After months of high intensity scrappin’ we’ve reached the end of another incredible NCAA season.
But before we hit the freestyle/greco mats, let’s take a look back at the top 10 matches from the NCAA season.
10. Gable Steveson, Minnesota vs Sam Stoll, Iowa
We didn’t get it during the year, but it was certainly worth the wait. When Gable Steveson met up with Sam Stoll there were a lot of eyes on the mat waiting to see how the freshman would handle the tough task of taking on Stoll. When the clock had all zeroes the crowd was enthused with how the youngster bullied the Iowa big man.
9. Joe Smith, OK. State vs Mark Hall, PSU
This was our second look at Joe Smith on the season. He took out some major competition at the Southern Scuffle on his way to meeting up with Mark Hall in the final where Hall came through with the clutch points late.
8. Anthony Ashnault, Rutgers vs Matt Kolodzik, Princeton
One of the most highly anticipated bouts of the year. The all New Jersey battle between the top two guys in the weight class, at that time. Kolodzik came into the RAC with the #1 ranking, but Ashnault had the clear edge as he put up 10 points to notch one of the biggest wins of the year.
7. Austin Gomez, ISU vs Roman Bravo-Young, PSU
Serious fireworks between redshirt freshman Gomez and true freshman Bravo-Young. The big talk coming in was RBY and his lack of a ranking at the time. This was going to be his first big opportunity to break into the rankings in a big way. Despite gaining the early lead, RBY found himself on the bad end of double unders throw by Gomez that ended the match right in front of the PSU coaches.
6. Alex Marinelli, Iowa vs Joe Smith, OK. State
The biggest match of the first round and we almost saw the top seed get sent to the long road to the podium. Joe Smith came out looking flawless against Marinelli, but the Bull wasn’t definitely not going down easy as he stormed back to ride out Smith and score some points late to get the win.
5. Daton Fix, OK State vs Austin Desanto, Iowa
It’s the rideout (and choke) talked about around the country. Like a true Cowboy, Fix saddled up and put one helluva ride on Austin DeSanto in front of a capacity crowd at GIA.
4. Nick Piccininni, OK. State vs Spencer Lee, Iowa
Talk about a frenzied crowd. Pich got the Cowboy crowd firing their pistols when he cradled up and pinned returning NCAA champion Spencer Lee to start off the dual against the visiting Hawkeyes.
3. Jason Nolf, PSU vs Hayden Hidlay, NC State
Was it 2? It’s the question that people are still arguing about. We’ve looked at just about every video and picture of the situation and even though it doesn’t matter at this point because Nolf claimed another title, people are still torn.
2. Sebastian Rivera, Northwestern vs Spencer Lee, Iowa
It was the first time that we had ever seen Spencer Lee neutralized by someone else’s offense. Rivera deployed the perfect gameplan against Lee to get the 7-3 win and take the #1 spot.
1. Nick Suriano, Rutgers vs Austin DeSanto, Iowa
Tempers flared. There was blood. And it was everything we thought we would get in the rematch between these two. DeSanto’s antics in their first meeting was definitely a catalyst for what went down during this one. However, the now first NCAA champion in Rutgers history wasn’t having any of it this time.
