Just how tough is it to win a BIG 10 title? I made the argument a while back when making the case for just how good Alex Marinelli was during his career that winning four BIG 10 titles speaks for itself. It is without a doubt the toughest conference in all of collegiate wrestling. It always has been. There have been years when certain brackets of the BIG 12 & certain brackets of the EIWA could hold up, but overall the answer is, was & most likely always will be the BIG 10.
I've heard wrestlers themselves say, "It was harder to win a BIG 10 title for me, than it was to win the NCAA title." I don't know how many fans realize the sincerity of their statement & the truth behind it. Why is this? I spoke with 2005 NCAA runner-up Joe Johnston of Iowa about it once. He said that within the conference you see all of your opponents so many times throughout the season(s). They know you inside & out. Figuring out ways to constantly stay one step ahead of them, while at the same time avoiding them figuring out any kinks in your armor is a challenge.
I mean think about guys like Alex Marinelli. Wrestlers like Nathan Tomasello, Vern Gagne & Kellan Russell. The first BIG 10 wrestling tournament was in 1914! Unlike the NCAA tournament which took a few years off due to WWII, the BIG 10's kept going. This is a tournament that has been around for 110 years. Granted we also have to add in the fact that freshmen weren't always eligible, but still this is a long time. There have been less than 20 four time BIG 10 champs.
Then how about all those who won an NCAA title, who never won a BIG 10 title? How many fit this bill? There's more than you think & today we're going to take a look at them.
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| Jeff Walter Wisconsin |
Jeff Walter tasted NCAA DI gold his senior season of 1996. Also an All American his junior season of 1995 with a 4th place finish, he never did win a BIG 10 title during his time as a Badger. Matter of fact, he never made a BIG 10 final. He was 5th-6th-3rd-4th at the BIG 10's during his career. His senior season, he dropped two matches, including a 4-2 decision to Seth Brady of Illinois. At the NCAA's he pulled of a series of huge upsets. A 2-1 tiebreaker over BIG 10 champion Terry Vaughn of Purdue in the quarters & then a 3-1 decision over BIG 10 runner-up Billy Pierce of Minnesota in the semi-finals. He won the NCAA title with a 3-2 decision over Justin Harty of North Carolina. Both Vaughn & Brady finished R12, while Pierce took 6th.
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| Sherwyn Thorson Iowa |
AFL, NFL & CFL football star Sherwyn Thorson was a wrestler who won an NCAA title but never won a BIG 10 title. 3rd in the BIG 10 & 2nd in the NCAA's his junior season of 1961, he was pinned by Roger Pillath of Wisconsin in the BIG 10 finals in 1962. This must have lit a fire under his ass, because he was on an absolute terror at the NCAA's. Not only did he avenge his loss to Pillath by sticking him at the 3:21 mark in the finals, minus one match, he pinned his way through the NCAA's. Just how good was Thorson as a football player? The next season...& yes you are reading this correctly....the next season he helped the Winnipeg Blue Bombers win the CFL Grey Cup.
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| Terry Steiner Iowa |
One of the things that always made the Gable era such a fascinating, mystical & magical period of time, is that there were so many times where his wrestlers avenged early season losses at the most vital time of the season. The NCAA tournament. U.S. Women's head coach (& may I add one of the absolute best things to ever happen to women's wrestling in this country) Terry Steiner is a perfect example of this. The 1993 NCAA champion never won a BIG 10 title during his time as a Hawkeye. 3rd in both 1991 & 1992, he was the BIG 10 runner-up in 1993, losing a heartbreaker to Penn State's Troy Sunderland by a 6-4 decision.
Steiner who was also 3rd & 5th at the NCAA's his sophomore & junior seasons would end his career with an exciting 8-7 victory over his Nitany Lion rival.
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| Brad Smith Iowa |
One of the greatest coaches in the history of Iowa high school wrestling, 1976 NCAA DI champion Brad Smith never saw himself in a BIG 10 final. 3rd in '74, '75 & '76, he sure did collect a lot of BIG 10 bronze though. At the NCAA's he more than had it together, his closest match a 2 point decision as he nearly majored his way through the semis with a win over 1973 NCAA champ Don Rohn of Clarion 12-5 & then did major his way to the NCAA title with a 12-4 decision over Gene Costello of Slippery Rock. Meanwhile BIG 10 champ Alan Housner was upset in the first round & BIG 10 runner-up Andy DiSabato finished a disappointing 1-2.
