Division 3 to Division 1

[SocraTease]

2 hours ago, lu_alum said:

...and he was pinned in the PSAC championships the same year by Wade Schalles.  Schalles wasn't able to wrestle in NCAAs that year, so he moved up two weight classes to pin Shorty.

yes ... but why couldn't Schalles compete at ncaas?

[cowcards]

4 minutes ago, SocraTease said:

yes ... but why couldn't Schalles compete at ncaas?

Old eligibility rules. He attended East Stroudsburg during a summer term before Clarion so he lost a year of eligibility. The funny thing is that he was able to wrestle his sr. year all through the conference tournament and then couldn't wrestle NCAAs. 

Edited March 18 by cowcards

[WrestlingFan89]

3 hours ago, cowcards said:

Since the NCAA ended D2/D3/NAIA wrestlers from competing in the D1 tournament in the early 90s, here are the guys that I am tracking who have AA'd after transferring from a non-D1 & non-JUCO institution. 

• Christian Lance - Ft. Hays
• Steve Fittery - Shippensburg
• Bill Stouffer - Grand Valley State
• Mo Lawal - Central Oklahoma
• Jody Stritmatter - Johnstown
• Tim Morrissey - Western Colorado
• Donnell Rawls - Winston-Salem
   

Add Ryan Lewis

[cowcards]

4 minutes ago, WrestlingFan89 said:

Add Ryan Lewis

I wasn't sure when NDSU made the switch. One of these days I'll get around to documenting what years programs were what division. Thanks!

[lu_alum]

Old eligibility rules. He attended East Stroudsburg during a summer term before Clarion so he lost a year of eligibility. The funny thing is that he was able to wrestle his sr. year all through the conference tournament and then couldn't wrestle NCAAs. 

Schalles pinned three NCAA champs his senior year.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[WrestlingFan89]

14 minutes ago, cowcards said:

I wasn't sure when NDSU made the switch. One of these days I'll get around to documenting what years programs were what division. Thanks!

2004 for NDSU and SDSU

[1032004]

7 hours ago, NM1965 said:

There's a big gap between D1 and D2/D3. I thought the different levels were much closer until I started looking at wrestlestats results. Looking at small tournaments where reserves from D1 schools wrestle the guys from smaller programs shows that the D1 reserves usually smoke even good D2/D3 wrestlers. There are exceptions of course. 

I’d argue that “D1 reserves smoking good D2/D3 wrestlers” is mostly referring to reserves from the top 15 or so teams.   “Good D2/D3 wrestlers” can often beat or at least compete with the bottom third of D1 teams’ starters (who would also get beat by the reserves from the top 15 or so teams).

[fishbane]

1 hour ago, 1032004 said:

I’d argue that “D1 reserves smoking good D2/D3 wrestlers” is mostly referring to reserves from the top 15 or so teams.   “Good D2/D3 wrestlers” can often beat or at least compete with the bottom third of D1 teams’ starters (who would also get beat by the reserves from the top 15 or so teams).

The wrestlers that transfer from D1 down to D3 do so for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes they are backups from bigger programs sometimes smaller. Other times there are off the mat issues.

Duane Bastress current head coach at York College started out his career at Bloomsburg.  He was the starter as a true freshman in 2002 and went 17-15 at 165. He did not qualify for NCAAs out of the EWL. He transferred to York College and in three seasons (2004, 2005, 2006) he went 97-6 and won two national titles.

In 2006 there were two D1 transfers in the final at 157lbs.  The champion Joe Pflug was top recruit in high school and committed to Ohio State.  He transfered to Heidelberg where he wrestled two seasons finishing 1st and 3rd.  I don't think he ever took the mat for the buckeyes.   His opponent was Jeremy Anderson  of Augburg who was a transfer from Minnesota.  Anderson I don't think he was ever a starter for the Golden Gophers and placed 2nd and 1st in two seasons in Augsburg.

David Morgan initially started his career at Pitt.  I think he spent a year there and they wanted him at 125 which was probably a too big of a cut.  He transferred to kings where he went up to 133.  He went 86-7 over three seasons finishing 6th once and winning two national titles in 2007 and 2008.

Marcus LeVesseur also transferred from Minnesota to Augsburg.  I think one of the reasons for his transfer was so that he could also play football.  He was an undefeated 4x champ at Augsburg.

Brent Rider transferred from Virginia Tech to SUNY Cortland.  I don't think he was a starter at VT and they weren't a top 24 team back then.  I three seasons he placed 5th (2002) and 6th (2004) at D3 NCAAs.

