Best NCAA Single Season Team Ever...

[scourge165]

Just bored, looking at some old brackets, the 1983 Iowa team was INCREDIBLE.

First of all, B1G Championship. 
They lost 2 matches...the ENTIRE TOURNAMENT.
Rico Chiapparelli took 4th. Those were the TWO losses.
They had 9...CHAMPS. 9 out of 10 Iowa Wrestlers ran through the B1G.

NCAAs. 9 AAs
Weight/AA finish/Name/Seed

118-5th Tim Riley(8)
126-1st Barry Davis(1)
134-5th Jeff Kerber(6th)
142-3rd Harlan Kistler(3)
150-4th Jim Heffernan(4)                     Future NCAA Champion
158-1st Jim Zalesky(1)
167-DNP-Rico Chiapparelli(unseeded) Future NCAA Champion
177-2  Duane Goldman(3) Future NCAA Champion
190-1st Ed Banach(2)
ULM-1st Lou Banach(1)

9 in the top 5
5 in the finals
Goldman lost 4-2 to Mark Schultz
155 points which equates to ~177 using today's scoring

Rico Chiapperlli best 7 seed Rd 1, pinned in the prelims, lost in the Quarters and then lost in the Rd12 to an AA
Future NC(in on one of the great scrambles at 190).

***I'm not giving extra credit for what they did in the future, just mentioning it at an aside.
So 7 Champs total, 9 top 5, the "hole" was the 4th place finisher at the B1Gs and again, future NC.

Starting with Freshmen eligibility, can anyone match this type of dominance? 

I remember Minnesota winning the NCAA with 10 AAs...and that was INCREDIBLY impressive, but they didn't win a NC. 
This team won 4, a 5th lost to one of the greatest Wrestlers ever 4-2 and had 9 AAs.

 

Can anyone one-up the 1983 Iowa Squad?
Their 1992 team I've seen mentioned...but 1983 seems like they were the deepest and HAS to be the best duel team in the "modern" era. 

But I'd love to be proven wrong. 

And does anyone think we could see this again?

Personally, I'm looking at PSU net year(not as the 2nd best ever, just as a team that COULD challenge if the rumors end up being true and things fall right as a team that could come close. If they get Nagao at 133(5th last year), Howard comes back strong at 125(top 5?), Barnett at 141(3rd), Van Ness at 149(3), Haines at '57(2nd), Facundo at 165(1-2...really hard to see him top 5 with returning talent), Starocci at 174(odds on favorite), Brooks probably at 197(again, clear favorite). Kerkvliet at HWT-His appeareance could have been due to an injury, but I thought he'd win it this year and he just looked disinterested). 

So that'd be 
POTENTIALLY 
Top ~5
5
3
3
2
DNP
NC
??? Barr Love his length and how aggressive he is, think he needs a year, but someone is gonna have to get thrown in here.
197-NC
HWT-NC??? I mean, he should be...but he also shouldn't have spent 8 minutes of a 7 minute match with his forehead on the mat.

Facundo at 165 with potential ORS could move up. He is a blue chipper but even if you take O'Toole, Carr out of this bracket, it's still no lock.
184 is gonna  be a VERY tough ask of Barr...though again, I think he fits the PSU mold and will improve drastically, but not that drastically. Not with Hidlay, Parker, Truax to start with likely at 184.

 

I don't see anyone touching that '83 Iowa team for a while. Thoughts?

[11986]

1997 Iowa NCAA tournament performance is up there with ‘83. 8 AAs, the 2 that did not place made blood round. 5 champs, a 2nd, 2 placed 6th (I think that’s right on those last 2). 
 

They were NOT nearly as dominant at B1G though. Jesse Whitmer who would win NCAA only took 4th and Joe Williams who also would win NCAA took 2nd. 
 

They also lost dual vs Ok St (Lincoln McIlravt was not in line-up that day). 
 

But the NCAA tournament performance was one of the best ever. 

[Wrestleknownothing]

Those 1983 stats are pretty amazing. After dominating at Big Tens you have to figure they were at the high end of their seed possibility. And yet every one of them finished at, or above, their seed.

[scourge165]

On 4/8/2023 at 7:18 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

Those 1983 stats are pretty amazing. After dominating at Big Tens you have to figure they were at the high end of their seed possibility. And yet every one of them finished at, or above, their seed.

