2020 BIG 10 Tournament Preview = HWT

If only it were as predictable as Minnesota's Gable Steveson seems to be.  Being undefeated and last year's BIG 10 runner up, even though Michigan's Mason Parris is also currently undefeated, I had to give him the nod.

I see 8 allocations here, with a slight, teeny, tiny possibility of a steal from Luke Luffman of Illinois.  I don't give it much of a chance, but I give it better than not at all.

There's a bit of parity throughout the weight that could shift some spots around but for the most part I feel pretty compelled in how I seeded.

What really throws me off is whether Nebraska starts 13-4 David Jensen or 10-7 Christian Lance.  Jensen has more wins but Lance has the head to head 3-1 s.v. win.  Nothing to do at this point other than guess, and my guess is Jensen.

How I would seed?

#1 Gable Steveson sophomore Minnesota
#2 Mason Parris sophomore Michigan
#3 Anthony Cassioppi freshman Iowa
#4 Trent Hilger sophomore Wisconsin
#5 David Jensen senior Nebraska
#6 Gary Traub junior Ohio State
#7 Seth Nevills freshman Penn State
#8 Thomas Penola freshman Purdue

2020 BIG 10 Preview = 197 lbs

I can see as many as ten allocations at this weight class for the BIG 10. Still a bit of parity but not near the mental asylum seeking insanity that is 184.

Ohio State's Kollin Moore is the clear favorite and I don't see anyone denying him his third title.   I really thought he'd be a four time BIG 10 champ for the Buckeyes.  With the way he handled both Penn State's Shakur Rasheed 14-6 & Purdue's C.J. Brunner 16-6, I have no doubt that he'll be back atop the award stand.

Speaking of which I sort of surprised myself seeding Rasheed as low as I did but I felt I had to.  He not only lost to Moore, but he also lost to Iowa's Jacob Warner and to Nebraska's Eric Schultz as well.  With his other loss being a 7-5 decision to Lucas Davison of Northwestern who in turn has lost twice to Brunner, sixth is as high as I could justifiably put Rasheed.  I don't see him finishing that low however.

As to the rest of the weight class Maryland's Jaron Smith has figured out a way to catch opponents off guard and put them on their backs.  Some would see this as a reason to place him higher than I did but with two losses to Michigan's Jackson Striggow I feel justified in where I placed him.

How I would seed?

#1 Kollin Moore senior Ohio State
#2 Eric Schultz junior Nebraska
#3 Jacob Warner sophomore Iowa
#4 C.J. Brunner senior Purdue
#5 Lucas Davison freshman Northwestern
#6 Shakur Rasheed senior Penn State
#7 Jordan Pagnano senior Rutgers
#8 Jackson Striggow senior Michigan
#9 Jaron Smith senior Maryland
#10 Hunter Ritter senior Minnesota

2020 BIG 10 Preview = 184 lbs

This weight class is insane. Matter of fact if we resurrected Noah Webster & showed him 2020 BIG 10 184 lbs he might even let us use it as an example in the dictionary.   I'm talking parity out the wazoo and everyone seems to have lost to and beaten everyone.  Throw the names into a hat and draw as far as I'm concerned.  This is a seeding committees ultimate nightmare.


From where I stand, I think all but two deserve to go to the NCAA's.  Maybe I'm a bit overstretched here, but at least twelve wrestlers out of the fourteen that will be entered make a case.  As to how these guys will be seeded?

I would have to go with Penn State's Aaron Brooks as the #1 seed.   He has a loss to Taylor Venz of Nebraska by a 9-5 decision, but he majored Rocky Jordan 15-4, who beat Venz 3-2 & he defeated Iowa's Abe Assad who defeated Venz 6-4.

As to the rest of the eleven?

I did the best I could do...

#1 Aaron Brooks freshman Penn State
#2 Abe Assad freshman Iowa
#3 Taylor Venz junior Nebraska
#4 Cam Caffey sophomore Michigan State
#5 Rocky Jordan freshman Ohio State
#6 Zach Braunagel freshman Illinois
#7 Billy Janzer freshman Rutgers
#8 Jelani Embree sophomore Michigan
#9 Owen Webster senior Minnesota
#10 Johnny Sebastian senior Wisconsin
#11 Max Lyon junior Purdue
#12 Jack Jessen freshman Northwestern

Probably don't agree with me on this one.  That's cool.  I'm not so sure I agree with myself.  I took the vast amount of parity and gave more weight to some wins than I did others.  No matter how you seed this, someone that beat someone is seeded below the someone they beat.  There's no way around it at this weight.

2020 BIG 10 Preview = 174 lbs

I really, really appreciate this weight class because nearly everyone has wrestled everyone.  There's a bit up for debate in some of the seeding but for the most part I feel it is fairly straight forward.  A deep weight class full of ten wrestlers who I feel have earned allocations, plus two more who could pose a threat.

