All Quarter-Century team.. picks from the heart.

[BruceyB]

With all the fuss about the ambiguity and lack of criteria with Flo's Quarter-Century team, let's hear your quarter-century team picks led by your heart. Whether your criteria includes nostalgia, homer picks, favorite to watch, accolades, etc. your picks, your rules. Ideally, give a little note for why each wrestler earned the pick from your heart. 

My list:

125: Abas - the highlights are just too smooth. When people talk about how good of neutral wrestlers California boys are, Abas is the embodiment.

133: JO - similar to Abas, JO had so many ways to score in neutral.. doubles, picks, slidebys, ducks, low singles, and he crunched almost everyone at 133 from top with a cross-face cradle.

141: Stieber - just an all-time favorite wrestler of mine to watch. such a positive attitude in every interview, seemed like an awesome teammate and leader, and he was an absolute hammer. I don't understand how it seems like almost he alone has been able to use the bar-half series in such a devastating fashion.

149: Metcalf - this is a big nostalgia pick for me. Metcalf was the face of Iowa and essentially college wrestling when I first started actively following NCAA wrestling. His pressure and ability to break guys was something I hadn't seen before. A match could be within a point going into the 3rd and then his opponent would break and he'd start drilling takedowns on them for a major, tech, or pin.

157: Nolf - non-stop action, fun scrambles, never a boring match.

165: Dieringer - he'll never be the face of 165 because unfortunately for him, you have the legends of Burroughs, Dake, and David Taylor that all came before him and dominated the NCAA level, and then blocked his path ever making a world team. He's a fairly forgotten figure for how good he was for so long.

174: Askren - if anyone can watch the floflim Funky and not be a fan of Ben's wrestling, that would be shocking.

184: Ruth - one of the most exciting 184s

197: Sanderson - obvious reasons, also not sure who else would be in the running at 197? I never watch Rosholt.

285: Mocco - I haven't watched a lot of HWT from the 2000s but from the flodoc, Mocco sounds like he was a Gable type freak coming into college, and he seems like a really solid dude.

[MPhillips]

Fun list...

[Wrestle620]

I'll try to pick guys who aren't the obvious # 1 picks because "remember that guy" is fun.

125 - Agree on Abas. The '01 finals were the first I ever got to watch D1 wrestling, and Abas vs. Stritmatter was the first match. His quickness and technique was unreal and to go back and watch those videos now after watching the sport for 25 years it holds up 100%. 

133 - Travis Lee. Another neutral wizard.

Honorable mention = the Ryan Lewis/Johnny Thompson rivalry. in '02 Lewis WBF during the season (I believe it was tied late at the time) then Thompson won by the skin of his teeth in the finals with a few lung timeouts thrown in; in '03 Lewis won in the regular season and Thompson won again in the finals.  I wanted Lewis to win so bad, but man when you go back and watch Thompson highlights he was must-watch (if he decided to wrestle).

141 - My nostalgia goes to a single match = Darrion Caldwell-Ryan Lang Quarterfinals in 2007. Insane.

149 -  Metcalf. I. can't remember anything like him before or after. Being relatively new to following the sport still, anytime a freshman won I was thinking "is this the next 4-timer?". Everyone thought that when Schlatter won as a freshman. Then Metcalf beat him in the big ten dual with a forearm face mush to end the match and a message board god was born.

157 - Jordan Leen and Mike Poeta were gems. Leen beat Poeta for his title in '08 and Poeta beat Leen in the semis in '09 before losing to JB in the finals. Leen had a memorable match with JB at CKLV; I remember watching JB beating these guys was the point when I started realizing just how good he was. Both were slick, quick and technically sound but JB had an answer for everything they threw his way. 

165 - Mark Perry. Probably because of how much I wanted to see Johnny Hendricks lose. Wrestling twitter would've broken had it existed during the Hendricks-Churella final in '06. But also Perry was really unconventional for Iowa and was pretty interesting to watch.

174 - Easy Ed Ruth. I don't think anyone has ever made wrestling look cooler than him.

184 - Quentin Wright was super fun to watch and probably won't make any all-time lists. I'm always fascinated by the guys who can put some bad results behind them and turn it on when it counts and that was definitely his MO.

197 - Damion Hahn had some pretty memorable matches. Wild last-second comeback wins in the semis and finals in '03.

285 - Mocco. Who hits foot sweeps at heavyweight? The Bear.

[BruceyB]

13 hours ago, Wrestle620 said:

Honorable mention = the Ryan Lewis/Johnny Thompson rivalry.

I knew nothing about Johnny Thompson before your post and so I went to youtube. 5:40 is pure wizardry. I watched it over and over and still don't know how he thought that would work.. but it did and won him a title. Thompson looks like the archetype of the mid-2000s Oklahoma State wrestler. Great double, nice low-level attacks, and good fakes/movement to setup his shots.

[Gus]

125- Spencer Lee → So much hype coming in and he basically lived up to the hype. A complete menace on top and very underrated neutral game.

133- Seth Gross → First and only NCAA champ for my Jackrabbits. So slick and tricky with the two on one from neutral and merkle position and a hammer on top with tilts and cradles. 

141- Yianni Diakomihalis → He did (and continues to do) things in scrambles that do not seem humanly possible. Also great interview where he talks about needing to have some nuts. So clutch in the NCAA finals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuzUV8mkYlI&ab_channel=BassettBrothersWrestlingChannel

149- Brett Metcalf → Throwback to the classic Iowa style from the Gable era with relentless pressure and pace. Always looking to score and dominate.

