Keep in mind that this will NOT reflect the recent post I made regarding teams. The reason being is because of the EIWA & the number of teams that will NOT participate in NCAA wrestling competition this year. As a result, I had to shift some numbers around. I think that should make since. Here's what I have.
IOWA (10)
125 - Lee
133 - DeSanto
141 - Eierman
149 - Murin
157 - Young
165 - Marinelli
174 - Kemerer
184 - Assad or Brands
197 - Warner
HWT - Cassioppi
MICHIGAN (10)
125 - Medley
133 - Micic
141 - C Mattin or D Mattin
149 - Storr
157 - Lewan
165 - C Amine
174 - Massa
184 - M Amine
197 - Embree or Striggow
HWT - Parris
NORTH CAROLINA STATE (10)
125 - Camacho
133 - Trombley
141 - Wilson
149 - Leitten or Grippi
157 - H Hidlay
165 - T Bullard
174 - D Bullard
184 - T Hidlay
197 - Reenan
HWT - Wilson
NEBRASKA (10)
125 - Cronin
133 - Lovett
141 - Red
149 - Davenport
157 - Robb
165 - Wilson
174 - Labriola
184 - Venz
197 - Schultz
HWT - Lance
NORTH CAROLINA (10)
125 - Melendez
133 - Hernandez
141 - Sherman
149 - O'Connor
157 - McClure
165 - Monday
174 - Lautt
184 - Kane
197 - Whitman
HWT - Gunning
MISSOURI (10)
125 - Brown
133 - Schmitt
141 - Hart
149 - Mauller
157 - Jacques
165 - Mocco
174 - Harman
184 - Marriott
197 - Koelling
HWT - Elam
PENN STATE (9)
133 - Bravo Young
141 - N Lee
149 - Verkleeren
157 - Berge
165 - J Lee
174 - Starocci
184 - Brooks
197 - Beard
HWT - Nevills or Kerkvliet
IOWA STATE (9)
125 - Mackall
133 - Gomez or Small
141 - Parker
149 - Degen
157 - Carr
174 - Colbray
184 - Coleman
197 - Shapiro
HWT - Gremmell
RUTGERS (8)
125 - Suriano
133 - Alvarez
141 - Rivera
149 - Van Brilll
157 - Kannaird
174 - Grello
197 - Janzer
HWT - Colucci
OHIO STATE (8)
125 - Heinselman
149 - Sasso
157 - Cleary or Kinner
165 - Khurchla or Smith
174 - Romero
184 - Jordan
197 - Singletary
HWT - Orndorff
VIRGINIA TECH (8)
125 - Latona or Prata
133 - Myers
141 - Gerardi
149 - Andonian
157 - Connor
165 - Lewis
197 - Smeltzer
HWT - Borst
LEHIGH (8)
125 - Paetzell
133 - Farro
141 - Hines
149 - Hoffman
157 - Humphreys
174 - Ruth
184 - Logan
197 - Jakobsen
NORTHERN COLORADO (8)
125 - Robison
133 - Schwartz
141 - Sandovall
149 - Alirez
174 - Hemauer
184 - Clothier
197 - Seely
HWT - Robertson
VIRGINIA (8)
133 - Hayes
141 - Courtney
149 -Denton
157 - McCoy
165 - Coy
174 - Patrick
197 - Aiello
HWT - Miller
OKLAHOMA STATE (8)
125 - Witcraft
133 - Fix
141 - Brock
149 - Lewallen or Gfeller
157 - Sheets
165 - Wittlake
184 - Greer
197 - Montalvo
MINNESOTA (7)
125 - Dryden
133 - McKee
141 - Blockhaus
149 - Lee
157 - Thomas
165 - O'Reilly
184 - Webster
HWT - Steveson
MICHIGAN STATE (7)
125 - Foley
157 - Atienza
165 - Tucker
174 - Hughes
184 - Malczewski
197 - Caffey
HWT - Beard
STANFORD (7)
125 - DiSario
141 - Woods
149- Van De Merwe
157 - Eischens
165 - Griffith
197 - Traxler
HWT - Maley
PURDUE (7)
125 - Schroeder
141 - Filius
149 - Parriott
157 - Coleman
165 - Soehnlen
184 - Lyon
197 - Penola
ILLINOIS (7)
125 - Cardani
133 - Byrd
141 - Duncan
149 - Carr
165 - Dan Braunagel
174 - Riojas
184 - Z Braunagel
CORNELL (7)
125 - Arujau
141 - Moore
149 - Diakomihalis
157 - Yapoujian
184 - Dean
197 - Darmstadt
HWT - Furman
ARMY (7)
133 - Peters
141 - Shie
149 - Ogunsanya
157 - Hartman
165 - O Brown
197 - J Brown
HWT - Sullivan or Heald
WYOMING (7)
125 - Verner
157 - Wright
165 - Moody
174 - Hastings
184 - Samuelson
197 - Buchanan
HWT - Andrews
NORTHWESTERN (6)
125 - Cannon
133 - DeAugustino
149 - Thomas
157 - Deakin
174 - Fisher
197 - Davison
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (6)
125 - Vega
133 - Price
141 - Carlson
157- DeVos
165 - Cook
197 - Sloan
NORTH DAKOTA STATE (6)
125 - Midkiff
141 - Droegemueller
157 - Franek
174 - Weber
184 - Cresell
HWT - Metz
NAVY (6)
125 - Treaster
133 - Cobb
141 - Trybus
174 - Caravela
197 - Koser
HWT - Bironmeier
NORTHERN IOWA (6)
125 - Teske
133 - Skudlarczyk
157 - Geerts
165 - Yant
197 - Holschlag
HWT - Isley