It's mind blowing.

They won the B1G Championships and beat THE FIELD 38-3.

Cael is incredible...but not sure he's reached the level of dominance Gable reached juuuust yet.

[11986]

Not diminishing the ‘83 team’s dominance but the B1G performance needs a little context. This is before Penn State and others had joined. Iowa was the only B1G team in top 10 at NCAA tournament that year. There were no NCAA finalists from the B1G besides Iowa wrestlers, and only 6 other AAs. 

[Scouts Honor]

On 4/10/2023 at 6:31 AM, 11986 said:

Not diminishing the ‘83 team’s dominance but the B1G performance needs a little context. This is before Penn State and others had joined. Iowa was the only B1G team in top 10 at NCAA tournament that year. There were no NCAA finalists from the B1G besides Iowa wrestlers, and only 6 other AAs. 

i agree, the big was not what it was..

but i must say... this shows the influence gable had... his wrestlers populated the big coaching spots and now....

just wow.

will sanderson have the same influence? 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

On 4/10/2023 at 7:31 AM, 11986 said:

Not diminishing the ‘83 team’s dominance but the B1G performance needs a little context. This is before Penn State and others had joined. Iowa was the only B1G team in top 10 at NCAA tournament that year. There were no NCAA finalists from the B1G besides Iowa wrestlers, and only 6 other AAs. 

What "others" of note? Maryland?  Rutgers?

Edited April 12, 2023 by Interviewed_at_Weehawken

[11986]

8 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

What "others" of note? Maryland?  Rutgers?

in order of impact  - PSU, Nebraska, Rutgers, Maryland. But even the 1983 teams in B1G, the traditional schools like tOSU, Michigan, Minnesota, etc., were not exactly killing it then. Heck JRob was still on staff at Iowa, Minny was not very good back then. 

Edited April 12, 2023 by 11986

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

Just now, 11986 said:

in order of impact on Iowa - PSU, Nebraska, Rutgers, Maryland. But even the 1983 teams in B1G, the traditional schools like tOSU, Michigan, Minnesota, etc., were not exactly killing it then. Heck JRob was still on staff at Iowa, Minny was not very good back then. 

Right. PSU was a given based on your "PSU and other schools."  Keep in mind that PSU wasn't exactly killing it either.  They were top ten but nowhere near a trophy and they were the second best team in PA.

Big 8 had 4 schools in the top 10, Big 10 had 1.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

On 4/9/2023 at 11:38 PM, scourge165 said:

It's mind blowing.

They won the B1G Championships and beat THE FIELD 38-3.

Cael is incredible...but not sure he's reached the level of dominance Gable reached juuuust yet.

Yes. Once again, I am stunned by the number of all-Americans Gable averaged each year.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

With all these stats being thrown around, keep in mind that there were many more programs to compete against in 1983.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

2 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

With all these stats being thrown around, keep in mind that there were many more programs to compete against in 1983.

I think I counted all-Americans from 14 schools who have dropped their programs.

[11986]

Just now, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

With all these stats being thrown around, keep in mind that there were many more programs to compete against in 1983.

for sure, that should be taken into consideration. Took a quick look I think there were 15 AAs that year from programs that have since been lost, plus a couple AAs from lower division schools that no longer have the opportunity to also compete in the D1 tournament. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

1 minute ago, 11986 said:

for sure, that should be taken into consideration. Took a quick look I think there were 15 AAs that year from programs that have since been lost, plus a couple AAs from lower division schools that no longer have the opportunity to also compete in the D1 tournament. 

I just came up with a similar stat (above).  I wasn't counting individual AA's, just schools.  I also counted Bakersfield as a dropped program.  In 83 they were D2 but, as you remember, they moved up to D1 and eventually cut the program.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

5 minutes ago, 11986 said:

for sure, that should be taken into consideration. Took a quick look I think there were 15 AAs that year from programs that have since been lost, plus a couple AAs from lower division schools that no longer have the opportunity to also compete in the D1 tournament. 

LSU had a nice squad (8th).  I was coached by a guy on that team.

[Jason Bryant]

I just came up with a similar stat (above).  I wasn't counting individual AA's, just schools.  I also counted Bakersfield as a dropped program.  In 83 they were D2 but, as you remember, they moved up to D1 and eventually cut the program.

