2016 USAW Cadet and Junior National Championships

Time Capsule: When Cary Kolat Won Fargo

Admit it. As wrestlers (and fans), we are some of the most nostalgic people on the planet. We love looking at old brackets and watching blurry old videos fr

Jul 5, 2016 by Ryan Holmes

Admit it. As wrestlers (and fans), we are some of the most nostalgic people on the planet. We love looking at old brackets and watching blurry old videos from yesteryear to get a glimpse of what it was like “back then.”

As we approach Fargo, we are going to crack open a few time capsules for tournament winners, starting with Cary Kolat.

By now, we’ve all watched “The Story of Cary Kolat” (Episode 1, Episode 2, Bonus) so we know about the crazy things he endured. But now, we are going to take a look at what was going on in 1988 when he won his first Fargo title.

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That year, John Smith was on fire. Not only did he win a NCAA title, but he also won his first Olympic gold. Maybe this is the year history repeats itself, right J'Den and Kyle?

Kenny Monday followed Smith and won his own gold in Seoul, South Korea, at 163lbs. At the NCAA level, Arizona State had just won the team title with 93 points at the 58th NCAA Championships, and a pair of guys who are now EIWA head coaches—Rob Koll and Pat Santoro—won NCAA titles. Santoro was a 16-11 winner over Sean O’Day of Edinboro and Koll pinned Joe Pantaleo in 1:14.

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There were surely some pretty awesome things happening on the mats during 1988. But now, let’s see what was happening in the world.

Category
No. 1 Song	"Dirty Diana" by Michael Jackson and "The Flame" by Cheap Trick
No. 1 Movie	"Coming to America"
Super Bowl Champ	Washington Redskins (This was one of the last times Willie and CP actually enjoyed a football season.)
Pop Culture headline	Mike Tyson hires Donald Trump as an advisor.
Video Games	Super Mario Bros. 3 and Zelda II were among the top 10 most popular games of the year.
Gas Prices	The average gas price was between 72 and 98 cents per gallon.

This was also the time that Mike Tyson was making headlines for things inside and outside the ring. Not only did he KO a few guys—my uncle included—but he hired Donald Trump as an advisor. We all know how that worked out for Iron Mike.

Apparently this was a pretty interesting year.

Stay tuned as we continue to dig into the time capsules of some other legendary wrestlers as they were climbing to the top of the podium in Fargo.