There's been a lot of discussion about being unhappy about the current structure of collegiate wrestling. Right now for NCAA DI, DII & DIII we have a 20 week schedule consisting of one week in October, all of November, December, January & February, + three weeks in March. NAIA, Women's & NJCAA follow a similar structure, with CCCAA completely doing its own thing in the fall. Many, including myself feel this is too long and the sport would benefit in many ways to shorten the season. I've heard many proposals. I have found myself agreeing with many of them & coming up with my own.
I am in concurrence with many who believe that we need to structure the sport around duals. However, I am against the idea of completely doing away with major in-season tournaments, leaving only the conference tournament & NCAA tournament. I am against it because Not everyone's moment of glory happens at the NCAA's. Be it CKLV, Southern Scuffle or Midlands (for the smaller Divisions, like NCAA DII, The Midwest Classic) sometimes a wrestler's shiniest day happens at an in-season tournament.
Matter of fact, the very individual who suggested that the entire season be duals with exception to the conference tournament & NCAA's was one of these wrestlers. I was rather shocked to hear him say this considering his background. Jason Borrelli is one of my favorite people in wrestling. If I were a blue chipper, going to American to compete under him would be one of my top choices. Yet Jason Borrelli was never an All American during his time at Central Michigan. He had a heck of a run during his final NCAA tournament knocking off both Jake Strayer of Penn State & Darrell Vasquez of Cal Poly, but he left empty handed. Lost a heartbreaker to Tyler McCormick of Missouri in the bloodround in a match that I know still haunts him to this day. He didn't get to have his shining moment at the NCAA's. That didn't happen for him. Yet you know what did? The Midlands. Jason Borrelli got to have his moment of glory at the Midlands.
His junior season he placed 5th, making the semi-finals by knocking off Matt Sanchez of Cal State Bakersfield who placed 7th at the NCAA's the season before & who would place 5th at the NCAA's that season. Borrelli defeated the Roadrunner 5-3 sudden victory.
His senior season, he again knocked off an All American in route to a Midland's medal, this time it was 3rd place & he knocked off Andrae Hernandez of Indiana 8-6 s.v.
This sport is unbelievably tough. There are so many factors that come into play for why someone does or doesn't All American at the NCAA tournament. I have preached for years & I will continue to stand behind my statement that there's so much more to a wrestler than what was or wasn't accomplished in the final three days of the season. Instead of seeing a wrestler as not being an All American, why don't we instead see a wrestler FOR being a Midlands place-winner, FOR being a CKLV place-winner and/or FOR being a Southern Scuffle place-winner?
I realize some of you are probably thinking that I'm talking about watered down brackets, where someone comes in & beats a bunch of low ranked or unranked opponents in order to place 7th. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about coming into a major mid-season tournament & knocking off some top talent in order to make the award stand.
I am here to make the argument that if we are to condense the season down, we need to keep these major-in season tournaments. We don't need a million invites & a million opens, but we have to have more than just the conference tournament & NCAA's.
Here is a list of wrestlers who never had there moments of glory at the NCAA's, but who DID have them at other tournaments....
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| Cole Sanderson Iowa State |
I've written about Cole Sanderson a couple of different times on JT#1. Being the brother of a four time NCAA champion who went undefeated during his varsity career is already a shadow that can't be stepped out of. Yet truth is, of all the Sanderson brothers, he was the only one to never All American. Cody was a two time NCAA DI runner-up & Cyler earned 7th & 6th place finishes at the NCAA's. Cole is also the only Sanderson to never win a conference title. Cael of course won four, Cody won one & Cyler won two. The fact of the matter remains that Cole Sanderson was still a great collegiate wrestler. He was a four time NCAA DI qualifier, thrice third at the BIG 12's, plus one silver medal. Yet his true moments of honor, were at the Midlands.
Sophomore year at the 1998 Sanderson had a phenomenal run at the Midlands. A 5-2 victory over Adam Tirapelle of Illinois in the quarter-finals. Tirapelle would go on to place 3rd at the NCAA's that season, following it up with a second place finish in 00' & a national championship in 01'. Sanderson would then knock off David Esposito of Lehigh 3-1 in the semi-finals to make the Midlands finals. Esposito would go on to become an NCAA runner-up in his own right.
