We Americans cherish our right to vote.
When asked, we will jump at the chance to cast our ballot, whether
it’s for President of the United States, or our favorite on American
Idol. We’ll endure long lines at the polling station or put up with
repeated busy signals on the phone just to be sure we can make a
choice “¦ and make our voices heard.
More and more organizations are realizing the power of participatory
democracy, including the NCAA. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of
their first collegiate wrestling championship, the NCAA and the
National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) decided to name a team
of all-time college wrestling greats.
Power to the People
Once upon a time, the members of the NCAA 75th Anniversary Team would
have been determined by an elite group of experts — wrestling
journalists, historians and coaches — then the wrestling community
would have commented on their choices after the fact. However, in the
interests of giving the wrestling community an actual voice in the
matter, the NCAA opened up the voting to anyone who had online access.
To make things easier for voters — and not leave the experts out of
the equation — a panel of wrestling historians started with the
thousands of wrestlers who have competed at the college level since
1928 (the first year of the NCAA championships). The experts came up
with a list of 45 wrestlers, fifteen in each of three weight-based
categories — lightweight (115-141 pounds) “¦ middleweight (142-172
pounds) “¦ and heavyweight (177 pounds and up). (See sidebar for
complete list of nominees.) Then they posted this ballot of potential
NCAA 75th Anniversary Team honorees online, and invited the wrestling
community to choose five names from each weight category. Once the
online polls closed, the votes would be counted, and the five top
vote-getters in each weight category would be honored at a special
ceremony at the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis.
And The Winners Are”¦
Dan Hodge, who won three NCAA titles for Oklahoma, is the only amateur
wrestler ever to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
At an afternoon ceremony held outdoors on a blustery day under the
vast former train sheds at the historic Union Station in downtown St.
Louis, the NCAA 75th Anniversary Team members were introduced
one-at-a-time to the assembled crowd in the three weight-based
categories.
The honorees in the lightweight class (listed here in alphabetical
order) include Stephen Abas, Tom Brands, Dan Gable, John Smith and
Yojiro Uetake. Among the middleweight members of the NCAA 75th
Anniversary Team: Lee Kemp, Lincoln McIlravy, Wade Schalles, Pat Smith
and Joe Williams. The heavyweight (upper-weight) honorees include Kurt
Angle, Ed Banach, Carlton Haselrig, Dan Hodge and Cael Sanderson.
A Difference of Opinion
Once the nominees were introduced, I had two questions:
1. Were they selected strictly on the basis of their college careers?
2. Why is the list so light on “old-time “wrestlers?
Let’s take a look at each question.
1. College accomplishments “¦ or lifetime achievement?
In an online article introducing the 45 nominees (see sidebar for
complete list) posted in January, the opening text said, “Please know
that nominations are selected on NCAA performance only.”
As a life-long wrestling fan and long-time professional writer/editor,
I read that sentence to say, “We wrestling historians only looked at
their college records. We ignored their post-college accomplishments
whatever they may be. As a voter, you wrestling fans should NOT
consider a candidate’s freestyle or Greco-Roman achievements, Olympic
medals, coaching records, stardom from professional sports or sports
entertainment, service to the sport of wrestling, or any other stuff
after college.”
It’s possible that other wrestling fans read that sentence to say,
“The experts may have selected the 45 nominees based on college
performance “¦ but that doesn’t mean I have to restrict myself to that
same criteria. “In other words, the voters may have made the NCAA 75th
Anniversary Team honors more of a “lifetime achievement “award than an
award to honor excellence on the college mats.
2. Why a lack of “old-time “wrestlers?
Look at the NCAA 75th Anniversary Team, and you’ll notice something
missing: No nominees who wrestled before the mid 1950s. In fact, there
are only three wrestlers — Hodge, Uetake and Gable — whose college
careers predate 1970.
Yojiro Uetake won three NCAA titles (1964-1966) and compiled a 57-0
record while at Oklahoma State.
Some fans might argue, “I voted only for guys I’ve seen in action.”
