By Seth Petarra

Brent Metcalf is one of the true legends of wrestling in United States, renowned for his intensity and ability to break high-level opponents. Success has followed him at every stage of his career, be it his four state titles and 228-0 record while competing for Davison High School in Michigan, his six Fargo titles, or his two national titles and 108-3 record while competing for the University of Iowa from 2006-2010.



But the one thing that eluded Metcalf over the years was a world medal. He made four senior world teams but came up short every year. This isn't to say that Metcalf was bad by any means; in fact, he is one of the very best wrestlers to have never won a world medal.

To see why, check out his impressive list of wins.

Metcalf's Hitlist

• No. 3 (74kg) Jabrayil Hasanov: 2010, 2011, 2016 World/Olympic bronze medalist
  
• No. 3 Franklin Gomez: 2011 World runner-up (60kg)
  
• No. 8 Meysam Nasiri
  
• Soslan Ramonov: 2014 world champ, 2015 World bronze, 2016 Olympic champ, unranked due to inactivity
  
• No. 12 (70kg) Ikhtiyor Novruzov: 2015 World silver (65kg), 2016 Olympic bronze (65kg)
  
• No. 10 (70kg) Mandakhnaran Ganzorig: 2013 & 2014 World bronze medalist (65kg)
  
• No. 9 Magomed Muslimov
  
• No. 4 (70kg) Magomed Kurbanaliev: 2013 World bronze (65kg), 2016 World champ (70kg)
  
• No. 11 Jordan Oliver
  
• No. 16 Frank Molinaro
  
• No. 3 (61kg) Masoud Esmailpour: 2013 World bronze (61kg), 2014 World silver (61kg)
  
• No. 7 (61kg) Akhmed Chakaev: 2016 World bronze (61kg)
  
• No. 17 (70kg) Zaurbek Sidakov
  
• No. 7 (70kg) Magomedmurad Gadzhiev
  
• Alexander Kontoev: 2001 World bronze (55kg)
  
• Zaur Botaev: 2002 World bronze medalist

Having gone over the impressive resume of Metcalf, let's take a deeper look at what caused him to come up short at the world championships.

2010

In Metcalf's world championship debut, his first match was against Georgian buzzsaw and four-time world/Olympic medalist Otar Tushishvili, who beat Metcalf by a score of 3-2. Tushishvili was eliminated in his next match by eventual fifth-place finisher Buyanjav Batozirg of Mongolia, and Metcalf was eliminated from competition.

2013

In his first match, Metcalf was matched up against two-time world champion Mehdi Teghavi of Iran. Metcalf lost the match to Teghavi 5-2, and when Teghavi was upset 3-2 by Alexander Kontoev of Belarus, Metcalf was eliminated from competition. Even more frustrating is the fact Metcalf had beaten Kontoev twice that year, at the Yarygin and the World Cup. 

2014

After winning his first match by tech over Seong-Bum Park of Korea, Metcalf met up with eventual fifth-place finisher Mustafa Kaya of Turkey. Metcalf lost a close, controversial match to Kaya by a score of 7-4, and when Kaya was beaten in the semifinals by Sayed Ahmed Mohammadi of Iran, Metcalf was eliminated from competition. Especially frustrating for Metcalf, was the fact he beat the eventual world champ Soslan Ramonov the year before at the Yarygin. 

2015

After winning his first two matches, Metcalf met up in the round of 16 against returning world runner-up and Iranian Sayed Ahmed Mohammadi, who was ranked No. 1 at the time. Although he was able to mount a late comeback, Metcalf ultimately lost to Mohmmadi by a score of 5-4. When Mohammadi was pinned by eventual world champ Frank Chamizo of Italy, Metcalf was eliminated from competition.