#1 seed without question goes to Iowa's Mike Kemerer who has looked phenomenal thus far this season. It'll be easier said than done knocking off two time BIG 10 champion Mark Hall of Penn State but with a convincing 11-6 head to head victory, he's the clear #1 going in.

Purdue's Dylan Lydy has more than earned the #3 spot here & it's difficult for me to imagine that this year's CKLV & Midlands champ has yet to finish any better than fifth here.  Very difficult to believe that he has yet to be an All American.  I don't see him knocking off Hall in what should be a semi-final match-up but I do see him finishing a strong third.

How to seed Nebraska's Mikey Labriola, Ohio State's Kaleb Romero & Minnesota's Devin Skatzka takes some analyzing.  Labriola and Skatzka have split this year with Libriola winning 7-5 s.v and Skatzka winning 7-2.   Skatzka has also split with Romero winning 1-0 and then losing 2-1.  Labriola  defeated Romero twice by scores of 2-1 and 3-1.    With that, I think it puts Labriola at #4, Skatzka at #5 and Romero at #6.   I don't see too many complaints with Labriola, although I know some will come back at me thinking Romero should be ahead of Skatzka.

I think the rest of the weight class as I have it seeded is fair.


Who to keep an eye on here is Tyler Morland of Northwestern.  His record is nothing to look at but they guy can be dangerous in the right situations.  Last season he took a losing record into the BIG 10's and upset his way to qualification.  Even won a match at the NCAA's.  Ended the season with a losing record, but nevertheless as an NCAA qualifier.

I also wouldn't put it past Rutger's Willie Scott to pull off an upset or two.  Grello is most likely not wrestling due to injury & I'd imagine that Scott will wrestle here.  It's his final BIG 10 tournament. He's wrestling in front of his home crowd.  Those types of motivators can make a person wrestle at their best. It'll be fun to see what happens.


How I'd seed it?

#1 Mike Kemerer junior Iowa
#2 Mark Hall senior Penn State
#3 Dylan Lydy senior Purdue
#4 Mikey Labriola sophomore Nebraska
#5 Devin Skatzka senior Minnesota
#6 Kaleb Romero freshman Ohio State
#7 Joey Gunther senior Illinois
#8 Jacob Covaciu junior Indiana
#9 Layne Malczewski freshman Michigan State
#10 Philip Spadafora sophomore Maryland

2020 BIG 10 Preview = 165 lbs

What a fun, deep tough weight class. The semi-finals are going to be a treat!  From where I sit this should be a fairly straight forward seeding with one exception.  Penn State's Vincenzo Joseph is the clear #1.  It's hard for me to believe that at third-second-second the last three years he has yet to win a BIG 10 title.  As far as Iowa fans are concerned he won't win one this season either.  Alex Marinelli who will be the #2 seed here, defeated him last season in the finals.   Wisconsin's Evan Wick in a head to head 10-6 victory takes the #3 seed over Nebraska's Isaiah White.

Where it gets a little fuzzy is where exactly to seed Northwestern's Shane Oster in comparison to Illinois' Danny Braunagel & Ohio State's Ethan Smith.  He lost to Smith twice by scores of 12-6 & 5-4 earlier in the season but recently defeated Smith 10-9.  Then he lost to Braunagel 10-6 earlier in the season but bested him last meeting 7-6.  Almost have to seed Smith ahead of Braunagel in a 3-1 head to head victory.  Makes things a bit tricky.   What holds more weight?  Two wins vs a more recent victory.

As far as I'm concerned this weight should have nine allocations.  I'd be surprised if it has less.

How I would seed?

#1 Vincenzo Joseph senior Penn State
#2 Alex Marinelli junior Iowa
#3 Evan Wick junior Wisconsin
#4 Isaiah White senior Nebraska
#5 Ethan Smith sophomore Ohio State
#6 Shane Oster senior Northwestern
#7 Danny Braunagel freshman Illinois
#8 Bailee O'Reilly sophomore Minnesota
#9 Drew Hughes junior Michigan State

Lastly I'll say that I'm almost positive that Emil Soehnlen of Purdue will not wrestle. He's been out since the beginning of December due to injury. However if he is for some reason back and does enter in the tournament, he poses a plausible threat at a steal.

2020 BIG 10 Preview = 157 lbs

This weight class interest me for a variety of reasons.  First and foremost I think it is perhaps the most straight forward as far as seeding is concerned.   From where I stand their should be six allocations at this weight class with a possible seventh.  I would think that 22-8 Quinn Kinner of Ohio State with most of his matches being a 157 would be one, but I'm not for certain considering he started the season off wrestling at 133.

Ryan Deakin of Northwestern is the clear #1 seed and it's hard for me to believe that his best BIG 10 finish thus far has been fifth.  Kaleb Young of Iowa the clear #2 seed and he finished fourth last season.

