The college wrestling season is long -- arguably too long -- and in the months preceding the Big Show, many wrestlers shine. While fans and historians will not speak the names of these wrestlers with the same reverence as those who succeed in the NCAAs, it's important to note their accomplishments before the fur begins flying at the big dance. There have been others who have made noise throughout the season, but here are those who have been talked about the most as the months have gone by.
Lou Ruggirello (Photo/Tech-Fall.com)Lou Ruggirello, a 133-pound sophomore for Hofstra, went 0-2 at the NCAAs last season but began this season with an amazing run. On November 10, he pinned two-time All-American Tyler McCormick of Missouri in a dual, then he controlled Mack Reiter of Minnesota (http://youtube.com/watch?v=y9eBhxqB4LM) at the All-Star Classic (also a two-time All American) and on November 25, downed No. 1-ranked Coleman Scott of Oklahoma State.
These wins made him an instant message board darling, but disappointing performances at both the Cliff Keen Las Vegas invitational and the Southern Scuffle resulted in significantly diminished online chatter. He's had some good wins since, including a pin of Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State at the National Duals, but discussion about him has resumed to that of a mortal.
Early December: Darrion Caldwell
Darrrion Caldwell of North Carolina State was best known for a loss last year against Ryan Lang of Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament at 141 pounds (http://youtube.com/watch?v=rGMIkDxY05Q). Caldwell was scoring all kinds of points while building up an 8-3 lead before getting double cement mixed and pinned. This season, Caldwell moved up to 149 pounds and had an early season test (November 24) against the name most often typed on wrestling message boards: Brent Metcalf of Iowa. He famously caught Metcalf in a spladle (http://youtube.com/watch?v=kQuvAN-c36g) and pinned him. Despite the victory, most people wrote it off as luck … until the beginning of December when he won Vegas handily in a stacked weight. After majoring Josh Churella of Michigan in the semis and beating JP O'Connor of Harvard, 8-6, in the finals, he had to be considered a legit force -- and was. But only a few weeks later, the Southern Scuffle came around and he got pinned twice: once by Mike Roberts of Boston University and once to Scott Ervin of Appalachian State. (Interestingly, Caldwell faces Roberts in the first round of the NCAAs and could face Ervin second round.)
Caldwell has won the rest of his matches this season, has pinned more opponents than anyone else, but has sort of slipped off the radar due to the emergence of others in the same weight class.
Late December: Mike Roberts
Unheralded Mike Roberts of Boston University not only beat the white-hot Caldwell by pin in the opening round of the Southern Scuffle, but kept winning and ultimately shocked former NCAA champ and last year's third- placer finisher Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota, 3-2, in the finals. Roberts was picked by virtually no one to win the Scuffle at 149 pounds and his performance was stunning.
Losses before the Scuffle coupled with BU's weak schedule made it unclear how strong a wrestler Roberts was/is. Subsequent defeats at the hands of JP O'Connor of Harvard and Don Fisch of Rider have taken him off the radar. Is Roberts a sleeping giant who will regain his late December glory in St. Louis? Or will he be considered a one-tourney wonder? We'll find out this week.
January: Brent Metcalf
After losing to Caldwell, Brent Metcalf has gotten his hand raised every time he's stepped on the mat. He won the Midlands tournament at the end of December, but didn't face any of the big names in the weight class. It was only after he won Outstanding Wrestler at the National Duals that he had to be considered as great as his reputation. There, he beat Churella as well as highly-ranked Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska. But Metcalf didn't rest on his laurels, and finished out the month with dual meet wins over Lance Palmer of Ohio State (5-3), Junior World champ Bubba Jenkins of Penn State (pin), and NCAA finalist Ryan Lang of Northwestern (12-3).
Unlike the others on this list, Metcalf's success has marched on uninterrupted, but if he doesn't win it all this weekend, no one will be more disappointed than he.
February: Chad Mendes
141-pounder Chad Mendes of Cal Poly is one of four wrestlers going into the NCAAs undefeated -- but for most of the season didn't have recognition equal to the other three (Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh, Jake Varner of Iowa State and Josh Glenn of American). That changed in the middle of last month.
Chad Mendes (Photo/Tech-Fall.com)The season has seen other mini-heroes as well. Two Big Ten wrestlers at 157 come to mind:
1. Brandon Becker of Indiana -- who scored impressive wins over Mike Poeta of Illinois and Craig Henning of Wisconsin.
2. Dan Vallimont of Penn State -- who was undefeated until early February and has only lost this season to Poeta.
It has indeed been a common theme this season to see everyone beating up on everyone else. There's obviously still a lot to sort out between the top wrestlers in the country and many weights are difficult to handicap. Moreover, the field is complicated by strong wrestlers from conferences that get less press. Under praised bracket-busters will undoubtedly emerge, as they do every season. The heroes of the post season will certainly eclipse the accomplishments of those from the regular season -- and that's the way it should be -- but what a season it has been.
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