If you've read parts I & II, we're gonna just go ahead and start where we left off.
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| R.J. Boudro Michigan/Michigan State |
Having suited up for both the Wolverines & the Spartans during his collegiate career, R.J. Boudro really came into his own during his final two seasons of competition. While never an All American, he defeated many top opponents during that two year span & I would argue his most defining moment was at the Midlands his senior season. Capturing a 3rd place finish, he defeated two time All American Matt Palmer of Columbia 5-4 in the consolation semi-finals. He then scored a 3:11 fall over an opponent from Pittsburgh whose name you might recognize. Keith Gavin, a two NCAA finalist & one time NCAA champion. Boudro was also 6th at the Midlands in his junior season.
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| C.J. Ettelson Northern Iowa |
My high school attended the Hudson (Where Ettelson went to High School) tournament every season, so I got to watch C.J. Ettelson just destroy guys a couple of times up close and personal. I also watched the four time Iowa high school state champion win titles #3 & #4 as well. Of course like many I was excited to see what all he would do during his collegiate career. I was sad that he never had the great moment at the NCAA's that he was capable of, but that doesn't mean that he didn't have some shining moments. He had great showings at the Midlands at both the 2005 tournament & the 2006 tournament. In 2005, he placed 3rd, securing a 3:20 fall over Illinois All American Cassio Pero. In 2006 he was 4th, securing a 14-4 major decision over American All American Kyle Borschoff in the blood round.
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| Nick Moore Iowa |
I live in Iowa City. Have been living here the past 2 1/2 years. I also lived here from August of 2009 until May of 2013. On top of it, I grew up only an hour away from Iowa City. I've been around Iowa Hawkeye wrestling my entire life & the one thing I can say with authority is that no other collegiate wrestling fan base expects more out of their wrestlers than the black & gold. I've gotten in a few heated arguments with Hawkeye fans in the past & 99% of them have been centered around me defending a wrestler who they're very negative about because he isn't living up to their standards. I found myself doing it a lot last season in regards to Kaleb Young. I have done it a few times in regards to Nick Moore. For some reason or another Moore was never able to put it together at the NCAA tournament. That is a truthful fact that I cannot argue, but to say, "he never amounted to much in college" isn't something I tolerate either. He was a three time Midlands place-winner. I think that's saying something and I think that makes his career worth taking a look at. I can understand why many don't feel he lived up to his potential, being a 4 time State champion & making Josh Swafford's Pin Doctor list of greatest of all time...but at the same time he was 7th-2nd-4th in his last three seasons at the Midlands. I think that's saying something.
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| Robbie Preston Harvard |
Of all the Harvard greats over the years, one who is often overlooked is Robbie Preston. The Blair Academy standout battled a number of issues/injuries during his time with the Crimson, which kept him from further achievements that he otherwise would have had. Nevertheless it did not keep him from a spectacular run at the 2006 Midlands. In the consolation bracket, he wrestled with absolute precision shutting out both Andrae Hernandez of Indiana & Nick Gallick of Iowa State 6-0 to earn a 3rd place finish.
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| Pat Castillo Northern Illinois |
In a sport that likes to romanticize the heroic, "Gotta beat everyone in front of you anyway" mentality, it really does matter where you are drawn into a bracket. If it didn't matter, then someone please explain to me why coaches fight tooth & nail to get their wrestlers the best seed possible? It doesn't take looking at brackets full of one MFF after another to figure that out. As far as I'm concerned, Pat Castillo was one of those guys who never made the NCAA award stand, simply because he always seemed to get a bad draw. My opinion. Now what is a fact, is that Castillo was a three time Midlands place-winner. As a sophomore, he made the finals knocking off 2002 NCAA finalist Luke Eustice of Iowa 3-1 s.v. along the way. With back to back 5th place finishes in his junior and senior seasons, it was his senior season which saw him nearly major two time NCAA finalist Montell Marion of Iowa 10-3 in the bloodround.
