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Biggest Upsets??

Roar, you are cheating! :)

Owings was the #2 seed to Gable’s #1 seed! If you are going to count the expectations in people’s heads for Gable/Owing, then we should count Bubba/Taylor and Nickal/Dean the same way. (Not to mention Cenzo/IMar.)

The better thing to do is probably to disqualify Gable/Owing also, for being an unfit answer.

See: https://nwhof.org/NCAA-Brackets/PDF/NCAA 1970.pdf
True ^^
 
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I'm not sure I remember anything correctly any more, but....
the headline in the CDT sports section consisted of two words.

GABLE LOSES

Don't think I have ever seen that before or since

Regardless of seeds, that is the biggie in college.
Schalles over Chatman in high school, with DeSanto over Lee a nice 2nd.
 
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Forgot about this one:

Returning natty champ Greg Jones losing to Ralph Everett in ot, in the 1st round.

And then losing again in the consys to DNP. I was shocked. Lots of surprises that year in KC. Moore brothers finishing 3rd and 4th and Cummins 4th. PSU going from 1 AA (Doc Vecchio in 8th) to 4 AAs and a top 10 finish.
 
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I'm not sure I remember anything correctly any more, but....
the headline in the CDT sports section consisted of two words.

GABLE LOSES

Don't think I have ever seen that before or since

Regardless of seeds, that is the biggie in college.
Schalles over Chatman in high school, with DeSanto over Lee a nice 2nd.
I watched the Gable bout live on TV and was there for the Schalles win over Chatman in Rec Hall in the state finals. Both were hugely shocking. Gable was such a bigger than life person, that it's hard to top the shock of seeing him lose his first match in HS or college. The Schalles match had a twist to it. Chatman seemed unbeatable, AND, he dominated Schalles for 2+ periods--UNTIL Schalles hit that elevator and as they say. . .the rest was history! Both matches completely shocking. I have to admit that when Cenzo decked Imar (I was there for that one too), the feel of it was almost as great as those other two.
 
OK - if you guys want an upset that fits the criteria, check out the 1974 NCAA championships when unseeded freshman, Eric Mast from Mechanicsburg PA, knocked off the #1 seed Tom Phillips from Oregon State in the first round. You can bet that nobody saw that one coming!
 
Schalles over Chatman in high school, with DeSanto over Lee a nice 2nd.
This one didn't get nearly as much attention because it wasn't at Hershey:

Ed Ruth's HS SR year, he was #1 nationally at 171. Got spladled in his opening match at Beast of the East by Matt Mullett from Mt St Joe's MD.

Who? Exactly.

Schalles and DeSanto were bigger moments. No way they were bigger upsets.
 
This one didn't get nearly as much attention because it wasn't at Hershey:

Ed Ruth's HS SR year, he was #1 nationally at 171. Got spladled in his opening match at Beast of the East by Matt Mullett from Mt St Joe's MD.

Who? Exactly.

Schalles and DeSanto were bigger moments. No way they were bigger upsets.

Remember that one. Ed came back to get 3rd. The Stache won the Beast that year at 171.
 
This one didn't get nearly as much attention because it wasn't at Hershey:

Ed Ruth's HS SR year, he was #1 nationally at 171. Got spladled in his opening match at Beast of the East by Matt Mullett from Mt St Joe's MD.

Who? Exactly.

Schalles and DeSanto were bigger moments. No way they were bigger upsets.

Schalles didn't pin Chatman in Hershey either. It was in Rec Hall!
 
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Conaway over Graff. English is a great story but at that point at Nationals, guys have earned where the are at.
 
...Roar is absolutely right - again - that Owings victory over Gable is the biggest upset ever in collegiate wrestling...
...I have been present at 57 NCAA wrestling championships and that bout still resonates in my memory...
... there was a headline in the Chicago newspaper reporting Owings’ statement that he had come to Northwestern with only one goal in mind - to beat Dan Gable!...
...he even wrestled up 2 weights during the year ( you could do that back then) to prepare for Gable’s noteworthy strength...
...and back then athletes only enjoyed 3 years of varsity competition - freshmen could not compete on the varsity...
...Gable was a Senior wrestling the final match of an unbeaten 3-year varsity career while Owings was a Sophomore finishing up his first varsity season...
...if truth be told I don’t think there were 10 people who expected that Gable would lose - but the only one who mattered was Owings himself...
... I watched the match from the front row of the bleachers and after the match I approached Larry to autograph my program - which I still have... :)
 
I'll give you 3 big upsets for different reasons.

