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 of ten on the list of two-pin winners.
  • Can you name the other nine two-pin winners?
Duke became Penn State's fifth Gorriaran winner.
  • Which school's wrestlers have won the most Gorriarans?
Five wrestlers have won the Gorriaran twice.
  • How many of the five two-timers can you name?
The two-time winners racked up an impressive 39 total pins on the way to their awards.
  • Can you name the wrestler with the most pins while winning the Gorriaran?
  • Can you name the wrestler with the least pins while winning the Gorriaran?
 
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Wrestleknownothing

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OK, let's see if I can interest you this way.

What Rutgers wrestler tied for the most pins in a tournament, but came in eleventh in the Gorriaran standings based on total time?
 

SCNJ

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OK, let's see if I can interest you this way.

What Rutgers wrestler tied for the most pins in a tournament, but came in eleventh in the Gorriaran standings based on total time?
Soldano had 2 pins a few years ago and Turley had 2 during his AA run
 

Wrestleknownothing

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Soldano had 2 pins a few years ago and Turley had 2 during his AA run
In 2023, when Soldano had 2 pins, Hendrickson won the award with 3. But Soldano actually finished higher in the rankings (7th) than the man I am looking for.

Turley was even more so. In 2021 Patrick McKee won with 3, but Turley finished third in the standings.
 

Wrestleknownothing

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Hint: The Rutgers wrestler who tied for the most pins, but finished 11th in the Gorriaran standings did not AA.
 

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.
 

Wrestleknownothing

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Answer key.
  • Can you name the other nine two-pin winners? James LaRock (Ithaca 1950), Jack Ellena (UCLA 1953), Ted Ellis (OSU 1961), Rob Sintobin (Clarion 1994), Garrett Lowney (Minn 2001), Brent Jones (Vir 2010), Ed Ruth (PSU (2011), Colton Schultz (ASU 2022).
  • 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 five 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), David Taylor (PSU 2012, 2013).
  • Can you name the wrestler with the most pins while winning the Gorriaran? Dan Gable (10)
  • Can you name the wrestler with the least pins while winning the Gorriaran? Ted Ellis (OSU 2 in 1959, 4 in 1961).