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| Bruce Baumgartner |
In the modern era, wrestling fans look at current sensation Gable Steveson of Minnesota, 2020 Olympic Champion and wonder if anyone could upend the seemingly unbeatable Golden Gopher. I think some fans forget just how good Bruce Baumgartner was at his peak. While he took longer than Steveson to reach his full potential, a Bruce Baumgartner at his best was difficult to beat. Winning an NCAA title for the Indiana State Sycamores, between the Olympics, Worlds, World Cup & Pan American championships, Baumgartner has more medals than any other American wrestler with 33. I would argue that if anyone could beat Steveson, an at best Baumgartner could.
Simply look at what he did as a post-grad at the Midlands if you want further proof. Not only did he win eight titles in a row (Six plus the two he won while still in college) he did so in tremendous fashion.
In 1982 he defeated Matt Ghaffari 12-0 in the semi-finals
1984 he defeated Kirk Trost of Michigan, that season's NCAA runner-up 11-0 & then in the semi-finals he pinned Ghaffari in 3:40
In 1985 he manhandled Bill Hyman who had won the NCAA title for Temple in March 16-4
In 1986 he stuck Trost late in the first period in the quarterfinals and he scored two takedowns to upend NCAA champion Carleton Haselrig of Pittsburgh-Johnstown 8-4.
In 1987 he defeated Tom Erickson (featured in Part 2 of this series) 10-0.
If that isn't enough testimony as to how good Baumgartner was, I don't know what is.
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| Chris Bono |
A standout for the Iowa State Cyclones, Chris Bono had finishes of 5th & NCAA runner-up, winning an NCAA title his junior year of 1996. While competing internationally as well as coaching Bono continued competing in Midlands tournaments beyond his graduation in 1997.
In his first Midlands tournament as a post-grad in 1997, he defeated Illinois' Eric Siebert 9-7 in the finals. Siebert won the NCAA title that season.
In 1999, in the semi-finals he defeated Bryan Snyder of Nebraska 4-2 and in the finals he defeated T.J. Williams of Iowa 4-2. They placed 5th and 3rd at the NCAA's that season respectively.
In 2000 he had a 3-1 victory over Yoshi Nakamura of Pennsylvania, two time All American for the Quakers.
In 2003 in the semi-finals he defeated Stanford's Matt Gentry 8-7. Gentry went on to win the NCAA title that season. In the finals, to give way that sometimes the younger guys beat the older guys, Illinois' Alex Tirapelle defeated Bono 2-1 tiebreaker. Tirapelle took 4th at the NCAA's that season.
Coming back in 2008, as coach at UT-Chattanooga, Bono donned a Moc singlet defeating both NCAA runner-up Jason Welch of Northwestern and two time All American Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State/Penn State in route to winning his fourth Midlands title.
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| Brian Keck |
The late Brian Keck was another one of those wrestlers whose collegiate careers never would have led you to guess how successful he was going to be post college. A NJCAA champion for Cuyahoga, he never won an EWL title and he never earned All American honors after transferring to Bloomsburg. It wasn't until AFTER college, that Keck unveiled his potential.
Two seasons after graduating, Keck finished 3rd at the Midlands championships. He defeated two future NCAA runner-ups with a 5-3 decision of Trent Hynek of Iowa State and pinning Iowa's Wes Hand in one minute and 15 seconds.
In 1997 before defaulting to 6th place, Keck earned a 7-5 sudden victory over Syracuse multiple time All American Jason Gleasman.
In 1998 he defeated future NCAA champion John Lockhart of Illinois twice. He defeated him 2-1 tiebreaker in the second round and then defeated him in the consolation semi-finals 3-1 sudden victory. He also earned two victories over Hand, 12-10 sudden victory in the quarterfinals & for 3rd place 5-4 tiebreaker.
While not placing as high, even in his final Midlands tournament where he took 7th, Keck still noted valuable wins. He defeated Matt Feast of Pennsylvania 2-1 in round two and in the round to place he defeated Michigan's Greg Wagner 5-3. Both Feast and Wager were three time NCAA All Americans during their careers.
Afterwards, Keck dedicated his attention towards freestyle wrestling where he earned PAN-AMERICAN medals, gold in 2003 and bronze in 2004. Interjecting nothing more than my opinion here, I can't help but think competing in the Midlands & doing well, is what helped lead Keck to his success internationally.
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| Matt Dernlan |
Matt Dernlan who is currently in a battle for his life, who could use the wrestling community's help, was a benefiter of post-grads wrestling at the Midlands. An NCAA qualifier for Liberty in 1993 as a sophomore, it is unknown how he would have fared as Liberty dropped their wrestling program before the start of his junior season.
Dernlan gave an indication of how he may have done, had he been allowed to compete his final two seasons, when he took a 6th place finish at the 1999 Midlands.
To learn how to help Dernlan, click here https://www.gofundme.com/f/matt-dernlan?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
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| Joe Williams |
After finishing 7th as a true freshman in 1994, Joe Williams of Iowa completely dominated the field. Not only did he win three NCAA titles as a Hawkeye, he also won four Midlands titles. Continuing to show his dominance, he went on to win six more Midlands titles, for a total of 10. In each of his Midlands performances, Williams defeated top competition.
In 1998, he defeated four time All American, NCAA Champion Josh Kosheck 4-1.
In 1999 he defeated NCAA champion Ryan Cunningham of Central Michigan 4-3 and NCAA Runner-up Otto Olson of Michigan 15-5.
In 2000 he defeated Greg Jones of West Virginia who went on to win three NCAA titles.
Williams went on to win bronze medals as both the 2001 and 2005 World Championships.
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