The Mount(s) Rushmore of NCAA Wrestling

[Coastal2]

I will go with Cael, Dake, Haselrig and either Gable or Yianni or Starocci or Brooks. I keep waffling on the last 4.

Something can be said for Wade Schalles as the godfather of funk. He invented more moves than everyone else on your list put together.

 

[Joejitsu]

The Gable loss was a choke loss; same with Spencer Lee's loss.

https://www.on3.com/boards/threads/iowa-greats-coach-dan-gable-and-spencer-lee.1776162/

dont disagree but almost every wrester has that blemish on their record (with few exceptions) and out of all the undefeated... only a couple were as dominant or more dominant over the course of a career than Dan Gable. Cael, Uteake, Koll, Hodge... then there are a bunch of undefeated guys with 20-30 wins for an entire career... hard to put that on the same level as a guy that wrestled over 100 times and only lost one.

and like i said... he not just won all but one... he was pretty dominant. Feel like for me Dan Gable has to be a top 10 guy and probably a top 7 guy all time... IDK... I can make arguments for an against but hard to keep him out of the top 10

JMO

 

[Joejitsu]

I will go with Cael, Dake, Haselrig and either Gable or Yianni or Starocci or Brooks. I keep waffling on the last 4.

yeah... not sure what to do with Yianni, Starocci, Brooks, Logan, or even Dake for that matter...
i can honestly say that Brooks lost his senior year.... and I remember holding my breath in the finals his senior year... that doesnt feel dominant
CStar... felt like holding my breath but for different reasons / i would have to put CStar over Aaron....
Yianni the same thing he lost his senior year and there was some doubt going into his finals match against Sasso.

To me .... guys like Zian...Bo... Nolf... by their senior year... they were expected to not just win everything but to dominate.
Mitch... right now

Zain has 3 loses but by the end of his college career- he was a better wrestler than yianni was at the end of his! JMO

 

[Joejitsu]

Something can be said for Wade Schalles as the godfather of funk. He invented more moves than everyone else on your list put together.

Wade was 153-5 with 106 pins.... that has to put him up their in the conversation... maybe not top 5 but in the dirty dozen for sure! The crazy think with Wade... is that all of his loses came at the D2 level and none at the D1 level.... in fact he was so dominant at the D1 level that if you just went by that.. you almost have to place him in the top 5

 

[BigFella235]

Personally, the four I’d put on there would be Hodge, Cael, Hasselrig, and Uetake.

That being said, I wonder how each school’s wrestling Mount Rushmore would stack up against each other. OK State, Penn State, and Iowa seem like they’d have the most heated debates over who to include and who has the better group. Minnesota could be a dark horse given their heavyweight prowess. Iowa State could as well with their deep history

 

[Coastal2]

Wade was 153-5 with 106 pins.... that has to put him up their in the conversation... maybe not top 5 but in the dirty dozen for sure! The crazy think with Wade... is that all of his loses came at the D2 level and none at the D1 level.... in fact he was so dominant at the D1 level that if you just went by that.. you almost have to place him in the top 5

It's not so much the record with Schalles as it is the innovation. Spladle, Clemson roll, multiple different cradle techniques... as I said, I consider him the godfather of funk wrestling.

 

[dicemen99]

The Gable loss was a choke loss; same with Spencer Lee's loss.

https://www.on3.com/boards/threads/iowa-greats-coach-dan-gable-and-spencer-lee.1776162/

You missed that Spencer came up short in absolutely the 3 biggest matches of his career to secure his legacy:

• Loss as a SR in HS chasing 4-time, undefeated champion status
• Loss as a SR in college chasing 4-time champion status
• Loss in the Olympic finals (his ultimate goal)

Just trying to be helpful @lionlover . Maybe @Lil Nicky Scarfo can pitch in as well.

 

[Corby2]

You missed that Spencer came up short in absolutely the 3 biggest matches of his career to secure his legacy:

• Loss as a SR in HS chasing 4-time, undefeated champion status
• Loss as a SR in college chasing 4-time champion status
• Loss in the Olympic finals (his ultimate goal)

Just trying to be helpful @lionlover . Maybe @Lil Nicky Scarfo can pitch in as well.

Would you say it was skill related or between his ears ?