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| Eric Siebert Illinois |
Some might argue that this one deserves to have an * next to it because of the circumstances. Maybe, but the fact remains regardless of the reasons as to why, Eric Siebert stands an NCAA DI champion, who never won a BIG 10 title. His highest finish within the BIG 10 was 3rd, his sophomore season of 1996. His senior year of 1998, the year he won the NCAA DI title, he went into the BIG 10's, won his first two matches & then took off his singlet & got back into his street clothes medical forfeiting to 6th place. At the NCAA's he defeated Minnesota's Chad Kraft (the Golden Gophers first four time All American) 7-3 in the NCAA's. Kraft had taken 3rd at the BIG 10's. BIG 10 champion Bill Lacure of Michigan finished in 4th place & BIG 10 runner-up Clint Musser of Penn State placed 5th.
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| Jack Reinwald Wisconsin |
Now here's a story that makes you turn your head, raise your eyebrows & say, "Wait...WHAT!?!?!??!"
Jack Reinwald was 3rd in the BIG 10's & 4th at the NCAA championships his junior season of 1975. His senior season of 1976, he finished 4th at the BIG 10's. This included nearly getting majored by Iowa's Mike McDonough (recognize that last name? Yes, we're talking about Matt's father) 7-1 for 3rd place.
Yet while Reinwald won the NCAA DI title, the 1st, 2nd & 3rd place BIG 10 finishers didn't even place! BIG 10 champ Amos Goodlow of Michigan suffered a horrible first round upset loss, as did 3rd placer McDonough. BIG 10 runner-up Kevin Puebla of Illinois went 1-2. There's a reason why I say that so much more happens during the season than just the NCAA tournament.
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| Mark Reiland Iowa |
Ironically enough, we now get to talk about another legend in Iowa High School wrestling as both a wrestler & as a coach. Mark Reiland found himself among some of the best competition during his years as a Hawkeye as he had both Ohio State's Kevin Randleman & Purdue's Charlie Jones (both NCAA champs themselves) to contend with. An All American as a true sophomore in 1989 with a 4th place finish, it would be Reiland's redshirt junior season of 1991 when he captured the NCAA Division I title. Not only did he upend BIG 10 champ Randleman with a fall in 4:59, he also had a semi-final win over four time NCAA II champion Dan Russell of Portland State. Jones who had finished as the BIG 10 runner-up took 3rd. The next season Reiland, who had thus far finished with two BIG 10 3rd place finishes, made the BIG 10 finals, but lost to Jones in the finals. He finished one match shy of his third All American honor.
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| Carl Perry Illinois |
I once had Billy Martin Sr tell me that the best move in the sport of wrestling was the Granby roll. I'm sure there are more than a few who would disagree with that statement, but I can tell you a guy who would agree with it. Carl Perry of Illinois. It never did win him a BIG 10 title, but it did help him to win an NCAA title.
During Perry's time as an Illini, not only did he never win a BIG 10 title, he never even made a BIG 10 final. The best he ever did in the BIG 10 tournament was a 3rd place finish in 1999 as a junior, the same year he finished R12 at the NCAA's.
In the year he won the NCAA title, his senior year of 2000, he was defeated twice at the BIG 10 tournament. Iowa's Doug Schwab defeated him 6-4 in a tiebreaker in the semi-finals & Minnesota's Damion Logan bested him 4-2 in the consolation final. A disappointing 4th place finish would not deter Perry one bit as he avenged his loss to Schwab 7-5 tiebreaker in the quarterfinals before going on to capture NCAA gold. While both Schwab & Logan stood higher than him on the BIG 10 award stand, it was Perry standing at the top while Schwab stood in 3rd & Logan stood in 6th at the NCAA's.
