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.

Previous Entries: 125 Pounds | 133 Pounds

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.

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

1) Mitchell Port, Edinboro - R12, 2, 3, 2

It's tough winning an NCAA championship when you have Ohio State's Logan Stieber in your bracket. During his senior year in 2015, Mitchell Port would be Stieber's fourth and final NCAA finals victim. The year before that, Port entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed but was upset by North Carolina's Evan Henderson in the quarterfinals. Port battled back for third place, beating Penn State's Zain Retherford in the consolations, becoming the last man to have derailed the Zain Train in in college. In 2013, Port played spoiler to Logan's younger brother, Hunter Steiber, upsetting the No. 1 seed in the semis before losing to Oklahoma's Kendric Maple in the finals. Throw in a bloodround finish as a freshman and Port earns the top spot on our list of 141-pounders who never claimed that ultimate NCAA prize.

2) Montell Marion, Iowa - DNQ, 2, 4, 2

It's tough making the varsity lineup when you have a senior Alex Tsirtsis on your team, wrestling in your weight class. Montell Marion never got a chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament as a freshman, with Tsirtsis in his weight class and two other well-known Hawkeyes by the names of Brent Metcalf and Dan Dennis above and below him. We'll never know how the Des Moines native would have done, though Tsirtsis, the No. 4 seed, lost in the in the round of 16. Marion would drop his finals match to Kyle Dake in 2010, his third-place bout to Mike Thorn in 2011, and his finals match his senior year to Kellen Russell. Port may have edged Marion in NCAA placements (and seeds, for what it's worth), but Marion had arguably the more frustrating career.

3) Devin Carter, Virginia Tech - R12, 5, 2, 3

We may have mentioned this before, but it's difficult to win a wrestling bracket when you share it with Logan Stieber. Carter was Stieber's third NCAA finals victim in 2014. In 2015, Carter was denied a chance for revenge when he was upended by North Carolina State's Kevin Jack in the quarterfinals. The Christiansburg, Virginia, native came back to beat Oklahoma State's Dean Heil in the third-place bout, motivating Heil to win the next two NCAA tournaments at the same weight class and possibly a third this season, perpetuating the never-ending cycle of heartache and disappointment that is 141 pounds.

4) Boris Novachkov, Cal Poly - R64, 7, 2, 3

Coming to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo from Sunnyvale, California, Borislav Novachkov came closest to summiting the peak of college wrestling his junior year in 2011, when he was beaten by Michigan's Kellen Russell 3-2 in the NCAA finals. Novachkov wrestled down at 133 his first to years as a Cal Poly Mustang but found much greater success up at 141. During his true freshman year, Novachkov earned the dubious distinction of going 0-2 from the pigtails, never making it even to the round of 32. Never one to let early set backs keep him down, Novachkov now competes at the highest levels of international freestyle wrestling for the country of his birth, Bulgaria.

Honorable Mention

George DiCamillo, Virginia
Michael Mangrum, Oregon State

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!

Get all of the hottest FloWrestling content!

Sign up for the FloWrestling newsletter for instant access to: breaking news, live events, results, rankings, archived matches and more!