Gorriaran Trivia

Wrestleknownothing

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As we grind to our summer halt on wrestling talk I thought I would dust off some stuff.

The Gorriaran Award was introduced in 1949. Named after Manuel Gorriaran (NWHOF bio), the award goes to the wrestler who has the most total pins in the least amount of time.

PJ Duke won the Gorriaran Award this year with 2 pins. Duke took 3:34 to complete the pair of pins. That ranks him fifth on the list of two-pin winners.
  • Who ranks first on the list of two-pin winners?
Duke became Penn State's fifth Gorriaran winner.
  • Which school's wrestlers have won the most Gorriarans?
David Taylor won the Gorriaran twice during his illustrious Penn State career. That puts him in elite company along with four other wrestlers.
  • How many of the other four two-timers can you name?
Taylor won his two Gorriarans with a total of 8 pins. That ranks him ties for third on the list.
  • Can you name the two wrestlers with more total pins while also winning the Gorriaran?
  • Bonus Question: One of the two-timers accumulated only 4 pins. Can you name him?
edit: fixed a question. see below.
 
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Cali_Nittany1

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Answers:
Don't know
Don't know
Gable, Hodge, Albright, ?, ? (probably another couple heavies)
Gable & Hodge
Don't know
 

Wrestleknownothing

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Answers:
Don't know
Don't know
Gable, Hodge, Albright, ?, ? (probably another couple heavies)
Gable & Hodge
Don't know
Turns out I mis-counted. There are only FOUR other two -timers (five total). You got three of them. And yes, the last one is a heavy.

Gable had 10 pins to surpass Taylor, but Hodge only tied Taylor with 8.
 
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mcpat

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I didn't think it needed to be said. That is what the Gorriaran is.
10 years wrestling, including 3 in college, wrestling message board member, Flo subscriber, BTN+ subscriber, on and off Rokfin subscriber, have gone to 2 B1G tourneys, 2 NCAA tourneys, Oly Trials, Final X, countless matches (high school and NCAA), and I’ve never heard of it. Guess we should switch usernames.
 

Cali_Nittany1

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10 years wrestling, including 3 in college, wrestling message board member, Flo subscriber, BTN+ subscriber, on and off Rokfin subscriber, have gone to 2 B1G tourneys, 2 NCAA tourneys, Oly Trials, Final X, countless matches (high school and NCAA), and I’ve never heard of it. Guess we should switch usernames.

That's what too many White Claws will do to you.
 

Wrestleknownothing

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10 years wrestling, including 3 in college, wrestling message board member, Flo subscriber, BTN+ subscriber, on and off Rokfin subscriber, have gone to 2 B1G tourneys, 2 NCAA tourneys, Oly Trials, Final X, countless matches (high school and NCAA), and I’ve never heard of it. Guess we should switch usernames.
And somewhere Manuel wept.
 
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Coastal2

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There's a post on another board April 15, 2025 by some guy named Wrestleknownothing that has all these answers and posts discussing a wrestler who won and a freshman and a senior in '82 and '86 for example.
 
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BigFella235

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The only wrestler I can recall winning the Gorrarian award off the top of my head was Rob Sintobin from Clarion back in the 90’s. But that’s because he was my college practice partner’s HS coach. I wanna say he pinned a guy from Purdue in the consolation semis in like 40 seconds.

Met him while wrestling at the Clarion Open my freshman year of college (2013). Dude still looked like he could kick most people’s heads in
 
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BigFella235

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Aug 13, 2021
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As we grind to our summer halt on wrestling talk I thought I would dust off some stuff.

The Gorriaran Award was introduced in 1949. Named after Manuel Gorriaran (NWHOF bio), the award goes to the wrestler who has the most total pins in the least amount of time.

PJ Duke won the Gorriaran Award this year with 2 pins. Duke took 3:34 to complete the pair of pins. That ranks him fifth on the list of two-pin winners.
  • Who ranks first on the list of two-pin winners?
Duke became Penn State's fifth Gorriaran winner.
  • Which school's wrestlers have won the most Gorriarans?
David Taylor won the Gorriaran twice during his illustrious Penn State career. That puts him in elite company along with four other wrestlers.
  • How many of the other four two-timers can you name?
Taylor won his two Gorriarans with a total of 8 pins. That ranks him ties for third on the list.
  • Can you name the two wrestlers with more total pins while also winning the Gorriaran?
  • Bonus Question: One of the two-timers accumulated only 4 pins. Can you name him?
edit: fixed a question. see below.
Admittedly, I googled because the curiosity was killing me.

1) Vinnie Jones (Virginia) 2 pins in 1:33. Edged out Sintobin by 16 seconds.

2) Iowa State with 8 (Gable 2x, Chris Taylor, Darryl Peterson, Tom Peckham, Matt Johnson, Eric Voelker, and Johnnie Jones)
 

Wrestleknownothing

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Admittedly, I googled because the curiosity was killing me.

1) Vinnie Jones (Virginia) 2 pins in 1:33. Edged out Sintobin by 16 seconds.

2) Iowa State with 8 (Gable 2x, Chris Taylor, Darryl Peterson, Tom Peckham, Matt Johnson, Eric Voelker, and Johnnie Jones)
I assume that was the Gemini response that Google now forces to the top of every search because it is wrong in the most AI way possible. Vinnie Jones was a soccer hardman and actor. Brent Jones was a wrestler for Virginia.

ISU is correct.
 