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| Ken Maidlow Michigan State |
Get the plutonium ready & make sure Einstein has buckled his seatbelt. We gotta go back in time for this rather unique circumstance. Michigan State's Ken Maidlow marks yet another collegiate wrestler who won an NCAA title, yet never won a BIG 10 title. His senior season of 1958, he finished as the BIG 10 runner-up (also 3rd in '57 & 4th in '56) to Illinois' Bob Norman in match that ended 4-2 s.v. The thing about it is, he didn't best Norman in an act of revenge at the NCAA's either. While Norman stayed up at HWT, winning an NCAA title of his own, Maidlow made the cut to 191. So perhaps in this case it's more of difference of weight class than it is competition. Maybe Maidlow would've won a BIG 10 title has he competed at 191 for the BIG 10's. Who knows? What is known is that he owns NCAA gold, but he does not own BIG 10 gold.
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| John Lockhart Illinois |
I've been watching wrestling for 31 years & in my three decades of watching this sport, I've never seen anyone more relaxed and more comfortable in a tiebreaker situation than John Lockhart of Illinois. If the match were tied at the end of regulation & no points had been scored in the initial overtime, there wasn't a soul alive who could keep John Lockhart down in the referee's position. Gable Steveson may very well be the best HWT of all time. Perhaps he would smoke Lockhart on their feet, but there's no way he'd be able to ride Lockhart. I'm telling you he was that good on bottom. Explosive with one of the best standups I've ever seen. Cole Konrad, Lou Banach, I'm trying to think of some of the biggest and strongest HWT's we've had. Maybe some of the behemoths of yesteryear, like Tab Thacker & Chris Taylor. Perhaps by pure weight alone someone could, but again I'm telling you, if the bottom position were Alcatraz, John Lockhart was the man who could escape from it.
He used his standup to win the NCAA DI title his junior season of 2001. In the semi-finals he avenged his BIG 10 title loss to Garrett Lowney by using his standup to defeat the Golden Gopher 2-1 tiebreaker. He then won another tiebreaker with his explosiveness from bottom, defeating Tommy Rowlands of Ohio State by the same score.
All in all, Lockhart was 3rd-2nd-6th in the BIG 10, while he was 7th-1st-3rd in the NCAA.
I spoke with him shortly after he finished 3rd at the NCAA's his senior season. He told me that working his way back up to 3rd place was a heck of a lot tougher than winning the NCAA title. All these years later I still admire how Lockhart kept his composure & never let the pressure get to him. That's not an easy thing to do in this sport. Yet it was like clockwork. If Lockhart chose down, you knew he was getting away. It's like the sun rising in the morning. You just knew it was gonna happen.
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| Leonard "Butch" Levy Minnesota |
An NCAA champion in 1941. A member of the 1941 NCAA top ranked BIG 10 championship football team. A NFL star for both the Washington Redskins & the Los Angeles Rams. A famed All Star heel wrestler in Vern Gagne's American Wrestling Association. Was there anything that Butch Levy didn't do in his illustrious life? Yes. He never won a BIG 10 title. In his junior season, he dropped a tight 3-2 decision to John Sikich of Illinois in the finals. As he would go on to win the NCAA title, Sikich didn't even participate in the championships. As to why, I do not know. What I can tell you is that up to that point Sikich was a two time All American for the Illini. Finished 2nd in 1939 & 3rd in 1940. Lots of mysteries in this sport & why Sikich didn't compete at the NCAA's in 1941 is one of them. Things were different some 80 years ago than what they are now. Could be that he got hurt. Perhaps he didn't have a way to the tournament. Weather? Maybe he got married? Don't know. You'd be surprised at the reasons guys did miss tournaments back in the day though.
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| Art Kraft Northwestern |
Art Kraft (Brother of Midlands Ken Kraft) was 4th at both the 1959 BIG 10's & the 1959 NCAA championships. In 1960, he finished 2nd at the BIG 10's, losing 3-1 s.v. to Bob Marshall of Purdue in the finals. He would go on to win the NCAA title as Marshall finished 3rd.
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| J Jaggers Ohio State |
"Tournament wrestler." "Peaks at the right time." We hear these phrases thrown around quite a bit in the sport of wrestling, but few exemplify the terms better than J Jaggers of Ohio State. Not only did he win a NCAA title with 0 BIG 10 titles, he won TWO NCAA titles. As a junior he was defeated 6-2 by Manny Rivera of Minnesota in the BIG 10 quarter-finals. As Rivera finished 2nd, Jaggers would finish 3rd. At the NCAA's however, it'd be Jagger's day as he upset BIG 10 champion Kellan Russell of Michigan in the quarterfinals with a 5-3 decision. As Jaggers won his first NCAA title, Rivera finished 7th & Russell finished a match short of All American honors.