Rocky Mantella was a starter at Indiana as a true freshman in 2002.  He went 0-2 and did not qualify for NCAAs.  Off the mat issues lead to him leaving Indiana after one season.  Some years later in 2009 he resurfaced at Del Val College and lost in the national final.

Ricky Laforge was a national qualifier for Hofstra at 133lbs in 2003 earning the 10 seed before going 0-2.  He may have lost his starting spot by the time he transferred to Del Val for his final season of eligibility.  He lost in the 2007 D3 141lb final to Quincy Osborn of Augburg.  Osborn was a transfer from the University of Minnesota where he had also qualified for NCAAs.  Orborn was a D1 qualifier at 133lbs in 2004.

[flyingcement]

Gabe Hixenbaugh wrestled four years at Campbell with one of them as a starter.  This past weekend, he won the Division II title for Montvale and was the first national champion for Montvale in any sport. 

At the same time that NC State had Jakob Camacho, Jarrett Trombley, Stevo Poulin and Anthony Noto, they also had James Joplin - who has similarly found success at DII Lander with 3rd and 4th place finishes the last two seasons.  

Edited March 19 by flyingcement

[fishbane]

Brennan Swafford won an NAIA national championship in 2020 after finishing 7th in 2019.  He transferred to Iowa where he was never the starter.  He wrestled part of three seasons for the Hawkeyes before being suspended for gambling.  He might have been the 184lb starter this season if not for the gambling suspension.  He generally lost to top 25 type guys and his best win was probably Julien Broderson.  Might have qualified for NCAAs if he was ever the guy at the end of the year.

In the 2022 season he wrestled both Jared Stricker (UW Eau-Claire) and Zane Mulder (Wartburg) at the Luther Open losing to Mulder and beating Stricker.  Those two wrestled in the 174lb D3 final this weekend with Stricker beating Mulder. In 2023 they also wrestled in the final, but with the reverse result.  In 2022 (same season they wrestled Swafford) Mulder was 4th and Stricker DNP losing in the R12.  In 2021 Mulder lost in the final.  Mulder was a D1 transfer from ISU.  He went 2-4-1-2 in four seasons at Wartburg and was 83-6 against D3 competition.

This season Swafford defeated Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (Augsburg) via MD at the Luther Open.  Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann won D3 NCAAs at 184lbs last weekend in dominant fashion.  This 4 wins included 3 TF and 1 MD.  He outscored his opponents 59-3.

[fishbane]

51 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

Gabe Hixenbaugh wrestled four years at Campbell with one of them as a starter.  This past weekend, he won the Division II title for Montvale and was the first national champion for Montvale in any sport. 

Joziah Frey wrestled at Campbell for two seasons as a redshiet/backup.  He won his second D3 title over the weekend.  He is 72-0 in two seasons of competition in D3.  His only loss in that time was to Luke Stanich at the Princeton open.

[1032004]

2 hours ago, fishbane said:

The wrestlers that transfer from D1 down to D3 do so for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes they are backups from bigger programs sometimes smaller. Other times there are off the mat issues.

Duane Bastress current head coach at York College started out his career at Bloomsburg.  He was the starter as a true freshman in 2002 and went 17-15 at 165. He did not qualify for NCAAs out of the EWL. He transferred to York College and in three seasons (2004, 2005, 2006) he went 97-6 and won two national titles.

In 2006 there were two D1 transfers in the final at 157lbs.  The champion Joe Pflug was top recruit in high school and committed to Ohio State.  He transfered to Heidelberg where he wrestled two seasons finishing 1st and 3rd.  I don't think he ever took the mat for the buckeyes.   His opponent was Jeremy Anderson  of Augburg who was a transfer from Minnesota.  Anderson I don't think he was ever a starter for the Golden Gophers and placed 2nd and 1st in two seasons in Augsburg.

David Morgan initially started his career at Pitt.  I think he spent a year there and they wanted him at 125 which was probably a too big of a cut.  He transferred to kings where he went up to 133.  He went 86-7 over three seasons finishing 6th once and winning two national titles in 2007 and 2008.

Marcus LeVesseur also transferred from Minnesota to Augsburg.  I think one of the reasons for his transfer was so that he could also play football.  He was an undefeated 4x champ at Augsburg.

Brent Rider transferred from Virginia Tech to SUNY Cortland.  I don't think he was a starter at VT and they weren't a top 24 team back then.  I three seasons he placed 5th (2002) and 6th (2004) at D3 NCAAs.

Rocky Mantella was a starter at Indiana as a true freshman in 2002.  He went 0-2 and did not qualify for NCAAs.  Off the mat issues lead to him leaving Indiana after one season.  Some years later in 2009 he resurfaced at Del Val College and lost in the national final.

