Down Goes the #1! - Part 8

 In a series that takes a look at all of the times the #1 seed went down before the NCAA DI finals, today we explore the early 1980's. 

1980 158 - #5 William "Bucky" Smith Morgan State Upsets #1 Dan Zilverberg 9-9, 2-1 Minneosota in SF 

With the current reinstatement of Morgan State wrestling, what an appropriate time to celebrate one of their all time best, Bucky Smith. During his time as a Bear, Smith won four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles.  At the NCAA Division II level he took runner-up honors his freshman & sophomore seasons of 1977 & 1978, placing 5th as a junior in 1979 before winning the title as a senior in 1980.  Winning the NCAA DII title marked the first time that an athlete had won an individual national title in any sport from a historically black college/university. At the NCAA Division I level, Smith had placed 6th as a sophomore in 1978. Having already seeming done everything, he'd add extra icing to the cake when he knocked off #1 Dan Zilverberg of Minnesota in the NCAA semi-finals in route to finishing as the NCAA runner-up.  Zilverberg who had been an NCAA runner-up himself in 1979, finished off his career with a 5th place finish that marked his record 119-11 overall. His son Danny would wrestle for the Golden Gophers himself years later. 

1980 167 - #12 Jamie Milkovich Auburn Upsets #1 Scott Heaton Cal Poly 4-3 in R2

Scott Heaton entered the NCAA DI championships in 1980 a four time Western Regional champion who had finished 3rd at the 1978 NCAA's as a sophomore. He was seeded to win the national title until he ran into a SEC champ, Jamie Milkovich of Auburn who squeaked past him 7-3. Milkovich would eventually end up in 7th place as Heaton did not place.  As Heaton graduated with 136 victories, Milkovich would again earn All American honors in 1981 as a senior with a 5th place finish. 

           1980 177 - U.S. Gary Chadwick Air Force Upsets #1 Rick Worel Cal Poly 7-3 in R1

The 1980 NCAA tournament plain and simple was not kind to Cal Poly. As #1 Scott Heaton was upset at 167 lbs, #1 Rick Worel would be upset at 177 lbs. It was Air Force's unseeded Gary Chadwick who upended Worel 7-3 in Round 1. Neither would place as Chadwick who had already won an MIWA title would go on to win another title in 1981, along with a Western Athletic Conference title. Worel had came to Cal Poly from Palomar where he had won a CCCAA title as a freshman, finishing as the CCCAA runner-up as a sophomore. 

1980 190 - #8 Noel Loban Clemson Upsets #1 Mike Brown Lehigh 6-5 in QF 

Japan, Russia, other countries that some of us would have difficulty finding on a map, it seems that over the seasons we've had wrestlers from about everywhere compete on our American college wrestling teams. One country we don't hear about often in relation though is the United Kingdom. Noel Loban of Clemson is an exception.  First competing for Farmingdale where he won a NJCAA title, Noel Loban entered his final NCAA tournament the #8 seed.  It was also the final tournament for Mike Brown of Lehigh, the #1 seed who had thus far finished 5th-3rd-2nd his first three seasons of 1977, 1978 & 1979. Loban would edge Brown 6-5 in the quarter-finals in route to winning the NCAA title as Brown came back to take 7th. This would mark the first individual NCAA title won by any athlete at Clemson as Loban went on to sport the Union Jack in a successful international career.  A bronze medalist at the 1984 Olympics, he won gold at the 1984 Common Wealth Games & a Silver at the 1994 Common Wealth Games. Brown went on to become a successful pharmacist. 


1981 126 - U.S. Ed Pidgeon Hofstra Upsets #1 Derek Glenn Oklahoma 6-6, 3-2 in R2

Derek Glenn planned on wrestling his entire collegiate career at Colorado where he earned All American status for the Buffaloes in 1980 with a 3rd place finish. So proud and honored by Glenn's effort, the university dropped the wrestling program, forcing Glenn to find a new home for his final season. He made the most of it transferring to Oklahoma where he won a BIG 12 title, earning the #1 seed at the NCAA tournament. All looked great until he ran into sophomore Ed Pidgeon of Hofstra who upset him in a wild 6-6, 3-2 decision in round two. Pidgeon would go on to place 4th as Glenn did not place. It'd be the only season where Pidgeon would earn All American honors, although he would finish out his career at three time East Coast Conference champion. 

