Sorry if this has been discussed before but I have a question for the historians in the group. Has there ever been a college team with more than 1 undefeated champion in a single season? Or if that is/was more common than I know what team had the most undefeated collegiate champions in a season?
Undefeated wrestling seasons ?
- Thread starter Nitrip66
- Start date
2011-2012
Ed Ruth - 31-0 NCAA Champ
David Taylor - 32-0 NCAA Champ
Ed Ruth - 31-0 NCAA Champ
David Taylor - 32-0 NCAA Champ
2012-2013
Quentin Wright and Ed Ruth.
If you count the NWCA All-Star match this wouldn't count because Q lost, but the All-Star match doesn't count for NCAA official records so both were undefeated that year.
Quentin Wright and Ed Ruth.
If you count the NWCA All-Star match this wouldn't count because Q lost, but the All-Star match doesn't count for NCAA official records so both were undefeated that year.
Zain won by forfeit after losing to Mitchell Port as a true freshman to take 5th.
Since then so far, he’s been:
34-0
28-0
16-0 so far this year.
That’s 78 in a row, if my math is correct.
Yes, it's the record. Zain is at 79.
Interesting that I've been investigating a related topic, looking for the 2nd longest win streak in NCAA History, after Cael's 159. Zain could get 15, possibly 16 matches at the most...so it's possible he'll be at 94 or 95. The longest I found so far was Jim Zalesky's 89...again, so far. Is it possible Zain will have the 2nd longest win streak all-time...
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I don't think Zain can catch Haselrig or Gable, though many of Haselrig's would've been D2.
https://www.win-magazine.com/2010/11/my-all-time-greatest-college-wrestlers/
From ESPN
The 33 best streaks in sports history
#19 -- College wrestling:
Cael Sanderson, Iowa State,
159 consecutive wins
He went 159-0 in his career, winning four NCAA championships from 1999-2002.
When he won his 101st straight match in 2001, he surpassed the record of Dan Gable, whose 100 came in the 1970s.
http://www.espn.com/blog/playbook/fandom/post/_/id/20149/the-33-best-streaks-in-sports-history
#19 -- College wrestling:
Cael Sanderson, Iowa State,
159 consecutive wins
He went 159-0 in his career, winning four NCAA championships from 1999-2002.
When he won his 101st straight match in 2001, he surpassed the record of Dan Gable, whose 100 came in the 1970s.
http://www.espn.com/blog/playbook/fandom/post/_/id/20149/the-33-best-streaks-in-sports-history
Send him to some open tourneys...just to see the HR meltdownnot getting to reno last year may have cost zain that
For some reason I have a hard time finding stats for wrestlers. Maybe I just don't know where to look and my Google-Fu isn't what it used to be. If that's true then PSU had three that year.
Penn State Undefeated Seasons List...
# Name Season RecordCareer Win %
1 Kerry McCoy 1994 47-0-0 100.0%
1 Kerry McCoy 1997 41-0-0 100.0%
1 David Taylor 2014 34-0-0 100.0%
1 Zain Retherford 2016 34-0-0 100.0%
1 Frank Molinaro 2012 33-0-0 100.0%
1 Ed Ruth 2013 33-0-0 100.0%
1 David Taylor 2012 32-0-0 100.0%
1 Quentin Wright 2013 32-0-0 100.0%
1 Ed Ruth 2012 31-0-0 100.0%
1 Sanshiro Abe 1996 29-0-0 100.0%
1 Zain Retherford 2017 28-0-0 100.0%
1 Jason Nolf 2017 27-0-0 100.0%
1 Andy Matter 1972 21-0-0 100.0%
1 JaMarr Billman 1999 21-0-0 100.0%
# Name Season RecordCareer Win %
1 Kerry McCoy 1994 47-0-0 100.0%
1 Kerry McCoy 1997 41-0-0 100.0%
1 David Taylor 2014 34-0-0 100.0%
1 Zain Retherford 2016 34-0-0 100.0%
1 Frank Molinaro 2012 33-0-0 100.0%
1 Ed Ruth 2013 33-0-0 100.0%
1 David Taylor 2012 32-0-0 100.0%
1 Quentin Wright 2013 32-0-0 100.0%
1 Ed Ruth 2012 31-0-0 100.0%
1 Sanshiro Abe 1996 29-0-0 100.0%
1 Zain Retherford 2017 28-0-0 100.0%
1 Jason Nolf 2017 27-0-0 100.0%
1 Andy Matter 1972 21-0-0 100.0%
1 JaMarr Billman 1999 21-0-0 100.0%
So we had 4 guys go undefeated all of last century, and have had 6 go undefeated since 2012. As the Chinese would say, "we live in interesting times".