It rounds out clear Kendall Coleman of Purdue, Will Lewan of Michigan, Jake Tucker of Michigan State & Peyton Robb of Nebraska.  In all my seeding predictions thus far 125-157, this is where I'm almost confident I won't see an objection.

#1 Ryan Deakin junior Northwestern
#2 Kaleb Young junior Iowa
#3 Kendall Coleman freshman Purdue
#4 Will Lewan freshman Michigan
#5 Jake Tucker junior Michigan State
#6 Peyton Robb freshman Nebraska
#7 Quinn Kinner freshman Ohio State

Yet, here's the kicker....

This weight class is loaded with potential upsets.  In baseball players steal bases.  In wrestling, wrestlers steal allocations.  Mike Van Brill of Rutgers can be dangerous at times and you never want to overlook him.  A guy to really look out for may be Minnesota's Ryan Thomas.  He defeated Tucker 5-2 & most of his matches with the other top talent in the BIG 10 have been close.  He took Young into the tiebreakers.  I'll even give losing record Bo Pipher of Penn State a fighter's chance.  The Nittany Lions almost always seem prepared for tournaments.   Lastly, Illinois' Eric Barone is never shy to turn it on when it counts.  I can see him upsetting his way to qualification as well. 

2020 BIG 10 Preview = 149 lbs

What an incredibly tough weight class full of some off the wall parity.  I see as many as eleven allocations given given at this weight, with a twelfth wrestler capable of an upset. 

I think the #1 seed would have to go to Ohio State's Sammy Sasso who avenged a 6-4 loss to Brayton Lee of Minnesota turning it into a 4-2 victory & defeated Iowa's Pat Lugo in a tiebreaker 2-1.

Looking over the rest of the weight class, let me illustrate some of the parity I speak of.

Cole Martin of Wisconsin majored Graham Rooks of Indiana  12-3 earlier this season and then lost to him 4-3 more recently.

Collin Purinton of Nebraska lost to Griffin Parriott of Purdue 7-3 & he's beaten him 13-6.

Then of course another real question concerning Purdue is if they even wrestle Parriott.  I think they would take a 14-8 Parriott over a 10-7 Nate Limmex but no guarantee. Parriott I would think has already allotted a spot.  Limmex for what it is worth owns a 9-5 victory over Rutger's Gerard Angelo. 

Kanen Storr of Michigan, Jarod Verkleeren of Penn State, and Yahya Thomas of Northewestern also come into the mix.    As you can see within the photo above, it's absolute shenanigans.

If that isn't enough Michigan State's Alex Hrisopoulos poses somewhat of a threat of an upset.

I could theoretically seed this eight different ways and no matter what order I put these guys in I'd have someone with legitimacy in their argument wanting to question mine.

The best I could do after giving it a lot of thought?

#1 Sammy Sasso freshman Ohio State
#2 Pat Lugo senior Iowa
#3 Brayton Lee freshman Minnesota
#4 Kanen Storr junior Michigan
#5 Graham Rooks freshman Indiana
#6 Collin Purinton senior Nebraska
#7 Gerard Angelo freshman Rutgers
#8 Jarod Verkleeren sophomore Penn State
#9 Cole Martin senior Wisconsin
#10 Yahya Thomas junior Northwestern
#11 Griffin Parriott junior Purdue

In all sense of reality I can see some of these guys meeting twice in the same tournament & splitting matches with one another.  Losing 4-1 on Saturday & then coming back to avenge the loss on Saturday by major decision.  

2020 BIG 10 Tournament Preview = 141 lbs

A weight class where I feel eight wrestlers have wrestled well enough this season to have earned allocations. I feel at least on paper these eight wrestlers ought to be the eight that end up on the award stand in New Brunswick.

What's really fun here is that no one in this weight class has won a BIG 10 title yet.  Penn State's Nick Lee who will obviously take the #1 seed has finished third twice.  Luke Pletcher of Ohio State has finished as the runner up twice & Nebraska's Chad Red also has a runner-up finish to his credit.

The wrestler here that gives me a migraine with his unpredictability & inconsistency is Tristan Moran of Wisconsin. Talent and ability wise, I could see him upsetting his way to a phenomenal tournament. Yet I can also see him placing much lower than his seed.   I'm anxious to see what happens between him and Iowa's Max Murin. Their last match was a tight one, in favor of Murin 3-2.

Who I think might take the seedings/rankings & throw it all to the wind is Minnesota's Mitch Mckee. The peculiar thing about it, is that McKee has had a rather good season accumulating 23 victories against six losses.  It's simply that he's wrestled well OUTSIDE of the BIG 10 & not so well within it.  All six of his losses have been to BIG 10 opponents.  A returning All American from last season who looks to add a second medal to his resume, if anything consider this a testament to how tough the BIG 10 conference is.