1981 177 - #4 Charlie Heller Clarion Upsets #1 Colin Kilrain Lehigh 5-3 in Semi-Finals 

Sometimes it is said that coming back to take 3rd is tougher than winning an NCAA title. Matter of fact, John Lockhart of Illinois a 2001 NCAA champion who finished 3rd in 2002 said that exact thing to me once. If there is truth to that, then it explains how Lehigh's Colin Kilrain ended up being a successful Navy Seal post graduation. The four time EIWA champion finished 3rd at the NCAA's three years running. After finishing 3rd in 1980 as a sophomore, he entered the 1981 NCAA's the #1 seed. There he was upset by #4 Charlie Heller of Clarion who would end up the NCAA runner-up as Kilrain came back to claim his bronze medal. A three time EWL champion in his own right, Heller who had also placed 4th as a sophomore in 1980 would earn his own bronze medal in his final NCAA tournament in 1982. 

1981 190 - #8 Tom Martucci College of New Jersey Upsets #1 John Forshee Iowa State in QF

We've seen examples of smaller school wrestlers upsetting bigger school wrestlers throughout this series & perhaps this example from 1981 be the best. The College of New Jersey's Tom Martucci who had won NCAA DIII titles in 1980 & 1981 came into the NCAA DI tournament as he not only knocked off #1 John Forshee of Iowa State in the quarterfinals, but he'd go on to win his next two matches to capture the national title. 

1982 134 - #5 Don Reese Bloomsburg Upsets #1 Jim Gibbons Iowa State in Semi-Finals

Don Reese of Bloomsburg had just won his fourth EWL title for the Huskies as he entered his final NCAA tournament. He had yet to earn an All American award & what better way to go about it than to knock off the #1 seed & the 1981 NCAA champion Jim Gibbons with a decisive 10-5 decision in the semi-finals. Reese would finish as the NCAA runner-up as Gibbons came back to claim 3rd.  Reese graduated with an overall record of 126-22. Gibbons who had also placed 7th as a sophomore in 1980 went on to a successful coaching career.  In epic fashion he lead the Cyclones to a team title at the 1987 NCAA championships. Today Gibbons works as a broadcast journalist for amateur wrestling covering both high school & college events. 

1982 158 - #4 Perry Shea Cal State Bakersfield Upsets #1 Ricky Stewart Oklahoma State 8-3 in SF

Here's yet another example of a small school wrestler that pulled off a huge upset at the NCAA championships.  After finishing in 7th place as a freshman in 1979, Oklahoma State's Ricky Stewart won the NCAA title in his sophomore & junior seasons of 1980 & 1981, looking like he'd capture a third in 1982.  It was the Road Runners Perry Shea, who had won his second NCAA DII title (also 3rd at the 1981 NCAA DI's) who would upend Stewart 8-3 in the Semi-finals. As Shea finished the DI runner-up, Stewart came back to take 3rd.  Stewart graduated with a record of 118-17. 

1982 190 - #4 Pete Bush Iowa Upsets #1 Colin Kilrain Lehigh in Semi-Finals 

This time it would only take 44 seconds into the semi-finals for #1 Colin Kilrain of Lehigh to be upset. Iowa's Pete Bush was on fire as he'd go on to win the NCAA title as Kilrain walked out of the NCAA's with his third 3rd place finish in a row. Taking a redshirt in 1983, Bush captured a bronze medal at the PAN-AMERICAN championships before coming back for his final season as a Hawkeye in 1984. He unfortunately would not place at the NCAA's. 

1983 118 - U.S. John Thorn Iowa State Upsets #1 Randy Willingham Oklahoma State 8-7 in QF

Oklahoma State's Randy Willingham had finished 3rd as a sophomore in 1981 & 5th as junior in 1982 as he entered the 1983 NCAA tournament as the #1 seed. All was going well until he ran into Iowa State sophomore John Thorn who upset him 8-7 in the quarterfinals. Thorn would eventually end up in 4th place as Willingham finished one match shy of placing. Injuries would hamper Thorn throughout the rest of his career. While winning a BIG 12 title in 1985 as a senior, he broke his ankle at the NCAA championships being forced to withdraw from the tournament. Sons Mike, David & Tommy would go on to stellar collegiate careers themselves at the University of Minnesota. 

1983 134 - U.S. Rick Burton Ohio State Upsets #1 Khris Whelan Missouri 13-10 in the QF

I sure would love to know what happened to Rick Burton of Ohio State as he was only a freshman when he knocked off #1 Khris Whelan of Missouri 13-10 in the semi-finals. He would not return to Ohio State & I'm not sure if his wrestling career came to an end at that point or if he went on to wrestle elsewhere. Perhaps I'll get my answer after posting this.  What I do know is that he would finish in 6th place as Whelan worked his way back to 4th.  It would be Whelan's second All American honor as the native of Granite City, Illinois had also finished 7th as a freshman in 1980.  Graduating with a career record of 97-19, Whelan later coached at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville as well as various High Schools. 

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Down Goes the #1! - Part 9 covering 84'-86' coming soon!