Wrestling Blogs - Stephen Stonebraker

Often enough when talking wrestling among other fans, the only matches that seem to be remebered from the NCAA National tournament are the finals matches. In my opinion, I've seen many matches that were extremely dramatic that did not happen to be the finals.

I've gone to the NCAA Division I wrestling championships every year since 2003. There are many matches that I recall with fond memories as well as bittersweet memories.

If I had to pick the match that I remember the most, it'd be a match from the 2004 tournament.

165 Pounds, Round of 12 match Johnny Clark Senior Ohio State Vs Levi Prevost Senior Wyoming.

I never knew why, but Johnny Clark could beat many wrestlers that Levi Prevost had lost too, yet he always had trouble with Prevost. In a dual meet earlier that year, or maybe it was in a tournament Prevost had beaten Clark.

There couldn't have been more than 30 seconds left on the clock. Prevost was up 6-4 and was in the best position that a wrestler could ask to be in. He was down and all he had to do to win the match was not get turned.

Clark had a refuse to lose attitude and I'll never forget the closing seconds of the match. Mitch Clark, Johnny's older brother is behind a chair gripping it with all his strength and shaking it back in forth, yelling at the top of his lungs. Coach Russ Hellickson of the Ohio State Buckeyes, is red from excitment as he too is jumping up and down yelling.

All of a sudden Johnny Clark gets this look in his eyes of pure determination, I'll never forget it, he puts his left arm underneath Prevost's leg and his right arm over the top of Prevost's head. With every ounce of energy he had to have had in his body, he manually forced Prevost to his back in a cradle.

As the last remaining seconds clicked off the clock, the referree counted to five. I mean any less time on the clock and the referree would not have gotten the count to five.

The match was over, Johnny Clark looked at the time score board and saw that he had just been awarded 3 back points to win the match 7-6 and become an All American.

Hellickson and Mitch Clark are over on the corner of the mat going absolutley nuts. Johnny runs into their arms and they celebrate!

It was one of the most dramatic matches I have ever seen. One of those matches that Hollywood itself couldnt' have made more theatrical.

In all my years of watching wrestling on both the high school and collegiate level, I have never seen a match that exiting in my life.

Yet, I'll spend the rest of the day trying to think of one that's close.