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| Corey Jantzen Harvard |
There's enough to say about Corey Jantzen's wrestling career, that you could literally make a movie about it. The fact remains that he'll never escape the shadow of his three time All American/national champion brother Jesse & that's mainly due to the fact that he never earned an All American honor himself. That's really a shame because looking at his full body of work, maybe he didn't do much in the final three days of the season, but he sure did do a lot before it. A two time Midlands place-winner he took finishes of 6th and 7th. Yet it was at Cliff Keen Las Vegas where Jantzen really shined. He won the title in 2008 & then came back to take a runner-up finish in 2010. In those brackets finishing below him on the award stand were names like Chris Drouin of Arizona State, Chris Diaz of Virginia Tech, Michael Thorn of Minnesota & two time NCAA champion Kellan Russell of Michigan.
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| Luke Manuel Purdue |
To look at the career of Luke Manuel & not celebrate it simply because he was never an All American is absolute lunacy! This guy had a ton of achievements during his career at Purdue & they should all be celebrated. Between the Midlands and CKLV, he earned 3 medals. 8th in his sophomore & junior seasons, he had a spectacular run to 3rd at the Midlands his senior season. In the bloodround he defeated Jordan Blanton 5-4, then in the consolation quarter-finals he upended Robert Hamlin of Lehigh 5-3. Finished the day off with a win over yet another All American, Colby Covington of Oregon State. At CKLV he was 4th-3rd-8th in his final three seasons. This including a bloodround win his senior year over All American Ben Jordan of Wisconsin.
Let's also talk of who he had to face for an All American honor his senior season too. Ed Ruth of Penn State who was 3rd-1st-1st-1st. Not only did Ruth win nearly every match he ever wrestled, he usually dominated. Manuel gave Ruth one hell of a match. Probably one of the toughest matches Ruth ever had during his collegiate career. Ruth won 7-6.
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| Mitch Mueller Iowa State |
I had to wrestle Mitch Mueller in a practice one night & I wanna say in a two hour session out of 1,000 takedowns, he scored 998 & I scored 2. I watched Mueller all throughout high school, watching him win a state title his junior season & then watching him capture 3rd place for his third time as a senior. I really thought he would make All American during his career, because he had ruled the consolation bracket, nose to the grind in high school. He came awful close, losing heartbreakers in the R12 in both his junior and senior seasons. While he came up short of his goals at the NCAA's, where he did shine was at the Midlands. As a freshman, he placed 6th defeating two All Americans, Kyle Borschoff of American & Don Fisch of Rider. As a senior he took a 4th place finish, again defeating two All Americans, Andrew Nadhir of Northwestern & R.J. Pena of Oregon State.
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| Andrew Anderson Northern Iowa |
Here's another guy I was quite familiar with growing up. Matter of fact, Andrew Anderson was in my final AAU bracket my 8th grade year. He won the tournament. I was a scratch getting a 23 & a half hour operation done to repair a broken back. Anderson defeated a friend of mine from Louisa Muscatine in the finals, Andy Fry. Still makes me laugh to this day. Andy Anderson Vs Andy Fry. Of course when you're following collegiate wrestling, you always want to see those you grew up wrestling/watching do well. Anderson may never have captured All American honors during his time as a UNI Panther, but he did bring home three medals from the Midlands tournament. 5th as a sophomore, he was 6th in both his junior & senior seasons.
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| Ty Clark Iowa State/Iowa |
Here's the thing. Once Ty Clark transferred to the University of Iowa, he was never the full time starter. I talk quite a bit at JT#1 about some of our best backups & by George if you want to talk about one of the best of all time, look no further than Ty Clark. I don't know if wrestling fans are aware just how deep the Hawkeye lineup truly was at this time. I'm sure if you asked Tony Ramos, he'd tell you.
While Clark was at Iowa State in his freshman season, he made the Midlands finals. Not only did he take a runner-up finish, but he defeated future NCAA champ Anthony Robles 2-1 in the quarterfinals.
As a junior at Iowa, he let Ramos know good and well just how hard it was gonna be to be the varsity starter come BIG 10 tournament time, when he took his teammate out 2-1 t.b. for 5th place.
As a senior, he again showed just how good he was, this time with a 4th place finish. In route to getting there?
9-5 over Mason Beckman of Lehigh in the blood round.
8-4 over Joe Colon of Northern Iowa in the consolation quarter-finals
5-0 over A.J. Schopp of Edinboro in the consolation semi-finals.
Beckman was a two time All American & both Colon & Schopp were 3rd at the NCAA's in their senior seasons.
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Part IV coming your way soon!!!
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