The Best To Never Win A Title: 125 Pounds

The Best To Never Win A Title: 125 Pounds

Who is are the best to have never won an NCAA individual championship? We look at wrestlers from the last ten years and find out.

Aug 16, 2017 by Andrew Spey
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The NCAA tournament is the pinnacle of the collegiate wrestling season, where a grueling season culminates with the crowning of 10 individual champions. 

But the flip side to glory is the bitter disappointment of unrealized dreams. All weekend long, the arena tunnels and lockers rooms are strewn with the shattered minds and bodies of defeated wrestlers.

The record books will always be a prominent place for champions, but here we'll carve out a special section for the best who never become champs. This is a place for the greats who never quite made it to the top of the NCAA podium, yet remain some of the most dominant and dynamic competitors of their era. 

To limit the size of our lists, and to lower the burden of research to a relatively sane amount, we very arbitrarily narrowed our time frame to the last 10 years. Due to creative redshirting, this rule proved difficulty to adhere to, but a general rule of thumb is anyone who used up his eligibility by 2009 was not included. Hence the absence of Mike Poeta, an incredible 157-pound wrestler for Illinois who thrice placed in the top three of NCAA.

Sam Hazewinkel, an absolute stud 125-pounder, graduated from Oklahoma in 2007 and is also not eligible for this list. 

It is possible we overlooked someone, however, so please feel free to call out your favorite unmentioned non-champion in the comments. 

1) Thomas Gilman, Iowa - DNQ, 4, 2, 3

The Iowa native tops our 125-pound list despite being blocked from starting his freshman year by classmate Cory Clark, who bumped up to 133 the next year. Clark eventually won a title in 2017, whereas Gilman came up just short in his senior season. Gilman was the No. 1 seed in St. Louis but was upset by Lehigh's Darian Cruz in the semifinals. The colorful Hawkeye was stopped by Penn State's Nico Megaludis in the finals the year before. Those finishes and a fourth-place result in 2015 gave him the edge in a very close bunching of talented wrestlers who never got that coveted NCAA title.

2) Zach Sanders, Minnesota - 6, 5, 5, 3

Sanders gives Gilman a run for his money for the No. 1 rank here, as the Golden Gopher is the only four-time 125-pound All-American who never broke through to the top of the podium over the last 10 years. The native Minnesotan also never made the finals, coming the closest his senior year in 2012, when he battled back from a quarterfinal-round upset to Nico Megaludis.

3) Brandon Precin, Northwestern - R16, 7, 3, 3

Brandon Precin's two third-place finishes rank him very favorably with both Sanders and Gilman, and his seventh-place finish in 2008 as a true sophomore is not too shabby either. The Chicago native's round of 16 finish in 2007 put him slightly behind Gilman and Sanders, and his redshirt season after his junior year for the hometown Wildcats allowed him to just barely make our time-frame cut-off.

4) Alan Waters, Missouri - R24, R12, 4, 3

The Kansas City native flirted with moving up to 133 pounds for the Tigers while redshirting after his junior year, before deciding to come back down to 125 for his senior season in 2015. The move paid off as Waters had his highest finish of his career, winning the third-place match over Gilman. As satisfying as that win may have been, it unfortunately came at the second straight NCAA tournament in which Waters entered as the No. 1 seed.

5) Joey Dance, Virginia Tech - 4, R12, R24, 5

From nearby Christiansburg High School, Joey Dance had his breakout year as a true freshman for the Virginia Tech Hokies, placing fourth as the No. 16 seed. Dance stumbled on his next two trips to the NCAAs, finishing off the podium as a sophomore and junior despite entering as the No. 3 and No. 2 seed, respectively. Dance got redemption in his senior season, still without the benefit of a redshirt season, by once again claiming All-American honors with a fifth-place finish in 2017.

Honorable Mention

Conor Youtsey, Michigan
Dylan Peters, Northern Iowa
Ryan Mango, Stanford

Like our time frame, our achievement cut-off point for inclusion on our list of best who never won is entirely arbitrary. There will never be an article large enough to mention every deserving All-American who fell short of his ultimate goal. So if you think we overlooked anyone, please don't hesitate to let us know!

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