Lastly I see Purdue's Parker Filius & Illinois's Dylan Duncan  filling up the seventh & eighth place slots.


How I would seed?

#1 Nick Lee junior Penn State
# 2 Luke Pletcher senior Ohio State
# 3 Chad Red junior Nebraska
#4 Max Murin sophomore Iowa
#5 Tristan Moran senior Wisconsin
#6 Mitch McKee senior Minnesota
#7 Parker Filius sophomore Purdue
#8 Dylan Duncan junior Illinois 

2020 BIG 10 Tournament Preview = 133 lbs

The clear favorite here is Wisconsin's Seth Gross. He avenged a 6-2 loss to Iowa's Austin DeSanto and turned it into a 6-5 win.  What really gives him the nod as the likely #1 seed is his win over Penn State's Roman Bravo Young.  Now not everyone will agree with me on this but I would give RBY the #2 seed and DeSanto the #3 seed. Either way, we're looking at a likely epic battle between two tremendous talents in the semi-finals.

#4 seed?  Personally I'd give the nod to Travis Piotrowski of Illinois over Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera for two reasons.  A - Rivera has only wrestled eleven matches this season, with only one of them, a loss to Gross, being against the top talent in the BIG 10.  Piotrowski on the other hand is 23-2 over all, with a loss to DeSanto and wins over Michigan State's Garrett Pepple and Rutger's Sammy Alvarez.  Nebraska's Ridge Lovett comes into play within all of this as well.

The monkey wrench within all of this Michigan's Joey Silva.  He's only wrestled four matches this season but with a convincing 7-2 victory over Pepple, it's obvious that he's a contender to steal a spot.   What plausibly saves Pepple from an early round meeting with Silva is a 6-2 victory over Alvarez.

Looking at eight NCAA qualifiers with a strong possibility of nine if Silva knocks someone else out & they get in with an at large berth.

How I would seed?

#1 Seth Gross senior Wisconsin
#2 Roman Bravo Young sophomore Penn State
#3 Austin DeSanto junior Iowa
#4 Travis Piotrowski senior Illinois
#5 Sebastian Rivera junior Northestern
#6 Ridge Lovett Freshman Nebraska
#7 Sammy Alvarez Freshman Rutgers
#8 Joey Silva Freshman Michigan
#9 Garrett Pepple Senior Michigan State

Now I always say that seedings/rankings are different from predictions and this is why.  Sebastian Rivera is a returning BIG 10 champion.  He had an extremely close match with Gross at the Midlands.  I find it hard to believe that he'll place as low as fifth but based on objective statistics, I cannot justify a higher seed. 

A weight class I believe should take the top eight with a very strong possibility of at least needing an at large bid (if not getting one) because of Silva. 

2020 BIG 10 Tournament Preview = 125 lbs

An historic year for the BIG 10 as this year's tournament will be held for the first time in New Jersey, hosted by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.  I thought about writing one gigantic piece covering each weight class but then I thought it might be more fun to focus on each weight one by one. 

Looking over 125 lbs it is clear as day that the forerunner for this year's title is Iowa's Spencer Lee . Finishing third as a freshman and second last season as a sophomore there's no reason he shouldn't easily bonus point his way through the tournament.  He's completely dominated within the BIG 10 this year scoring four technical falls and one fall in six matches.  His closest match has been with Michigan's Jack Medley, an 8-1 decision.

What isn't so clear is who will be the #2 seed.  I'm going to guess most likely the answer here will be Purdue's Devin Schroder although an ugly 3-1 loss to Indiana's Liam Cronin makes it difficult to feel as justified in that decision as I would like to.  Schroder defeated Illinois' Justin Cardani  by a score of 3-0 but to the contrary Cardani has defeated Cronin on three occasions. 6-2, 6-4, 9-5.   In the parity we call wrestling, I would think the head to head match up trumps the one loss verses three wins to a common opponent.  


The rest of the bracket is a gigantic A beat B, B beat C, C beat A mess.   Where to even begin? 

Cronin has that standout victory over Schroder but he lost to Northwestern's Michael DeAugustino. Schroder majored DeAugustino 11-2.  Not only that but DeAugustino lost to Rutger's Nicholas Aguilar and Cronin defeated him 4-2.   Speaking of which Aguilar lost to Michigan's Jack Medley who has split matches with DeAgustino this season.  Minnesota's Pat McKee fits in here somewhere although I'm not exactly sure where.   

All I know is that at least in my opinion  all four wrestlers mentioned above plus Wisconsin's Eric Barnett have all wrestled well enough this season to earn allocations.  


As to a possible thief?  