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (6)
125 - West
157 - Gibson
165 - Olejnik
174 - Kauffman
184 - Wilson
197 - Braun
PITTSBURGH (5)
133 - Phillippi
141 - Matthews
165 - Wentzel
184 - Harvey
197 - Bonaccorsi
RIDER (5)
125 - Tropea
157 - Dellavecchia
184 - Walton
197 - Correnti
HWT - Laird
OREGON STATE (5)
125 - Kaylor
133 - Turner
141 - G Willits
157 - H Willits
184 - Doyle
DREXEL (5)
125 - Minno
157 - Kropman
165 - Baczak
174 - O'Malley
197 - McLaughlin
CENTRAL MICHIGAN (5)
125 - Hildebrandt
133 - Marten
141 - Simon
197 - Pelham
HWT - Stencel
INDIANA (5)
125 - Hudkins
141 - Konrath
149 - Rooks
174 - Washington
HWT - Graham
CAMPBELL (4)
133 - Meink
149 - Heil
165 - Kraisser
174 - Murphy
OHIO (4)
133 - Guillen
157 - Slivka
165 - Vestal or Yinger
HWT - Earnest
AMERICAN (4)
125 - Curry
149 - Clarke
184 - Harvey
HWT - Camancho
APPALACHIAN STATE (4)
125 - Russell
133 - Carter
149 - Milner
174 - Flitz
HOFSTRA (4)
125 - Ryder
165 - Stamm
174 - Heller
HWT - Knighton-Ward
EDINBORO (4)
141 - Varndell
157 - Pappas
174 - Oliver
HWT - Spaulding
AIR FORCE (4)
125 - Phippen
133 - Flores
141 - Peterson
174 - Surratt
WEST VIRGINIA (3)
125 - Cardinale
141 - Rea
197 - Adams
WISCONSIN (3)
125 - Barnett
184 - Weiler
HWT - Hillger
BINGHAMTON (3)
141 - Trampe
184 - DePrez
HWT - Doyle
BUCKNELL (3)
133 - Miller
141 - Gould
165 - Hartman
DUKE (3)
149 - J Finesilver
174 - M Finesilver
197 - Russell
MARYLAND (3)
149 - North
174 - Spadorfa
197 - Smith
BELLERMINE (3)
157 - Rhina
165 - Beck
174 - Hendricks
CHATTANOOGA (3)
125 - Guitterrez
149 - Smith
184 - Waddell
BLOOMSBURG (3)
125 - Girard
133 - Mason
157 - Carida
LOCK HAVEN (3)
125 - Werner
133 - Manley
157 - Ross
HARVARD (3)
149 - Jaffe
165 - Conigliaro
HWT - Slavilouski
UTAH VALLEY (2)
125 - LaMont
174 - Romero
PRINCETON (2)
133 - Agaisse
141 - Keller
PENNSYLVANIA (2)
157 - Artalona
197 - Urbas
BUFFALO (2)
141 - Spann
197 - Schuyler
SOUTHERN ILLNOIS EDWARDSVILLE (2)
157 - Ruffin
HWT - McKiernan
FRESNO STATE (2)
141 - Lloren
HWT - Nevills
CAL POLY (2)
141 - Saenz
174 - Traux
BAKERSFIELD (2)
133- Rich
197 - Ducharme
LITTLE ROCK (2)
133 - Bianchi
165 - Brennan
GEORGE MASON (2)
141 - Madrigal
184 - Davis
KENT STATE (2)
174 - McNally
197 - McCracken
CLARION (1)
197 - Bulsak
CITADEL (1)
165 - Casto
FRANKLIN & MARSHALL
141 - Gil
DAVIDSON (1)
184 - Henry
PRESBYTERIAN (0)
VMI (0)
CAL BAPTIST (0)
LONG ISLAND (0)
SACRED HEART (0)
CLEVELAND STATE (0)
GARDNER WEBB (0)
BROWN (0)
125 - 41
133 - 34
141 - 38
149 - 30
157 - 36
165 - 31
174 - 33
184 - 29
197 - 38
HWT - 34
The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational is one of the most exciting in season tournaments that has been held for over forty years. While the Midlands & Southern Scuffle are two other favorites, in recent times, CKLV has proven itself to be the toughest tournament next to the NCAA championships. In some regards, it has even be tougher.
With that said, COVD-19 has prevented us from enjoying a tournament in 2021. As I sift through the twitter & facebook pages of fellow wrestling fans I know that it is rather depressing to know we are currently missing one of our favorite events.
I can't help but wonder how this season's tournament would have shaped up. Who all would have attended? Would there have been any major upsets? There has been every other season. Who are the unknowns, wanting to make a name for themselves? Who are the forgotten & shelved ready to say, "I'm still here baby!" It's one of those "test" tournaments coaches prepare their wrestlers for.
I decided to look over last year. Results, rankings, end of the year stats & do my best to seed the tournament accordingly. I have nothing or no one other than myself in doing this little undertaking, so yes, mistakes are bound to happen. I believe I have everyone at the right weight class & I believe that I involved teams that would have attended this 2020-2021 season tournament. If wrong I apologize.
