Favorites

Favorite matches

• Darion Caldwell vs Brent Metcalf - YouTube:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWPm4Y11Leg&t=685s 
• this was a huge upset
• Lincoln McIlravy vs. Gerry Abas: 1993 NCAA title match at 142 pounds - YouTube:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKr7_PfQX5s
• wild match and great comeback
• Gene Mills vs. Joe Gonzales: 1979 NCAA title match at 118 pounds - YouTube:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CgEKY6V-Sk
• this was an exciting match; it's too bad the video isn't higher quality

Favorite wrestlers

• Kyle Dake: Career Highlights: 4-time NCAA Div I champ at four different weight classes
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jArdkJoT3c
• Joe Gonzales: Induction Video for 2015 Distinguished Member Joe Gonzales - YouTube 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Op19-PJhM
• "You're only as good as your workout partner"
• Note: I watched Joe Gonzales & his CSU Bakersfield teammate John Azevedo win the 1980 Olympic Trials, held at Brockport State, close to where I grew up in Rochester, NY.
• Note: I worked out with Joe once at East L.A. college in our 30s or 40s... I never came close to taking him down! One of my favorite memories. (I knew Bob Sheppard and Ben Bohlander. Bob Sheppard also helped coach at South Pasadena H.S. when I was an assistant coach there.)
• Cary Kolat: National Wrestling Hall of Fame:
• https://nwhof.org/national-wrestling-hall-of-fame/bio/4087 (with video)
• Note: The NWHOF video shows Ron Headlee, Kolat's high school coach. Ron was an NCAA Div III All-American wrestler for Messiah College. I know that because Ron "owned me" in college. I didn't lose very often, but I never beat Ron Headlee!
• Cael Sanderson: National Wrestling Hall of Fame:
• https://nwhof.org/national-wrestling-hall-of-fame/bio/2490 (with video)
• Sanderson is one of just a handful of 4-time NCAA Div I champions, and the only one to go completely undefeated, ending with a 159-0 record.
• He's been a great coach too. He's led Penn State to the NCAA Div I championship 8 of the last 10 years(!) and his team seems to have fun wrestling too!
• John Smith: 
• John Smith Takedown Compilation: 1990 Senior World Championships - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wYzaHE8DbY
• https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/108 (no video)
• Won six consecutive world-class championships!
• Another master technician with amazing low single-leg attacks