Greatest at the moment upset.:
Rohn catching Lembrect with cement job to win National Championship. If you ever watch the NCAA video the announcers are literally saying how outmatched Rohn was and how it was a bad matchup when he hit the move

Penn State wrestler involved:
Sorry to say it but when Jenkins caught Taylor. Throw out the rankings but they could have wrestled 20 times and Taylor would have beaten Bubba 19 times. The only way Taylor loses was from a big move.

Biggest High School upset.
I saw Dan Tashner beat Crawford from Milton in Regional finals his senior year. Crawford had lost his very first bout of his career and then won something like 130 in row. Tashner put him on his back 3rd period to win something like 13-12. Greatest High School match I ever saw.
 
I'll give you 3 big upsets for different reasons.

Greatest at the moment upset.:
Rohn catching Lembrect with cement job to win National Championship. If you ever watch the NCAA video the announcers are literally saying how outmatched Rohn was and how it was a bad matchup when he hit the move

Penn State wrestler involved:
Sorry to say it but when Jenkins caught Taylor. Throw out the rankings but they could have wrestled 20 times and Taylor would have beaten Bubba 19 times. The only way Taylor loses was from a big move.

Biggest High School upset.
I saw Dan Tashner beat Crawford from Milton in Regional finals his senior year. Crawford had lost his very first bout of his career and then won something like 130 in row. Tashner put him on his back 3rd period to win something like 13-12. Greatest High School match I ever saw.

I gotta disagree. Crawford was the least likely 4x champ in PA history. He gave up 22 points in his freshman and sophmore state finals and won both of them in OT. He lost only 2 bouts in 4 years. Lost to Tashner at Regions his Senior year, then beat him 6-0 in the state finals. I saw a couple guys put Crawford on his back. When you live dangerously like Crawford did, sometimes you blow it. Not that big of an upset, IMO.

I saw Schalles deck Chatman in '69. It was truley an awesome bout. I think the only guys not surprised were Schalles and his coach. I knew his coach, Chuck Jackson, and he told me that Schalles was the greatest pinner he had ever seen. This was before he wrestled in college. I think I patted him on the back and said, "Yeah, sure."
I guess he was right.
 
I gotta disagree. Crawford was the least likely 4x champ in PA history. He gave up 22 points in his freshman and sophmore state finals and won both of them in OT. He lost only 2 bouts in 4 years. Lost to Tashner at Regions his Senior year, then beat him 6-0 in the state finals. I saw a couple guys put Crawford on his back. When you live dangerously like Crawford did, sometimes you blow it. Not that big of an upset, IMO.

I saw Schalles deck Chatman in '69. It was truley an awesome bout. I think the only guys not surprised were Schalles and his coach. I knew his coach, Chuck Jackson, and he told me that Schalles was the greatest pinner he had ever seen. This was before he wrestled in college. I think I patted him on the back and said, "Yeah, sure."
I guess he was right.
Crawford was a less likely 4x champ than, say, Haines -- who as a FR had more losses than Crawford did in his entire career and did not win his regional?
 
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I gotta disagree. Crawford was the least likely 4x champ in PA history. He gave up 22 points in his freshman and sophmore state finals and won both of them in OT. He lost only 2 bouts in 4 years. Lost to Tashner at Regions his Senior year, then beat him 6-0 in the state finals. I saw a couple guys put Crawford on his back. When you live dangerously like Crawford did, sometimes you blow it. Not that big of an upset, IMO.

I saw Schalles deck Chatman in '69. It was truley an awesome bout. I think the only guys not surprised were Schalles and his coach. I knew his coach, Chuck Jackson, and he told me that Schalles was the greatest pinner he had ever seen. This was before he wrestled in college. I think I patted him on the back and said, "Yeah, sure."
I guess he was right.
Odd fact about Crawford, if I recall is he won 2 state AA titles and 2 AAA titles.