Here's how I would have seeded
125
1 Vito Arujau Cornell
2 Devin Schroeder Purdue
3 Brandon Courtney Arizona State
4 Alex Mackall Iowa State
5 Jakob Camacho North Carolina State
6 Jack Medley Michigan
7 Sam Latona Virginia Tech
8 Pat McKee Minnesota
9 Malik Heinselman Ohio State
10 Alex Thomsen Nebraska
11 Cole Verner Wyoming
12 Lucas Rodriguez Edinboro
NOTE: If Joey Prata instead of Sam Latona for the Hokies, I seed him #10 knocking everyone else down.
133
1 Stevan Micic Michigan
2 Montorie Bridges Wyoming
3 Ridge Lovett Nebraska
4 Mosha Schwartz Northern Colorado
5 Taylor Lamont Utah Valley
6 Michael DeAugustino Northwestern
7 Todd Small Iowa State
8 Louie Hayes Virginia
9 Jack Skudlarczyk Northern Iowa
10 Jarrett Trombley North Carolina State
11 Anthony Madrigal Oklahoma
12 Dylan Koontz Ohio State
NOTE: If Austin Gomez instead of Small for the Clones, I think seedings stay about the same. Or I'd keep them the same anyway, switching out Small for Gomez.
141
1 Yianni Diakomihalis Cornell
2 Dom Demas Oklahoma
3 Ian Parker Iowa State
4 Chad Red Nebraska
5 Mitch Moore Oklahoma
6 Michael Blockhus Northern Iowa
7 Tariq Wilson North Carolina State
8 Joey Silva Michigan
9 Josh Portillo Nebraska-Kearney
10 Collin Gerardi Virginia Tech
11 Brian Courtney Virginia
12 Jake Ryan Cal Poly
NOTE: If Cole or Drew Mattin for Michigan instead of Silva, I'd put them in the Everyone moves up a spot from #11 on up. Ryan stays at #12 & whichever Mattin @ #11.
149
1 Sammy Sasso Ohio State
2 Brayton Lee Minnesota
3 Jarett Degen Iowa State
4 Kanen Storr Michigan
5 Andrew Alirez Northern Colorado
6 Griffin Parriott Purdue
7 Yahya Thomas Northwestern
8 Hunter Richard Cornell
9 Daton Spencer Virginia
10 Jaron Jensen Wyoming
11 Brent Moore Virginia Tech
12 A.J. Leitten Fresno State
157
1 Ryan Deakin Northwestern
2 Hayden Hidlay North Carolina State
3 David Carr Iowa State
4 Kendall Coleman Purdue
5 Jacori Teemer Arizona State
6 Peyton Robb Nebraska
7 Jared Franek North Dakota State
8 Justin Thomas Oklahoma
9 Colton Yapoujian Cornell
10 Jacob Wright Fresno State
11 Justin McCoy Virginia
12 Carson Brolsma Minnesota
165
1. Mekhi Lewis Virginia Tech
2 Thomas Bullard North Carolina State
3 Carson Kharchla Ohio State
4 Philip Conigliaro Harvard
5 Cam Amine Michigan
6 Emil Soehnlen Purdue
7 John Blankenship Northern Colorado
8 Bailey O'Reilly Minnesota
9 Bernie Traux Cal Poly
10 Cam Coy Virginia
11 Bubba Wilson Nebraska
12 Andrew Yant Northern Iowa
174
1 Mikey Labriola Nebraska
2 Kaleb Romero Ohio State
3 Demetrius Romero Utah Valley
4 Anthony Valencia Arizona State
5 Anthony Mantanona Oklahoma
6 Sam Colbray Iowa State
7 Dan Bullard North Carolina State
8 Justin Oliver Edinboro
9 Andrew McNally Kent State
10 Hayden Hastings Wyoming
11 Robert Patrick Virginia
12 Jackson Hemauer Fresno State
184
1 Myles Amine Michigan
2 Max Dean Cornell
3 Hunter Bolen Virginia Tech
4 Trent Hidlay North Carolina State
5 Louie DePrez Binghamton
6 Taylor Venz Nebraska
7 Rocky Jordan Ohio State
8 Marcus Coleman Iowa State
9 Alan Clothier Northern Colorado
10 Max Lyon Purdue
11 Owen Webster Minnesota
12 Darrion Roberts Oklahoma
197
1 Eric Schultz Nebraska
2 Ben Darmstadt Cornell
3 Jay Aiello Virginia
4 Kordell Norfleet Arizona State
5 Greg Bulsak Clarion
6 Tanner Sloan South Dakota State
7 Lucas Davison Northwestern
8 Jacob Holschlag Northern Iowa
9 Jake Woodley Oklahoma
10 Chase Singletary Ohio State
11 Jelani Embree Michigan
12 Dom Ducharme Cal State Bakersfield
NOTE: If Jonthan Loew instead of Darmstardt, I'd put Loew at #8, moving everyone else down a #.
HWT
1 Mason Parris Michigan
2 Tate Orndorff Ohio State
3 Yaraslau Slavikouski Harvard
4 Gannon Gremmel Iowa State
5 Brian Andrews Wyoming
6 A.J. Nevills Fresno State
7 Cohlton Schultz Arizona State
8 Carter Isley Northern Iowa
9 Christian Lance Nebraska
10 Dalton Robertson Northern Colorado
11 Brandon Metz North Dakota State
12 Jon Borst Virginia Tech
Yesterday we lost one of the most prolific innovators collegiate wrestling has ever known. Ken Kraft, father of the prestigious Midlands wrestling championships. A tournament that has been known to have been nearly as tough, as tough & even at times tougher than the NCAA championships themselves.
