Aug 16, 2019
We’ve got electricians, we’ve got plumbing and we’ve got mouse
ears! That’s right, the Short Time Wrestling Podcast is heading to
Orlando. My wife and kids and I will head to Disney World. We’ll be
hitting a few different places, spending time by the pool,
sweating, having breakfast with Cinderella and everyt hing else
that goes with it.
My seven-year-old has been writing about this on the dry erase
board for months, while my three-year-old would rather watch PJ
Masks, which isn’t a Disney thing.
This, however, is the Short Time Wrestling Podcast and I’m still
working without a proper studio, so I’m still doing the solo show
topic episode. Last time, we had a lot of great feedback with the
pro wrestling topic.
Before we get to all that - a quick hit on the Yianni-Zain
thing.
While I wasn’t at the NWCA Convention, I did get word there were
some ideas being tossed around about the NWCA All-Star Classic and
the future of that event. This prompted me to ask you what your
favorite All-Star Classic match of all-time was.
So before we get to those answers, let’s give you a little bit of
backstory on the event.
The East-West All-Star Classic first started in 1967 and was held
after the season in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The event continued to be
an East-West dual meet through 1987 when the team scoring component
was taken out of the event.
In 1973, the event moved to an in-season event, taking place in
late January or early February until 2004. The NWCA opted to put
the event in November to avoid matchups being dumped amidst concern
for seed protection and coaches citing injury concerns so close to
the postseason. The late November date went for eight seasons
before the NWCA moved the event to the opening weekend of the
college wrestling season in order to make it a kickoff weekend for
college wrestling.
The last two events have featured a large presence of women’s
college wrestlers, which the NAIA has already created women’s
wrestling as an invitational sport, while the NCAA is close to
granting women’s wrestling emerging sports status.
One of the most recent complaints coming from fans is that the
event hasn’t been a real “All-Star” event because there are so few
No. 1 vs. No. 2 wrestlers. Statistically, only one dual in recent
memory (Penn State vs. Ohio State in 2017-18) featured as many
All-Americans and top-ten wrestlers than the All-Star Classic
typically does. Denver in 2018-19 was a notable exception as the
card was split between men and women.
This will be the 54th edition of the NWCA All-Star Classic. No, I
do not yet know where the next edition will be, but before I get to
your responses on your favorite All-Star Classic match of all-time,
let’s go back to Stillwater, Oklahoma and then-Gallagher Arena,
they didn’t add the Iba until later.
Of the 11 weight classes – yes 11 – we had eight individual NCAA
champions, and 21 of the 22 wrestlers were All-Americans. In
addition to the eight champions, we had three runners-up, three
thirds, two fourths, three fifth-place wrestlers and two
sixth-place finishers.
How many 1 vs. 2 rematches did we have? NONE! That’s right. But we
did have a number of weights that shifted.
At 115 pounds, third-place Glenn McMinn of Arizona State beat
runner-up Jim Anderson of Minnesota 3-2. The two didn’t meet during
the tournament, with McMinn falling in the semifinals to eventual
champion Rick Sanders of Portland State. Sanders pinned McMinn in
the quarters and then beat Anderson 19-2, in the pre-technical fall
era, in the finals.
115-pound champion Rick Sanders went up to 123 pounds where he tied
Michigan’s Bob Fehrs, the runner-up at 123, 2-2. Fehrs had just
finished second a third straight year, losing to Lehigh’s Mike
Caruso in the finals. That’s not second just a third year in a row.
Fehrs lost to Caruso all three years in the finals.
At 130 pounds, it was Caruso, the aforementioned champion at 123,
who went up to defeat Colorado’s Jim Hanson 6-3. Hanson was fourth,
having fallen to Michigan State’s Don Behm 9-5 in the semifinals.
Hanson fell to Caruso’s teammate, Joe Peritore, 11-5 in the
consolation final. So is that what you get? You lose to the
130-pounder, so they feed you the 123-pound champion?