Still others might make a case that, thanks to better training and
nutrition — or in terms of number of matches wrestled in a college
career — today’s wrestlers are superior. However, if you were putting
together a list of “most significant automobiles of all time “would
you leave off the Model T, the Volkswagen Beetle and the original Ford
Mustang simply because they’re not as sophisticated as today’s models?
A Second Look at the Overlooked
When I cast my votes for the NCAA 75th Anniversary Team in early 2005,
I had a list of “must-includes “– guys who were so dominant in
college and/or whose accomplishments were so historically significant,
they could not be ignored, including (but not limited to) Dan Gable,
Carlton Haselrig, Dan Hodge, Cael Sanderson, John Smith, Pat Smith and
Yojiro Uetake.
This is NOT to say that the others who made the team are not worthy;
far from it. However, I would ask that you take a look at some other
all-time greats who for some reason did not earn NCAA 75th Anniversary
Team honors:
“¢ Earl McCready: Historically significant as the very first three-time
NCAA champ in any weight class (1928-30), Oklahoma State heavyweight
McCready had a perfect career in Stillwater, winning all but three of
his matches by pin — still the highest percentage of wins by pin of
any heavyweight. In the 1928 finals, the big Cowboy pinned his
opponent in 19 seconds — still an NCAA record as fastest pin in a
championship bout.
“¢ The Peerys: It may be bending the rules to list a family of
wrestlers, but, this father-son-son combination is worthy of
consideration for their nine total college titles — a record
unmatched by any other family. Father Rex Peery won three NCAA titles
at 115 pounds at Oklahoma State 1933-35. Elder son Hugh Peery (who was
not on the 75th Anniversary ballot) earned his three championships at
115 pounds while wrestling for his dad at Pittsburgh 1952-1954,
compiling a 57-1 record (including a 48-match winning streak); second
son Ed (born while Rex was about to win his third title) also won
three NCAA titles for Pitt in the 123-pound class 1955-1957, losing
just one of 52 college bouts.
“¢ Stan Henson: The National Wrestling Hall of Fame Web site says of
this Distinguished Member, “In the never-ending debate over who has
been America’s greatest wrestler, the name Stanley Henson always
receives plenty of support. “This three-time NCAA champ for Oklahoma
State (145 pounds in 1937 and ’38, 155 pounds in 1939) had only one
loss his entire college career, and was the first sophomore to earn
NCAA Outstanding Wrestler honors (1937). Named Amateur Wrestling News
Wrestler of the Decade for the 1930s.
“¢ Bill Koll: Some present-day fans may be familiar with Koll’s rough,
tough image; reportedly the “slam “rule was instituted because of him.
While wrestling at what is now Northern Iowa, Koll earned three
college titles (1946-47 at 145 lbs; 1948 at 147.5 lbs) and Outstanding
Wrestler honors two years in a row (the first to do so). Even more
impressive than Koll’s perfect 72-0 record: in his entire college
career, he was taken down only once, reversed just twice “¦ and pinned
all five opponents at the 1948 NCAAs.
“¢ Dick Hutton: Long before Pat Smith and Cael Sanderson were even
born, this barrel-chested heavyweight for Oklahoma State came
incredibly close to becoming the first four-time NCAA champion. After
winning two straight college titles in 1947 and 1948, Hutton lost on a
referee’s decision to Minnesota’s Verne Gagne in the 1949 NCAA finals
— his only loss in his college career. He came back to win his third
title in 1950, concluding with a 42-1-1 record with 15 pins.
“¢ Chris Taylor: Some fans may only know Chris Taylor for his size.
Although he only wrestled two years at Iowa State, the surprisingly
agile 415-pound Cyclone dominated the heavyweight ranks in his day “¦
winning the title in 1972 and 1973 without surrendering a point in
either finals match. While at Ames, Taylor had a perfect 87-0 record,
pinning 42 of 48 opponents his senior year.
Perhaps we’ll give these “overlooked “wrestlers a second look when we
cast our votes for the NCAA 100th Anniversary Team in 2027!
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