Who is the next Hall of Famer?

[Wrestleknownothing]

Last night @Jason Bryant pointed out that in Jesse Mendez's corner was newly minted Hall of Famer Logan Stieber (Distinguished Member category). And over the weekend, @Iwrite was kind enough to share with us the bio for the third Banach Brother, Steve, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the "Outstanding American" category.

This got me thinking about who would be the next wrestler to get into the Hall of Fame based primarily on college and international achievements.

I took a quick perusal of the Distinguished Members category by year (https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/awards/Distinguished_Member?page=1) and estimated that in the last 25 years there have been between 50 and 60 honorees who were there based primarily on college achievements, or a combination of college and international with a heavy dose of college. So let's say 2 to 3 get in next year. Who are those guys?

One caveat, a wrestler has to be retired for 5 years to be eligible (and I believe that is five years from any combat type?).

Some ideas:

• Cole Konrad - 4x AA, 3x finalist, 2x champ in college (4,2,1,1). Pan Am Gold while in college. World University Gold. Bellator heavyweight champ.
• Steve Mocco - this one might come with a caveat. He is already in the HOF as a Glen Brand honoree (for wrestlers from Iowa) and a Dave Schultz honoree (high school). Maybe the Brand and Distinguished Member are mutually exclusive?
• Tommy Rowlands - 4x AA, 3x finalist, 2x champ in college (2,1,6,1). University World Champion, Pan-Am Champion, 2x U.S. Open Champion, and 6x U.S. National Team Member.
• Ben Askren - No brainer. 4x AA, 4x finalist, 2x champ in college (2,2,1,1), 2x Hodge Award. Olympian, Pan Am Gold, World Grappling Champ, ONE and Bellator Champ.

Who have you got?

[ionel]

  On 6/5/2024 at 2:33 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

 

• Steve Mocco - this one might come with a caveat. He is already in the HOF as a Glen Brand honoree (for wrestlers from Iowa) and a Dave Schultz honoree (high school). Maybe the Brand and Distinguished Member are mutually exclusive?

Who have you got?

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did Mocco win anything?  

[Greenwave]

Rowlands

[Gus]

  On 6/5/2024 at 2:46 PM, ionel said:

did Mocco win anything?  

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2X NCAA Champ, 3X Pan Am Champ

[Wrestleknownothing]

  On 6/5/2024 at 2:46 PM, ionel said:

did Mocco win anything?  

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rumor has it

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

  On 6/5/2024 at 3:02 PM, Gus said:

2X NCAA Champ, 3X Pan Am Champ

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OTT

[Wrestleknownothing]

Should every single digit guy be a HOFer?

Single digit guy = 4x AA where the sum of their placement is a single digit.

There are 52 single digit guys.

[Rassling]

  On 6/5/2024 at 2:33 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

Last night @Jason Bryant pointed out that in Jesse Mendez's corner was newly minted Hall of Famer Logan Stieber (Distinguished Member category). And over the weekend, @Iwrite was kind enough to share with us the bio for the third Banach Brother, Steve, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the "Outstanding American" category.

This got me thinking about who would be the next wrestler to get into the Hall of Fame based primarily on college and international achievements.

I took a quick perusal of the Distinguished Members category by year (https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/awards/Distinguished_Member?page=1) and estimated that in the last 25 years there have been between 50 and 60 honorees who were there based primarily on college achievements, or a combination of college and international with a heavy dose of college. So let's say 2 to 3 get in next year. Who are those guys?

One caveat, a wrestler has to be retired for 5 years to be eligible (and I believe that is five years from any combat type?).

Some ideas:

• Cole Konrad - 4x AA, 3x finalist, 2x champ in college (4,2,1,1). Pan Am Gold while in college. World University Gold. Bellator heavyweight champ.
• Steve Mocco - this one might come with a caveat. He is already in the HOF as a Glen Brand honoree (for wrestlers from Iowa) and a Dave Schultz honoree (high school). Maybe the Brand and Distinguished Member are mutually exclusive?
• Tommy Rowlands - 4x AA, 3x finalist, 2x champ in college (2,1,6,1). University World Champion, Pan-Am Champion, 2x U.S. Open Champion, and 6x U.S. National Team Member.
• Ben Askren - No brainer. 4x AA, 4x finalist, 2x champ in college (2,2,1,1), 2x Hodge Award. Olympian, Pan Am Gold, World Grappling Champ, ONE and Bellator Champ.

Who have you got?

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YAWNnnn

[Wrestleknownothing]

  On 6/5/2024 at 4:18 PM, Rassling said:

YAWNnnn

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Such a confusing response

[Truzzcat]

Ben has given so much back to the sport on top of his accolades I think he has to be the next guy.

[Wrestleknownothing]

  On 6/5/2024 at 4:35 PM, Truzzcat said:

Ben has given so much back to the sport on top of his accolades I think he has to be the next guy.

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Something just occurred to me. Does the Jake Paul fight restart the 5 year waiting period for Askren?