The next year as a senior, history would repeat itself. Jaggers once again finished 3rd at the BIG 10's, but it was he who would walk away with NCAA gold. BIG 10 champion Russell took 7th as BIG 10 runner-up Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin finished in 4th place.
The BIG 10's weren't the only place Jaggers struggled either. Not only did he not win a CKLV title, he didn't even place at the tournament! So maybe sometimes it's even harder to win CKLV than it is to win the NCAA's! At the end of the day, the national tournament will always be the prestige, the pinnacle of collegiate wrestling. However, I would hope that in looking at examples like Jaggers, it helps to illustrate just how difficult it can be to be at your very best all 6 months of the season. We, as we should, remember Jaggers & celebrate Jaggers as a two time NCAA champ. I also think it's pretty cool & something worth celebrating that Corey Jantzen of Harvard, a guy who never earned All American honors during his collegiate career, won CKLV that season. "More than 3 days" probably a saying you're not as familiar with, but you will be the more you read me.
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| Kelvin Jackson Michigan State |
Kelvin Jackson finished as the BIG 10 runner-up in 1994 as a junior. He then went a very disappointing 0-1 at the NCAA championships. The next year as as senior, he again finished as the BIG 10 runner-up, after a grueling & exhausting 1-1 tiebreaker loss to Iowa's Mike Mena. His NCAA experience however, would be a completely different experience. He was on fire the entire tournament, capturing the NCAA title as Mena finished in 3rd place.
I have to add that I often reference his BIG 10 finals match with Mike Mena, whenever I hear anyone speak of Mena's 1997 NCAA finals loss to Eric Guerrero of Oklahoma State. I remember at the time, shortly after & even to this day people shaking their heads & questioning why Mena would choose up in such a situation. It's because he was damn good on top. Mena had a scary ride. A vise grip, maybe if he weighed 150 lbs more, one that might have even kept down John Lockhart in a tiebreaker. I mean after all, he was able to ride out Jackson. I'm sure he would have rather had it have been in the NCAA finals, but winning a BIG 10 title is still a big deal. It was something Jackson wasn't able to do.
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| Dan Holm Iowa |
It was Larry Zilverberg of Minnesota who Dan Holm struggled with in BIG 10 competition. After finishing 3rd in the BIG 10's as well as the NCAA's as a sophomore in 1973, it was the Golden Gopher who upended him 8-4 in the 1974 BIG 10 finals. The Golden Gopher would again defeat the Hawkeye in the NCAA Semi-finals 9-3. As Holm finished 3rd once again at the NCAA's, Zilverberg took 2nd. In his senior season of 1975, Zilverberg would again deny Holm a BIG 10 title as he squeaked past the Hawkeye in a 3-2 decision. This is where at the NCAA's, a clash of styles benefited the Hawkeye.
It was John Janiak of Syracuse who stopped Zilverberg dead in his tracks in the NCAA semi-finals with an 11-8 decision. Yet Holm, who had difficulty with Zilverberg was able to secure his NCAA gold with a 7-6 decision over the Orangeman. Zilverberg came back to collect NCAA bronze.
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| Jim Haines Wisconsin |
A World Cup Gold Medalist in 1977 & 1978. A Pan American Silver Medalist in 1975. A World Silver Medalist in 1979. A 1976 Olympian. A 1977 NCAA champion. There wasn't much Jim Haines didn't do during his career as a wrestler, but one thing he didn't do was win a BIG 10 title.
After a 3rd place finish at the BIG 10's in 1975, Haines lost in the BIG 10 finals in 1977 to Minnesota's Mike McArthur 4-0. It would be sweet revenge for the Badger when they met in the NCAA finals two weeks later. This time it'd be Haines who got his hand raised in an 8-7 decision.