I wouldn't put it past Malik Heinselman of Ohio State to steal a spot from someone at this tournament.  I'm actually surprised that he hasn't done better this season.  I thought he would be better than the current 15-13 record he holds.  A 7-3 victory over Medley shows that despite some hiccups earlier this year he does have the potential to wrestle well. 

How I would personally seed?

#1 Spencer Lee junior Iowa
#2 Devin Schroder Sophomore Purdue
#3 Justin Cardani Freshman Illinois
#4 Jack Medley Freshman Michigan
#5 Liam Cronin Sophomore Indiana
#6 Nic Aguilar Freshman Rutgers
#7 Michael DeAugustino Freshman Northwestern
#8 Pat McKee Freshman Minnesota
#9 Eric Barnett Freshman Wisconsin

No matter how you seed 5-8, you're going to make someone angry.  That's the beauty of the parity I mentioned earlier.  This is a young weight class without a single senior, and plenty of freshmen.  Looks to be a lot of fun within the upcoming years. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = The University of the South

When one thinks of collegiate wrestling and the south, the two often seem antonyms of one another.  Yet for a period of twenty two seasons from 1955-1956 through 1977-1978, Sewanee also known as The University of the South, fielded a rather competitive wrestling program.  This included seven CAC (College Athletic Conference) team titles and finishing in second place at the 1963 NCAA Division II tournament.

177 lbs
Bill Yates 

During his time on the Tiger wrestling team Bill Yates won three SEIWA (Southeastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) titles.

Frank Pinney 

The greatest wrestler in Sewanee history, Frank Pinney took runner-up honors at the NCAA Division II tournament in 1963.

Yogi Anderson

Also a member of the Tiger football and baseball teams, Yogi Anderson won three CAC titles during his wrestling career.

Kevin Lenahan

Through four years of wrestling for the Tigers, Kevin Lenahan had a 28-4 career record that included winning four CAC titles. He also played football.

Paul Tessman 

A local from McCallie high school, Tessman became the first two time state champion in Tennessee.  Wrestling for the Tigers he was never taken down in a single match & all of his losses were at the national tournament.  He won four CAC titles and four SEIWA titles.

191 lbs
Nathaniel Owen 

Nathaniel Owen was a first at Sewanee in more than one way.  He was the first black football player.  He was the first black wrestler.  He was the first black to graduate.  In football he was selected all CAC in both his junior and senior seasons.  As a sophomore, junior and senior he lead the team in rushing yards.  As a senior he scored more touchdowns than anyone on the team.   As a wrestler he won a CAC title his junior season.

Post his collegiate athletic career Owen had an opportunity to play professional football but turned it down to attend law school instead. He became one of the first black District Court Judges in the state of Alabama.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Moravian

The Greyhounds of Moravian at one time provided a Division III home nearby Division I powerhouse Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  The 1993 Middle-Atlantic conference champions, who also placed eighth at the NCAA Division III tournament were a team of inspiration.

177 lbs
Dave Mucka

The most well known grappler in Greyhound history would have to be Dave Mucka.  Taking runner-up honors for the Greyhounds at the 1966 Division II tournament, Mucka would place fifth at the Division I tournament.  As a senior in 1967 Mucka took fourth at the Division II tournament.  Normally only the champion & runner-up got an invitation to the DI tournament,with an occasional wildcard given certain third place finishers.  Mucka is one of the only wrestlers to finish below third, who still got an invite.  He finished in sixth place at the DI tournament.  He was also selected as a participant in the East vs West All Star dual.

Post college Mucka immediately went to work for NASA and was part of the team that sent Apollo 11 to the moon in 1969.  He was also the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers  & he taught Chemistry and Physics.

150, 142 lbs
David Yonnery 

A great for Greyhounds, Yonnery twice placed third at the NCAA Division III championships in 1991 & 1992.

177, 167 lbs
Anthony Spagnola 

Spagnola was a two time All American for the Greyhounds.  He placed eighth as a sophomore at the 1992 NCAA Division III championships & then took fourth as a senior in 1994.  Today he is the head of the Beca Junior Hawks youth program.

150 lbs
Andy Koch 

Andy Koch began his career wrestling in the NJCAA for Northampton Community College (Another program we've lost) before coming to Moravian.  He had a standout senior season for the Greyhounds winning the Middle-Atlantic conference title and placing seventh at the NCAA Division III championships.

142 lbs
Mike Froehlich 

In four years of high school wrestling at Pleasant Valley high school, Mike Froehlich was known to his coaches and his teammates as the hardest worker on the team.  A leader and a motivator, Froehlich put together a 92-20 record and finished sixth in the state as a senior.  He was determined to have a standout collegiate career.

Only he was met with nothing but adversity and disappointment.  He began his career at Wilkes where he had a mediocre freshman campaign.  A series of serious injuries completely kept him off the mat & out of the weight room his sophomore season.  Unable to work out, when he came back his junior season, he was well over the weight class he had been recruited to wrestle.  He transferred to Moravian for his senior season.

