The podium for All-Americans at the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)What does it mean to be a 2020 NCAA All-American?
What should it mean?
Those are two of the many questions being asked in college wrestling after the most unprecedented finish to the season in the sport's history.
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone and the timing unfortunately couldn't have been much worse for the 2019-20 college wrestling season.
As many of you know, the spread of the virus forced the cancellation the NCAA Division I Championships just a week before it was supposed to kick off in Minneapolis.
The NCAA Division II and III tournaments were canceled less than 24 hours before they were scheduled to begin.
It's been over a month now, but the loss of the national tournaments still stings. A lot. Especially for those coaches and wrestlers who sacrificed and dedicated so much to this season.
One of the first questions asked was if these athletes would be permitted another season of eligibility. They missed out on the national tournament and potential accolades that go with it. The NCAA eventually decided to give spring sports athletes another year, but said no to winter athletes.
That's still the wrong call, in my eyes. You are denying one of the best college wrestlers we've ever seen, Iowa's Spencer Lee, a chance to become a four-time national champion. And so many other athletes missed out on golden opportunities as well.
In the immediate aftermath, coaches like Ohio State's Tom Ryan and Iowa's Tom Brands also were lobbying for athletes and teams to receive some sort of recognition for what they achieved during the season.
The National Wrestling Coaches Association really stepped up by naming All-Americans for the NCAA Division I, II and III levels. It was important to recognize these athletes and being named an All-American should carry a great deal of significance.
One prime example of that is Northern Iowa senior Taylor Lujan, who was the No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament at 184. Lujan had never been an All-American, twice reaching the round of 12.
Lujan still missed out on becoming a national champion, but he does take away some recognition by being named an All-American. It was an honor that he earned and is well-deserved for the outstanding season he had as a senior.
Wartburg College seniors Max Forsyth and Martine Sandoval were in a similar situation. Both wrestlers had qualified for DIII nationals for the first time, but were unable to compete. They will end their careers as All-Americans for the first time after having superb senior seasons.
The end of the college season was especially tough on those teams favored to win national championships.
Iowa won the Big Ten title and had 10 wrestlers earn All-America honors by the NWCA (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)The Iowa Hawkeyes were heavily favored to win their first national title in 10 years after winning Big Tens and qualifying a loaded 10-man squad for NCAAs.
All 10 Hawkeye wrestlers were awarded All-America honors by the NWCA, including nine on the first team. The honors were well-deserved. Those athletes wrestled a tough schedule and performed at a high level.
Iowa coach Tom Brands agreed. He told the Des Moines Register that those 10 wrestlers will have their names added to the All-American wall in the Iowa wrestling room.
"We will do it that way, and I'm not even torn about it," Brands said. "I am convinced that is the way to do it. There is no other team that had as many dominant individuals."
St. Cloud State coach Steve Costanzo was already in Sioux Falls, S.D., last month as his team made final preparations for DII nationals.
Costanzo's team was the favorite to win a national title before the event was canceled. His squad ended up with eight All-Americans.
"I think it's a very positive outcome for such a heart-wrenching outcome," Costanzo said. "I appreciate those individuals who stepped up and honored these deserving student-athletes."
The cancellation of the NCAA DIII tournament hit the Loras College program hard. Coach T.J. Miller's team had put together a historic season and had ascended to the No. 1 ranking going into nationals.
Loras had eight wrestlers earn All-America honors in 2020.
"I think the athletes should be recognized in some way -- this wasn't how we expected it to happen but it's the right thing to do under the circumstances," Miller said. "We would have loved the opportunity to compete at the NCAA tournament. In wrestling, competing for an individual championship is the peak experience for any college athlete. That just wasn't in the cards for 2020."
Obviously, there was no ideal way to award the All-America honors.
The All-American recognition fell in line with where athletes were seeded going into their respective national tournaments. Those seeds were based on their body of work during the season. To me, that's the fairest and best way to determine the All-Americans.
One of the beauties of the NCAA tournaments are the upsets that occur and the compelling stories that unfold during these pressure-packed events. It wouldn't be much fun if everyone just wrestled to their seeds.
Kudos to the NWCA for what they did. I applaud the way the All-Americans were determined. One tweak I may have had was by just awarding eight All-Americans per weight class in each division. And split those eight into a first team and a second team.
But it's over and done with. Hopefully, we never have to worry about picking All-American teams again in college wrestling.
It's still difficult to think about all of the compelling storylines that might have played out. It's tough to imagine Spencer Lee missing out on becoming a four-timer, Penn State's Vincenzo Joseph and Mark Hall not becoming four-time finalists, No. 1 seeds Kollin Moore and Luke Pletcher of Ohio State not ending their careers with titles, and Iowa State freshman David Carr not making a run at his first title.
Joseph and Hall were able to finish their careers as four-time All-Americans with Lee, Carr and other top athletes still in line to do the same thing.
Naming All-Americans doesn't erase the sting of what happened, but as Ryan said, "It wasn't perfect, but it is better than nothing."
There are numerous other athletes who were hitting their peak that missed out on a chance to wrestle in the 2020 NCAA Championships.
The 2019-20 college wrestling season is one we will always remember, and in some ways it's one we would like to forget. The NCAA should've found a way to give these athletes at least another semester to wrestle in the national tournament they missed out on.
The athletes who earned All-America honors certainly deserve to receive recognition for what they accomplished.
They should be remembered as the best in their sport for the 2019-20 wrestling season.
That means a lot. And it should.
Craig Sesker has written about wrestling for more than three decades. He's covered three Olympic Games and is a two-time national wrestling writer of the year.
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