With 57 championships wrestled since 1963, narrowing it down to a top 25 moments would be difficult let alone narrowing it down to ten. Keep in mind that these are of my opinion & my opinion only. There is no consensus here. No vote by committee. It's simply a wrestling fan, same as you, giving out his personal favorites. I have no doubt that there are moments that you would include that I haven't included. I'm 100% positive that on my list, I have moments you never would have thought of.
Here are my Top 10.
 |
| |
 |
| 8. Matt Lackey Finally Avenges Losses to Joe Heskett |
 |
| 7. This Kid is For Real |
 |
| 6. Upset Prevents Long Awaited Rematch |
 |
| 5. There's Life After College Even if You Weren't an All Star |
 |
| 4. North Carolina Wins the 1986 Team Title |
|
| 3. Collegiate Careers last 4 Years |
 |
| 2. NAIA Wrestling Earns Respect |
 |
| 1. Donald Lockett Knocks off Travis Lee |
In a recent post, I came up with an extra 159 NCAA Division I wrestling programs that we would have on top of the 79 that we currently have (2020-2021 season) for a total of 238 programs, if no team had ever dropped their wrestling program.
That's a lot of wrestling teams in NCAA Division I wrestling. Can you imagine 238 teams? What would that look like?
Could we get away with only qualifying 32 or 33 wrestlers for the NCAA championships? As of right now 33/79 is about 42%. 33/238 is about 14%. In recent times out of the 79 teams we have, most qualify at least one wrestler every three years. Sacred Heart & Davidson being the exceptions as of recent years.
With 238 teams & only 33 qualifiers, there is going to be a much larger number of schools without qualifiers.
I've came up with a few ideas. None of them perfect.
Right now we have 7 Conferences/Qualifiers in NCAA wrestling. If you have each conference have 32 teams, that accounts for 145 teams, leaving 14 teams unaccounted for. A 32 man bracket for each of the 7 conferences would make things simpler, but in this case you'd have to add two extra teams, so each conference would have 34 teams.
That's if we kept things as they are.
If you took the top eight qualifiers from each conference, that's 56 wrestlers per weight qualified, with 8 open Wildcard slots per weight.
That'd make a 64 man bracket for the NCAA's. Adding at least one if not two days to the tournament.
I don't think anyone, coach, wrestlers, fans, would go for that.
So Now what?
7 Conferences/Qualifiers x 34 teams allots for all 238 teams that we would have.
8 Qualifiers per conference ='s 56 Qualifiers per weight + 8 Wildcards per weight
I would think we'd almost have to have another qualifier. Like how some states for high school wrestling have sectionals & then Districts before state or some have Regionals & then sectionals before state? Hell, some even have more than two.
Two Regionals?
Shame there isn't a eighth Conference/Qualifier. That'd certainly make it easier. If there were eight instead of seven, that'd make it a more workable number.
You could take the top eight qualifiers in four of the Conferences/qualifiers for one regional.
Problem is the other would only have three conferences/qualifiers left over.
So we're looking at a 32 man bracket for one regional Vs a 24 man bracket for the other. The only way to solve this problem it seems would be to take the eight Wildcards & put them into the other Regional, to make it a 32 man bracket. Seems good on paper, until you factor in geography & costs.
I said my idea had flaws in it & it does. Still thinking out loud.
What I have so far....
238 teams
7 Conferences/Qualifiers. Each has 34 teams. Each qualifies top 8 wrestlers for Regionals.
That leaves 56 wrestlers qualified per weight with 8 wildcards selected per weight.
Regional I has 32 wrestlers from four Conferences per bracket
Regional II has 24 wrestlers from three Conferences per bracket + 8 wildcards to make the 32
Regional I & Regional II both qualify the top 8 for the NCAA tournament.
And now would this be a problem?
Before We ran into the problem of 64 Qualifies & adding a day or two being something coaches, wrestlers, fans & may I add administrators/athletic directors NOT going for.
BUT...would 16 NCAA qualifiers be as much of a problem? It potentially takes away a day. Thus cutting costs? I think some would be happy about this, but with only 16 NCAA qualifiers out of 238 teams, I can only imagine the negative backlash.
So there you have two of my ideas & neither is perfect. In fact, both are far from perfect but they're what I've came up with.
Now where do you put the extra 159 teams?
Well I've done it a couple of different ways & no matter how I do it, there are teams in conferences that make no sense. Sort of how Little Rock in the PAC-12 at the time being, Geographically makes little sense.
I think I did an ok job with exception to the BIG 12. I cover the whole country, West to East, North to South & I know that would never fly for a qualifier. So I don't know.
