Who Is The 10th Greatest NCAA Wrestler Of All Time?
Who Is The 10th Greatest NCAA Wrestler Of All Time?
The votes are in. Find out who you picked as the 10th greatest NCAA wrestler of all-time.
A couple weeks ago, we unveiled the top 10 greatest NCAA wrestlers of all time. Except we only picked nine, leaving the 10th G.O.A.T. up for all of you to decide. Many thousands of you voted, and we thank you for your service. Now the results!
| 10th G.O.A.T. | PERCENT |
| Kyle Snyder, Ohio State 2015-2018 | 33.91% |
| David Taylor, Penn State 2011-2014 | 12.86% |
| Lincoln McIlravy, Iowa 1993-1997 | 6.85% |
| Ed Ruth, Penn State 2011-2014 | 6.09% |
| Carlton Haselrig, Pittsburgh-Johnston 1987-1989 | 4.82% |
| Other: | 4.54% |
| Alex Dieringer, Oklahoma State 2013-2016 | 3.39% |
| Mark Schultz, UCLA/Oklahoma 1979-1983 | 2.95% |
| J'Den Cox, Missouri 2014-2017 | 2.81% |
| Wade Schalles, Clarion 1971-1974 | 2.73% |
| Bill Koll, Northern Iowa 1946-1948 | 2.35% |
| Gene Mills, Syracuse 1977-1981 | 2.16% |
| Brent Metcalf, Iowa 2008-2010 | 2.09% |
| Stephen Abas, Fresno State 1998-2002 | 1.95% |
| Gray Simons, Lock Haven 1959-1962 | 1.44% |
| Greg Jones, West Virginia 2001-2005 | 1.34% |
| Ed Banach, Iowa 1980-1983 | 1.27% |
| Mike Caruso, Lehigh 1965-1967 | 1.12% |
| T.J. Williams, Iowa 1999-2001 | 1.03% |
| Mark Churella, Michigan 1976-1979 | 0.95% |
| Ricky Bonomo, Bloomsburg 1985-1988 | 0.94% |
| Rick Sanders, Portland State 1966-1968 | 0.86% |
| Chris Taylor, Iowa State 1972-1973 | 0.54% |
| Jake Rosholt, Oklahoma State 2003-2006 | 0.48% |
| Darryl Burley, Lehigh 1979-1983 | 0.37% |
| Tony Gizoni, Waynesburg 1948-1952 | 0.17% |
Kyle Snyder was the leading vote-getter by a sizable margin. It seems going second, first, first, first in four straight NCAA finals without the benefit of a redshirt is respected in the wrestling community.
One could make the argument that the numbers were skewed by recency bias, as three of the top four wrestlers on the poll completed their collegiate careers in recent memory. On the other hand, a complaint lodged our way after the original article was published is that wrestlers from the past were over-represented. And then, of course, the opposite complaint was also lodged.
That was the consistent theme of the feedback we received. For every vehement disagreement with the list, there was an equally vehement disagreement for precisely the opposite reasoning.
Dozens of different wrestlers were cited as being inconceivably left off the list. Which was the point of the poll. We were going to be wrong no matter who we picked so why not do a little crowdsourcing?
Call it the coward's way out if you must, we prefer to think of it as fostering a healthy debate within the community.
As for the write-ins, Ben Askren was the most popular choice. He got enough votes him in Rick Sanders territory if he were on the ballot. Others receiving write-in votes, in no particular order, were Barry Davis, TJ Jaworsky, Nate Carr, Tom Brands, Cary Kolat, John Smith, Jordan Burroughs, Willie Saylor, and Sam Speno.
Thanks to everyone for voting!