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| Dick Govig Iowa |
Dick Govig is a pretty interesting case. I'm not even sure if he competed at the BIG 10 tournament in 1954. Winning the NCAA title at 123 lbs, it was Terry McCann who represented the Hawkeyes at 123 lbs in the BIG 10. For the NCAA's, McCann dropped down to 115 lbs where he finished 3rd. Back in these days the BIG 10 wasn't a qualifier like it is today. Wrestlers were more so selected by their coaches to be participants in the NCAA tournament. So maybe Govig did compete at the BIG 10's at a different weight. Not sure, what I do know, is that if he did, he failed to place in the top four.
The rest of Govig's collegiate career would be hampered by injuries, but he did place 3rd at the BIG 10's in 1955.
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| Lee Fullhart Iowa |
The obstacle that kept Lee Fullhart from winning a BIG 10 title during his career as a Hawkeye was the the same obstacle that kept him from winning another NCAA title after he won one his sophomore season of 1997. For one reason or another, Minnesota's Tim Hartung was a problem he just could not find a solution to. After finishing as the BIG 10 runner-up in 1996 as a freshman, it was Hartung who kept Fullhart from making the BIG 10 finals as a sophomore in 1997. Another example of a styles clash, Hartung was then defeated in the semi-finals of the NCAA tournament by returning NCAA champion John Kading of Oklahoma, as Fullhart then upset Kading in the finals.
For the next two seasons, Hartung would be the thorn that Fullhart could not remove. A 3-1 s.v. in the finals of the BIG 10's, it was an 8-7 victory in the semi-finals of the NCAA's in 1998. In 1999, Hartung would defeat Fullhart in both the BIG 10 finals as well as the NCAA finals by a 2-1 score.
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| Joe Dubuque Indiana |
Joe Dubuque won two NCAA titles & not only did he never win a BIG 10 title, he never made a BIG 10 final. 4th at the BIG 10's in 2004 as a sophomore, in the year's he won NCAA titles ('05 & '06) he finished 3rd in the BIG 10's. His junior season, Nick Simmons of Michigan State defeated him 3-2 in the semi-finals. As Dubuque collected his first NCAA gold medal, Simmons finished in 4th place. As a senior, Dubuque lost a 5-4 tiebreaker to Kyle Ott of Illinois in the semi-finals of the BIG 10's. Dubuque would win his second NCAA title as Ott was upset at the NCAA's finishing one match shy of his third All American honor. It's stories like these that inspire me to write articles like this.
Dubuque demonstrated how important the mental game is in this sport. Being able to clear your head and focus despite any previous outcome. I'm sure he wanted to win the BIG 10's, but he didn't let the fact that he was unable to deter him in anyway as he went into the NCAA's. He kept absolute concentration & allowed for no doubt to enter his mind.
On the flip side of the coin, I don't see how anyone could conclude that Ott had a disappointing season. A disappointing end to his season sure, but to look at his entire senior year as if it were a let down because of a bad NCAA tournament, I think is ridiculous. He beat Dubuque that year, two weeks before he won the NCAA's. He was the BIG 10 runner-up. I think that's saying something.
I guess the reason why I'm on it & won't get off of it is because I think a part of wrestling's inability to be taken seriously in comparison to that of the more mainstream sports of football & basketball is in many ways wrestling's own fault.
To the outside world & honestly to most of the world inside of wrestling, let me propose this question. What draws? What makes $$? What is taken seriously in terms of viewership & recognition? The NCAA national tournament. Phrases like, "it's the ONLY thing that matters" & "ALL that matters in the national tournament" I think are very detrimental to our sport. How can we expect fans, especially casual fans to take anything else seriously, when we don't ourselves?
You don't get this in football. You don't hear, "Ah...only game that matters in the bowl game." Granted, football is set up in such a way that differs greatly from wrestling. Nevertheless, Football fans seem to take every game seriously. Basketball is much the same way. I don't want to be misconstrued or misunderstood here. I'm not asking that wrestlers, coaches or fans suddenly think an open at the beginning of the season needs to be treated like it's the Olympics. What I'm saying is, is that there is so much wrestling that happens from the middle of October through the end of March. Duals & tournaments. Why do we act like the last three days of a 6 month sport are the only thing worth writing down and recording? Why is it when you look up a wrestler, it'll list what they did or didn't do at the national tournament but little or sometimes even nothing else? Midlands, Southern Scuffle, CKLV, ect, I think these things ought to be included in bios.