Here's what I came up with
BIG 10
Iowa
Penn State
Michigan
Michigan State
Purdue
Indiana
Minnesota
Rutgers
Maryland
Illinois
Northwestern
Nebraska
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Indiana State
Ball State
Notre Dame
Drake
Nebraska-Omaha
UW-Milwaukee
Marquette
Dayton
Youngstown State
Duquesne
Villanova
Saint Francis
Lafayette
Delaware
Delaware State
Stony Brook
Marist
Farleigh Dickinson
Monmouth
Seton Hall
ACC
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Virginia Tech
Virginia
Pittsburgh
Duke
Florida
Central Florida
Florida International
Florida A&M
Miami (Florida)
Stetson
South Florida
North Florida
Florida State
East Carolina
Elon
North Carolina A&T
Clemson
South Carolina State
Howard
William & Mary
Norfolk State
Villanova
James Madison
Liberty
Old Dominion
Hampton
Richmond
Virginia Commonwealth
George Washington
Georgetown
Syracuse
Wagner
EIWA
American
Binghamton
Brown
Bucknell
Columbia
Cornell
Drexel
Franklin & Marshall
Harvard
Hofstra
Lehigh
Long Island
Pennsylvania
Princeton
Sacred Heart
Army
Navy
Yale
Connecticut
Central Connecticut
Temple
Maine
Towson
Coppin State
Morgan State
Maryland Eastern Shore
Massachusetts
Boston U
Boston College
Dartmouth
Slippery Rock
Rhode Island U
Colgate
New Hampshire
MAC
Bloomsburg
Buffalo
Clarion
Central Michigan
Clarion
Edinboro
George Mason
Kent State
Lock Haven
Missouri
Northern Illinois
Ohio
Rider
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
Illinois State
Bradley
Southern Illinois-Carbondale
Western Illinois
Eastern Illinois
Illinois-Chicago
Chicago State
Little Rock
Western Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Miami (Ohio)
Toledo
Akron
Bowling Green
Cincinnati
Oakland
Missouri State
St Louis
Southeast Missouri State
Wichita State
PAC-12
Arizona State
Cal Poly
Cal State Bakersfield
Oregon State
Stanford
California Baptist
Grand Canyon
Arizona
California
UCLA
USC
CSU-Fullerton
UC Davis
Northern Arizona
Portland State
Santa Clara
U of Pacific
UC Riverside
San Diego State
San Jose State
UC Santa Barbara
Cal Poly Pomona
CSU-Los Angeles
Long Beach State
CSU-Sacramento
CSU-Northridge
Boise State
Washington
Washington State
Nevada Reno
UNLV
Idaho
Idaho State
Oregon
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Appalachian State
Campbell
Citadel
Davidson
Gardner Webb
Presbyterian
Chattanooga
VMI
Bellarmine
Arkansas State
Alabama
Auburn
Troy State
Kennesaw State
Georgia
Georgia State
Georgia Tech
Kentucky
Eastern Kentucky
Louisiana State
Louisiana Monroe
Louisiana Lafayette
Tulane
Wake Forest
UNC-Greensboro
Texas
Texas A&M
Texas El Paso
Memphis
Middle Tennessee State
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
UT-Martin
Furman
BIG 12
Fresno State
Iowa State
North Dakota State
Northern Iowa
Northern Colorado
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
South Dakota State
Air Force
Utah Valley
West Virginia
Wyoming
Colorado
Colorado State
Kansas
Kansas State
Denver
North Dakota
Montana
Montana State
South Dakota
Marshall
Utah
Utah State
Southern Utah
Brigham Young
Weber State
Tulsa
Eastern Washington
Gonzaga
New Mexico
New Mexico State
Fordham
Canisius
As of today 10-17-2020, NCAA Division I wrestling if COVID-19 doesn't prevent it from taking place, will have 79 teams in the 2020-2021 season. Only 79 teams & two of them Stanford & Fresno State might not be around come the 2021-2022 season.
What would NCAA Division I wrestling look like today if every team that ever discontinued wrestling had never dropped their wrestling program? How many teams would NCAA Division I wrestling have?
Lets Find out
ARIZONA today has Arizona State, yet over the years Arizona, Northern Arizona & Grand Canyon have all dropped teams. That's 4.
ARKANSAS today has Little Rock, at one time Arkansas State had a team. That's 2.
ALASKA has 0 & would have 0
ALABAMA doesn't have any DI teams today in wrestling, but at one time they had Alabama & Auburn & today Troy State is also DI. That's 3.
CALIFORNIA, this is where things get fun. In a short amount of time we could be down to only Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield & California Baptist. You want to know who all dropped? Fresno State, Stanford, Santa Clara, U of Pacific, UC Riverside, San Diego State, San Jose State, Cal, UCLA, USC, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Fullerton, UC Davis, Long Beach State, Cal State Sacramento, Cal State Northridge. That's 21 teams. Large enough to where if they still all had wrestling, California could have their own Regional qualifier.
CONNECTICUT today has Sacred Heart. Has lost Connecticut, Central Connecticut State & Yale in DI. That's 4.
COLORADO is Air Force and Northern Colorado today. Would also be Denver, Colorado & Colorado State for 5.
DELAWARE is 0, but would be Delaware and Delaware State for 2.
FLORIDA may surprise you. It is 0 today, but believe it or not, had no teams ever dropped their would be 8 or 9 DI teams today. Florida, Central Florida, Florida International, Florida A&M, Miami, Stetson, South Florida and North Florida. I'm not 100% positive if the 1962-1963 through 1965-1966 Florida State team you find in various tournaments was officially varsity or not.
GEORGIA is 0, but would be 4. Kennesaw State, Georgia, Georgia State & Georgia Tech all had teams.
IDAHO is 0 as well, but would be 3. Idaho, Idaho State & Boise State all had teams.
ILLINOIS may shock you a bit. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Illinois, Northern Illinois & Northwestern still have teams today. Illinois State, Southern Illinois-Carbondale, Bradley, Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Chicago State & U of I Chicago all used to have teams too. That would make for a total of 11.
INDIANA has Indiana and Purdue, would have also Indiana State, Notre Dame & Ball State for a total of 5.
IOWA has three with Iowa State, Iowa, & Northern Iowa. Add in Drake for what would be 4.
KANSAS has nothing today but would have Kansas, Kansas State & Wichita State for 3.
KENTUCKY has Bellarmine & would also have Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky for 3.
LOUISIANA believe it or not would have 4. I kid you not. Louisiana State, Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Lafayette & Tulane all had teams at one time.
MAINE has 0 and would have 1 with Maine.