Oldcougar , I'm not quite as old as you but you probably can help me fill in the blank on this Lehigh Valley upset. I had this story told to me by huge, now deceased wrestling fan named Fritz. I will share the the story as told to me, without the swearing .
Fritz is at States wearing his District 11 hat. He goes to restroom and while at urinal this guy looks at Fritz and says with a few swear words that Rohn was going down. Fritz responds with his own vulgarities in rebuttal.
Don Rohn (Hellertown; now Saucon Valley) was going for his 3rd State Title. He ended up getting pinned in finals. Without researching I do not know who beat him.
I know the Lehigh Valley was shocked.
 
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Odd fact about Crawford, if I recall is he won 2 state AA titles and 2 AAA titles.

Oldcougar , I'm not quite as old as you but you probably can help me fill in the blank on this Lehigh Valley upset. I had this story told to me by huge, now deceased wrestling fan named Fritz. I will share the the story as told to me, without the swearing .
Fritz is at States wearing his District 11 hat. He goes to restroom and while at urinal this guy looks at Fritz and says with a few swear words that Rohn was going down. Fritz responds with his own vulgarities in rebuttal.
Don Rohn (Hellertown; now Saucon Valley) was going for his 3rd State Title. He ended up getting pinned in finals. Without researching I do not know who beat him.
I know the Lehigh Valley was shocked.

As did Jimmy.
 
Odd fact about Crawford, if I recall is he won 2 state AA titles and 2 AAA titles.

Oldcougar , I'm not quite as old as you but you probably can help me fill in the blank on this Lehigh Valley upset. I had this story told to me by huge, now deceased wrestling fan named Fritz. I will share the the story as told to me, without the swearing .
Fritz is at States wearing his District 11 hat. He goes to restroom and while at urinal this guy looks at Fritz and says with a few swear words that Rohn was going down. Fritz responds with his own vulgarities in rebuttal.
Don Rohn (Hellertown; now Saucon Valley) was going for his 3rd State Title. He ended up getting pinned in finals. Without researching I do not know who beat him.
I know the Lehigh Valley was shocked.
Rodgers from north Allegheny pinned Don Rohn in the semi finals
 
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...Roar is absolutely right - again - that Owings victory over Gable is the biggest upset ever in collegiate wrestling...
...I have been present at 57 NCAA wrestling championships and that bout still resonates in my memory...
... there was a headline in the Chicago newspaper reporting Owings’ statement that he had come to Northwestern with only one goal in mind - to beat Dan Gable!...
...he even wrestled up 2 weights during the year ( you could do that back then) to prepare for Gable’s noteworthy strength...
...and back then athletes only enjoyed 3 years of varsity competition - freshmen could not compete on the varsity...
...Gable was a Senior wrestling the final match of an unbeaten 3-year varsity career while Owings was a Sophomore finishing up his first varsity season...
...if truth be told I don’t think there were 10 people who expected that Gable would lose - but the only one who mattered was Owings himself...
... I watched the match from the front row of the bleachers and after the match I approached Larry to autograph my program - which I still have... :)
I still have my PIAA program that Wade autographed for me after the Chapman pin. I have 4 autographs on that program and Wade is the only champ. The other 3 finished as a runner-up. PO's Danny Gallagher, Clearfield's Dave Clark and Johnstown's Allan Andrews.
 
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...Roar is absolutely right - again - that Owings victory over Gable is the biggest upset ever in collegiate wrestling...
...I have been present at 57 NCAA wrestling championships and that bout still resonates in my memory...
... there was a headline in the Chicago newspaper reporting Owings’ statement that he had come to Northwestern with only one goal in mind - to beat Dan Gable!...
...he even wrestled up 2 weights during the year ( you could do that back then) to prepare for Gable’s noteworthy strength...
...and back then athletes only enjoyed 3 years of varsity competition - freshmen could not compete on the varsity...
...Gable was a Senior wrestling the final match of an unbeaten 3-year varsity career while Owings was a Sophomore finishing up his first varsity season...
...if truth be told I don’t think there were 10 people who expected that Gable would lose - but the only one who mattered was Owings himself...
... I watched the match from the front row of the bleachers and after the match I approached Larry to autograph my program - which I still have..:)
Owings was Jr. when he beat Gable. He wrestled NCAA's at 130 as a So., and lost his 3rd match. Owings ended up 87-4 and a 2x NCAA finalist. Pretty good career for such a huge underdog vs. Gable.
 
