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Top Ten Penn State Wrestlers
- Thread starter amalone
- Start date
Link works now. Hard to put them in order but I can’t argue with the list.
I think I would put Nico ahead of the Raptor.
Any All Time Top 10 PSU wrestlers list that somehow can't find room for Andy Matter isn't worth much, and only adds credence to the notion that PSU fans believe wrestling was invented in 2010.
This shouldn't be a popularity contest. You start with National Championships, finals appearances then AA. Cassar is a great story, one of the best for sure, but this list is missing some two timers ( Matter, Prescott ). One timers who were multi time finalists or multi time AA (Nico, Frank etc) would be ahead of Raptor simply because they have multiple finals and AA.
DT isn't number one, Bo and Jason have 3 plus 1 finals vs 2 and 2. Bo wins on drama. I would put Zain ( 3rd ) ahead of DT (4th)
Doesn't Jimmy Martin have to be in this conversation? 1, 2, 3, 4, 155 wins.
Zains 3 losses were as a TRUE FRESHMAN
He never lost again
Most dominant by NCAA measurement (not hodge votes) all 3 years.
In my eyes, he is Top Ten of all time and #1 here.
Six of the top 10 were on the 2017-18 team. That team also had freshman and future champion Nick Lee. Incredibly, seven members of that team have won a combined 14 national titles (so far): Zain, Jason, and Bo three each, Cenzo two, and Markie, Ant the Champ, and Nick Lee each with one. What a team!
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Hey now........Raptor was instrumental in defeating/ending the Red Robe Dynasty........even though they brought holy hell with them. That match alone bumps him a couple of spots
Not just your eyes -- Zain is top 10 in career NCAA Tournament points.
Ruuuuuuuth. It’s tough because we have been so fortunate to witness so many dominant wrestlers in recent years. Personally, I have Ed and Bo high with Zain, Jason, and David close to the top.
Ed Ruth.
I like to use the phrase "comtemptuous ease" when I describe his style to others.
With 36 seconds to go in his 2013 finals match against Hamlin (LEH), he's up 5-2 (+1 RT). He gets a takedown, and then Hamlin gets a gap and scoots out of bounds. 7-3 (+1 RT), effectively a 5 point lead. With 24 seconds to go, he gets another TD, goes up 9-3, effectively 10-3. Sees Casey and Cael going nuts at ~20 to go, cuts him. 10-4. Gets another TD with 5 seconds to go to finish off the MAJ.
Simultaneously, Cael is literally holding Casey around both legs and about to finish a single to double on him but Casey shucks him off.
I like to use the phrase "comtemptuous ease" when I describe his style to others.
With 36 seconds to go in his 2013 finals match against Hamlin (LEH), he's up 5-2 (+1 RT). He gets a takedown, and then Hamlin gets a gap and scoots out of bounds. 7-3 (+1 RT), effectively a 5 point lead. With 24 seconds to go, he gets another TD, goes up 9-3, effectively 10-3. Sees Casey and Cael going nuts at ~20 to go, cuts him. 10-4. Gets another TD with 5 seconds to go to finish off the MAJ.
Simultaneously, Cael is literally holding Casey around both legs and about to finish a single to double on him but Casey shucks him off.
How can you leave off PSU's only 4-timer? Aaron Brooks is at least in the top 5.
Ruth should be higher.... the bad thing is where would Cenzo and Hall be if they could have finished the year? If Cenzo gets #3, and there is a good chance he does, where does that put him? Hate to weigh in COVID but that damn asterisk sucks (all sports)
I realize that the poll probably didn't take into account DT's World Championship, but that put him on top for me as a PSU wrestler. How fortunate are we as PSU wrestling fans to have a list with so many wrestlers coached by Cael and his current staff. The good news is 5 years from now some great PSU wrestlers could get booted off of this current top 10 and replaced with some guys wrestling now.
And maybe Nick Lee gets his first of two titles last year and he’s a potential member of this group.
Also left off PSU's only 5-timer.
From the article
A couple of caveats though:
-Wrestlers who have already graduated or moved on will only be considered. This eliminates me trying to guess if Aaron Brooks will win 4 NCAA Titles and 5 B1G Titles (which are totally going to happen, by the way).
-Wrestlers from the internet era (roughly mid 90’s-present) will only be considered. I know, I know. Jeff Prescott and Andy Matter are absolute Penn State Hall of Famers, but it’s incredibly difficult to gauge where they stack up with limited footage and how the landscape of wrestling has changed over the decades. So I’m taking the easy way out and not putting them in the mix.
Of course this doesn’t explain Nico.
A couple of caveats though:
-Wrestlers who have already graduated or moved on will only be considered. This eliminates me trying to guess if Aaron Brooks will win 4 NCAA Titles and 5 B1G Titles (which are totally going to happen, by the way).
-Wrestlers from the internet era (roughly mid 90’s-present) will only be considered. I know, I know. Jeff Prescott and Andy Matter are absolute Penn State Hall of Famers, but it’s incredibly difficult to gauge where they stack up with limited footage and how the landscape of wrestling has changed over the decades. So I’m taking the easy way out and not putting them in the mix.
Of course this doesn’t explain Nico.
I just had the greatest breakfast of all time in the April 19, 2021 era!!
I would have put Nico on the list, FWIW. Hard to exclude a 4XAA, even as good as Cassar was.
I know Victory Bell Rings has gone through about as much blog turnover through the years as BSD, but when it landed on Fansided, I stopped checking in on them much. The slideshow clicky model is too much a turnoff for me.
Any of you all know anything about this author, Chris Snyder? He's new to me.
victorybellrings.com
Lots of 'top-5' clicky type posts in there, but also pretty regular posting on PSUWr, which is great.
Any of you all know anything about this author, Chris Snyder? He's new to me.
Chris Snyder
Apparently likes constant torture as I continue to be a PSU basketball fan. Relatively new PSU Wrestling fan to balance out the torture.
victorybellrings.com
I sort of agree with what you're saying, but by your logic, Cenzo (2 for 3) should be ahead of DT (2 for 4) and that just simply can't be.
Aaron will be Penn State's second 4-timer...
I had think for a bit about that. Good line. I hope you're right!
Tough to factor in Cenzo, but with 2, he is in the top ten. Yeah, he got screwed, no doubt, hard to put him ahead of DT, but he wouldn’t be far behind.
4 with three, then 6 with 2 by my count
Legends are made, and often times they are made by your competitors. Through no fault of his own, Zain didn't have someone of Dake, Valencia, or even MyMar's caliber to be challenged by. Had there been someone like Yianni there at the same time to challenge him, would he have been 93-0 during that stretch? I personally think yes. Zain was more dominant than Yianni and would have handled him in folkstyle. And that would have placed him on the top of this heap. So Zain is a bit of a victim of circumstance. And DT is a beneficiary of his rivalry with Dake, and their respective international success. Even if post-collegiate is not a factor, it colors opinions and these lists are all about opinions. That's why guys like Matter, Martin, and Abe are missing from the list.
Agree...on that same path
Who are DTs good wins, that push his legacy? His pace. His scoring. Those set him apart, right up to his loses w bubba and dake.
Bo to me is my personal #1. Showed up and showed out under the brightest lights. His best wins are iconic. Whereas, DTs loses are his most iconic college matches
Zain still has the single best win of any PSU wrestler ever. Nobody else has scalped a 4x champ.
Also, the reason guys like Matter, Martin, and Abe are missing from the list is because the author said he completely ignored anybody before what he deemed the internet era.
