Historical Bracket Breakdown: 157 lbs at the 2009 NCAA Championships

Two weeks ago, we started a new feature investigating some of the toughest NCAA brackets of all time. That article focused on the 2019 133 lb weight class one of the best of the last decade. Now, we’re going back ten years to look at a really strong one from 2009, the 157 lb weight class. The 2009 157 lb weight class featured the first national title from budding superstar Jordan Burroughs, along with one of the best of his era not to win a title, two more returning champions, and one future champ that didn’t make the podium. In addition to the success on the wrestling mat, fans of MMA will notice a couple of names from this bracket that have gone on to win belts in the cage. So, without any further ado, here’s the 157 lb weight class from 2009, one of the strongest of all time. The Champion: #1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) As always, when we’re talking about college Jordan Burroughs, a reminder that he was still a few years away from World Champion/GOAT status in 2009. The previous year saw Burroughs break out big-time in the toughest weight class of all time. Burroughs AA’ed for the first time and took third in an absolutely stacked bracket. For the 2008-09 season, Burroughs moved up to 157 lbs and immediately announced his presence with a win over returning national champion Jordan Leen in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational finals. Burroughs would go undefeated in 2008-09 with a 35-0 record in claiming his first national title. In St. Louis, at the NCAA Tournament, Burroughs posted bonus point wins in the first four rounds of the tournament. That stretch was highlighted by a 13-4 major decision over 2007 national champion Gregor Gillespie in the semis. For his title, Burroughs downed the returning NCAA runner-up, Mike Poeta, who came into the contest unbeaten. Burrough went through the entire 2008-09 season surrendering only one takedown. The Runner-Up: #2 Mike Poeta (Illinois) One of the best wrestlers over the last two decades without an NCAA title, Mike Poeta made the NCAA finals in each of his last two years at Illinois and placed top-three on three occasions. Poeta got to the NCAA finals after downing rival Jordan Leen in the semis. Leen defeated Poeta in the 2008 finals. Before the NCAA Tournament, Poeta captured his second Big Ten title in as many years. His senior season got off to a late start, due to an injury, so Poeta only had 13 wins entering NCAA’s. At the time, Poeta was only the tenth Illini wrestler to earn All-American honors three times. In the spring of 2021, Poeta was named the head coach at his alma mater. 3rd Place: #3 Jordan Leen (Cornell) Leen was the returning national champion at this weight after an unexpected run in 2008 as the eighth seed. In that tournament, Leen knocked off the top-two seeds, downing Gregor Gillespie in the quarterfinals and Poeta in the finals. At the time, Cornell was still gaining steam and Leen became the third different wrestler to win a title under Rob Koll. Leen’s 118 career wins put him at sixth place on Cornell’s all-time list, at the time. That total has since been surpassed a few times and he’s been bumped down to 14th place. Despite losing to Poeta in 2009, Leen battled back for third place and scored another win over Gillespie in the consolation finals. His tournament also included wins over All-Americans Michael Chandler and Matt Moley. Leen finished his career as a three-time All-American and four-time national qualifier. In 2022, Leen was named the head coach of Brown University after spending time on the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Duke coaching staffs. 4th Place: #4 Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro) In 2007, Gregor Gillespie shocked the wrestling world and stopped Dustin Schlatter’s 65-match winning streak in the NCAA semifinals. A match later, Gillespie finished the job and downed Josh Churella to claim the national title at 149 lbs. Gillespie moved up to 157 lbs for the 2007-08 season and earned the top seed at nationals, though he was upset by Leen in the quarters and fell to fifth place. This year, Gillespie was stopped by Matt Moley in the EWL finals, which prevented him from capturing his fourth conference title. That assured Gillespie would receive the fourth seed and put him on the same side as the unbeaten Burroughs. Looking at Gillespie’s path to the 2009 semifinals, he edged eventual national finalist Jason Welch in the Round of 16, before shutting out future champion JP O’Connor in the quarters. Gillespie finished his career as a four-time All-American, only the second Fighting Scot wrestler to accomplish the feat, and he did so without ever redshirting. 