He got his health back to where he was on the mat again, but he was still having mediocre results.  To make matters even worse, he was given some of the worst news of his life.  His father's health was failing and their was a chance that he might die.  Froehlich told his coach that under the circumstances that he was quitting the team.

His mother spoke to him one day after visiting his father.  She told him that his Dad wanted him to wrestle & that he should go back.

Two weeks after telling the coach he was done, Froehlich showed up in the Moravian wrestling room.  He told his teammates and his coach that they were going to win the conference title in March.  He started off by defeating two opponents, one of which had majored him earlier in the season.  He went on to win an individual Middle-Atlantic title while the Greyhounds won the team title.

At the NCAA Division III championships, Froehlich wrestled better than he ever had in his life making the finals.  Wrestling for the championship at 142 lbs, Froehlich was taken down in the first period.  He responded by whipping his opponent over to his back and winning by a decisive score.

When he returned to the hospital to visit his father, his father was in the best shape and in the best spirits he had been in, in a long time.  He gave his father his championship gold plaque, in which his father kept with him at all times.  From the doctors, to the nurses, to the custodians and even people just walking by, everyone knew that his son, Mike Froehlich was a National champion.

Altogether that season Froehlich had twenty seven victories, sixteen of which were pins.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Denison

Another small college in Ohio, Denison's best years on the mat were during the late 60's when the Big Red won championships in both the Ohio Athletic Conference & the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

177 lbs
Bob Gibson

The best wrestler in Big Red history would be two time All American Bob Gibson who took third in both the 1965 & 1967 NCAA Division II wrestling championships.  Also a football player, Gibson had eight receptions for the Big Red and totaled 71 yards.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Long Beach State

The 1971 BIG WEST conference champions, the 49er's of Long Beach State at one time provided a home for the vast California high school talent to wrestle at.  Today we take a look at some of their best wrestlers.

115 lbs
Dale Deffner

A graduate of Morningside High school, one of the 49er's best was Dale Deffner who placed fourth at the 1963 NCAA Division II championships.

137 lbs
John Geyer 

We've came across swimming, diving, horse-racing, boxing, baseball, football & even basketball when looking at wrestlers who were multi-sport athletes.  How about surfing?  1968 NCAA Division II All American John Geyer went on to be a professional championship surfer.   A graduate of Carona del Mar high, post his collegiate career at Long Beach State, Geyer coached wrestling and taught P.E. at Seabury Hall Maui high school in Hawaii. He worked as a journalist for Windsurf Magazine.

150 lbs
Guy Morrison 

Guy Morrison began his career at Orange Coast (another program we've lost) where he took 6th place at the 1971 CCCAA championships. Competing for the 49ers he qualified for the NCAA championships in 1973 & 1974.

158 lbs
Wally Clark 

Wally Clark was a two time NCAA qualifier for the 49ers in 1975 and 1976.

Frank Addleman 

Finishes of runner-up & third at the Pacific Coast Conference tournament, Frank Addleman never knew defeat in dual competition.  He would make the Olympic team in 1960 & come back to qualify for the NCAA championships in 1961.

Post his career as a 49er, he started the wrestling program at Carona del Mar high school and later started the program at Santa Ana College.  He lead Santa Ana to the 1974 CCCAA team championship. While there he coached thirty five CCCAA place-winners and seven CCCAA champions.

Richard Keelor 

Growing up did you ever participate in the Presidential Physical Fitness test during gym class?  If so, all the pullups, 40 yard dashes & mile runs you did were the brain child of this former 49er.  Richard Keelor was a starter on the football team and a Pacific Coast Conference champion in 1960. 

Post his career at Long Beach State, Keelor became the Keynote Speaker at the White House on sports medicine.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Portland State

In the discussion of the best Division II team that the sport of wrestling has ever lost, Nebraska-Omaha as it rightly deserves is often brought up. Yet a team that deserves as much attention for not only their success in Division II, but their success in wrestling period, is Portland State.

The Vikings at one time were one of the best wrestling programs in the entire country. I would go as far to say that they were the best program in the Western part of the United States of all time.

We're talking 10 top 10 finishes in NCAA Division II wrestling.  Three championships, two runner up finishes, a third and a fourth.   In 1989 they entered five wrestlers into the NCAA Division II tournament and all five walked out NCAA champions.  They are the only team in all of collegiate wrestling, NCAA DI, DII, DIII, NAIA, NJCAA & CCCAA to where every wrestler entered at the national tournament won their weight class.

They also had success at the Division I level, placing in the top 10 on three occasions.  To add to their success they finished in sixth place at the 1965 NAIA tournament.

Narrowing it down to there best wrestlers was extremely difficult.  The Vikings produced so much talent that a book on PSU wrestling could easily be written.  Today that acronym is associated with Penn State University but at one time if you said, "PSU wrestling" it stood for Portland State.

