This is a topic that has been talked to death. Yet, it's usually discussed from an overall standpoint. I don't know if it's ever been discussed weight by weight. So as a result, I'm going to do that. I took a look at all 10 weight classes in Division I and I put together who I thought the top five best wrestlers at each weight class were that never made All American status during their career.
I realize that most likely I'm going to get a lot of feedback about the guys I overlooked or the guys I forgot. Trust me, I most likely already know. It was very difficult narrowing it down to five guys per weight.
I write this because I feel that we as a whole, we as a wrestling community tend to put too much emphasis on the NCAA tournament alone. There have been wrestlers in our past and their will be wrestlers in our future who achieve an assortment of credentials, but fall short of All American status. I personally feel that these wrestlers should still be celebrated. Still be remembered. And this is my way of doing it.
Here are who I consider to be the top Five at 125 lbs.
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#5
Michael Sees
Bloomsburg
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A 2008 graduate for the Huskies of Bloomsburg, Michael Sees put together an impressive 113-21 record that included winning the EWL conference title on two occasions. As a sophomore in 2006, Sees knocked off two time NCAA Runner-Up Kyle Ott of Illinois 5-2 in the first round. He'd make it to the quarterfinals where he'd lose a wild match vs Troy Nickerson of Cornell by fall. He then finished one match shy of placing with a loss to Northwestern's John Velez. As a junior he once again showed his upset capabilities by upsetting Iowa State's Nick Fanthrope at the NCAA tournament. In his senior season he was given the #7 season and again finished one match shy of being an All American.
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#4
Robbie Preston
Harvard
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One of the things that made this a difficult topic to write about was when a wrestler wrestled more than one weight class. In that event, I simply had to stick him somewhere and in the case of Harvard's Robbie Preston, I put him at 125 lbs. During his time as a member of the Crimson, Preston won an EIWA title as a sophomore finishing second and third his junior and senior seasons. He finished one match shy of All American as a sophomore and as a senior, receiving the #11 seed as a junior and the #12 seed as a senior.
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#3
Tom Noto
Hofstra |
Tom Noto's claim to fame will always be that he knocked three time All American and #2 seed Leroy Vega of Minnesota into the consolation bracket with a stunning 3-1 sudden victory. Yet there is so much more to his career than that. Along with Vega, Noto defeated NCAA champion Matt Valenti of Penn and NCAA runner-up Luke Eustice of Iowa. Matter of fact he beat Eustice on more than one occasion, including upending him for a Midlands title in the 2003-2004 season. He also won two CAA conference titles and had wins over All Americans Tom Clum of Wisconsin, John Velez of Northwestern, and Mario Stuart of Lehigh. Noto finished one match shy of All American both his junior and senior seasons, receiving a #12 seed as a sophomore and a #7 seed as a senior.
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#2
Gabe Flores
Illinois
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Even though Gabe Flores placed at the Midlands as a freshman and qualified for the NCAA's as a sophomore, it was in his junior and senior seasons that he really showed just how good of a wrestler he was. Finishing fourth at the 2007 BIG 10 tournament, Flores earned a #8 seed at the NCAA's. As a senior Flores was red hot with victories over All American James Nicholson of Old Dominion and NCAA champion Angel Escobedo of Indiana. He finished third at the BIG 10's and looked poised to earn that medal that had thus far alluded him with the #6 seed at Nationals. In the blood round he had to face Penn State's Mark McKnight who he had beaten in every other meeting that the two had had. In this particular match though, McKnight would take the victory in a tiebreaker and Flores would go down as one of the best 125 lbs wrestlers to never make the stand.
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#1
Matt Ridings
Oklahoma
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Some may have a problem with me putting Matt Ridings at the #1 slot here considering he sat behind Quentes Bates as freshman and behind Shane Valdez as a sophomore. However, I have good reason for putting Ridings as the #1 at 125 lbs who never made All American. He defeated three time NCAA All American/Champion Jason Powell of Nebraska, Matt Brown of Oklahoma State, Skyler Holman of Oklahoma State, Chris Williams of Michigan State, among others. He was also selected for the 2002 NWCA All Star meet. He received the #5 seed as a junior and the #6 seed as a senior at the NCAA's after two consecutive runner-up finishes at the BIG 12 tournament. He finished one match shy of placing at the 2002 NCAA championships.
So who did I miss?
Luke Smith of Central Michigan?
Matt Pitts of Chattanooga?
Bo Maynes of Oklahoma?
Shaun Williams of Oregon?
George Cintron of North Carolina State?
Mark Moos of Michigan?
Those are just a few of the other names I thought of when compiling this list.
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