Thursday, August 9, 2018

The Top 5 NCAA DIVISION I 141 lbs Wrestlers in the 21st Century to not All American



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 141 lbs.

#5
Seth Ciasulli
Lehigh
Looking at the long list of names that Seth Ciasulli defeated during his career it is difficult to come to terms with the fact that he never made All American.  Drew Headlee of Pittsburgh, Joey Baker of Navy, Dan Mitcheff of Kent State, Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State, Germaine Lindsay of Ohio,  and Tyler Nauman of Pittsburgh are a few of the names on the list.  Not to mention that Ciasulli won an EIWA title his junior season.
#4
Zach Horan
Central Michigan
Zach Horan didn't have the best senior season, but looking over the overall embodiment of his career he certainly belongs somewhere on this list.  He won two MAC titles and finished a match shy of All American status his junior season.  Not to mention victories of North Carolina two time All American Evan Henderson and Old Dominion's Chris Mecate. Getting a horrible draw at the NCAA's in his final appearance he gave Joey McKenna of Stanford all he could handle. Had he gotten a better draw, he might have made that award stand after all.
#3
Nick Nelson
Virginia 
He was always there and he was always a threat, but somehow or another Virginia's Nick Nelson never found his way on to the award stand.  As a sophomore he knocked #2 seed Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin into the consolation bracket with a 9-5 victory.  Yet Tanelli would come back to place fourth at Nelson finished one match shy of placing.  Nelson would go on to capture two third place finishes at the Southern Scuffle and an ACC title his senior season. 


#2
Matt Ciasulli
Lehigh
Yes, both Ciasulli brothers make the cut and yes, ironically both at 141 lbs. When I think of the best wrestlers to never make All American status, Seth and Matt are always two of the first names that come to mind. Considering their body of work, I would think they would be anyone's.  Who didn't Matt beat during his career?  He beat Drew Headlee of Pittsburgh, Charles Griffin of Hofstra, Matt Sanchez of Bakersfield,  Matt Keller of Chattanooga, David Hoffman of Virginia Tech, Tyler McCormick of Missouri, Nathan Morgan of Oklahoma State, Matt Kyler of Army, Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan and Kyle Borschoff of American.  That's ten All American's he beat.  He also finished as the EIWA runner-up as a freshman and as a sophomore.  Injury kept him out of the game as a junior, but he returned as a senior to win the EIWA crown.  No doubt, one of the best ever without an NCAA medal.


#1
Ron Tarquinio
Pittsburgh
If the NCAA handed out a sportsmanship award I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone more deserving of it than Pitt's Ron Tarquinio.  Win or lose, few wrestlers showed the tenacity and class the Tarquinio showed in every match he ever wrestled.  Winning an EWL title as a sophomore, he would finish second at the tournament his final two years.  Also adding second place finishes at both CKLV and The Southern Scuffle, Tarquinio earned NCAA seeds of #12, #8 and #8.  His senior year he lost a heartbreaking 5-3 sudden victory to West Virginia's Brandon Radar in the match to place. For what it's worth one of notches on his belt includes a victory over three time All American Cory Cooperman of Lehigh.

Who did I miss? Who did I leave out?

Brad Metzler of Stanford?
Frankie Edgar of Clarion?
Dominick Moyer of Nebraska?
Levi Jones of Boise State?
Elijah Nacita of Bakersfield?
Joe Caramanica of North Carolina State?

I'm sure whoever you're thinking of, I thought of them too!

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