At 137, Don Behm, who finished second at 130, fell to Oklahoma
State’s Gene Davis, who was third at 137 just a few weeks earlier.
Davis fell in the semifinals 1-1, 0-0 in a referee’s decision to
Portland State’s Masaru Yatabe. Yatabe would then lose to Michigan
State’s Dale Anderson.
At 145 pounds, Oklahoma State’s Jim Rogers finished fourth at the
weight and got the nod against 137-pound All-American Don New of
Cornell. New was fifth, having lost to Yatabe on the top side and
Gene Davis in the consolation semis. Rogers lost in the opening
round to Mike Gluck of Wisconsin, the eventual finalist. Back in
those days, we had something that’s pretty much the repechage back
then. Seriously. The only difference is there’s no double bronze
back in 1967, which proves, yes, even us Americans had systems that
were completely “meh” at times.
Rogers would win this one 8-5.
At 152 pounds, UCLA’s Lee Ehrler, who was third at 160 pounds, came
down to defeat Michigan NCAA champion Jim Kamman 8-7. Ehrler was
one of three wrestlers who came down to new weights in the event.
Kamman defeated Oklahoma’s Wayne Wells 6-5 in the 1967 finals,
while Ehrler was bested by Vic Marcucci of Iowa State 10-8 in the
semifinals. Marcucci would beat Cleo McGlory of Oklahoma in the
finals.
At 160, Joe Domko of Southern Illinois, known then as
SIU-Carbondale, knocked off Marcucci 3-2. Domko, a three-time
qualifier, came into the 1967 NCAA tournament as the fifth seed. He
was pinned in the opening round by Adams State’s Don Apodaca.
Apodaca was then beaten by No. 4 seed Jeff Smith of Oregon State,
eliminating Domko. Domko was the only non-All-American in the
meet.
At 167 pounds, George Radman of Michigan State, a Granby High
School alum from Virginia, beat Washington State’s Fred Fairbanks
in a matchup of wrestlers who met at their postseason weights.
Radman won the national championship, beating Mike Gallego of
Fresno State in the finals. Gallego, who was the College Division
champion, put Fairbanks into the consolation bracket in the second
round with a 7-1 decision.
At 177 pounds, Northern Iowa’s Don Parker came down from 191 pounds
and topped Moravian’s Dave Mucka 5-3. Porter was sixth, falling to
Syracuse’s Tom Schlendorf in the quarterfinals. Well, coming “down”
isn’t exactly accurate. Parker wrestled the University Division at
191 after winning the College Division earlier at 177 pounds, where
Mucka was fourth. So while Parker went up and placed sixth, Mucka
stayed at 177 for the University Division where he too would finish
sixth.
At 191 pounds, Syracuse national champion Tom Schlendorf beat Iowa
State’s Don Buzzard in the NCAA finals 5-0. Schendorf would face
off with 177-pound national champion and future world champion Fred
Fozzard of Oklahoma State. Schlendorf would prevail 5-3 in the ONLY
head-to-head matchup of NCAA champions. Fans waited with
anticipation to talk about the results 14 days later when the
results arrived via First Class Mail in Amateur Wrestling News.
What if the message boards existed in that era? Man, the stories
our predecessors would be able to tell us.
At Unlimited, Dave Porter of Michigan got a little bit of
redemption as he pinned NCAA champion and future Pro Football Hall
of Famer Curley Culp of Arizona State at 3:38. Porter was the top
seed in the NCAA tournament and the returning champion. Would-be
messageboards would have melted down after he was upset 5-4 by NAIA
champion Nick Carollo of Adams State in the quarterfinals. Porter
fought back after Carollo made the finals. Culp dispatched with
Carollo in the NCAA finals in just under a minute.
So there’s your look back at the FIRST NWCA East-West All-Star
Classic. So to your comments – what was YOUR favorite All-Star
Classic match of All-Time?
