Noteworthy Facts From NCAAs

Noteworthy Facts From NCAAs

With another season now complete, we take a look at some noteworthy facts from the NCAA wrestling tournament.

Mar 20, 2017 by Ryan Holmes
Noteworthy Facts From NCAAs
The ink in the history books is now dry. At this year's NCAA tournament we saw a lot of grit, some incredible dominance, and clutch performances from start to finish. With another season now complete, we take a look at some noteworthy facts from the tournament.

nullPenn State completed a historic run as it scored 146.5 points and crowned five champions, a feat that has only been done by two other programs in NCAA Division I history (Iowa: 1986, 1997; Oklahoma State: 2005).

Entering this year's tournament, there were 10 undefeated, top-seeded wrestlers for the first time since 1949. Of those 10, five ended their seasons with a flawless record.
141: Dean Heil, OK State -- 32-0
149: Zain Retherford, Penn State -- 28-0
157: Jason Nolf, Penn State -- 27-0
197: J'Den Cox, Missouri -- 28-0
285: Kyle Snyder, Ohio State -- 17-0

Oklahoma State had eight out of its 10 qualifiers earn All-American status, which ended up being the most AAs for one team.

Nathan Kraisser (Campbell) became the first All-American in his schools' history. Seth Gross (SDSU), who is now SDSU's first DI national finalist, and Alex Kocer became the first AAs for the Jackrabbits since they became full DI members. And Jake Residori (SIUE) was the first All-American for SIUE since the school rejoined the DI level, as well.

Jack Mueller finished the season with the most technical fall victories in the country with 12.

Alex Kocer (eighth at 149), Jake Residori (eighth at 174), and Paul Fox (seventh at 157) were the only unseeded wrestlers in the tournament to earn All-American honors in their respective weight classes.

Penn State's Zain Retherford was the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler and accounted for the most team points of anyone with 28 (Bo Nickal was right behind him with 27.5 points.)

Missouri's J'den Cox became the first wrestler in school history to win three NCAA titles.

Out of all of this year's All-Americans, just two of them were true freshmen. Mark Hall was the champion at 174, and Jack Mueller was sixth at 125.

This year's tournament saw four wrestlers end their careers as four-time All-Americans: (Spreadsheet done by Andrew Spey.)
 
Wrestler
Class
2017
2016
2015
2014
J'Den Cox Senior 1st      
  Junior   1st    
  Sophomore     5th  
  Freshman       1st
Gabe Dean Senior 2nd      
  Junior   1st    
  Sophomore     1st  
  Freshman       3rd
Cory Clark Senior 1st      
  Junior   2nd    
  Sophomore     2nd  
  Freshman       5th
Isaac Jordan Senior 4th      
  Junior   2nd    
  Sophomore     7th  
  Freshman       7th
Road Warrior of the Tournament
Kyle Crutchmer, OSU: Crutchmer was the only wrester to lose in the first round and still become an All-American. He wrestled back to place seventh and avenge his first-round loss to Jake Residori.