Although nothing compares to what he have been spoiled with from 2011 to the present, reading this list sparks some great memories for me of being a student at PSU in the mid 90's and getting to watch some truly special wrestlers like John Hughes, Sunny Abe and Kerry McCoy. Good Times.
having wrestled back in that time not sure if that is really fair. Lot of D1 wrestlers wrestled D2 kids and likewise. If you go back an look at the open tournaments and duals you will see a good mix. It was a lot different back in the 80;s and the D2 kids had to win the D2 championships just to get to the D1 NCAA championships. You can make a case that his path was harder
Looking at who's not on that list makes me (further) appreciate how difficult an undefeated season is. Nico, Jim Martin, Cary Kolat, Carl Destefanis, Jeff Prescott ...
2012 Penn State with Molinaro, Taylor, and Ruth so it's been done at least twice.
I believe Kolat went undefeated while at LHU, but your point is valid. For as good as he is, I don't believe IMAR has gone undefeated.
AND, they wrestled far fewer matches. By the time NCAA's come around these days, these guys have had 50 or so matches.
Very few have that many matches. In fact most have fewer than 40 matches even after NCAAs. All of the PSU starters will have fewer than 35 matches at the end of the season.
Actually, they wrestle far fewer matches now. A Penn State wrestler is lucky to get 35 matches now. Guys used to get over 50.
The odds of anybody going undefeated in their college career again is pretty low. Even the guys who we think are can't miss end up missing. And even the can't miss guys lose a match. For as good as David Taylor was didn't even win 4 titles. Kyle Dake and Logan Steiber both won 4 titles but they lost along the way. Dake only had one undefeated season. Zain is likely going to finish with 3 titles and probably be undefeated his last three years wrestling. I'd be surprised to see Nolf lose again, but he has two losses in college.
And then you have guys like Chance Marsteller, who beat a college kid or two at the NLO as an 8th grader. He was a rare undefeated HS 4XPIAA state champ. He couldn't even get in the starting lineup at Okie State. And since he has straightened things out at Lock Haven he still lost. Heck, even Spencer Lee is not an undefeated HS wrestler, and he didn't win 4 PIAA state titles. Lee won't even be an undefeated NCAA wrestler and he is as good a prospect as we've ever seen. Nick Suriano? Undefeated NJ 4X Champ? He lost in college. Kyle Snyder? Morgan McIntosh beat him at the NCAA tournament.
Even the best guys lose at this level.
And then you have guys like Chance Marsteller, who beat a college kid or two at the NLO as an 8th grader. He was a rare undefeated HS 4XPIAA state champ. He couldn't even get in the starting lineup at Okie State. And since he has straightened things out at Lock Haven he still lost. Heck, even Spencer Lee is not an undefeated HS wrestler, and he didn't win 4 PIAA state titles. Lee won't even be an undefeated NCAA wrestler and he is as good a prospect as we've ever seen. Nick Suriano? Undefeated NJ 4X Champ? He lost in college. Kyle Snyder? Morgan McIntosh beat him at the NCAA tournament.
Even the best guys lose at this level.
