I'm bored and we still have another day until CKLV kicks off. CKLV should offer our starters the opportunity to record a/more marquee wins. Speaking of those marquee wins, I went back and looked through results to see what the top wins our guys have in their careers. Besides being interesting (to me anyway), this offers a more objective look at some of our guys' ceilings and past performance. For these, I'm using WrestleStat to find the wins and not taking Freestyle and Greco off-season results. Some guys have had more opportunities for quality wins, but some of these surprised me.
Paul Bianchi- Has a ton of great wins over true blue chip recruits in freestyle. He beat Kyle Akins from Buffalo last year at Midlands, who was an NCAA qualifier and made the round of 16.
Brent Fleetwood- He hasn't actually wrestled a match for NDSU, but Fleetwood is a 2 time NCAA qualifier and only missed it as a True Freshman by dropping a 1 point match for 3rd at the MAC tournament. He beat All American Sean Russell from Edinboro. He also beat 2 time AA Connor Youtsey of Michigan. He beat Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern twice last year, who I expect to be in the AA mix this year. He has a bunch of top 20 wins.
Cam Sykora- He beat Kevin Devoy last year at the NCAA tourney, who was seeded and in the top 20. He also beat Dennis Gustafson of VT, who is top 15 this year, and tech falled Ian Parker of ISU, who is inexplicably top 20 in Flo's rankings.
McGwire Midkiff- Very young career, but beat top 100 recruit Jack Wagner UNI, who had a great redshirt year. Also beat top 100 recruit Rylee Molitor (SDSU) twice.
Sawyer Degan- Beat Midkiff
Sam Hampton- He doesn't even have 20 matches yet, but did beat top 100 recruit Brent Jones of MN and beat SDSU starter Henry Pohlmeyer by major decision.
Nico Colunga- Beat D2 AA Blake Bosch from MSUM. Beat Drake Foster as a true freshman in the Wyoming dual. Foster was 24-10 that year.
Mitch Bengston- As a true freshman he beat multi time AA, and NCAA runner up Lavion Mayes from Mizzou. By far his best win, and I didn't remember this. The following year he beat MN AA Tommy Thorn...which again, I didn't remember. Also beat SDSU's Alex Kocer, who became an AA. Beat SDSU's Seth Gross, who became an AA as a NCAA runner up last year. He beat several other guys in the top twenty at some point in their careers and former blue chip recruits.
Kyle Gliva- He beat Indiana starter Chris Perez last year and MN top 100 recruit Jake Bergeland this year.
Mitch Friedman- Beat NCAA qualifiers Hunter Ladnier of Harvard and Sam Krivus of Virginia.
Jaden Van Maanen- Beat Bergeland and Friedman.
Clay Ream- Beat Round of 12 Wisconsin starter Andrew Crone, SDSU AA Alex Kocer twice, OkSt AA Josh Kindig, tOSU AA Hunter Stieber, MN starter and top 20 recruit Jake Short, 3 time NCAA qualifier Andrew Atkinson UVA, UNC AA Evan Henderson, VT AA Sal Mastriani, ASU's Josh shields, who is ranked top 5 this year.
Andrew Fogarty- He beat NCAA qualifiers: Luke Zilverberg SDSU, Tyrell White Columbia (3 time qualifier), Dane Pestano ISU, Branson Ashworth Wyoming (who has made the top 10 in some rankings), and Brooks Martino Penn. He's beat several other B1G and PAC starters too.
Dylan Urbach- Former VA starter and top 100 recruit Garrett Peppleman, Ohio starter Arsen Ashughyan, and Boise State NCAA qualifier Austin Dewey.
Tyler McNutt- Beat Dylan Urbach and SDSU starter Martin Mueller. Mueller is his best win.
Cordell Eaton- NCAA qualifier and top 20 at times Tanner Orndorff UVU. Beat some other P5 starters
Dan Stibral- Beat Carter Isley ISU starter, who is a true blue chip recruit and a guy who I think will be in the top 20 for the next 4 years. Kevin Vough was a top 100 recruit for Boise State/SDSU and a win for Dan this year. Before this year, his best win was against Parker Hines AFA, who was a solid 197 pounder, but never qualified for NCAAs.
Brandon Metz- Very early in his career, but he has beaten Nebraska starter David Jensen, and Nebraska backup Patrick Grayson, who is very solid. Also, beat multi year SDSU starter Alex Macki.
I'll do a follow on post with some notes, observations, and surprises.