Jump to content



  • Photo:

    Andrew Hipps •

    Photo:

    Hipps: 10 best 20-and-under wrestlers in U.S.

    There is no denying that wrestling talent at the high school level is better than ever. The U.S. has produced four Cadet or Junior World champions in men's freestyle since 2011. This year there were 12 freshman All-Americans at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Oklahoma City. Two of those 12 freshmen, Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) and J'den Cox (Missouri), won NCAA titles.

    The wrestlers on this list might not be old enough to legally drink alcohol yet, but they are old enough to win NCAA titles and World gold medals. Here is a look at the 10 best 20-and-under wrestlers in the U.S.

    Aaron Pico

    Aaron Pico won a gold medal this past weekend in Bulgaria
    Pico, a high school sophomore, is the youngest wrestler on this list, but his wrestling resume is arguably the best on the list. Pico became a Cadet World champion last summer at 63 kilos after cruising through U.S. age group events. In November he dominated Russian Alibeggadzhi Emeev, who is ranked in the top 10 in the world, and this past weekend defeated Cadet World champion Abdulmuslim Mukhuddinov of Azerbaijan en route to winning the Petko Sirakov-Ivan Iliev Junior Wrestling Championships. His decision to forgo high school and college wrestling took many people by surprise, but Pico is a once in a generation type of talent who seems destined for international wrestling greatness and possibly MMA superstardom.

    Kyle Snyder

    Snyder, like Pico, became a World champion last summer. However, Snyder's World gold came at the Junior level, while Pico earned his at the Cadet level. Snyder became the youngest Junior World champion from the U.S. in 20 years. Named InterMat's High School Wrestler of the Year in 2013, Snyder has won virtually everything there is to win for a high school-age wrestler, including FILA Junior Nationals, Walsh Ironman, Super 32 Challenge, and Fargo titles. After going 179-0 as a high school wrestler in Maryland through his junior season, surrendering only one takedown in those three seasons, Snyder spent this past season at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He will be heading to Columbus to wrestle for Ohio State and is expected to make an immediate impact for Tom Ryan's Buckeyes.

    Alex Dieringer

    Alex Dieringer defeated Dylan Ness to win an NCAA title (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)
    Dieringer is the oldest wrestler grade-wise on this list, but doesn't turn 21 until this summer. He has been spectacular in two seasons in Oklahoma State's lineup, winning an NCAA title this season and finishing third last season as a redshirt freshman. His NCAA title this season came at 157 pounds, but he has already made it known that he will be moving up to 165 pounds next season with teammate Tyler Caldwell graduating. Dieringer, like many on this list, has been extremely successful in all three styles of wrestling. He was a nine-time All-American while in high school and multiple-time Fargo champion. This past summer he earned a silver medal at the Junior World Championships.

    Jason Tsirtsis

    Tsirtsis became Northwestern's first freshman NCAA champion when he claimed the title at 149 pounds this past Saturday. He has been an age group star on the national level since he was a little boy. In 2012 he was InterMat's High School Wrestler of the year, finishing his prep career with a 176-2 record and four state titles. As accomplished as Tsirtsis is in folkstyle, his best style -- and preferred style -- is freestyle. He had a win over Darrion Caldwell in freestyle while still in high school. Tsirtsis was a member of the U.S. Junior World Team this past summer and competed in the Junior World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

    J'den Cox

    J'den Cox celebrates after winning his NCAA title in Oklahoma City (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)
    Cox's talents were on display this past week in Oklahoma City as he won the NCAA title at 197 pounds as a true freshman at Missouri. He finished the season with a 37-2 record and became just the 12th wrestler ever to win an NCAA title as a true freshman. As a high school wrestler, Cox was a four-time state champion in Missouri with a career record of 195-3. All three of his high school losses came as a freshman. Cox split matches with Kyle Snyder (also on this list) in Fargo in 2012, with Cox winning in freestyle and Snyder winning in Greco-Roman.

