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 165 lbs.
 |
#5
Jake Smith
West Virginia |
Jake Smith only graduated this past season, but I still feel that he deserves to be on this list. A career plagued by injuries, Smith still managed to finish as a three time BIG 12 runner up, a multiple time CKLV and Midland's place winner.
 |
#4
Daren Burns
UNC-Greensboro |
Arguably the best wrestler in UNC-Greensboro history. Daren Burns won four Southern Conference titles and he had 107 wins during his career. Twice the round of 12, Burns also added a bronze medal at the Pan-American championships to his resume post his collegiate career.
 |
#3
Mario Gonzales
Illinois |
Another wrestler who had it not been for injuries, most likely wouldn't be on this list. The former Illini won a BIG 10 title as a sophomore and took third as a junior. Both years he finished one match shy of All American status. Even though he missed a large portion of the season, he only finished eighth at the BIG 10's and he had no use whatsoever of his left leg, he again managed to finish one match shy of All American status as a senior.
 |
#2
Anthony Reynolds
Sacred Heart |
It's an extremely rare occasion where we get to talk about a great wrestler from Sacred Heart University. It's ever rarer when that wrestler is a native of Connecticut. The only reason Anthony Reynolds wasn't SHU's first CAA champion is simply because teammate Mike Messina wrestled in a weight class below him and got to wrestle in his championship final match first. Reynolds was good enough throughout the season to earn the #12 seed as a junior and the #8 seed as a senior at the NCAA tournament. He was also a Midland's place winner during his career.
 |
#1
Brent Haynes
Missouri |
It's hard to believe that as good as Brent Haynes was that he never made All American status. Fourth, third and second at the BIG 12, he would take second at the MAC when Missouri switched conferences his senior season. A Southern Scuffle champ as a junior, he would take third at the tournament as a senior. Joe Kennedy of Lehigh, Sonny Yohn of Minnesota, Matt Powless of Indiana, Cam Simaz of Cornell, Jared Rosholt of Oklahoma State and Nathan Burak of Iowa are among the who's who of notable opponents Haynes defeated during his career.
197 lbs was a tough weight to narrow down
David Dashiell of North Carolina
Ryan Goodman of North Carolina State
Tyrone Byrd of Illinois
CC Phelps of Boise State
Matt Delguyd of Northwestern
Logan Brown of Purdue
The names just kept coming as I thought. Who did I miss?
No comments:
Post a Comment