The best in Viking history....

115, 123 lbs
Rick Sanders 

The man, the myth, the legend.  Rick Sanders was one of the best wrestlers that the country ever saw & if it had not been for his premature death in 1972, we may have gotten to see what he could've accomplished as a coach.   In high school he was a three time state champion for Lincoln high only knowing defeat once with a 80-1 record.

Competing for the Vikings, Sanders earned All American honors on seven occasions, winning five national titles. As a freshman in 1965 he won the NAIA title.  As a sophomore in 1966 he finished in third in Division II and won the Division I title.  As a junior he won both the Division II and Division I title. As a senior in 1968 he won the Division II title and finished in second place at the Division I tournament.

During college Sanders placed at the World Championships during his sophomore and junior seasons taking a bronze in 1966 & a silver in 1967.  Post his senior year, he took a silver medal at the 1968 Olympic Games.   During this time, he faced Dan Gable and defeated him by a score of 6-0.

He would win a World gold in 1969 and then take another Silver medal at the Olympic games in 1972.   Shortly after the Olympics, Sanders began hitchhiking throughout Europe.  He was killed in an automobile accident in Yugoslavia.

137 lbs
Masaru Yatabe

A six time All American for the Vikings, Masaru Yatabe won 79 matches in three years of varsity wrestling for the Vikings.  As a sophomore in 1966 he finished in third place at the NCAA Division II tournament and fifth in Division I.   His last two seasons he would win NCAA Division II titles while finishing as the NCAA Division I runner-up.

Clarence "Chuck" Seal
152, 145 lbs

A five time All American for the Vikings, Chuck Seal accumulated fifteen falls in fifty victories.  He won two NCAA Division II titles in his sophomore and senior seasons, finishing as the runner-up as a junior.  In Division I he was third as a sophomore in 1967 and sixth as a senior in 1969.

134, 142 lbs
Bob Bergen 

A three time NCAA qualifier for the Vikings, Bergen finished in sixth place his senior season of 1972 at the NCAA tournament.   Post college Bergen went on to coach at Eagle Point high school where he led his team to four titles and three runner-up finishes at the state tournament.  Today he is an assistant coach at Southern Oregon.

167 lbs
Junior Johnson 

Johnson finished in third place at the 1971 NCAA tournament.

134, 142 lbs
Mike Mathies 

A three time NCAA qualifier Mathies took third place at the 1979 NCAA championships.

150, 158, 167 lbs
Kevin Benson 

Having success at both the NCAA Division II and Division I level Benson placed sixth at the 1981 NCAA Division I tournament and runner-up honors at the 1983 NCAA Division II tournament.

142, 177 lbs
Rick McReynolds 

A three time NCAA qualifier for the Vikings, McReynolds took eighth place at the 1983 NCAA championships as a senior.  Post his collegiate career he stayed on with Portland State as an assistant to the athletic director helping out various PSU sports in various ways.  He also coached wrestling and taught P.E. at both Estacada & Franklin high schools. 

150 lbs
Charlie Lucas 

Another Viking who had success at both the NCAA Division II and Division I level, Charlie Lucas was a three time All American.  He placed eighth as a sophomore the Division I tournament and then fourth & third respectively his last two seasons at the Division II tournament.

An assistant coach at Portland State when the program was dropped after the 2008-2009 season, Lucas also coached at Pacific University.

150, 158, 167 lbs
Dan Russell

Former Viking Dan Russell holds quite a few records to his name.  First and foremost he is on the short list of four time champions, winning NCAA Division II titles in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991.  Secondly he is one of the only people to defeat Division I's first four time NCAA champion, Pat Smith of Oklahoma State.  He defeated him twice, once by fall.  Lastly and perhaps most noteworthy, he is the final NCAA Division II wrestler to compete at the NCAA Division I tournament.  He placed fourth in both 1990 and 1991.

A two time Olympic alternate, Russell was a coach for the 2004 Olympics.

177 lbs
Scott Mansur

A 1983 NCAA Division II champion for the Vikings, Mansur went on to a successful career in the real estate business.  He also coached wrestling at both White Salmon high school and Stevenson high school.

126 lbs
Tony Amado  

Also a gymnast in high school, Tony Amado went on to have a very successful career at Portland State winning the NCAA title in 1985 as a junior and finishing in second place as a senior in 1986.   Post his collegiate career Amado took a gold medal at the 1987 PAN-American championships & finished one win shy of a bronze at the World Championships.  He also won the 1986 World Cup.