    Adam Coon

    It would be shortsighted to omit Coon from this list based strictly on his disappointing NCAA postseason performance. He absolutely belongs. He might not have found a spot on the NCAA podium this season as a true freshman, but he certainty established himself as one of the nation's elite NCAA heavyweights, beating three 2014 All-Americans, including NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State and two-time NCAA champion Tony Nelson of Minnesota. Coon was a 2011 Cadet World champion in freestyle. With top training partners and coaches at his disposal in Ann Arbor, the future looks bright for Coon.

    Chance Marsteller

    Marsteller, a Pennsylvania native, was a household name in wrestling circles before he even stepped foot on a high school wrestling mat. He won a match at a college open tournament as an eighth-grader. Marsteller chose to stay at his hometown high school, Kennard-Dale, a non-traditional wrestling power, and put together one of the most dominant prep careers ever in wrestling-rich Pennsylvania. In mid-March, Marsteller capped off his high school wrestling career with a fourth state championship and finished with a perfect 166-0 record. He became only the sixth high school wrestler ever to finish undefeated in Pennsylvania and joined an elite group that includes Cary Kolat -- a wrestler Marsteller is most often compared to. He initially committed to Penn State, but changed his mind during the recruiting process and signed with Oklahoma State.

    Zain Retherford

    Zain Retherford defeated Joey Lazor in the NCAA quarters (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
    Retherford, a true freshman at Penn State, was a key component in the Nittany Lions' run to their fourth straight NCAA championship. He sent shock waves through the college wrestling world when he defeated Logan Stieber of Ohio State in a dual meet in December. Retherford came to State College with a strong wrestling pedigree (130-3 record, No. 3 overall recruit by InterMat) and was able to even exceed the lofty expectations placed on him. He ended the season with a fifth-place finish at the NCAAs, with his only losses this season coming to Stieber and Edinboro's Mitchell Port. A lot has been made of Retherford's top game in folkstyle -- and for good reason, but he is also a tremendous freestyle wrestler. He won a Cadet World title in 2012.

    Bo Jordan

    Jordan, a redshirt at Ohio State, comes from an impressive family lineage of wrestlers. His father Jeff is the head wrestling coach at St. Paris Graham and a two-time All-American. His uncle Jim Jordan was an NCAA champion, while his cousins Ben Jordan and Isaac Jordan have been All-Americans at Wisconsin. Bo's younger brother Micah won his fourth state championship this season, while his youngest brother Rocky is one of the nation's top middle school wrestlers. Bo finished his high school career in 2013 as a four-time state champion and the nation's No. 1 recruit by InterMat. This past season he was undefeated in open tournaments as a redshirt at Ohio State, finishing 23-0 with 11 pins, four technical falls, and five major decisions. Bo Jordan and Kyle Snyder will team with the Stieber bros. and help bolster a Buckeye lineup that is expected to challenge for an NCAA championship in 2015.

    Gabe Dean

    Gabe Dean reached the NCAA semis before losing to Ed Ruth (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)
    Dean has had a meteoric rise as a wrestler. The Cornell freshman struggled in open tournament competition last season while grayshirting. He went 0-2 at the Buffalo Open and at one point even contemplated walking away from the sport. But with a tireless work ethic, stable of talented workout partners, and top-flight coaching at Cornell, Dean transformed himself into a contender for an NCAA title in his first season in the Big Red lineup. Like Retherford, Dean shocked the college wrestling world by defeating a college wrestling great. That signature win came over Ed Ruth in the finals of the Southern Scuffle, which snapped the Penn State wrestler's 84-match win streak. Ruth, though, would come back to defeat Dean in the NCAA semifinals, but the Cornell freshman wrestled back to third place. Though he has not competed in many USA Wrestling freestyle events, it's hard to envision him not being a successful freestyle wrestler if he chooses to go that route.
    Go to articles

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    There are no comments to display.



    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...