Kevin Claunch (Patron)
@Claunchinator
Heil v Brewer is underrated.
Will Johnson
@Will_J_157
Agrees - "I SEEN IT"
Brad Bowles (a Patron!)
@bbb4ut
It was not the best match but the build-up to Dake-Taylor was
intense! Has there been a more anticipated All-Star match?
Mike Chick via MTO FB group (Contributor)
you have seen way more of these than any of us...but 2012
Dake-Taylor definitely stands out for me --
Jim Brown
@JimBrow31280302
Mark Ironside over Cary Kolat. Carver. Great comeback. Two of the
all time greats.
Jeff Maher
@mrmcrib
Ironside over (Jeremy) Ensrud - 1998 at 134 pounds 18-7
Ed
@EdwardGalloMMA
Recency bias but I'll go Brewer-Heil from 2015. Vintage Brewer, and
a great pace from Heil, pretty rare.
Lars Underbakke
@LarsIAwrestle
Ironside vs Kolat for sure
Coach K
Ironside vs. Kolat, the prototypical Iowa style vs. one of the most
skilled and talented wrestlers of all time
Ian
@Rustygriswold34
It can’t be any match that isn’t this one. Kolat got Carvered and
Ironside carvered people in every gym. Might be the best college
match ever. McIlravy/Abas is the only one that competes in my
eyes
Jeff Johnson
@coachjeff01
Kolat vs Ironside, next topic
Marcos Aranda
@MarcosAranda17 (also a Patron)
Kolat-Ironside
TELL KLINGMAN KOLAT STORY HERE
34Wrestle (Pat Kelly)
@34Wrestle
1983 - Mark Rigatuso vs. Tab Thacker. Rigatuso weighed just over
200 lbs., Thacker over 400. Rigatuso, a 2X D2 champ and 2X D1 AA,
won 5-3. @theopenmat
@MaryvilleWrestl
Jamie Canaday
@tWaterwayduals
89 and 91 in Philly featured some great matches. Check out the
results. Lots of PA power both years. Brands v. Fried. Or Martin v.
Cross.
Jeremy S. Lanthorn (Patron!)
I always enjoy seeing a top D2, D3, NAIA, etc. Get a chance at a
top D1 guy. Like Gutches vs Kokesh.
Taylor Miller threw out that she was a fan of Valencia-Hall in the
2017-18 event.
Mike Buckiso
@MikeBuckiso
1990 Ty Moore v TJ Jaworski. Moore fall first period at Dapper Dan
Wrestling Classic. Two 4 timers
-- I only started attending in 2006, and have watched "most" if not
all of them since. Some that have stood out to me.
I also want to say the dates I'm referring to are for the season
itself. So in 2006, that event was actually in 2005. So when you
hear me specify the year, that means for the season that it was.
Ok, confused yet? Good.
First was in 2006 in Stillwater when we had FOUR NCAA champions
lose on the same night. Teyon Ware, Zack Esposito, Johny Hendricks
and Steve Mocco all lost. The most surprising was probably
Minnesota's Matt Nagel over Hendricks in sudden victory or Cole
Konrad beating Mocco. Now, Konrad would beat Mocco two more times
that season, including by fall at the National Duals finals, but
that event was bonkers. It was also the first time I'd ever watched
Tervel Dlagnev compete. He was on the undercard and beat Josh
Leadingfox of Central Oklahoma. It would be Tervel's first of three
appearances.
In 2007, I was working for the NWCA full-time and we took it to
Dallas. Northwestern's Ryan Lang beat Oklahoma State's Nathan
Morgan late, Jake Herbert majored Roger Kish and Harvard's Bode
Ogunwole wrestled North Carolina's Spencer Nadolsky to quite
possibly the most boring heavyweight match of all-time. Afterwards,
I said we should have put Dlagnev and Wartburg's Blake Gillis as
the main event match at heavyweight. They scored more points.
