When I was a kid, Mike Johnson was the god of PA wrestling. I saw him win his last title in '61. He beat a guy I knew in the finals in '60, Dick Hamilton of Upper Darby. He was quick and powerful.
I saw his NCAA finals match in '63 when he was decked in OT. It was obvious he was gassed. And I couldn't figure out what he was doing wrestling 123. I was at the Lehigh-Pitt dual that year and he was beaten by Pat Smartt at 130. (My brother got slammed in the freshman dual that night and they took him to the hospital. His girlfriend was hysterical. I thought it was kinda embarrassing.)
Because I saw a couple of his college losses, I moderated my opinion of him in the GOAT category even back then.
But Joey Wildasin was mentioned above. I saw Joey throughout his youth and HS career. His style was so unique, so aggressive, that I started to change my coaching style to emphasis offense. Joey wanted to put you on your back, no matter what position he was in: top, bottom, standing--- he was trying to deck you.
Coincidentally, just like Johnson, I saw two of Joey's losses, though neither loss lessened my opinion of him. When he was 10 or 11, one of my wrestlers met him in the MAWA finals at Shippensburg U. He had a 100-0 record, my kid was 80-0. Between them they wrestled 180 matches in one season and won them all. Weird. My kid slipped a takedown by him and hung on for the win. Then in the PIAA finals, Joey lost as a freshman to Finacchio of North Penn in one of my favorite all-time PIAA matches.
If you are bored, here is something to add some excitement to your life:
btw, my kid who beat Joey when they were 10, met him in the PIAA finals about 7 years later. The result wasn't the same.
I just watched it again. There have been threads here about folk vs free. This match illustrates what can be generated by mat wrestling. You'll never see this in free.
I can't shut up. Finacchio's teammate who also won states that year (and 2 more years) was Chris Kwortnik. When talking pure high school wrestlers, Kwortnik and Kolat were in the mix for buttkickers of the century.
Here's Kwortnik vs Kevin Smith, Northampton. Smith was really tough till Kwortnik literally ground him down.