Hiag Brown
126, 150 lbs

A rather interesting and unique story, Hiag Brown's college wrestling career in itself would make a great Hollywood motion picture.  Competing for the Vikings, Brown had a phenomenal freshman season winning the 1987 NCAA Division II title with a 39-3 record.  As a sophomore in 1988 he placed third.   Needing a change of scenery, Brown transferred to the east coast to compete for Virginia State.  There he took fourth at the Division II championships as a junior.   Virginia State dropped their wrestling program after the 1988-1989 season.  Devestated and depressed, Brown quit school as well as wrestling.

He spent the next three years working until he was encouraged to finish up his degree at Portland State.  Still having a year of eligibility he was talked into going back out for wrestling.  At the time he had ballooned up to 200 lbs.  He dropped fifty pounds and did the impossible by winning the 1994 NCAA Division II championship.

118, 126
Broderick Lee   

A two time state champion for John Marshall high school, Broderick Lee won three NCAA Division II titles for the Vikings in 1989, 90' & 91'.  Post his collegiate career Lee won a bronze medal at the  1993 PAN-American championships and a silver medal in 1997.  We unfortunately lost Lee in 2003.

142, 150 lbs
Travis West

An NCAA Division II champion as a junior in 1989, West would miss most of his senior season with an injury. Despite his hardship, he still made the Division II finals taking runner up honors.  His sophomore season of 1988, he made the Olympic team.

142 lbs
James Sisson   

A two time NCAA Division II champion in 1990 & 1992, Sisson finished as the runner-up in 1993.  He had 85 career victories during his time as a Viking.

Willie Bauer

When Portland State first fielded a wrestling program the school was known as Vanport. During this time one of their brightest stars was Willie Bauer who won three conference titles.

177 lbs
Tony Champion

Everyone knows the story of Dan Gable going into the NCAA Division I finals as a senior with a collegiate record of 117-0 in route become the first undefeated three time champion.  Everyone knows that he lost 13-11 to Larry Owings of Washington.  Every bit as dramatic and heartbreaking is the story of Tony Champion.  A wrestler named appropriately if there has ever been one.

Champion was destined to become the second four time NCAA Division II champion in school history and the third overall when he lost his final collegiate match in the finals to Mike Leberknight a junior  of Northern Colorado 5-3 sudden victory.  Leberknight for what it is worth would repeat as champion in 1993.


As you can see Portland State Wrestling was a landmark in west. A part of the spirit of wrestling died when the program was dropped and a void the size of the Grand Canyon has been left.  In my opinion which many will disagree, I feel what hurt PSU wrestling the most was the permanent move to Division I.  Some schools thrive at the Division II level and have trouble adjusting to Division I. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Delaware

After the 1990-1991 wrestling season, the University of Delaware announced in July that the 1991-1992 wrestling season would not include the Blue Hens.  Much like Delaware State they didn't have a whole lot of NCAA qualifiers during their time on the mat & much like Delaware State that can be understood by being in a qualifier that usually only took the champion & less than a handful of runner-ups as wilcards to the NCAA tournament.  In recent years the athletic director has been open to the thought of reinstating the wrestling program but states that funding and being compliant with the proportionality quotas of Title IX both present road blocks.  An estimate of $800,000 per year to cover scholarships, coaching salary, travel budget & other costs has been issued.

134, 142 lbs
Paul Bastianelli 

A state runner-up his junior year of high school, Paul Bastianelli would win the Delaware state title as a senior before coming to Delaware.  While wrestling for the Blue Hens, Bastianelli made an immediate impact by qualifying for the NCAA's as a true freshman in 1983.  He'd come back as a junior to qualify in 1985.  Taking a redshirt in 1986, he'd qualify for his final NCAA tournament in 1987.

177 lbs
Dave DeWalt 

Believe it or not but Cybersecurity tycoon Dave DeWalt was not only a wrestler at the University of Delaware, he was the best wrestler that the Blue Hens ever produced.  A Three time NCAA qualifier, he became Delaware's sole All American when he placed seventh at the NCAA championships his senior year of 1986.

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Delaware State

Dropped after the 2008-2009 season due to financial restraints and poor academic performance, the Hornets of Delaware State were a wrestling program that lasted a little over twenty years that produced an NCAA qualifier about once every four years.  This was due in partial to being in a qualifier (The East Regional) that at one time was made up of as many twelve teams.  Only the champion of each weight class would qualify for the NCAA championships, with usually only one to two runner-ups being awarded a wildcard entry.

126, 141 lbs
Francky Francois

An Eastern Regional champion in 1997 as a sophomore, Francky Francois was awarded a wildcard entry to the NCAA championship as a senior in 1999 after finishing in second place.

149 lbs
Matt Cathell 

As fate sometimes has it, right when the DSU program was starting to turn around and produce some great talent, the program ended up being dropped.  The hornets only two time East Regional champion, ironically won both of his titles in 2008 & 2009.  Matt Cathell carried a record of 45-8 when the program was dropped.  Although injuries plagued the rest of his career he finished up at Kent State University.