In 2008, we were up in Oregon, trying to save the program. Roger
Kish and Jake Varner got into a nice shoving match infront of me,
Mike Poeta of Illinois caught Craig Henning with a neutral fall,
Hofstra went 2-for-2 at 133-and-141 and Tervel beat Cal
State-Fullerton's Wade Sauer.
In 2009, pretty cool for me that James Nicholson of ODU was in the
event, becoming the first Monarch to wrestle since 1970 when Dan
Gable pinned Wayne Bright. Brent Metcalf of Iowa teched NC State's
Darrion Caldwell. Nick Marable and Mack Lewnes wrestled one of
their most thrilling - just kidding - these two should never be
allowed to wrestle one another ever. In fact, we should fire up the
DeLorean and remove all traces of these two ever competing against
one another. I like both guys, but not when they wrestled one
another. My gawd, Sherwin Williams and Miracle Gro thought these
two were boring.
In 2010, the event went out to try to help the Cal State-Fullerton
program. Matt Montiero of CSU Bakersfield upset Iowa State's David
Zabriskie. Binghamton and Bucknell both had participants, which was
cool. Jordan Burroughs beat Matt Moley.
In 2011, I thought Anthony Robles of Arizona State was going to win
that season, his dismantling of Zach Sanders via technical fall
cemented that thought. This one was personally interesting. I was
doing the sideline TV for Fox College Sports. It had been seven
years since I'd done television in the sideline role. I was
interviewing the winners. It's long gone since, so I'll have to
tell you a quick story and yes, I'm going to throw Adam Hall under
the bus here. Bubba Jenkins had transferred to Arizona State and
was scheduled to face Adam Hall. The week prior, Bubba had just
lost to Tyler Chang of NAIA Embry-Riddle. So we're around 133 and
Adam walks up to me and goes "Hey Jason, can we just do the
interview now?"
Bubba majored him. Ouch. Yeah.
2012 out in Arizona was a bit of a cluster. Jordan Oliver and B.J.
Futrell probably had the best match. Wartburg's Byron Tate
represented D3 in the event and unfortunately for him, was quickly
decked by Edinboro's Chris Honeycutt.
2013 - Dake-Taylor, next topic.
2014 - This was real good, even if it was at George Mason. Devin
Carter vs. Tony Ramos and Logan Stieber vs. Kendric Maple? Stieber
and Maple returning NCAA champs facing off?! Love that. Stieber won
in the tiebreakers. SIX of those matches went to overtime. It's
also the only time I've ever applauded George Mason's pep band. It
wasn't basketball, so I was allowed.
2015 - Dude, Scott Schiller beat J'Den Cox. How does no one
remember this?
2016- We were in Atlanta, had three-point takedowns, four-point
nearfalls and a wild Brewer-Heil match that ended 13-12 for Brewer.
Ty Walz also gave Virginia Tech one of two wins beating Adam
Coon.
As far as the last three years, they're too fresh in the mind to
really put any "historical" awesomeness on them.
NEXT QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS: Who was the first college wrestler
you became a fan of and why?
If you'd like to SUPPORT THE SHOW and all the on-demand audio
offerings, free newsletters and historical research AND you want to
get some of that cool Compound gear, you can support this program
by making a small monthly contribution to the network by following
this link..
The Short Time Time Wrestling Podcast is proudly supported by
Compound Sportswear.
And if you haven't already, leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts.
SUBSCRIBE TO SHORT TIME
Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spreaker | iHeartRadio | TuneIn |
Google Podcasts | Spotify | iOS App | Android App | RSS
GET DAILY WRESTLING NEWS!
You like wrestling news, right? Of course you do. Did you know you
can sign up for FREE to subscribe to the Mat Talk Online DAILY WRESTLING NEWS e-mail newsletter that's
published EVERY morning with the previous day's top news stories
from outlets all around the globe. It's free and it's a great way
to start your wrestling day.