 

[Random4598375]

Would you say it was skill related or between his ears ?

It wasn't skill related in HS or college. Maybe in the Olympics. In both HS and college, it was a combination of recklessly wrestling through injuries and between the ears.

 

[Corby2]

It wasn't skill related in HS or college. Maybe in the Olympics. In both HS and college, it was a combination of recklessly wrestling through injuries and between the ears.

I don't think him wrestling thru injuries lost him the Desanto or Ramos matches I think the moment did . High level athletes will tell you times they lost it in big moments and froze and they explain it as everything around them is in slow motion the crowds sounds different its all slow motion

 

[lionlover]

Wade was 153-5 with 106 pins.... that has to put him up their in the conversation... maybe not top 5 but in the dirty dozen for sure! The crazy think with Wade... is that all of his loses came at the D2 level and none at the D1 level.... in fact he was so dominant at the D1 level that if you just went by that.. you almost have to place him in the top 5

You can add this to Wade's resume:

"The Guinness World Record for the most career pinning victories in wrestling belongs to American athlete Wade Schalles, who recorded 530 falls (pins) alongside 821 total victories."

 

[lionlover]

Wade was 153-5 with 106 pins.... that has to put him up their in the conversation... maybe not top 5 but in the dirty dozen for sure! The crazy think with Wade... is that all of his loses came at the D2 level and none at the D1 level.... in fact he was so dominant at the D1 level that if you just went by that.. you almost have to place him in the top 5

Yeah, it seems crazy, but you're talking about Pennsylvania's D2 wrestling teams in that era. I bet if you looked at the losses, they were all to Pennsylvania D2 schools in the PSAC. Many years ago the D2 schools in PA were able to obtain elite wrestlers that other D1 schools wished they could have in their lineup.

For example, the only wrestler to dominate Wade Schalles (8-7 in wins and losses over Wade) was a PA wrestler from D2 Slippery Rock by the name of Stan Dziedzic.

If you were able to take the best wrestlers from the PSAC during its heyday and put them on one team, they would have had multiple D1 national championships.

 

[lionlover]

Wade was 153-5 with 106 pins.... that has to put him up their in the conversation... maybe not top 5 but in the dirty dozen for sure! The crazy think with Wade... is that all of his loses came at the D2 level and none at the D1 level.... in fact he was so dominant at the D1 level that if you just went by that.. you almost have to place him in the top 5

Oh, I forgot to mention that "Wade lost an opportunity to win a third title during his senior campaign due to a strange eligibility rule that did not allow him to compete in the NCAA Championships. As a way to prove his might, he moved up from 158 pounds to 177 pounds and pinned Floyd Hitchcock — the eventual NCAA champion and Outstanding Wrestler."

Let that feat sink in.

By the way, Floyd Hitchcock wrestled D2 in the PSAC.

 

[Coastal2]

Would you say it was skill related or between his ears ?

He purposely chose Iowa. One must then question if there's anything between his ears.

 

[randyl]

Not quite correct re Wade's losses.
One loss at NCAAs his FR year.

 

[Sportfan2017]

Something can be said for Wade Schalles as the godfather of funk. He invented more moves than everyone else on your list put together.

Wade certainly deserves consideration. I guess I need to waffle over another worthy choice.

Cael: 159-0 A record that may never be broken. "Nuff Said
Dake: Four NCAA Titles at four different weights. Never been done.......likely never will be done again
Haselrig: SIX time NCAA Heavyweight champ. Very Likely never to be done again
Waffle: There are so many that I can be talked into....Nolf, Zain, Gable, Wade, Yianni and others. You pick the 4th

 

[creamery freak]

Personally, the four I’d put on there would be Hodge, Cael, Hasselrig, and Uetake.

That being said, I wonder how each school’s wrestling Mount Rushmore would stack up against each other. OK State, Penn State, and Iowa seem like they’d have the most heated debates over who to include and who has the better group. Minnesota could be a dark horse given their heavyweight prowess. Iowa State could as well with their deep history

Tony Nelson and Minny, a dark horse for any talk of Mount Rushmore category in wrestling is scary! Thank you Nick Gwiazkowski

 

[Joejitsu]

Wade was 153-5 with 106 pins.... that has to put him up their in the conversation... maybe not top 5 but in the dirty dozen for sure!