[Truzzcat]

  On 6/5/2024 at 7:23 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

Something just occurred to me. Does the Jake Paul fight restart the 5 year waiting period for Askren?

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If jake paul is gatekeeping ben from the hall of fame that will be a very sad day.

[Alces Alces Gigas]

There are several coaches that need to go in for sure.   David James and Pat Pecora need in the Hall bit the Hall seems to only care about D1 accolades.  2 NCAA team titles and 661 dual wins for Pecora and 12 team titles for James (5 NAIA and 7 NCAA) should be enough 

[fishbane]

  On 6/5/2024 at 3:52 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

Should every single digit guy be a HOFer?

Single digit guy = 4x AA where the sum of their placement is a single digit.

There are 52 single digit guys.

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I count 55 of these including O'Toole and Starocci who are still active.

 

[Wrestleknownothing]

  On 6/6/2024 at 4:37 PM, fishbane said:

I count 55 of these including O'Toole and Starocci who are still active.

 

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There is a simple reason why you count 55, because you are correct.

[fishbane]

  On 6/6/2024 at 6:47 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

There is a simple reason why you count 55, because you are correct.

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No, I'm not.  I was missing at least 2 - Kolat and Milkovich.  Hard to argue against any of these 57.  The four retired the longest that are not distinguished members are Scarpello, Kilgore, Burley, and Goldman.

  On 6/5/2024 at 2:33 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

He is already in the HOF as a Glen Brand honoree (for wrestlers from Iowa) and a Dave Schultz honoree (high school). Maybe the Brand and Distinguished Member are mutually exclusive?

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Gable is both a Glen Brand Inductee and a Distinguished Member.

[Fadzaev2]

  On 6/6/2024 at 7:45 PM, fishbane said:

No, I'm not.  I was missing at least 2 - Kolat and Milkovich.  Hard to argue against any of these 57.  The four retired the longest that are not distinguished members are Scarpello, Kilgore, Burley, and Goldman.

Gable is both a Glen Brand Inductee and a Distinguished Member.

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Of the 4 listed at the top, I vote for Burley....4 time finalist, 2 time champ and was very exciting, especially vs. Randy Lewis....epic battles.  Also, although not a big deal Milkovich's last year was 1976.

[pmilk]

Milkovich placed 1, 1, 2, 2, and the last year was 1976. Thanks 

[Wrestleknownothing]

  On 7/1/2024 at 6:27 PM, pmilk said:

Milkovich placed 1, 1, 2, 2, and the last year was 1976. Thanks 

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They oughta put that guy in the HOF for his views on stalling alone.

[Truzzcat]

Crazy to think Imar was potentially two Vincenzo joseph inside trips away from maybe being a top 3 all time college wrestler. He would have been 112-1.

[fishbane]

Since I keep getting corrected below is the updated list, ordered by final NCAA competition year, with Milkovich's numbers corrected. Sarcpello, Kilgore, Burley, and Goldman remain the most senior "single digit" guys that are not distinguished members.  I think Jake Herbert is the most senior single digit guy that also has a world medal and Mocco is the most senior that made an Olympic team.  For my next 4 I will say Scarpello, Burley, Herbert, Mocco.

[11986]

  On 6/6/2024 at 9:19 PM, Fadzaev2 said:

Of the 4 listed at the top, I vote for Burley....4 time finalist, 2 time champ and was very exciting, especially vs. Randy Lewis....epic battles.  Also, although not a big deal Milkovich's last year was 1976.

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Didn't Burley also stop defending champ Mike Land's long winning streak when Burley won it as a freshman?  

[Lunaticfringe]

Jayson Ness went 5,2,3,1 and sadly does not meet the criteria. Similar to Mark Ironside who just misses it. Ness lost to Hazewinkle in the semis and then lost to Escobedo in consi Semi(he never seemed to figure Angel out) and pinned Obe Blanc for 5th. Those pin points were big in the Gophers 3rd title in 7 years.

[headshuck]

  On 7/1/2024 at 11:45 PM, Lunaticfringe said:

Jayson Ness went 5,2,3,1 and sadly does not meet the criteria. Similar to Mark Ironside who just misses it. Ness lost to Hazewinkle in the semis and then lost to Escobedo in consi Semi(he never seemed to figure Angel out) and pinned Obe Blanc for 5th. Those pin points were big in the Gophers 3rd title in 7 years.

Jayson was one of the last great pinners though. He’d go the pin like a dog on a bone.

[Wrestleknownothing]

  On 7/1/2024 at 11:45 PM, Lunaticfringe said:

Jayson Ness went 5,2,3,1 and sadly does not meet the criteria. Similar to Mark Ironside who just misses it. Ness lost to Hazewinkle in the semis and then lost to Escobedo in consi Semi(he never seemed to figure Angel out) and pinned Obe Blanc for 5th. Those pin points were big in the Gophers 3rd title in 7 years.

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To be fair, my criteria was completely arbitrary. I am sure there are plenty of HOFers who do not meet it.