Diamonds in the rough.. worst high school credentials to make the D1 podium?

[Wrasslin]

1 hour ago, ionel said:

Ed Hamer ... you telling me no one saw that coming?  

haha! I wrestled in college with a dude out of Illinois who (actually) changed his name to Martin Hammers . . . everybody saw it coming! 

[Tripnsweep]

I might be wrong, but I think Brian Picklo was a Big Ten champion and All American. He never qualified for state I believe. He was a big judo guy though, and walked on at Michigan State. 

[Tripnsweep]

Picklo was so naive about wrestling that his teammates made fun of his complete lack of awareness. 

 

“You have the French national champion Andre ‘For-fee-ay’ in the first round,” they would tell him. Picklo didn’t know that FORFEIT was not an actual person. 

 

“Where is UNAT located?” Picklo asked one of his teammates. “I’ve never heard of that college before.”

 

“That’s the University of Northern Atlanta Tech,” his teammate replied. Picklo eventaully figured out that UNAT stood for unattached. 

 

Well, Dave Dean’s formula eventually worked. Picklo, as we know, became a two-time All-American and a Big Ten champion. His points at the 1996 NCAA tournament were part of a seventh place finish for the Spartans. 

[ionel]

23 minutes ago, Wrasslin said:

haha! I wrestled in college with a dude out of Illinois who (actually) changed his name to Martin Hammers . . . everybody saw it coming! 

Heard Ben Hammered had little success.

[Wrasslin]

4 minutes ago, ionel said:

Heard Ben Hammered had little success.

ok, that's F'n funny! 

[jchapman]

1 hour ago, BuckyBadger said:

Winner right here. 

It doesn't answer the question asked.  If we ignore the "D1 podium" part of the question, then John Peterson has to be mentioned.  1X NAIA placer who then became an Olympic Champ, Olympic Silver, World Silver, World Bronze

Edited Thursday at 07:51 PM by jchapman

[fishbane]

1 hour ago, boconnell said:

Tervel Dlagnev wasn't a D1 AA but he was a D2 multiple champ who beat D1 Champ Dustin Fox at the midlands.  

I think he was a 1X 5th in Texas at 215.  That might not have made him a state qualifier in a lot of states, and he ends up an NCAA champ level guy with a ton of World Teams.  I'm not sure anyone who reached those heights was lower in HS.

Massoma Endene who transferred to Iowa this offseason had a similar high school career.  I think his best finish was 6th in Texas and didn't start wrestling until maybe his sophomore year.  He won 3 D3 titles and might be Iowas 197lb starter next year.  Still a long way to match Dlagnev's accomplishments. 

[OMW]

Early 80s Californian's:

1980 Cal State Bakersfield's (D2) D1 National Champs 118 Joe Gonzales and 126 John Azevedo

1982 University of Oklahoma's National Champs 167 Dave Schultz and 177 Mark Schultz

of note, all 4 were Olympians, JA on the 80 boycott team and the other 3 1984 (Soviet boycott)

both Schultz were the 2 seeds and defeated the 1 seeds in the finals, with Mark Schultz beating 1984 Olympic teammate and fellow Gold Medal winner Ed Banach

[MPhillips]

2 minutes ago, OMW said:

1982 University of Oklahoma's National Champs 167 Dave Schultz and 177 Mark Schultz

[OMW]

whoops

[OMW]

CA Diamond in the rough:

CA State Placer (6/7th? and 5th), NCAA Champion and current CBU head coach Derek Moore

[Wrasslin]

16 minutes ago, OMW said:

Early 80s Californian's:

1980 Cal State Bakersfield's (D2) D1 National Champs 118 Joe Gonzales and 126 John Azevedo

1982 University of Oklahoma's National Champs 167 Dave Schultz and 177 Mark Schultz

of note, all 4 were Olympians, JA on the 80 boycott team and the other 3 1984 (Soviet boycott)

both Schultz were the 2 seeds and defeated the 1 seeds in the finals, with Mark Schultz beating 1984 Olympic teammate and fellow Gold Medal winner Ed Banach

Lol! Wrong thread but still a good post!  John Azevedo was my high school wrestling coach.