5th Place: #6 Michael Chandler (Missouri) Before achieving MMA fame as a three-time lightweight champion for Bellator and moving into the UFC, Michael Chandler was a stalwart for Mizzou. Chandler was a four-time national qualifier for the Tigers, but finally breakthrough and made the podium in 2009. Previously, he was a Round of 12 finisher in 2006 and 2008. Chandler also made the Big 12 finals for a second time in 2009. This time he fell to Burroughs; however, he was the only wrestler to score a takedown on the future legend. Chandler posted some impressive wins in this tournament, blanking the 2010 national runner-up Chase Pami in the Round of 16 and outlasting Jon Bonilla-Bowman in the Round of 12. After securing All-American honors, Chandler majored Tyler Safratowich. 6th Place: #7 Matt Moley (Bloomsburg) The most recent Bloomsburg wrestler to earn All-American honors? That’s right, it’s Matt Moley, who did so in 2008 (8th) and 2009. As mentioned above, Moley came into this tournament red-hot after upsetting Gillespie in the EWL finals for the first of his two conference crowns. Moley would win a second in 2010, but came up a match shy of the NCAA podium. After suffering a loss in the Round of 16 at the 2009 tournament, Moley went on a consolation run that saw him major Jedd Moore, and get through SoCon champ Joey Knox, before edging Cyler Sanderson in a battle of returning All-Americans in the bloodround. He clinched a spot in the top six after an 8-3 win over Pami. 7th Place: #11 Chase Pami (Cal Poly) The Pac-10 (yes, that’s correct) champion Chase Pami got the #11 seed and had a difficult first-round match against a young Jesse Dong. Pami prevailed in tiebreakers, but was sent to the consi’s in the next round versus Chandler. Pami grinded out a pair of wins, which put him into the bloodround opposite JP O’Connor. Pami won 2-1 to secure All-American honors for the first time. The two would meet a year later, in the NCAA finals, and O’Connor would turn the tables. Pami finished his tournament with a third sudden victory/tiebreaker win over Tyler Safratowich in the seventh-place match. 8th Place: US Tyler Safratowich (Minnesota) The only unseeded All-American (at this time the NCAA only seeded to #12) was Minnesota’s Tyler Safratowich. Safratowich placed third in the Big Ten in 2009, his senior season. It marked the second time in his career that he finished third and qualified for nationals. Safratowich started his tournament off by upsetting #10 Scott Winston, a true freshman for Rutgers. In his second match, he downed returning All-American Matt Moley, the seventh seed. After losing to Poeta in the quarters, Safratowich downed Adam Hall to clinch a place amongst the top eight. Despite starting the tournament without a seed, Safratowich downed the #7, #8, and #10 seeds during his path to the podium. The Bloodround: Jon Bonilla-Bowman (Hofstra), #8 Adam Hall (Boise State), #9 Cyler Sanderson (Iowa State), #5 JP O’Connor (Harvard) One of the more enjoyable wrestlers to watch in this era was Jon Bonilla-Bowman who could score on anyone and tended to give up points himself. Nowhere was this more evident than the 2009 tournament. He fell in the first round to unseeded Joey Knox, 15-12, then proceeded to score 18, 11, and 12 points in his next three matches. Two of those wins were against #12 Neil Erisman and true freshman Jason Welch. He would get held in check by Chandler, 6-5, in the Round of 12. For the second consecutive year, Adam Hall’s season ended in the NCAA Round of 12. He was a member of the vaunted 149 lb bracket the year before and missed out on All-American status as a redshirt freshman. Hall would go on to finish third and fifth during his next two seasons, winning Pac-10 titles each time. Cyler Sanderson was fourth in a loaded Big 12 weight class that featured Burroughs, Chandler, and Erisman ahead of him. He pulled a slight upset over Hall in the Round of 16, but understandably losing to Burroughs in the quarters. After the collegiate season, Cyler’s older brother, Cael, took the head coaching position at Penn State. Cyler would follow Cael to State College and won the Big Ten in 2010 before getting sixth at NCAA’s to All-American for the second time. This Round of 12 loss prevented JP O’Connor from becoming a four-time All-American. He’d rebound nicely by avenging that loss to Pami in the 