Ricky Laforge was a national qualifier for Hofstra at 133lbs in 2003 earning the 10 seed before going 0-2.  He may have lost his starting spot by the time he transferred to Del Val for his final season of eligibility.  He lost in the 2007 D3 141lb final to Quincy Osborn of Augburg.  Osborn was a transfer from the University of Minnesota where he had also qualified for NCAAs.  Orborn was a D1 qualifier at 133lbs in 2004.

Good info.  I don’t think any of this except for Brent Rider really disagrees with what I said though

[1032004]

10 hours ago, cowcards said:

Since the NCAA ended D2/D3/NAIA wrestlers from competing in the D1 tournament in the early 90s, here are the guys that I am tracking who have AA'd after transferring from a non-D1 & non-JUCO institution. 

• Christian Lance - Ft. Hays
• Steve Fittery - Shippensburg
• Bill Stouffer - Grand Valley State
• Mo Lawal - Central Oklahoma
• Jody Stritmatter - Johnstown
• Tim Morrissey - Western Colorado
• Donnell Rawls - Winston-Salem
   

Yeah looks like Christian Lance is the answer to the OP’s question of the last time.  Interestingly according to the Ft Hays website he redshirted then wrestled in one D2 NCAA tournament but DNP.  

His path to AA in 2022 wasn’t easy either.  He had wins over Tyrie Houghton, Lewis Fernandes and Wyatt Hendrickson while losing to Tony Cassioppi, Greg Kerkvliet and Lucas Davison.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

17 hours ago, KCMO2 said:

Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov was a 2x champ at Colby Community College in 2003 and 2004.  After transferring to American University in 2005 he had the #4 seed but had to forfeit out due to injury.  In 2006 he was the #3 seed at 165 and ended up taking 3rd.

His teammate Eric Luedke was a 2x national champ at Colby and a 2x AA after transferring to Iowa.

Don't forget Bekzod Abdurakmanove (Clarion D1 3rd; Olympic Bronze) and Ganbayar Sanjaa (American U 4th and 6th D1; Mongolian national team member) who were members of the Colby CC team as well.

[NM1965]

17 hours ago, 1032004 said:

I’d argue that “D1 reserves smoking good D2/D3 wrestlers” is mostly referring to reserves from the top 15 or so teams.   “Good D2/D3 wrestlers” can often beat or at least compete with the bottom third of D1 teams’ starters (who would also get beat by the reserves from the top 15 or so teams).

Oh yes, that happens too. Sometimes, very rarely, you'll see D2/D3 guys that can compete with good D1 guys. It's pretty rare though, you have to admit. Guys like Carlton Haselrig are like the wrestling equivalent of unicorns  

[1032004]

19 minutes ago, NM1965 said:

Oh yes, that happens too. Sometimes, very rarely, you'll see D2/D3 guys that can compete with good D1 guys. It's pretty rare though, you have to admit. Guys like Carlton Haselrig are like the wrestling equivalent of unicorns  

Yeah I’ve think I said similarly in different threads.  My guess would be if you take the 20 D2/D3 champs and put them in the D1 tournament, you’d get something like:

1 AA (7th/8th) or R12

1 R16

4 2-2

6 1-2

8 0-2

 

 

[Threadkilla]

20 hours ago, NM1965 said:

That's not many guys for 30 years, I'd have expected a lot more. Wow. 

I think Cormier  was a two-time junior college national champion at 197 pounds, in 1998 and 1999 at Colby.

Brock Lesnar  was at  Bismarck State College and won the 1998 National Junior College  championship as a sophomore after finishing fifth as a freshman.

[Idaho]

There was a day when JC had very tough guys because they couldn't get into a D1 school academically...so they went to the JC to get their grades up and transfer. JC is now used to get 2-3 years of competitive wrestling in to get your wrestling up in order to start at a higher level.  D1 schools as a whole have lowered their academic standards...guys who used to have to go to JC now can get into D1 schools. 

[Tom formerly Tofurky]

23 hours ago, fishbane said:

The wrestlers that transfer from D1 down to D3 do so for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes they are backups from bigger programs sometimes smaller. Other times there are off the mat issues.

Duane Bastress current head coach at York College started out his career at Bloomsburg.  He was the starter as a true freshman in 2002 and went 17-15 at 165. He did not qualify for NCAAs out of the EWL. He transferred to York College and in three seasons (2004, 2005, 2006) he went 97-6 and won two national titles.

In 2006 there were two D1 transfers in the final at 157lbs.  The champion Joe Pflug was top recruit in high school and committed to Ohio State.  He transfered to Heidelberg where he wrestled two seasons finishing 1st and 3rd.  I don't think he ever took the mat for the buckeyes.   His opponent was Jeremy Anderson  of Augburg who was a transfer from Minnesota.  Anderson I don't think he was ever a starter for the Golden Gophers and placed 2nd and 1st in two seasons in Augsburg.

