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Feels like Steve Neal should be the poster boy for this. Placed 4th as a senior in HS in 1994 (only time he placed), goes to CSU Bakersfield where he proceeds to go 4,2,1,1 at NCAAs (last 2 seasons undefeated), wins US Open, Pan Ams, and a World Championship in 1999, and second at 2000 Olympic Trials. Switches to football and becomes a 3x Super Bowl Champ with the Patriots. Who woulda thunk it? Nothing short of spectacular! ...There's also Anthony Cassar...

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

I just stumbled across the old Jaggers finals match against Ryan Williams from the 2009 finals. Williams best finish was 7th in PIAAs during high school. Unlike our esteemed friend WKN, I pose a trivia question without having any answers.. But it raised the question.. who are some of the most successful D1 wrestlers you recall with a lack of high school success? Requirement for your answers is zero high school state championships. Don't you dare say Anthony Cassar on this thread.

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

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

Chris Ayers - AA for Lehigh with 120 wins in college. Non-placer at PA State(s).

This is a better way to do it. You get more engagement, more debate. I am just not creative enough to come up with good questions like this.

Ben Askren is already a legend as far as I am concerned. Among the people who I feel literally changed the sport of wrestling like Wade Schalles and Dan Gable, I put Ben Askren right up there with them. I am glad he is still here with us.

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

Williams and McIlravy.

Ben Peterson 2X NCAA Champ, 3X AA, Oly Champ, Oly Silver, World Bronze

Brock Lesnar

Bruce Baumgartner

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.

Shows up and finds the doors locked at Lied Rec and Hilton Coliseum. Flags down a Paper Router coming by on his bike and snags a newspaper. Front Page Title, "Larry Owings Named New Athletic Director for the Iowa State Cyclones." Dan grips the paper tightly and snarks, "Newman".

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.

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

Dave Shultz Mark Shultz 167 177

Gilman Clark McDonough Ramos

Heard Ben Hammered had little success.

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.

Being true to my CA roots, while not technically qualified, it seems disingenuous (almost criminal) to not include Mark Schultz in this tread. He's the ultimate Diamond in the Rough- hear me out . . . Mark Schultz won a CA state championship his senior year (1978) wrestling for Palo Alto High, which technically disqualifies him from this thread. He won in R16 7-6, Quarters 4-4 OT, 5-2 in semis and 7-4 in finals, hardly dominate, but also upsetting 3 undefeated wrestlers along the way. What makes his senior run improbable (and more so his later accomplishments), is that prior to winning that state title, he is the only wrestler in CA history to never win a single tournament before his run up to a state title (just crazy). Mark's official CA high school record is 34-8, including 4-6 as a junior. Not highly recruited, he attended UCLA and went 18-8 as a freshman...transfers Oklahoma in 1979 and redshirts- fails to place in every tournament that year (flashback to high school). We all know what happens after that...In 1980, unranked, beats #1 Mike DeAnna, gets ranked #2 and goes on to win 3 NCAA D1 Championships, including denying Ed Banach (another all-time great) a chance to become the first 4x D1 champ. Continues on to be a 2x World Champ, Olympic Champ, and a legend in our sport.

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.

Joe Kemmerer beat him pretty easily. I don't think Williams was beating Joe K that season.

He might end up staying in Iran. But the decision isn’t entirely his - his father, who’s a former wrestling champion himself, also plays a big role. And there’s always a chance people around them could sway his dad with nationalistic pressure. They’re really in a tough spot. The regime’s supporters - who usually act like Iran’s history started with Islam - suddenly turn into proud defenders of thousands of years of ancient civilization whenever a top athlete considers leaving. They flood them with patriotic comments, callouts about "betraying the motherland," and throw around the word "traitor" to guilt them into staying. Then once they’ve messed up the person’s future, they vanish like they were never part of it.

This one is a little outside the box but I think Travis Lee fits the bill. Prior to his run at Junior Nationals his Sr year he was overlooked by all the top coaches except Koll. The wrestler from Hawaii wasn't getting much love in HS. He is also the spark that propelled the Cornell program. I'd put him at the top of the list for this category.