Desanto over Spencer Lee in the PIAA state finals ranks up there in one of the greatest upsets in recent history.

tempered by the fact that Lee was wrestling on one leg, had very little practice and therefore poor conditioning, and still lost the bout in the last second. It's an upset only because Lee's undefeated streak ended, and Lee had teched DeSanto the previous year - when his leg was good and he was in shape.
 
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tempered by the fact that Lee was wrestling on one leg, had very little practice and therefore poor conditioning, and still lost the bout in the last second. It's an upset only because Lee's undefeated streak ended, and Lee had teched DeSanto the previous year - when his leg was good and he was in shape.
Jason Nolf won an NCAA title on one leg.
 
I gotta disagree. Crawford was the least likely 4x champ in PA history. He gave up 22 points in his freshman and sophmore state finals and won both of them in OT. He lost only 2 bouts in 4 years. Lost to Tashner at Regions his Senior year, then beat him 6-0 in the state finals. I saw a couple guys put Crawford on his back. When you live dangerously like Crawford did, sometimes you blow it. Not that big of an upset, IMO.

I saw Schalles deck Chatman in '69. It was truley an awesome bout. I think the only guys not surprised were Schalles and his coach. I knew his coach, Chuck Jackson, and he told me that Schalles was the greatest pinner he had ever seen. This was before he wrestled in college. I think I patted him on the back and said, "Yeah, sure."
I guess he was right.

I wrestled Crawford at AAU Eastern Nationals when I was 12 years old. I was on a bit of a hot streak and feeling pretty good about myself. Then, I wrestled Crawford. There was no tech falls at the time, which was a bad thing for me. I felt like I was wrestling some kind of spider. He'd wait for me to move from bottom, and whichever option I took, I ended up on my back. I should have pinned myself instead of allowing the score to get to what it got to. I don't remember it exactly, but, he was in the 20's, and I don't think I scored at all. This was not an upset.
 
I remember Ryan Storm from Donegal pinning defending state champ, Jake Strayer in the first round at states. I also remember Drew Headlee beating two-time state champion Jermaine Jones in the 1st round.
 
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...Roar is absolutely right - again - that Owings victory over Gable is the biggest upset ever in collegiate wrestling...
...I have been present at 57 NCAA wrestling championships and that bout still resonates in my memory...
... there was a headline in the Chicago newspaper reporting Owings’ statement that he had come to Northwestern with only one goal in mind - to beat Dan Gable!...
...he even wrestled up 2 weights during the year ( you could do that back then) to prepare for Gable’s noteworthy strength...
...and back then athletes only enjoyed 3 years of varsity competition - freshmen could not compete on the varsity...
...Gable was a Senior wrestling the final match of an unbeaten 3-year varsity career while Owings was a Sophomore finishing up his first varsity season...
...if truth be told I don’t think there were 10 people who expected that Gable would lose - but the only one who mattered was Owings himself...
... I watched the match from the front row of the bleachers and after the match I approached Larry to autograph my program - which I still have... :)
Now this is what I'm talkin' about. Love what Androcles and Agsurfer, among others, bring to the party!!
 
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Nick Bancroft had wrestled Sam Kuhn 20 times (not an exaggeration) spanning from elementary through high school, and had lost 20 times. Their 21st meeting occurred at the NW regionals in 08, (09 maybe). Both seniors,Sam had beaten Nick the previous two weekends in the sections and districts finals, and everyone at Sharon had a good idea how this one was going to turn out. Nick had to get through returning AA state champ and PSU recruit Dirk Cowburn in the semi’s just to get to Kuhn. In the last 30 seconds of the finals Nick found himself in a familiar situation, losing by three or four points. One huge lateral drop for five later and Nick had finally beat his lifelong foe,thus putting Sam and Dirk on the same side at Hershey. Nick ended up losing in the semi’s then losing to, yep,you guessed it Sam Kuhn for fourth place.
 
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I still have my PIAA program that Wade autographed for me after the Chapman pin. I have 4 autographs on that program and Wade is the only champ. The other 3 finished as a runner-up. PO's Danny Gallagher, Clearfield's Dave Clark and Johnstown's Allan Andrews.
I remember all those guys--even wrestled some of them. But, I thought Gallagher graduated in 1968, and the Schalles win was 1969 States. Did he make it to the state finals? I remember that Clark won states in 1968.
 
