1963 NCAA College Division Champions

[11986]

55 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

• Clarion was in the non-D1 category for just a single tournament (1973).
• Sadly, that would also have been their only trophy. Had their points counted they would have finished fourth. Their next best finish came in 1987 (6th).
• The most successful non-D1 team was easily Montclair State.
• Montclair State and Pitt-Johnstown are the only non-D1 teams to crack 20 points three times.
• Of course, Pitt-Johnstown's team was a team of one each time.
• Nebraska Omaha led the way with 9 appearances in the 19 years this was a thing.
• I am still QA-ing the scoring data, so everything could be wrong.
• But hopefully not.
• But maybe.

no Cal-St Bakersfield?

[Wrestleknownothing]

15 minutes ago, 11986 said:

no Cal-St Bakersfield?

Missed them because for part of the time they were D1. 

Of course, from 1975 to 1987 they scored tons.

That 1980 score would have been good enough for 8th. But the lower 1982 score would have placed 6th. And the lower still score from 1981 would have placed 5th.

Edited September 2 by Wrestleknownothing

[11986]

7 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

Missed them because for part of the time they were D1. 

Of course, from 1975 to 1987 they scored tons.

quick comparison of these numbers and the team scores for those years....Cal-St Bakersfield would have been top 10 lots of those years but surprisingly (to me at least) best would have been 5th in '81. Then again this was the 'big 4' era and not too many teams crashed that party.   

[pmilk]

A touch off-topic but the point is...D2/D3 added interest and variables that made the NCAA's even more interesting.

Article written for last months AWN....

My, How Things Have Changed

My how things have changed! My time frame reference is 1968-1984, which I believe was the Golden Era of wrestling. That’s when college wrestling was the most healthy, robust, and deep. There were lots of opportunities to wrestle collegiately, more intangibles, and rules that apparently offered more pinning opportunities. That 16 year time span averaged 63 falls/13 OT’s per tourney vs 32 falls/26 OT’s per tourney for the last 16 years on the championship side of the bracket. My, how things have changed.

There were no tech falls, no video reviews, no bricks, no grad school competitors, no 7^th year seniors, no Olympic redshirts, no transferring without penalty, no choice to avoid mat wrestling, no “cheap tilts,” no touch falls, individual dual matches could end in a draw, and for years you could only wrestle back if you lost to a semifinalist or finalist. Matches were 2-3-3 vs the present 3-2-2. Overtime was 1-1-1.

Here is a very small sampling of the scores from that period. Cleo McGlory (U of Okla) 21-4 in ’68, Steve Dildine (Alabama) 27-3 in ‘70, Don Rohn (Clarion) 26-6 in ’73, Gary Breece (U of Okla) 24-2 in 74, Nabil Guketlov (Montclair St.) 26-9 in ‘75, Mark Churella (Mich) 34-4 in ’77, Shawn Whitcomb (Mich St.) 30-7 in ’79, Charlie Heard (Univ Tenn-Chatt) 32-12 in ‘83, Joe Gibbons (Iowa St) 32-0 and Melvin Douglas (Univ of Okla) 35-5 in ’84. That’s a lot of wrestling, fans loved it, and those guys refused to be pinned! Why are those kinds of scores are no longer allowed? My, how things have changed.

The top 2 finishers, plus 2 wild cards in D2 and the D3 NCAA Championships (college division prior to ’74) were invited to compete in the D1 NCAA until ’92, and it made a difference. Consider this abbreviated list of D2/D3 wrestlers who stood at the top of podium in d1: Rich Sanders (Portland St.), Stan Dziedzic (Slippery Rock), Wade Schalles (Clarion), Joe Gonzales (CSU-Bakersfield) Carlton Haselrig (Pitt-Johnstown 3x D2/D1 NCAA Champ) and D3 NCAA Champ Ken Mallory (Montclair St.).

The powers that be fixed that in 1992. Go away, you have your own tournament! How different would the individual D1 results or the team scores have been, post ’92, if undefeated (131-0) 4x D2 NCAA champion Joey Davis (Notre Dame (OH), or any of the other 3x D2/D3 champions and the wild cards competed?

Freshman and multiple time NCAA champions are not unique in a field of 78 or so. There were four freshman champs from ’68 to ’84 (approximately 350 schools), 13 in the last 16 years (approximately 77 schools), and 21 total since ’85. In ’78 they awarded 6 AA’s (1.65%) from a total field of 363. Now they award 8 AA’s (10.39%) from a total field of 77. Perhaps limit AA to top 6 or even top 3 or 4.

Though largely no fault of their own, the estimated number of college wrestling programs at all collegiate levels has dwindled from 777 in 1972 to 273 total programs in 2025. Restricting the NCAA to only D1 since ‘92, along with the progressive rules changes, has diminished the sport. Wouldn’t allowing D2/D3, Junior College, and even NAIA into D1 add more suspense, depth, breadth, excitement, interest, and viewership and unite the entire wrestling community?