MARYLAND has Maryland and Navy. Would have Towson, Coppin State, Morgan State & Maryland Eastern Shore if none had dropped for 6.
MASSACHUSETTS has HARVARD. Would also have Massachusetts, Boston, Boston College & Massachusetts-Lowell for 5
MICHIGAN has Central Michigan, Michigan & Michigan State. Would add Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan & Oakland for 6.
MINNESOTA has changed a bit. Had Minnesota & still has Minnesota
MISSISSIPPI also hasn't changed. Not a single collegiate program in Mississippi DI or other wise has ever had wrestling.
MISSOURI has Missouri. Would also have Missouri State, St Louis & Southeast Missouri State
MONTANA has zero but would have two with Montana and Montana State
NEBRASKA has one with Nebraska & would have two with Nebraska-Omaha
NEVADA would have two with Nevada-Reno & UNLV
NEW HAMPSHIRE would also have two with New Hampshire and Dartmouth
NEW JERSEY is at three with Princeton, Rider & Rutgers. Would be at 6 with Seton Hall, Farleigh Dickinson & Monmouth
NEW MEXICO would be at 2 with New Mexico and New Mexico State
NEW YORK is also a surprising state. Binghamton, Buffalo, Columbia, Cornell, Hofstra, Long Island & Army give the state 7 but Canisius, Colgate, Fordham, Marist, Stony Brook, Syracuse & Wagner would give the state a total of 14.
NORTH CAROLINA has Appalachian State, Campbell, Davidson, Duke, Gardner Webb, North Carolina & North Carolina State. Add in East Carolina, Elon, North Carolina A&T, UNC-Greensboro & Wake Forest for a total of 12.
NORTH DAKOTA has NORTH DAKOTA STATE & would have 2 with North Dakota.
OHIO is one that gets me. Ohio, Ohio State, Cleveland State & Kent State make for 4 teams. Would be 11 if you add in Toledo, Akron, Bowling Green, Miami, Cincinnati, Dayton and Youngstown State.
OKLAHOMA is Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, would add in Tulsa for 3.
OREGON is Oregon State today. Would also be Oregon & Portland State for 3.
PENNSYLVANIA believe it or not could be 16 DI teams today. As of now it is 11 with Bloomsburg, Bucknell, Clarion, Drexel, Edinboro, Franklin & Marshall, Lehigh, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, Penn State & Pittsburgh. Would also include Lafayette, Saint Francis, Temple, Villanova & Duquesne had they never dropped.
RHODE ISLAND is Brown. Would also be U of Rhode Island for 2.
SOUTH CAROLINA has Presbyterian and Citadel. Would also have Furman, Clemson and South Carolina State for 5.
SOUTH DAKOTA has South Dakota State & would also have South Dakota for 2.
TENNESSEE has Chattanooga but would also have Middle Tennessee State, Tennessee, UT-Martin, Vanderbilt & Memphis State. (George McIntyre told me Tenn Tech had a program, but I've found absolutely nothing on it.) 6
TEXAS believe it or not would have three. Texas, Texas A&M & Texas El Paso. There's slight chance that Texas Christian may have had a varsity program at one time too. Southern Methodist did state once that if other southern schools would commit to adding wrestling, they would too. It never happened though.
UTAH has Utah Valley. Would also have Utah, Utah State, Brigham Young, Weber State & Southern Utah. 6
VIRGINIA has George Mason, Virginia, VMI & Virginia Tech. Would also have William & Mary, Norfolk State, Virginia Commonwealth, James Madison, Liberty, Old Dominion, Hampton & Richmond. 12
WASHINGTON has 0 now, but would have 4. Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Washington & Washington State
WEST VIRGINIA has West Virginia & would also have Marshall for 2.
WISCONSIN has Wisconsin & would also have Milwaukee & Marquette for 3.
WYOMING has Wyoming & that's the only DI school in the state. 1
D.C. has American & would also have George Washington, Howard & Georgetown. 4.
So there you have it.
79 is what we have in 2020-2021. 77 maybe what we're left with in 2021-2022.
What we would have had no team ever dropped wrestling?
237 is the number I came up with.
237
Meaning that 158 teams that are currently Division I status today had wrestling programs at one time and don't today. More teams have dropped wrestling than currently have it at the DI status.
What would wrestling look like with 237 DI teams?
On September 12th, 2020 I posted all of the teams that I had came up with so far that had discontinued wrestling. At that time I was at 365 teams. A far cry away from the 670 that we have allegedly lost. In the past month I've discovered & written about eleven more teams.
McGill & British Columbia in Canada.
Claremont Mudd Scripps & San Bernardino Valley (As if I really needed to add any teams to California)
Hampden-Sydney & Eastern Mennonite in Virginia
Southwestern Oklahoma State
Pomona-Pitzer (Sheesh, does it ever end in California?)
Bismark State in North Dakota
Concordia (Illinois)
And I'm embarrassed to say that I had completely forgotten to write about Boise State even though I've had it prepared to write for the past 10 months.
That brings the number up to to 376 teams. Still a far cry from 670 but closer than it was before.
How about those teams that I know had wrestling, but I was unable to find anything about their wrestlers? Believe it or not there are quite a few teams that make that list.
Here they are
TUFTS (Medford/Somerville, Massachusetts)
Winners of the 1932 & 1935 New England Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, the Jumbos had wrestling for quite a long period of time. I believe it began in the 1920's and lasted through the early to mid 1970's.
SAMPSON (New York)
Sampson was a short lived college that only lasted from 1946-1947 through 1948-1949. They had wrestling every season & posted dual records for each.