Nick Bancroft had wrestled Sam Kuhn 20 times (not an exaggeration) spanning from elementary through high school, and had lost 20 times. Their 21st meeting occurred at the NW regionals in 08, (09 maybe). Both seniors,Sam had beaten Nick the previous two weekends in the sections and districts finals, and everyone at Sharon had a good idea how this one was going to turn out. Nick had to get through returning AA state champ and PSU recruit Dirk Cowburn in the semi’s just to get to Kuhn. In the last 30 seconds of the finals Nick found himself in a familiar situation, losing by three or four points. One huge lateral drop for five later and Nick had finally beat his lifelong foe,thus putting Sam and Dirk on the same side at Hershey. Nick ended up losing in the semi’s then losing to, yep,you guessed it Sam Kuhn for fourth place.
My son was one match away from facing Dirk. I wrestled with Dirks father in HS. As it turns out the following year my sons good friend and wrestling partner wrestled Dirk in the finals the following year. Small world.
 
I remember all those guys--even wrestled some of them. But, I thought Gallagher graduated in 1968, and the Schalles win was 1969 States. Did he make it to the state finals? I remember that Clark won states in 1968.
Danny with both nostrils bleeding lost in OT to a New Castle wrestler in the finals. It was '69, the first year I attended states.

I had to look up the New Castle wrestler's name, rich panella.
 
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tempered by the fact that Lee was wrestling on one leg, had very little practice and therefore poor conditioning, and still lost the bout in the last second. It's an upset only because Lee's undefeated streak ended, and Lee had teched DeSanto the previous year - when his leg was good and he was in shape.
This is the kind of stuff that always gives me a negative feeling towards Spencer. Like he was the only kid wrestling with a serious injury in that tournament. My guess is that very few guys are 100%. And lots are significantly beat up.

I have it on very good authority (myself) that another wrestler in the finals wrestled on a knee that got surgery pretty much the same day Spencer did after states. Surgeon's quote " no idea how you wrestled on that knee and made it through a match, let alone the state tournament. " Missed significant time during the year and made the decision to "tape it up and deal with it later." Lots of kids do that every year.

Previous year was not nearly 100% at states as well. One year he lost, one year he won. Spencer's year he won. Who knows, maybe his opponent - who is another fine NCAA D1 wrestler- was really hurting as well - earlier in the year he had pinned him.

But with Spencer we were inundated with articles by his media outlet, social media photos of the injury and then all the fans offering up excuses. And it continues through college.

He walked on the mat and competed. Finished the match without visible injury. DeSanto got the match to where his gas tank mattered. Enough said.
 
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This is the kind of stuff that always gives me a negative feeling towards Spencer. Like he was the only kid wrestling with a serious injury in that tournament. My guess is that very few guys are 100%. And lots are significantly beat up.

I have it on very good authority (myself) that another wrestler in the finals wrestled on a knee that got surgery pretty much the same day Spencer did after states. Surgeon's quote " no idea how you wrestled on that knee and made it through a match, let alone the state tournament. " Missed significant time during the year and made the decision to "tape it up and deal with it later." Lots of kids do that every year.

Previous year was not nearly 100% at states as well. One year he lost, one year he won. Spencer's year he won. Who knows, maybe his opponent - who is another fine NCAA D1 wrestler- was really hurting as well - earlier in the year he had pinned him.

But with Spencer we were inundated with articles by his media outlet, social media photos of the injury and then all the fans offering up excuses. And it continues through college.

He walked on the mat and competed. Finished the match without visible injury. DeSanto got the match to where his gas tank mattered. Enough said.
What Spencer apparently needs is a master excuse-maker like Tom Ryan.

"Logan has mastered 2 positions so well that the sport has become relatively easy for him. Double, bar arm pin. He is a JEDI in those positions. In addition, he is a competitor with a great understanding of composure. Logans loss was the “perfect storm”. He wrestled an athlete with a good game plan in a hostile environment with an average official after a 10 hour bus ride and the flu. Regardless loses are never the worst thing for us. They are hard to witness, yet they help us grow. Logan has grown."
 
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