Cornell's Steve Bosak is another former NCAA champion who can wrestle himself into the NCAA finals, but with losses and only a half-year of competition, his body of work won't be large enough to garner one of the most coveted awards in college wrestling.
The candidates listed have the skills to win a national tournament, but more importantly can produce the dramatic, dominating style necessary to capture the attention of the InterMat postseason award committee. Like you we're fans of college wrestling and are just as vulnerable to a good story.
Dark Horse Candidates
10. Quentin Wright (Penn State)
The 2011 NCAA champion is the longest shot on the list, because he'll need to outperform two of his teammates. Married and expecting his first child, "Q" is a fan favorite at the event, and has the pinning power to capture plenty of attention from fans in and out of State College.
To win the NCAA tournament the 24-0 wrestler will have to earn another fall over No. 3 Matt Wilps and find the solution to mustachioed man-child Dustin "Killah Gorillah" Kilgore. Q has been known to run up a few falls and already has nine this season. If Q manages to secure an upperbody throw and pin Kilgore in the NCAA finals, then look for him to also enjoy serious applause, and InterMat Wrestler of the Year consideration.
Alan Waters (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)If he wins the NCAA championship then he's likely to receive at least one vote from the InterMat committee (Hint: Rhymes with Holy, Moly, Rolie and Polie). Waters' recent 4-0 decision of two-time NCAA champions Matt McDonough was impressive, and barring an upset at the MAC tournament the win vaulted him into the top seed at NCAAs.
To make a larger impression the undefeated Waters will have to wrestle tough on top and secure major decision in the quarterfinals and semifinals. As with everyone looking to become the InterMat Wrestler of the Year, he'll have to be flashy and dominant to outperform the wrestlers who've faced, and destroyed better competition all season long.
8. Kendric Maple (Oklahoma)
Were I to build a wrestler, I'd make him in the image of Kendric Maple. You think Burroughs is fast? Pssst. Maple is Tecmo-Bowl-Bo-Jackson type of fast. He's undefeated, untested and likely to make the finals, but that won't do much for him without a dominant performance. To date his best win is a 14-11 decision win against Edinboro's No. 4 Mitchell Port.
Maple is a stud on top and like Q can make big moves happen from tieups on his feet, and from transitional positions. He had a tough match with B.J. Futrell in the Midlands finals, but Futrell is out of postseason competition. Still, of all the dark horse candidates, his exciting style and position on a high-profile team can help him earn votes at the tournament.
7. Tony Ramos (Iowa)
Tony Ramos bought into the Iowa program before his first day on campus. He's always been the first back to the center, with a jumpy foot and mean scowl. But his dedication to the Iowa ideal was never made more clear than when he posed for a photo with high school club coach Izzy Martinez last month and revealed he's lost a tooth. No doubt a victim of his combative wrestling style.
Ramos is undefeated record, a recent pin win over No. 5 Chris Dardanes of Minnestoa and a 9-0 major decision of No. 4 A.J. Schopp. However, his future will be told in the matchup against defending NCAA champion and noted world-beater No. 1 Logan Stieber of Ohio State. The two will meet each other in the finals of the Big Ten tournament, but regardless of how that meeting goes, if Ramos is able to best Stieber in Des Moines then he will earn consideration, as the Iowa crowd will be certain to promote his accomplishment.
Dustin Kilgore is undefeated and ranked No. 1 at 197 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)A barbarian with offensive facial hair and a unique personality, Kilgore is a legendary wrestler trapped at a sometimes-boring weight class. He's a worker, but it's never an easy chore to face men who can dead lift 600 pounds. Yet this season he's earned an incredible 16 pins, including a streak of five straight. If he pins through the tournament he could steal some of the wrestling media's attention away from the big matchup at 165 pounds.
Either way, Kilgore is the favorite to earn his second NCAA title and walk away from collegiate wrestling as one of the all-time greats. If we can't give him the Wrestler of the Year award, then we will certainly try to create some small award in recognition of his fantastic facial hair.
5. Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State)
Maybe he should be higher -- he's certainly talented enough -- but Oliver's greatness is so expected that the dramatics of it all have been almost nullified. In the category of wrestlers who possess his level of expected greatness, Oliver runs third behind the winner of Dake-Taylor and the season of Ed Ruth.
I feel guilty having to place "That Dude JO" so low. He's a charismatic individual and interesting wrestler. I just can't see him winning the crowd in Iowa, or outperforming the expectations, or besting the shadows of the aforementioned studs. He'll also need to be much more dominant at the tournament than he was against No. 6 Dylan Ness at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, where he won a 6-4 decision.
Logan Stieber (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)The returning NCAA champion at 133 pounds, Stieber has the momentum (or hope) of a four-championship career to buoy his nomination. The sophomore is undefeated this season, but hasn't faced Ramos, who as mentioned is wrestling with the fire of both Brands brothers burning through his singlet and into the dark recesses of his soul.
Every great wrestler needs an opponent who will challenge him, and bring out a flare of technique and aggression for the fans. Stieber has that opposing force in Ramos. They'll meet this weekend in the Big Ten finals, but that will only add to their story in 2013, a welcome plot-builder for Stieber whose abbreviated season has been short on dramatics.
Top Contenders
3. Ed Ruth (Penn State)
The defending InterMat Wrestler of the Year and NCAA champion at 174 pounds, junior Ed Ruth has become something of an unsung hero for the Nittany Lion wrestling program. In almost any other year the wrestling media would be searching deep into their book of idioms to help describe his greatness, but in 2013 he's been outmatched by publicity in the mainstream media by Dake and teammate David Taylor.
Ruth has been almost untouchable this season. The Pennsylvania native's closest match was an 11-9 win over Robert Hamlin of Lehigh in November, but since then he's beat returning NCAA champion Steve Bosak of Cornell and secured 10 falls in 25 matches. If he runs through the competition at NCAAs with the same aggressive style that brought him the title at 174 pounds in 2012, then he'll have every opportunity to be mentioned in the final voting for InterMat Wrestler of the Year.
2. David Taylor (Penn State)
As the loser of two razor-thin matches to Kyle Dake, David Taylor has done his part to build up the drama for what should be a climatic end of the 2013 season. He's been absolute hammer in every match this season winning 11 by fall, 7 by tech all but one of his other wins by major decision. Were it not for Dake that dominance would make him the frontrunner.
Working against Taylor are his two losses to Dake. Should he get past Dake by a single point -- or worse yet, on a controversial call -- voters will question his inability to finish Dake at the Southern Scuffle. However, on the flip side of the argument, the only thing standing in the way of Dake becoming a four-time NCAA champion and a god among mortals is David Taylor.
And there is always an accommodation to be made for the wrestler that derails history.
Kyle Dake (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)When Cael Sanderson took to the mats in Albany in 2002, it was a three-day coronation for America's rising king of the mat. Reporters were weaving tales about Sanderson's ability to effortlessly trip and upend goliath opponents. Kids were snapping photos (on cameras, not cell phones), and competing wrestlers looked on in awe. Perfection. And the man barely nudged his mouth apart enough to reveal a blood-soaked smile.
Kid Dynamite is on his way to becoming the Highprince of American Wrestling. Four titles in four years at four different weight classes is a combination that makes him an attractive also-ran for G.O.A.T. Were it not for those early career losses, maybe he'd be the new King.
If Dake can beat Taylor for a third time and win his fourth title then he will have certainly done enough to be considered the favorite to win InterMat's Wrestler of the Year.
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