VANDERBILT (Nashville, Tennessee)
From what I have been able to find, the Commodores had wrestling for a short period of time post World War II
EMORY (Atlanta, Georgia)
The Eagles were quite competitive during their time on the mat. They produced a number of top three Southeastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (SEIWA) place-winners & they finished runner-up to Swede Umbach's Auburn a number of times as a team as well. From what I've been able to gather wrestling lasted from 1950-1951 through 1965-1966.
SANTA CLARA (Santa Clara, California)
Throughout the history of both the Pacific Coast Conference & the Western Regional you'll find results for Santa Clara.
WAKE FOREST (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
A little tricky here on the history of Demon-Deacon wrestling. There was a time when they didn't field a wrestling program, but one of their football players entered and won a ACC title anyway. I do believe they actually fielded a varsity team for a short time too.
KENYON (Gambier, Ohio)
Per records I have found of school athletics, Lords wrestling lasted from 1957-1958 through 1969-1970
ANTELOPE VALLEY (Lancaster, California)
You know there are almost as many discontinued wrestling programs in the state of California as their are total number of current Division I teams? I've found Antelope Valley in dual records for other CCCAA teams.
BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN (Birmingham, Alabama)
Records for Panther wrestling exist throughout various SEIWA tournaments in the late 60's & early 70's.
PARSONS (Fairfield, Iowa)
I grew up a little less than an hour from where Parsons College used to be. A half day in the local library going through old year books led me to a conclusion that wrestling was started in 1959-1960 and lasted through 1967-1968. No idea why it was discontinued. The school shut down in 1973.
RICKS aka BRIGHAM YOUNG-IDAHO (Rexburg, Idaho)
I get asked about this one a lot. You'd think that being the home of Rulon Gardner, the two time Olympic medalist who upended the unstoppable, unbeatable Karelin would have information on their wrestling team. Maybe it is out there somewhere, but I've been unsuccessful in tracking it down.
Hell I can remember when Cael Sanderson won his fourth NCAA title looking up into the stands and seeing a guy wearing a Ricks College Wrestling sweatshirt. Yet other than coming across the fact that Brett Bingham of Boise State started his career off there, Gardner is all I can find.
DIXIE STATE (St. George, Utah)
Results in NJCAA history show that the Trailblazers at one time had wrestling
UTAH STATE-EASTERN (Price, Utah)
If you ever run across Carbon College, same thing.
PACIFIC COLLEGE (Costa Mesa, California)
For the longest time whenever I ran across Pacific in my studies I always assumed that it meant Pacific as in Forest Grove, Oregon, which still has a wrestling team. It wasn't until I ran across a dual meet actually held in Costa Mesa that I realized it was something different.
FLORIDA STATE (Tallahassee, Florida)
Now this one I'm still unsure about. From the 1961-1962 through the 1964-1965 season you can find Florida State competing at both the SEIWA tournament and the Chattanooga invitational. However, I've never seen any results for duals & I've never seen any results from Qualifiers for the NCAA tournament. Even with photographs I've found of Florida State wrestling, I'm still not sold on the fact that this was ever a varsity team. I think it may have been club status only. I'd love to know more about this history here, but that's what I've found thus far.
CHARLESTON (Charleston, West Virginia)
At one time the school was known as Morris Harvey. During that time (or at least at some time during that time) the Golden Eagles had wrestling.
EMERSON (Boston, Massachusetts)
Famed coach Jim Peckham has listed among his many accomplishments that he started a wrestling program here.
COVENANT (Lookout Mountain, Georgia)
UT-Chattanooga had something to do with the school trying out wrestling for a while
BRYAN (Dayton, Tennessee)
I believe UT-Chattanooga had something to do with Bryan also trying out wrestling for a while
BRANDEIS (Waltham, Massachusetts)
The judges competed in many NEIWA tournaments
GEORGE FOX (Newburg, Oregon)
Frank Furtado who coached at Seattle-Pacific also coached here for a short while
GONZAGA (Spokane, Washington)
You can find results of Bulldog wrestling from Pacific Coast Conference tournaments
TROY STATE (Troy, Alabama)
Competed in SEIWA tournaments, as well as the Chattanooga Invitational. George McIntyre has promised to provide information he has on the team, but as busy as he is with telling the world how much he hates Donald Trump on an hourly basis, he has yet to find the time.
SOUTHWESTERN (Georgetown, Texas)
I wrote about Southwestern (California) earlier in "Gone, Lost & Forgotten" but based on the Chattanooga Invitational & a tournament based in Texas, I believe what I have found is referring to the Pirates.
SOUTH FLORIDA (Tampa, Florida)
One can find South Florida in dual results vs Florida, Central Florida & Miami-Dade.
BROWARD (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
In Dual records Vs Miami-Dade
UC-RIVERSIDE (Riverside, California)
Can find in various tournaments throughout California through the years
CAIRN (Langhorne Manor, Pennsylvania)
Both Donald Hawk & James Hertzler who were both baseball & soccer stars while at Cairn have that they were also members of the wrestling team while there.
CALVIN (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Have found Calvin in dual records against other Michigan colleges/universities
RICHARD DALEY (Chicago, Illinois)
Have found "Mayor Daley" in results throughout various opens in Illinois. I think this is what it is referring to.