There are some positive changes in the current rules. Riding time in OT has value and eliminates supposed unbiased officials from deciding victors via Referees Decision. Another positive change is the Double Elimination bracket. This type of consolation wrestle-back offers a truer outcome for those wrestlers eliminated in the championship bracket, and every single competitor other than the finalists receive a chance to come back and place. And probably the biggest bright spot today is that NCAA wrestling is televised on BTN, ESPN and other conference networks instead of only ABC Wide World of Sports as a 10 minute, once-a-year, heavily edited, side note. That has added to the amount of money wrestlers now command in college, and how nice to see a financial reward FINALLY for so much hard work in a sport that has few equals as far as physical challenges and the amount of work it takes to be an NCAA champion.

My how things have changed.

[ScottishSteel]

18 hours ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

• Clarion was in the non-D1 category for just a single tournament (1973).
• Sadly, that would also have been their only trophy. Had their points counted they would have finished fourth. Their next best finish came in 1987 (6th).
• The most successful non-D1 team was easily Montclair State.
• Montclair State and Pitt-Johnstown are the only non-D1 teams to crack 20 points three times.
• Of course, Pitt-Johnstown's team was a team of one each time.
• Nebraska Omaha led the way with 9 appearances in the 19 years this was a thing.
• I am still QA-ing the scoring data, so everything could be wrong.
• But hopefully not.
• But maybe.

Jacksonville St is the one that catches my eye the most - geographically it's a major outlier.

[jchapman]

19 hours ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

• Clarion was in the non-D1 category for just a single tournament (1973).
• Sadly, that would also have been their only trophy. Had their points counted they would have finished fourth. Their next best finish came in 1987 (6th).
• The most successful non-D1 team was easily Montclair State.
• Montclair State and Pitt-Johnstown are the only non-D1 teams to crack 20 points three times.
• Of course, Pitt-Johnstown's team was a team of one each time.
• Nebraska Omaha led the way with 9 appearances in the 19 years this was a thing.
• I am still QA-ing the scoring data, so everything could be wrong.
• But hopefully not.
• But maybe.

I'm only nitpicking because I respect your pursuit of thoroughness:  Wisconsin-Parkland is actually Wisconsin-Parkside.

[Wrestleknownothing]

2 hours ago, jchapman said:

I'm only nitpicking because I respect your pursuit of thoroughness:  Wisconsin-Parkland is actually Wisconsin-Parkside.

Good catch. It was listed as Parkland in the wrestlingstats bracket and we just went with it. Ted Price (and I) thanks you.

Edited September 3 by Wrestleknownothing

[cowcards]

2 hours ago, jchapman said:

I'm only nitpicking because I respect your pursuit of thoroughness:  Wisconsin-Parkland is actually Wisconsin-Parkside.

That was my typo. Don't blame WKN!

Edited September 3 by cowcards

[ionel]

1 hour ago, cowcards said:

That was my typo. Don't blame WKN!

But he is the messenger ... can we shoot him? 

[cowcards]

27 minutes ago, ionel said:

But he is the messenger ... can we shoot him? 

You can! But then fear the intermat revolt. 

[pcostilow]

Hey, hey, we Hiram Terriers produced a Preaident.

[ionel]

12 minutes ago, cowcards said:

You can! But then fear the intermat revolt. 

Good point. 

[cangemi]

On 9/2/2025 at 12:53 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

• Clarion was in the non-D1 category for just a single tournament (1973).
• Sadly, that would also have been their only trophy. Had their points counted they would have finished fourth. Their next best finish came in 1987 (6th).
• The most successful non-D1 team was easily Montclair State.
• Montclair State and Pitt-Johnstown are the only non-D1 teams to crack 20 points three times.
• Of course, Pitt-Johnstown's team was a team of one each time.
• Nebraska Omaha led the way with 9 appearances in the 19 years this was a thing.
• I am still QA-ing the scoring data, so everything could be wrong.
• But hopefully not.
• But maybe.

I dont see Brockport state . I know has some guys 1978 to 1985

1983 had 2 all AmericanFrank Famiano, Ron Winnie

 

[Wrestleknownothing]

14 minutes ago, cangemi said:

I dont see Brockport state . I know has some guys 1978 to 1985

1983 had 2 all AmericanFrank Famiano, Ron Winnie

 

I think I am missing a few other schools too. My filter logic was not so great. When I finish QAing the data I will re-compute.

But, until then, let's talk about Brockport St. During the wilderness years they scored 25 team points. That slots them between John Carroll and Grand Valley State.

[cangemi]

Connetta up set # 2 seed

Famiano made Olympic record.  Not sure what year