David Morgan initially started his career at Pitt.  I think he spent a year there and they wanted him at 125 which was probably a too big of a cut.  He transferred to kings where he went up to 133.  He went 86-7 over three seasons finishing 6th once and winning two national titles in 2007 and 2008.

Marcus LeVesseur also transferred from Minnesota to Augsburg.  I think one of the reasons for his transfer was so that he could also play football.  He was an undefeated 4x champ at Augsburg.

Brent Rider transferred from Virginia Tech to SUNY Cortland.  I don't think he was a starter at VT and they weren't a top 24 team back then.  I three seasons he placed 5th (2002) and 6th (2004) at D3 NCAAs.

Rocky Mantella was a starter at Indiana as a true freshman in 2002.  He went 0-2 and did not qualify for NCAAs.  Off the mat issues lead to him leaving Indiana after one season.  Some years later in 2009 he resurfaced at Del Val College and lost in the national final.

Ricky Laforge was a national qualifier for Hofstra at 133lbs in 2003 earning the 10 seed before going 0-2.  He may have lost his starting spot by the time he transferred to Del Val for his final season of eligibility.  He lost in the 2007 D3 141lb final to Quincy Osborn of Augburg.  Osborn was a transfer from the University of Minnesota where he had also qualified for NCAAs.  Orborn was a D1 qualifier at 133lbs in 2004.

D3 Elmhurst College had some success in the mid-2010s with three former D1 guys. One of them upset the #1 seed at D1 Nationals a few years before landing at EC, while another was a top-five recruit nationally coming out of high school and made the blood round in D1s for a small school in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

[TexRef]

9 hours ago, Idaho said:

There was a day when JC had very tough guys because they couldn't get into a D1 school academically...so they went to the JC to get their grades up and transfer. JC is now used to get 2-3 years of competitive wrestling in to get your wrestling up in order to start at a higher level.  D1 schools as a whole have lowered their academic standards...guys who used to have to go to JC now can get into D1 schools. 

If I'm not mistaken Rulon Gardner was one of those guys, going to Ricks College before landing at Nebraska. 

TJ Williams went to Lassen and then onto the University of Iowa, and was able to put together a few wins. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

8 hours ago, Tom formerly Tofurky said:

D3 Elmhurst College had some success in the mid-2010s with three former D1 guys. One of them upset the #1 seed at D1 Nationals a few years before landing at EC, while another was a top-five recruit nationally coming out of high school and made the blood round in D1s for a small school in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Didn't Elmhurst's coach upset the #1 seed at nationals, himself ... once upon a time? 

[1032004]

9 hours ago, Idaho said:

There was a day when JC had very tough guys because they couldn't get into a D1 school academically...so they went to the JC to get their grades up and transfer. JC is now used to get 2-3 years of competitive wrestling in to get your wrestling up in order to start at a higher level.  D1 schools as a whole have lowered their academic standards...guys who used to have to go to JC now can get into D1 schools. 

That reminds me, does anyone know what happened to Ryan Anderson?   I believe he initially committed to Iowa State maybe, but he ended up initially going to D3 Centenary supposedly for academic reasons.  He then started for a year at Binghampton, but I feel like disappeared after that and I wonder if it was academic related.

[Idaho]

47 minutes ago, TexRef said:

If I'm not mistaken Rulon Gardner was one of those guys, going to Ricks College before landing at Nebraska. 

TJ Williams went to Lassen and then onto the University of Iowa, and was able to put together a few wins. 

Yep -I believe you are correct. In the 80's and 90's we saw guys like that - great wrestlers but needed some help getting into a D1 school and JC was what could help them in both wrestling and academics. With the lowering of entrance standards and the number of academic supports that teams have in place for their athletes, I dont' think we will see this as much anymore. 

[Idaho]

11 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

That reminds me, does anyone know what happened to Ryan Anderson?   I believe he initially committed to Iowa State maybe, but he ended up initially going to D3 Centenary supposedly for academic reasons.  He then started for a year at Binghampton, but I feel like disappeared after that and I wonder if it was academic related.

Good question... I think you are correct about all the places he landed. 

[gimpeltf]

On 3/20/2024 at 7:25 AM, 1032004 said:

That reminds me, does anyone know what happened to Ryan Anderson?   I believe he initially committed to Iowa State maybe, but he ended up initially going to D3 Centenary supposedly for academic reasons.  He then started for a year at Binghampton, but I feel like disappeared after that and I wonder if it was academic related.

Basically he forgot to go to class as I understand it