LUZERNE (Nanticoke, Pennsylvania)
Found against other Northeastern NJCAA teams in dual records
SANTA FE (Gainesville, Florida)
In dual results for Miami-Dade
RICHMOND (Richmond, Virginia)
You can find results of Richmond competing in the Southern Conference
SOUTHERN POLYTECHNIC STATE (Marietta, Georgia)
Can find results of Southern Tech in SEIWA tournaments as well as the Chattanooga Invitational
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY (Hampden-Sydney, Virginia)
Results from MEAC tournaments
BENEDICTINE (Lisle, Illinois)
The Benedictine in Kansas still has a wrestling team but considering where I've found Benedictine (in tournaments featuring all other Illinois teams) I believe they're referring to this school
NAVARRO (Corsicanna, Texas)
Richland Community College at one time had an official NJCAA team & they wrestled Navarro in duals during some of this time. Was Navarro NJCAA or just a club? Not 100% positive.
HAWAII (Manoa, Hawaii)
Throughout the 1930's through the 1950's you can find dual results as well as various tournaments on the West Coast that Hawaii participated in. They disappear again up until the 70's. Then you can find dual results & Hawaii competing in the PAC-12. They always finished in last place & usually with 0 points, although sometimes they'd score a couple. Into the late 70's you can find them at the Western Regional. Most years where there are dual results, it was never more than 5 per year.
TEXAS CHRISTIAN (Fort Worth, Texas)
Here's another one like Florida State I'm not sure if they were ever officially varsity or not. In Texas every year throughout a period in the 70's there was a tournament held. Many of these programs were club or intramural like North Texas, Texas Tech, Stephen F Austin & West Texas. However a few like Richland & Texas-El Paso had varsity programs. What makes me question TCU is that like Texas-El Paso they had duals for two of these seasons, against varsity programs. I've never seen TCU at a qualifier, but that doesn't always mean anything either.
It can get rather confusing at times. I've found Southern California competing at the PAC-12 tournament, including having a champion at HWT. Yet the champion did NOT compete at the NCAA tournament & the 2nd & 3rd place wrestlers did. Love to know the story on htat.
MEMPHIS STATE (Memphis, Tennessee)
Found Memphis State in results Vs Chattanooga. Another one of those that George McIntyre has promised to provide information on & probably will once he finds time in his schedule aside from chastising people on facebook for not being exactly like him.
GEORGETOWN (Georgetown, Kentucky)
I've always thought every time I ran across Georgetown in old wrestling results it was referring to the Hoyas in Washington D.C. However seeing them in SEIWA tournaments, I thought to myself why in the Hell would they go all the way down their to wrestle? I then through further research discovered that it was actually referring to the Tigers. Georgetown Hoyas for the record, DID have a wrestling team at one time too.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE (Orangeburg, South Carolina)
Here's the thing. I think when SCSU had a wrestling team, I'm pretty sure that they were pretty good. Matter of fact, I know that they won the MEAC title in 1979, 1980, 1981 & 1982. Yet there is NOTHING on their website that I've been able to find about the wrestlers or the team.
KENNESAW STATE (Kennesaw, Georgia)
Can be found in SEIWA tournaments
HARTWICK (Oneonta, New York)
Listed in Dual results
MARIST (Poughkeepsie, New York)
Listed in Dual results
EMPORIA STATE (Emporia, Kansas)
Found in MIAA tournaments
LOUISANA-MONROE (Monroe, Louisiana)
Found in the 1972-1973 school year to have duals against both Louisiana-Lafayette & Louisiana State
HUSSON (Bangor, Maine)
Found in tournaments
CANISIUS (Buffalo, New York)
Found in dual records of Buffalo State
DREW (Madison, New Jersey)
Found Vs various other teams in Jersey
FORDHAM (Bronx, New York)
Found in various tournaments/duals throughout New York
So with these teams added I'm now up to 427.
Closer to that # of 670.
UPDATE: Since writing this, I got up to 462 discontinued wrestling programs that are a part of "Gone, Lost & Forgotten." Sad to report that I've even added more as of 9-6-2024. Some get there own write up, but some unfortunately don't. There just isn't enough information.
UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND PHARMACY
I felt this program was doomed from the beginning. A university with very specific and unique degrees, was going to have a difficult time fielding a full roster wrestling team. As time would tell, they had a difficult time getting more than a few wrestlers on their team. I appreciated the effort & thought it was cool that such a small school would even try wrestling. It just wasn't meant to be, I guess.
ARKANSAS BAPTIST
I thought I'd be able to gather some information, but I was unable to find much.
Count is now at 478
When the Broncos of Boise State dropped their wrestling program in 2017, they dropped one of the most successful athletic programs that the University has ever had. In fact with 16 Conference Titles (Ten in the BIG SKY & Six in the PAC-12) the wrestling team was only a hair behind Football with 18 conference titles. As to number of All Americans? Again, only second behind Football. At the time Boise State had produced a total of five NCAA champions. Two of which wrestling had given them.
 |
| Jake Swartz |
 |
| J.T. Felix |
 |
| Jesse Brock |
 |
| Ben Cherrington |
 |
| Rusty Cook |
 |
| Jason Chamberlain |
 |
| Brent Chriswell |
 |
| Adam Hall |
 |
| Andrew Hochstrasser |
 |
| Scott Jorgensen |
 |
| Nate Lee |
 |
| Larry Quisel |
 |
| Tyler Sherfey |
 |
| Kirk Smith |
 |
| Ben Vombaur |
 |
| Kirk White |
 |
| Tracy Yeates |
 |
| Dave Chandler |
|
| Bill Braseth |
 |
| Scott Barrett |
 |
| Ben Coronado |
 |
| Stan Armstrong |
 |
| Charles Burton |
|
| Cash Edwards |
 |
| Collin Robertson |
 |
| Boe Rushton |
