes in contact with. While no doubt an extremely talented wrestler with a ton of knowledge, he can come off as patronizing, condescending and even insulting. In a sport where politeness is in and rudeness is out, Charles could easily qualify as a heel.

8. Nick Simmons

If you ever have the opportunity to talk with Nick Simmons off the mat you will discover a very friendly, intelligent, articulate and neat person. However, who Nick Simmons is off the mat and who he is on the mat are two completely different people. He was nick named, "The East Lansing Strangler" for a reason. On the mat, Simmons was downright mean. In the opinions of some he was cruel, even dirty. You'd have thought that submissions were a part of amateur wrestling the way Simmons would stretch his opponents in spladles and other maneuvers. He wasn't afraid to hurt people and as a result, he had his fair share critics during his time as a Spartan at Michigan State.

7. Bubba Jenkins 

Bubba Jenkins is a rather unique case as there are two sides to the issue, two teams if you will, and how you look at the issue, really depends on whose team you are on. Years ago, Jenkins had a falling out with Cael Sanderson and Penn State University. Unfavorable things were said by both parties about one another. As fate would have it, Jenkins made the NCAA finals against a Penn State opponent, with arch rival Sanderson in the corner. Some took Jenkins' side and some took Sanderson's. Few, if any remained neutral. In the end Jenkins prevailed victorious. Some were very happy about it and some were not.

6. Thomas Gilman

Recent graduate and current 2017 World Team Member Thomas Gilman is no stranger to people in the crowd not liking him. The former Iowa Hawkeye is well known for his aggressive style and mean attitude. He's not afraid to shove and you could put him nose to nose with Brock Lesnar or anyone else considered to be dangerous and tough. Gilman wouldn't back down. He's mean, arrogant and even  at times cocky. Yet, he's also passionate about the sport and his teammates. To quote James Earl Jones in Best of the Best, "A team is not a team, unless you give a damn about one another." And that quote in a lot of ways describes Gilman. He's the wrestler that you may not like, you may even boo, but you still respect.

5. Rick Sanders

It may not be fair to call Rick Sanders a heel. He was a lovable, free spirit, whom many enjoyed being around. Yet the fact of the matter is, wrestling is both a very conservative sport and a very religious sport. If Republican doesn't describe you politically and Christian doesn't describe you religiously, you already have two strikes against you before you even step up to the plate. Sanders did not fit the mold. With his beard, long hair and wild antics, he stood out like a sore thumb and not everyone appreciated it. With Sanders its hard to separate fact from fiction, but if even a third of the stories that still circulate nearly fifty after his death are true, he is easily the most controversial individual the amateur wrestling world has ever known.

4. Patrick Downey 

Some may read this article and see their name on the list and be offended by it. Others will look at it, and embrace the heck out of it. Patrick Downey is one of those people. Not only does he not mind being thought of as a heel, he enjoys it. Controversy is a soup that needs to be stirred and Downey loves taking his spoon and stirring it with various tweets on his twitter page. He loves to get people riled. He loves to get them wound up. He doesn't mind if people have shown up to the dual in hopes that he might get beat. Regardless of why they are they, they showed up.

3. Mike Zadick

Former Ohio State head wrestling coach Russ Hellickson once said of the University of Iowa and its wrestlers, "They love to be hated." Arguably, few Hawkeyes resemble this remark more than Mike Zadick. He was ruthless, relentless and a very hated wrestler during his collegiate days. Unless they cheered for Iowa, wrestling fans enjoyed watching him get beat and were none too afraid to cheer as loud as they could when he did.

2. Johny Hendricks 

In more recent times a common tactic of wrestlers in a hostile crowd, is to wait until they have defeated their opponent and then to put their index finger over their lips in a "shhh" motion, indicating that they have silenced the crowd. This gesture usually results in a deafening chorus of boos. If you want to know when this all began, look no further than former Oklahoma State cowboy Johny Hendricks.  During his matches, he would taunt the audience to boo him. Most wrestlers step out on the mat to face one opponent at  time. Seems that Hendricks often stepped out to face two. One being the wrestler he was facing and the other being the crowd.

1. Billy George 

Many wrestlers have goals and ambitions to get into MMA post their collegiate careers. Former Cornell wrestler Billy George wanted to to get into MMA while he was on the mat wrestling. More than once during his collegiate career he was disqualified from a match for illegal moves, including both punching and kicking his opponents. Unlike some of the others mentioned on this list, George wasn't the "cool" bad guy nor was he simply disliked for wrestling for the "wrong" team. His tactics on the mat were some that the wrestling community would just as soon forget about and sweep under the rug. Yet, they did happen and as a result he's #1 on this list.

Others who might have made this list include Brock Lesnar and Dwight Hinson. Without a doubt there are others who will be mentioned as the subject is discussed.

What is your opinion of these "heels" and others? Are they good for wrestling? Are they bad? Are some good for wrestling and others bad?  What is the overall status of heels in amateur wrestling? Are they something that the sport needs? Or are we better off without them?