So while we wait for another Penn State team title, I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a look back before the Cael Era of wrestling. For this post, I'm reviewing the 1988 tournament.
1988 was the 2nd year after Iowa and Dan Gable's incredible run of nine straight championships from 1978 to 1986. (Iowa State put an end to the streak in 1987.) The tournament was held in Iowa with the Outstanding Wrestler award going to Scott Turner of North Carolina after his upset of Iowa State's returning national champion at 150, Tim Krieger.
In the charts below, you'll see:
>the top 5 teams in 1988 with their scores
>the top 5 teams if the tournament was scored using today's point system
>the expected advancement and placement points for each team in 1988
The major differences in scoring between now and then is that bonus points are doubled, 3rd through 8th placements are higher and advancing wrestlers in brackets with pigtails (who aren't in the pigtail) no longer receive the extra 1 or .5 advancement points.
Oklahoma State was the clear favorite going into the tournament with 9 qualifying wrestlers and 8 that were seeded in the top 8. Arizona State outperformed their seeding overall, especially with #8 Gressley finishing 3rd. Iowa only qualified 6 wrestlers but also outperformed overall on the strength of #7 Melchiore placing 2nd. What really hurt Oklahoma State's title aspirations was #2 Vince Silva getting upset in the first round 8-6 by Navy's Scott Schliecher. Unfortunately for Silva, Schliecher lost the next round and was not pulled back into consolations. The NCAAs at that time had a different consolation structure where losers in the first round would only be able to wrestle again if the winner of the first round match advanced to the quarterfinals.
For Penn State, the highlight was Jim Martin's upset of Iowa's Brad Penrith in the 126 final. As a team, Penn State did outperform expectations. Notably, 10th seed Andy Voit placed 5th at 190. His path to AA worked in his favor as the 2 and 7 seeds were upset on his side of the bracket.
1988 was the 2nd year after Iowa and Dan Gable's incredible run of nine straight championships from 1978 to 1986. (Iowa State put an end to the streak in 1987.) The tournament was held in Iowa with the Outstanding Wrestler award going to Scott Turner of North Carolina after his upset of Iowa State's returning national champion at 150, Tim Krieger.
In the charts below, you'll see:
>the top 5 teams in 1988 with their scores
>the top 5 teams if the tournament was scored using today's point system
>the expected advancement and placement points for each team in 1988
The major differences in scoring between now and then is that bonus points are doubled, 3rd through 8th placements are higher and advancing wrestlers in brackets with pigtails (who aren't in the pigtail) no longer receive the extra 1 or .5 advancement points.
Oklahoma State was the clear favorite going into the tournament with 9 qualifying wrestlers and 8 that were seeded in the top 8. Arizona State outperformed their seeding overall, especially with #8 Gressley finishing 3rd. Iowa only qualified 6 wrestlers but also outperformed overall on the strength of #7 Melchiore placing 2nd. What really hurt Oklahoma State's title aspirations was #2 Vince Silva getting upset in the first round 8-6 by Navy's Scott Schliecher. Unfortunately for Silva, Schliecher lost the next round and was not pulled back into consolations. The NCAAs at that time had a different consolation structure where losers in the first round would only be able to wrestle again if the winner of the first round match advanced to the quarterfinals.
For Penn State, the highlight was Jim Martin's upset of Iowa's Brad Penrith in the 126 final. As a team, Penn State did outperform expectations. Notably, 10th seed Andy Voit placed 5th at 190. His path to AA worked in his favor as the 2 and 7 seeds were upset on his side of the bracket.
