Michigan's Mark Churella won his third title as Oregon State's Dan Hicks & Mark Lieberman of Lehigh both won their second.
Important note: 1979 went from top 6 AA to top 8.
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| 1979 Champion 118 Gene Mills of Syracuse |
A four time EIWA champion, Mills finished 3rd as a freshman and 4th as a sophomore before winning back to back NCAA titles in 1979 & 1981, having redshirted in 1980. Earning 144 victories, 107 of them were by fall.
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| 1979 Champion 126 Randy Lewis of Iowa |
A three time South Dakota state champion for Rapid City High School, Lewis made immediate impact at Iowa making the finals of the NCAA tournament as a freshman in 1978. He'd win his first of two titles in 1979 as a sophomore, following it up with title #2 in 1980 as a junior. His senior year of 1981, tragedy would strike as Lewis dislocated his elbow during a match. In one of the greatest acts of courage ever displayed, Lewis was still able to go out onto the mat & earn All American honors for the Hawkeyes, despite wrestling without the use of one arm. He finished in 7th place, ending his Hawkeye career with a 127-11 record.
Post college, Lewis made a remarkable comeback from the elbow injury that essentially kept him from what would have been his third NCAA title, by winning Gold at the 1984 Olympics.
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| 1979 Champion 134 Darryl Burley of Lehigh |
A four time EIWA champion in his own right, Burley won the NCAA title in 1979 as a true freshman. The next two seasons of 1980 and 1981, he would finish as the NCAA runner-up. Taking a redshirt in 1982, he returned to form winning his second NCAA title as a senior in 1983.
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| 1979 Champion 150 Bruce Kinseth of Iowa |
A state champion from Decorah high school, Kinseth finished one match shy of All American status as a sophomore in 1977, finishing as the NCAA runner-up in 1978. He saved his best season for last, as in his senior season of 1979 he pinned his way through both the BIG 10 and NCAA tournament. Post college, Kinseth became extremely successful in the hotel and restaurant business.
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| 1979 Champion 158 Kelly Ward of Iowa State |
After finishing as the NCAA runner-up in 1977 & 1978, Ward won the NCAA title in 1979 as a senior. He later coached at Nebraska.
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| 1979 Champion 190 Eric Wais of Oklahoma State |
A two time California state champion from Woodland High, Wais was 4th in 1977 and 2nd in 1978, before winning the NCAA title as a senior in 1979.
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| 1979 Champion UNL Fred Bohna of UCLA |
A state champion for Clovis High School, Fred Bohna spent his first three seasons making the cut to 190 lbs where he was a three time NCAA qualifier in 1975, 1976 and 1978. Before his senior season of 1979, he came to his coach and told him that he wasn't going to cut weight for his senior season. Instead he was going to spend more time in the weight room and move up to HWT. He thought he could fare better there. Indeed he did. Not only did he win the NCAA title, but later that summer he won Pan-American Gold. Bohna would later coach at UCLA and Cal State Bakersfield.
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Churella, Hicks and Mark Lieberman previously mentioned
Mills repeated in 1980, as Lewis repeated in 1980 but not in 1981 & Burley did not repeat in 1980 or 1981 but did in 1983.
Kinseth, Ward, Wais and Bohna all seniors
UCLA and Syracuse are two glaring examples of schools that could support outstanding programs.
ReplyDeleteYeah it's funny. The first team I ever dreamed of competing for as a kid was Syracuse. I think it's because I like the color orange.
DeleteThen I have to admit that UCLA is a team I would have loved to have competed for too, for the simple fact that I've always wanted to be a screenplay writer and what better place to be?