[OMW]

25 minutes ago, Wrasslin said:

Lol! Wrong thread but still a good post!  John Azevedo was my high school wrestling coach.

CC or SM?

[Rassling2]

7 hours ago, Antitroll2828 said:

Yea he took 3rd his senior yr losing in the semis to the legendary Paul Finn who is the only guy in NJ history to go undefeated with all pins for an entire season .. that weight class was pretty wild , Baumgartner beat future pro wrestler bam bam Bigelow in that tournament , also jim Jeffcoat who played 15 years for the Dallas cowboys and won 2 superbowls lost on the otherside to Finn

While other forums are foolishly charging a fee to participate, this one provides fascinating history like this for free. 

[Rassling2]

6 hours ago, PortaJohn said:

I remember this topic from a year ago.  Guys from PA with no PIAA titles.  Some with Prep Titles.  Credit goes to @lu_alum

The two Lieberman bros from Lehigh during the 1970’s Dad and I watched on tv in Long Island is most memorable as a kid. 

[Snoqualmie18]

One off the top of my head.

Joe Burke from Seton Hall was 2 time AA (4th in 1993 and 3rd 1995) and was #1 seed at NCAA in 1995.  He lost first round of NJ states as a senior in the only year he qualified (think he lost to a Somerville guy, but too lazy to look it up).  The guy he beat for 3rd in the region tournament (back when only top 3 went to states) was a 4-time Division 3 AA too.  Joe was a hammer on top.  

[BruceyB]

10 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Vince Robinson. Zero HS championships, though everyone in IL knows he had the talent level to be a multi-time state champ. So it's not like he had dramatic improvement at NC St., just bad luck in HS.

That's a good answer. I forgot he didn't win a state title. Like you said, with his high school resume (below) it's actually just kind of shocking that someone so good can graduate without a single title.

Prep
• Ironman Champion(2022)
• Powerade Champion(2023)
• Third at Ironman (2023)
• Two-time runner up at State
• Two-time Conference Champ
• Fifth Place at Fargo (2021)
 

[Tripnsweep]

I can think of another one, but I'm not sure he would be a diamond in the rough. Aaron Simpson from ASU. He was a 4x state champion in the smallest school conference in Arizona. But ASU or no other schools really were interested. He was a very good student though, and went to ASU on an academic scholarship and walked on when Lee Roy Smith was the head coach. Became a 2x AA. 

[The Kid]

4 hours ago, ionel said:

Heard Ben Hammered had little success.

Burt Overton agrees!

[Pasta1975]

Piklo and it isn't even a discussion. He never made regionals, let alone states in high school. Big ten champ and 2 time AA. 

[Ragu]

Niche answer. Ben Honis 1 time AA for Cornell and currently an Italian national team member ranked 3rd in the world at 92kg. Went 0-2 junior year and came 3rd his senior year. 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

11 hours ago, boconnell said:

Tervel Dlagnev wasn't a D1 AA but he was a D2 multiple champ who beat D1 Champ Dustin Fox at the midlands.  

I think he was a 1X 5th in Texas at 215.  That might not have made him a state qualifier in a lot of states, and he ends up an NCAA champ level guy with a ton of World Teams.  I'm not sure anyone who reached those heights was lower in HS.

11 hours ago, BuckyBadger said:

Winner right here. 

Ding, ding, ding... we have a winner!

 

(Note that the Schultz brothers both had very impressive high school credentials - which should surprise nobody.)

[1032004]

20 hours ago, PortaJohn said:

I remember this topic from a year ago.  Guys from PA with no PIAA titles.  Some with Prep Titles.  Credit goes to @lu_alum

What was Nino’s best finish in HS?

[PortaJohn]

1 hour ago, 1032004 said:

What was Nino’s best finish in HS?

Placed 2nd twice.  One of those years lost to Mikey Labs

[Husker_Du]

i don't like most of the suggestions being offered. I mean, VRob had major accomplishments in HS and was obviously a talent.

i gotta jump into a meeting but i'll get back on this topic. in short, i'd say state titles don't mean much.

but for now Drew Foster and Stephen Buchanan come to mind.