2010 NCAA finals. His national title made him only the third Harvard wrestler to ever achieve the feat and he remains the Crimson’s most recent champion. Other Notables: US Jason Welch (Northwestern), US Jedd Moore (Virginia), US Justin Gaethje (Northern Colorado) NCAA Finals: Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over Mike Poeta (Illinois) 5-1 Third Place: Jordan Leen (Cornell) over Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro) 4-0 Fifth Place: Michael Chandler (Missouri) over Matt Moley (Bloomsburg) 2-1 Seventh Place: Chase Pami (Cal Poly) over Tyler Safratowich (Minnesota) 4-2SV NCAA Semifinals Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro) 13-4 Mike Poeta (Illinois) over Jordan Leen (Cornell) 6-4 NCAA Quarterfinals Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over Cyler Sanderson (Iowa State) 14-6 Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro) over JP O’Connor (Harvard) 1-0 Jordan Leen (Cornell) over Michael Chandler (Missouri) 4-2 Mike Poeta (Illinois) over Tyler Safratowich (Minnesota) 10-5 NCAA Bloodround Michael Chandler (Missouri) over Jon Bonilla-Bowman (Hofstra) 6-5 Tyler Safratowich (Minnesota) over Adam Hall (Boise State) 6-4 Matt Moley (Bloomsburg) over Cyler Sanderson (Iowa State) 5-2 Chase Pami (Cal Poly) over JP Connor (Harvard) 2-1 The Top 12 Seeds 1. Burroughs 2. Poeta 3. Leen 4. Gillespie 5. O’Connor 6. Chandler 7. Moley 8. Hall 9. Sanderson 10. Scott Winston (Rutgers) 11. Pami 12. Neil Erisman (Oklahoma State) Conference Champions ACC: Kody Hamrah (NC State) Big 12: Burroughs Big Ten: Poeta CAA: Bonilla-Bowman East Regional: Shaun Smith (Liberty) EIWA: Leen EWL: Moley Pac-10: Pami SoCon: Joey Knox (Chattanooga) West Regional: Gaethje Fun Facts - This bracket contained two wrestlers that already won NCAA titles coming into the tournament (Gillespie, Leen). - Over the course of their careers, four wrestlers in this bracket claimed national championships. (Burroughs, Leen, Gillespie, O’Connor). - Six wrestlers in this bracket made NCAA finals during their careers. (Pami and Welch are the others). - 14 wrestlers in this group got on the NCAA podium at least once in their respective careers. (The eight AA’s, Hall, Sanderson, O’Connor, Welch, Gaethje, Jedd Moore) - The 14 All-Americans combined to earn All-American honors 31 times. - Five wrestlers in this bracket were seeded #1 at the NCAA Tournament at one point or another (Burroughs, Gillespie, Welch, Hall, O’Connor). - Two wrestlers in this bracket went on to win major MMA world titles (Chandler, Gaethje) - This bracket featured a rematch of the 2008 NCAA finals (Leen/Poeta) and a preview of the 2010 NCAA finals (O’Connor/Pami) - This bracket has three members who are current DI head coaches (Poeta/Illinois, Leen/Brown, Erisman/Little Rock). - Burroughs is the only wrestler from this bracket to make a World or Olympic team. - There were two wrestlers in this bracket who were considered the #1 recruits in the respective recruiting classes. Jason Welch/2008 and Mike Poeta/2004. - The first round had a pair of true freshmen that both AA’ed in 2013 square off. Welch and Jedd Moore. - It has no bearing on anything, but Cyler Sanderson and Bryan Deutsch (Northern Illinois) met in the first round. They’d wrestle again in the first round of the 2010 tournament. - This proved to be an extremely balanced weight class in terms of talent from different conferences. The seven placewinners came from six different conferences. Comparisons: Here’s where we compare the 2009 157 lb weight class to the 2019 133 lb weight class that we looked at earlier this month. Returning NCAA Champions: 2009 (2); 2019 (0) Total NCAA Champions: 2009 (4), 2019 (2) Total NCAA Finalists: 2009 (6), 2019 (5) Total NCAA All-Americans: 2009 (14), 2019 (14) Total Times these Wrestlers AA’ed: 2009 (31), 2019 (31) Number Wrestlers Seeded #1 at NCAA’s: 2009 (5), 2019 (4) Number of World Medalists: 2009 (1), 2019 (2) Number of Hodge Trophy winners: 2009 (1), 2019 (0) Conclusion: Comparing this weight class to the 2019 133 lb weight class is almost a dead heat. What separates the two is that Leen/Gillespie came into the tournament as national champions. The top four from 2009 are probably better than the top four in 2019; however, 2019 probably has more depth. Plus, you have Burroughs in 2009 which carries a Hodge Trophy and all of his international success.

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Historical Bracket Breakdown: 157 lbs at the 2009 NCAA Championships

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