Drew Foster?

Did a little fun bingo card for the last stretch to Fargo on 94 for most teams coming through Minnesota from the east.

Such a non-sequitor. I have never claimed support for any of them. You keep forgetting I am a Republican who is unhappy with Trump, and with the Republican Party for bowing to him, not a Democrat.

I'm not being cynical, I am being 100% serious when I ask: what kind of message is being sent to kids who are the future of our sport, and every olympic sport hanging on fear dear life at this point, that there are no consequences for pissing hot and being suspended for two years?

Yeah, like I said. Rumors.

Can someone explain this please. He is a student athlete. It's summer time. The university is not in regular semester session. Doesn't the NCAA still have restriction on the number of hours athletes can train with their university team? How could the program then dismiss for such a reason? PS: Its more likely he was hunting racoons out back of CHA and took out the trophy racoon Tom had been stalking on trail cam for 3 months.

Multiple “journalists” reported it had something to do with him being somewhere other than Iowa while the staff wanted him in Iowa. Some allegations that he lied about his whereabouts but that part isn’t clear to me.

As a Cyclone, I must throw in: Jason Smith ..............................................................................................1969-70 (167) Chuck Jean................................................................................................1969-70 (177) Each national champ both years.

Duh. Starocci and Brooks

Lee and Desanto

I have to admit that I did not anticipate Hulk Hogan vs Ben Askren in a hospital cage match but I'm here for it. My money is on Askren!

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

I’m not sure what to believe any more - this is crazy in lieu of the allegations.

Smallest of worlds, my high school coach coached baumgartner when he was in high school. I'm pretty sure he took 3rd in New Jersey, I assume in his senior year of high school.

To cite the source… FWIW: It is from Nicola video description. https://youtu.be/oDoNJOZJmJs?si=gjw3aTc_5Ag-fEXO

I saw this video scrolling facebook, didn't even realize it was him until I read the caption. Very difficult watch, but also pretty inspiring.

He was there actively training when I was down there two weeks ago

I'd say Jamaica mon!! mspart

It's not the Queen's English.

Are we supposed to care about a candidate for city council? Do you know how many lunatics run for city council?

Are we supposed to know who that is?

His two latest combines were bought new from the John Deere dealer, GPS systems & all - $485,000 each. Past few years they have been switching from 8 & 12 wheel tractors to Trac drives. Fewer pounds per square inch on the ground & easier when it is a bit wet. Fuel costs but with GPS systems accurate to +- one inch there is little fuel wasted on double planting/disking and whatnot. Ammonia & round up ready seeds, spraying for pests & such do cost. Instead of spraying machinery he uses our local Crop duster. Costs a bit, gets it done quicker and has no sunk cost in machinery for it. The pilots love it. 2 miles of unobstructed spraying on some of his fields with no power lines or trees to worry about. Good tax planning with kids and grandkids factored in for the future. Nicest part of North Dakota farming and ranching is NO Corporate farms. Closely held family Corporation is the limit - living North Dakota resident owned. No Monsanto, Simplot or the big outfits. It is illegal for them to own the farms & ranches. The State works hard to protect the Family Farm. A bit South is a nice Bison ranch. Good herd, rolling hills & some nice lakes & ponds. Scenic & no power lines or towers. Movie and TV types come in to photograph them from time to time. Many of the farmers have College degrees. Some with Masters & a few PhD's in the mix. Plant geneticists and seed companies all over the place. Ever more productive crops. Machinery is so expensive and computerized now you almost need a college degree to run it. The local High School has both Boys and Girls wrestling teams, trap shooting and Olympic style rifle team. Small towns, not many people. Open and relaxing. Fargo is a few hours East of us. We're up near the Canadian border. Prairie pothole country with ducks & geese & moose & elk & deer and good fishing as well. Now if only UND would get a wrestling team and NDSU would catch fire with theirs.

Lockett teched Shapiro last time they wrestled- I don't think he is beating Messenbrink, but he has the same long shot as anyone else around that weight range IMO