Sanderson would have another great run at the Midlands in 2000 during his senior season. He handed future All American Griff Powell a 3-1 loss & then he defeated Minnesota's Luke Becker 6-5 in the quarter-finals. Becker who had placed 6th the season before at the NCAA's, would place 4th that season. He'd win the national title in 2002, placing 4th again in 2003.
Cole Sanderson beat an assortment of top talents during his time as a Cyclone & his performances at the Midlands in his sophomore & senior seasons help to illustrate that.
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| Matt Azevedo Arizona State/Iowa State |
Like Cole Sanderson, Matt Azevedo is another Cyclone who fits the description. He lost a 1 point heartbreaker his senior season in the NCAA bloodround to Oklahoma's Witt Durden. While he came up short of standing on the award stand at the NCAA's, he did NOT come up short at the Midlands.
Sophomore year, while still at Arizona State, he upended Michigan State All American Chris Williams 3-1 in the bloodround in route to 4th place finish.
Then post his collegiate days, Azevedo continued to prove how good he was despite never having a top 8 NCAA finish. 2nd a year removed for college, 3rd the year after & 2nd again after that he defeated an assortment of talent. Cliff Moore of Iowa who placed 6th-6th-1st his final three seasons of eligibility? In what would have been his junior season, Azevedo pinned him at the 1:42 mark into the first period.
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| Tom Noto Hofstra |
Tom Noto lost a match in the NCAA R12 his senior season that he never should have lost. A sudden victory nightmare to a wrestler he had easily majored at the CAA tournament. That's the reality of the NCAA tournament. It can be the most rewarding environment that some will ever endure, while at the same time being one of the most cruel and unforgiving for others. We didn't see Tom Noto at his very best at the NCAA's, but we did get to see him at his very best at the Midlands.
The best I ever see Noto compete during his collegiate career as at the 2003 Midlands. He was unstoppable that tournament. In the semi-finals he would defeat Pennsylvania's Matt Valenti 6-4 sudden victory, who would go on to place 5th at the NCAA's that season. He would then win back to back NCAA titles in 05' & 06'. In the finals, Noto avenged an NCAA quarter-final loss he had suffered to Iowa's Luke Eustice, knocking off the Hawkeye with a 7-5 s.v. decision. Also 6th at the Midlands in 2000, it was the biggest highlight of Noto's career.
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| Matt Anderson Iowa |
I'm pretty vocal with my opinions & realize that not everyone always agrees with them. I realize not everyone appreciates hearing/reading them. Matt Anderson was always and to this day is still one of my favorite Hawkeyes & I never agreed with how he was handled his senior season. I believe rash decisions were made based on one particular incident & I think Anderson got the shaft as a result of it. Had he been allowed to stay at 157 instead of being forced to bump up to 165, I do believe that he would have ended his season an All American. People can get aggrieved with me if they want, but it's my stance and I'm sticking with it. He had finished one match shy of placing the season before as a junior & he had already avenged a loss to two time All American Shane Roller of Oklahoma State who would go on to earn AA #3 later that season. That's one end of the stick. The other end is that woulda, coulda, shoulda, Matt Anderson didn't get his final NCAA tournament. What he did do though, is show off his abilities at the Midlands on two separate occasions.
Sophomore year he placed 4th, pinning Cal State Bakersfield All American Jason Ramstetter in 1:14. Junior season, Anderson placed 3rd, winning a 2-1 battle with Michigan State rival Gray Maynard. As the world remembers Maynard as a three time All American who placed 8th-7th-7th his final three seasons at the NCAA's, it forgets a guy like Anderson. Their rivalry was back and forth. Saw Anderson once lock up a cradle & nearly major Maynard 9-3 for 3rd at the BIG 10's. I bring up this example as I'm about to bring up more, not to diminish or try and take away from the achievement that making All American is. It is & it should remain the ultimate pinnacle of collegiate wrestling. I have no problem with the mentality of, "It is THE most important." However, I have a huge problem with the mentality of, "It is the ONLY important." Big difference. I hope in this series, I can illustrate to you as to why & hopefully if nothing else get you to see the importance of in-season tournaments & why they are vital to our sport.
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I'll stop here for now, as there are so many more great stories to tell of wrestlers whose greatest moments were NOT at the NCAA's. Look forward to part II coming soon!
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