I mean I am proving through evidence here & I've done it with other articles in the past, that in many ways the NCAA's is just another tournament. I know to some of you reading that is like hearing finger nails on a chalk board. It just irritates the Hell out of you. It is though. I won't disagree with you that it is the most important tournament, because it is the most important tournament. BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT....it is NOT the ONLY important tournament. It's NOT the ONLY tournament "that matters." It's NOT the only accomplishment worth celebrating & remembering.
And....if this article has proven anything, it's NOT the only tournament that is harder than hell to win!
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| George Downes Ohio State |
George Downes was the first Buckeye to win an NCAA title in 1940, but he did not win a BIG 10 title as he was defeated in the BIG 10 finals by Michigan's Forest Jordan. At the NCAA's as Downes captured gold, Jordan was upset in the first round as he was pinned by Syracuse's George Hooper, whom Downes would then pin himself.
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| Jim Craig Iowa |
Collecting bronze medals at both the BIG 10's & the NCAA's as a junior in 1958, it was Minnesota's Bill Wright who kept Jim Craig from winning a BIG 10 title in 1959. The Golden Gopher bested the Hawkeye 7-3 in the finals. However at the NCAA championships, Wright was upset by unseeded Al Blanshan out of small college Minnesota State Mankato. Craig would defeat Blanshan 6-5 in the finals as Wright came back to claim 3rd place.
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| Dick Cook Michigan State |
Here's a very interesting case. In 1966, the year Dick Cook finished 3rd at the BIG 10's & won the NCAA title, the weight classes were different for the BIG 10 than what they were for the NCAA's! Competing at 157 for the BIG 10's, Cook finished behind champion Elmer Beale of Wisconsin & runner-up Lee Gross of Minnesota. At the NCAA's, Cook dropped down to 152 lbs to claim the championship as Beale moved up to 160 lbs & finished 4th. For one reason or another Gross did not compete at the NCAA's. However, of interest, Jim Kamman of Michigan who finished 4th behind Cook at the BIG 10's, placed 3rd at 152 after being defeated by Cook in the semi-finals.
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| Pat Christianson Wisconsin |
A walk-on for the Badgers, Pat Christianson finished 4th-3rd-3rd at the BIG 10's during his collegiate career. In the year he won the NCAA title of 1976, he was unseeded. BIG 10 champion Larry Zilverberg of Minnesota (whose name comes up yet again in this article) was upset in the semi-finals by Iowa's Dan Wageman whom he had defeated in the BIG 10 finals 9-6. Christianson would upset Wageman 9-7 in the NCAA finals. Zilverberg injury defaulted to 6th place.
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| Ryan Bertin Michigan |
Ryan Bertin was one of those wrestlers that never gave up a single position. He would fight you tooth and nail & make you earn every point you ever scored on him. I guess that's why he was so much fun to watch & why he ended his career a four time NCAA All American & a two time NCAA champion. Yet despite winning NCAA gold twice, he never did win a BIG 10 title. Collected a lot of BIG 10 silver, but no BIG 10 gold.
He was 3rd in the BIG 10 the year he won his first NCAA title. It was his sophomore season of 2003 & returning NCAA champion Luke Becker of Minnesota bested him in the semi-finals 7-3. While Becker was upset at the NCAA's, eventually finishing in 4th place, Bertin eventually stood atop the podium.
In 2005, Bertin's senior season, he lost for the second season in a row to his long time rival Alex Tirapelle of Illinois, as the Illini snuck past him in a 4-3 battle. Tirapelle would unfortunately have a nightmare tournament finishing one match shy of All American honors as Bertin cruised to his second NCAA title.
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| Robert Antonacci Indiana |
This is another case of switching weight classes. Robert Antonacci finished as the 1940 BIG 10 runner-up to Dale Hanson of Minnesota competing at 128 lbs. He dropped down to 121 lbs to win the NCAA title as Hanson finished 2nd at 128. The next season Antonacci was injured at the BIG 10's, defaulting to 4th place. He tried to compete once again at the NCAA tournament, but the injury got the best of him and he defaulted out.
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There you have it. Are there more NCAA champs who competed in the BIG 10 who never won a BIG 10 title? I'm sure I probably overlooked at least one. It just goes to show that the NCAA's isn't always the hardest tournament to win.
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