157- Isaiah Martinez → IMar's underhook and post series is a thing of beauty. He was also great with upper body and inside trips. Put up a ton of points and was super physical. Probably looked at as an all timer if he just repeats his wins from B1G over Cenzo in the finals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjRvo4dI60k&ab_channel=MichaelChoi

165- Evan Wick → Can cradle from anywhere and was comically long for the weight class. As a tall lanky wrestler myself, I always enjoyed watching Wick find creative ways to use his length.

174- Robert Kokesh / Logan Storely → SD kids that battled it out. Kokesh improved a ton throughout his career (I really thought he was going to win it his senior year). Storely came into college ready to challenge for a title and was a 4x AA without a redshirt.

184- Quentin Wright → Electric. Wright let it fly every match and was a human highlight reel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApDfyLeM3y4&ab_channel=BSDFilmRoom

197- Tanner Sloan → Another Jackrabbit that makes the list of me. Sloan was arguably the best top wrestler at 197 during his career. A great example of a guy that was hardly recruited out of high school putting in the work and becoming one of the best wrestlers in country. SDSU was his only D1 offer and his only other offer was D3 to COE college. 

285- Wyatt Hendrickson → Always willing to let it fly. It was fun to watch the progression of a wild man from AF beating up on lesser opponents to a full fledged hammer beating up on everyone.

[mspart]

16 hours ago, Wrestle620 said:

I'll try to pick guys who aren't the obvious # 1 picks because "remember that guy" is fun.

133 - Travis Lee. Another neutral wizard.

 

I saw Travis Lee win the HI state championships his 3rd time when we lived there.   I thought he went to Harvard but stuff says he was at Cornell.    I talked to a coach (I think it was the freestyle club) and he said he was really a special wrestler.   You don't run into those everyday. 

I do remember him though from the tourney.

mspart

[Wrestle620]

19 hours ago, BruceyB said:

I knew nothing about Johnny Thompson before your post and so I went to youtube. 5:40 is pure wizardry. I watched it over and over and still don't know how he thought that would work.. but it did and won him a title. Thompson looks like the archetype of the mid-2000s Oklahoma State wrestler. Great double, nice low-level attacks, and good fakes/movement to setup his shots.

100% the OK State archetype. On top of what you mentioned it was pretty well-known that he was cutting a ton of weight which probably explains some up and down performances. I believe he lost wrestle offs at least twice, but when the lights were on he could find it.  

[Winners Circle]

• 125: Escobedo. I think this was my first year really watching the NCAA finals and he kind of put it on Ness. 
• 133: Cory Clark. Grew up wrestling against him, so there's a nostalgia effect. Then I gained a ton of respect for him when he won the title with essentially one arm. 
• 141: Jaggers. I loved his cradle series off of opponent's HC and thought it was awesome how he always got it done at NCAAs. 
• 149: Gregor Gillespie. I remember him having a lightning quick low single and I ate that up. 
• 157: Michael Chandler. I met him at Mizzou camp one summer and he talked to me about Jesus Christ and I loved it. He always scrapped hard too. Had an unreal match with Leen once, which he lost, but was a complete scramble fest. 
• 165: Mark Perry. He won me over when he beat Hendricks for the title, even though I was a diehard OSU fan growing up. 
• 174: Jay Borschel. When he ran down Heinrich in the semis, I thought he was the baddest dude that had ever stepped on a mat. 
• 184: Quentin Wright. I remember him pinning Gambrall in the semis and the place erupted. 
• 197: Jake Varner. Dude just always found a way to win and I thought he was unbeatable. 
• 285: Mark Ellis. He was my camp counselor at Mizzou camp the summer after he won the title. Looked up to him after that. 

Wow. I consider myself a Hawkeye hater to be honest, and 3/10 of my team is Hawks. 

[BAC]

Some great picks here.  I'm just going to add a few in who left an impression:

125 - Chris Fleeger. Never got it done but so much fun to watch.

133 - Eric Jurgens.  I hated how good he was.

141 - Michael Lightner.  Soooooo smooth.  

149 - Darrion Caldwell.  The giant slayer!

157 - Bryan Snyder.  Best I ever saw to not win a title, and the real reason JB got so good.

165 - Donny Pritzlaff.  Incredible on his feet.

174 - Chris Pendleton.  Even Askren could never touch him. He was just leaving the scene as Flo was entering it, and slips under the radar.  

184 - Greg Jones.  Could watch that guy on his feet all day.  Just so slick.  3x'er.

197 - J'Den Cox. He's the real #1 here, but I'm not sure he can win a popularity contest with Nickal, or maybe Flo screws him by slotting in Cael, Snyder or Brooks here (despite them only having 1 year at this weight). His defensive style wasn't much fun, but he knew how to hold position and win.

HWT - Tommy Rowlands. Big guy who wrestled like a lightweight.

[NewYooper]

174 - In some ways Askren because Mark Perry went down to avoid him and won a national championship and Jake went up and won a national championship.  But, yeah, Pendleton - because as noted above, he owned Askren for two years.

197 - Varner not the most exciting matches and kept things too close, but throughout the match, you knew who was in control.  And the Jake mentioned above did win a championship over him.