Wrestleknownothing

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The only wrestler I can recall winning the Gorrarian award off the top of my head was Rob Sintobin from Clarion back in the 90’s. But that’s because he was my college practice partner’s HS coach. I wanna say he pinned a guy from Purdue in the consolation semis in like 40 seconds.

Met him while wrestling at the Clarion Open my freshman year of college (2013). Dude still looked like he could kick most people’s heads in
Awesome
 

BigFella235

Senior
Aug 13, 2021
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I assume that was the Gemini response that Google now forces to the top of every search because it is wrong in the most AI way possible. Vinnie Jones was a soccer hardman and actor. Brent Jones was a wrestler for Virginia.

ISU is correct.
Yes, Brent Jones 🤦🏽‍♂️ Evidently that Netflix documentary I watched on Vinnie Jones the other day is still lingering around in my brain lol
 

Wrestleknownothing

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Someone guessed a pre-Gorriaran wrestler on 34.

So I decided to compile the list of guys who woulda won, if only they had the award.



There are a couple notables on there.

Bill Koll would have won with one. In 1946 the field was pretty small due to the ongoing effects of the war. There were only 6 pins the entire tournament with six different guys getting one each. Koll was the quickest. Lest you think too little of Koll, note that he repeated 2 years later with a respectable 5 pins.

The next year Dick Hauser would have won with 3 pins in 10:49. Which doesn't seem that notable except that the runner up would have been his Cornell (IA) teammate, Dale Thomas, who also had 3, but he took 10:50.
 

fortheglory94

Sophomore
Dec 7, 2009
35
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33
Someone guessed a pre-Gorriaran wrestler on 34.

So I decided to compile the list of guys who woulda won, if only they had the award.



There are a couple notables on there.

Bill Koll would have won with one. In 1946 the field was pretty small due to the ongoing effects of the war. There were only 6 pins the entire tournament with six different guys getting one each. Koll was the quickest. Lest you think too little of Koll, note that he repeated 2 years later with a respectable 5 pins.

The next year Dick Hauser would have won with 3 pins in 10:49. Which doesn't seem that notable except that the runner up would have been his Cornell (IA) teammate, Dale Thomas, who also had 3, but he took 10:50.
Can you imagine what the 1938 summer would have been like for Clifton Gustafson if they had NIL back then? He would have had two chickens in every pot!
 
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Wrestleknownothing

All-American
Oct 30, 2021
1,932
5,033
113
As we grind to our summer halt on wrestling talk I thought I would dust off some stuff.

The Gorriaran Award was introduced in 1949. Named after Manuel Gorriaran (NWHOF bio), the award goes to the wrestler who has the most total pins in the least amount of time.

PJ Duke won the Gorriaran Award this year with 2 pins. Duke took 3:34 to complete the pair of pins. That ranks him fifth on the list of two-pin winners.
  • Who ranks first on the list of two-pin winners?
Duke became Penn State's fifth Gorriaran winner.
  • Which school's wrestlers have won the most Gorriarans?
David Taylor won the Gorriaran twice during his illustrious Penn State career. That puts him in elite company along with four other wrestlers.
  • How many of the other four two-timers can you name?
Taylor won his two Gorriarans with a total of 8 pins. That ranks him ties for third on the list.
  • Can you name the two wrestlers with more total pins while also winning the Gorriaran?
  • Bonus Question: One of the two-timers accumulated only 4 pins. Can you name him?
edit: fixed a question. see below.
Time for the answer key.
  • Who ranks first on the list of two-pin winners? In 2011 Ed Ruth won the Gorriaran with two pins in a mere 1:06.
  • Which school's wrestlers have won the most Gorriarans? Iowa State has 8 Gorriarans won by 7 wrestlers. Tom Peckham (1966), Dan Gable (1969, 1970), Chris Taylor (1973), Johnnie Jones (1977), Darryl Peterson (1985), Eric Voelker (1988), Matt Johnson (1991).
  • How many of the other four two-timers can you name? Dan Hodge (OU 1956, 1957), Ted Ellis (OSU 1959, 1961), Dan Gable (ISU 1969, 1970), Gary Albright (Neb 1982, 1986).
  • Can you name the two wrestlers with more total pins while also winning the Gorriaran? Dan Gable (10), Gary Albright (9).
  • Bonus Question: One of the two-timers accumulated only 4 pins. Can you name him? No, you cannot. I had an error in my data. No one has done this.
 

Used2beerie

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Mar 25, 2015
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Time for the answer key.
  • Who ranks first on the list of two-pin winners? In 2011 Ed Ruth won the Gorriaran with two pins in a mere 1:06.
  • Which school's wrestlers have won the most Gorriarans? Iowa State has 8 Gorriarans won by 7 wrestlers. Tom Peckham (1966), Dan Gable (1969, 1970), Chris Taylor (1973), Johnnie Jones (1977), Darryl Peterson (1985), Eric Voelker (1988), Matt Johnson (1991).
  • How many of the other four two-timers can you name? Dan Hodge (OU 1956, 1957), Ted Ellis (OSU 1959, 1961), Dan Gable (ISU 1969, 1970), Gary Albright (Neb 1982, 1986).
  • Can you name the two wrestlers with more total pins while also winning the Gorriaran? Dan Gable (10), Gary Albright (9).
  • Bonus Question: One of the two-timers accumulated only 4 pins. Can you name him? No, you cannot. I had an error in my data. No one has done this.
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