CSU Bakersfield is an active program. They’ve been announced as cut twice but to my knowledge, never had an interruption in competition.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

23 minutes ago, Jason Bryant said:

CSU Bakersfield is an active program. They’ve been announced as cut twice but to my knowledge, never had an interruption in competition.

Wow! Thanks.  I lost track of it.

Good "news," I guess!

[jchapman]

Though not during the 1983 college season, it's worth noting that lineup produced two Olympic Golds and one Olympic Silver the following year.

[scourge165]

9 hours ago, jchapman said:

Though not during the 1983 college season, it's worth noting that lineup produced two Olympic Golds and one Olympic Silver the following year.

Probably close to a 3rd Gold if Schulz doesn't beat Jim Zalesky out at 74KG.

I think Goldman was also a runner up at the trials in '88...and won a Jr World Title. Not really relevant, but 5 Wrestlers who were Olympic caliber Wrestlers on one team, that's pretty wild. 

[11986]

6 hours ago, scourge165 said:

Probably close to a 3rd Gold if Schulz doesn't beat Jim Zalesky out at 74KG.

I think Goldman was also a runner up at the trials in '88...and won a Jr World Title. Not really relevant, but 5 Wrestlers who were Olympic caliber Wrestlers on one team, that's pretty wild. 

Thought Schultz beat Lee Kemp to make the Olympic team. 

[scourge165]

7 hours ago, 11986 said:

Thought Schultz beat Lee Kemp to make the Olympic team. 

In the finals? I just saw that Zaleski was a runner up for the Olympic team(it actually said alternate, but as we don't have alternates...).

But that must have been '80? 

Lee Kemp...he should have had a Gold Medal in '80. I think he's maybe the guy that lost the most when we boycotted those games.

[Antitroll2828]

10 hours ago, scourge165 said:

In the finals? I just saw that Zaleski was a runner up for the Olympic team(it actually said alternate, but as we don't have alternates...).

But that must have been '80? 

Lee Kemp...he should have had a Gold Medal in '80. I think he's maybe the guy that lost the most when we boycotted those games.

Don’t say that around Gene Mills 

[scourge165]

1 hour ago, Antitroll2828 said:

Don’t say that around Gene Mills 

I won't.

But I still think it cost Lee Kemp more. Lee Kemp is someone people don't give the credit he's due. SHOULD have been the 1st 4X National Champion IMO. Gets the only TD and loses on a referees decision.

Won a WC at 21, youngest ever(until Captain America...I believe). Won a couple more.

Won the last 110 matches of his career, including helping Dan Gable decide to stay retired as an 18 year old Soph in College. 

 

 I think if Lee Kemp wrestles in that Olympics, people would regard him as arguably the best US Wrestler ever and he was at 74KG. I say this with all due respect, I think that weight is generally...a better quality than 114. 

 

I'm also biased. He's one of the most inspirational and insightful people I've ever had the pleasure to meet in my life, and brief though those meetings were and with little reason for him to remember me, he has still said high every time I've seen him since, even asked how I was doing.

 

So Mills may have been the favorite...I still think it elevates Kemp's status more than Mills. 

[Jason Bryant]

Won the last 110 matches of his career, including helping Dan Gable decide to stay retired as an 18 year old Soph in College. 

This is incorrect. Lee lost a match his junior year and tied a match his senior year. His best win streak was 55. Those two matches wouldn’t count today, but they can’t be retroactively removed from his record.

[11986]

17 hours ago, scourge165 said:

In the finals? I just saw that Zaleski was a runner up for the Olympic team(it actually said alternate, but as we don't have alternates...).

But that must have been '80? 

Lee Kemp...he should have had a Gold Medal in '80. I think he's maybe the guy that lost the most when we boycotted those games.

Fwiw Lee Kemp’s wiki page says he retired after being runner-up in the ‘84 Olympic Trials. I’ve not found anything yet that mentions Jimmy Z being runner-up in trials on any occasion. In ‘80 he would have been pretty young to be a contender, ‘84 again was apparently Kemp, ‘88 pretty sure Dave Schultz was runner-up to Kenny Monday. Not sure who Monday beat in ‘92 and ‘96. 
 

agree with all you’ve said in terms of Kemp’s great career being somewhat overlooked due to lack of Olympic Gold. 

Edited April 15, 2023 by 11986