What if Cael Sanderson hadn't shut it down after striking Olympic gold?
Or if Dan Gable hadn't stopped after winning back-to-back gold medals at his only World Championships and Olympics?
Those are questions we will unfortunately never know the answer to as we think back to what these tremendous wrestlers could have added to their already impressive resumes.
Times obviously have changed, even within the last decade, where elite wrestlers can actually make a good living competing.
Jordan Burroughs and Jake Varner became the first American wrestlers to earn $250,000 apiece for winning Olympic gold in 2012.
Back in Gable's day, wrestlers were still considered amateurs and didn't make money. Even when Sanderson and Cejudo won, there wasn't a whole lot of money to be made.
Many wrestlers back in the day stepped away from competition because they needed to get into coaching or another field to financially support themselves and their families.
So just for fun, we have put together a wish list of wrestlers we would've loved to have watched for just a few more years. Some wrestlers on this list obviously had to hang it up because of injuries.
This list is in no way, shape or form a criticism of their decisions to step away from competition when they did.
Here is my top 10 list of wrestlers who left the sport too soon:
Jake Deitchler
Deitchler was just 18 years old when he pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Olympic Trials history by defeating two-time world medalist and heavily favored Harry Lester to make the 2008 Olympic team. Deitchler was a star in the making in Greco-Roman wrestling, but a series of concussions ended his career prematurely. Lester actually retired briefly after the 2008 Trials, but came back to make the next Olympic team in 2012.
Ben Askren
When Askren made his Olympic debut in Beijing in 2008, he was the most talked about wrestler on an American team that included Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier, who both went on to excel in the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Askren was brash, cocky and had backed it up until he stepped on the Olympic mat in China. Askren was taken apart on his feet in a decisive loss to veteran Ivan Fundora of Cuba. Askren was just 24 years old then, but he left wrestling and embarked on a successful career in mixed martial arts. Askren had the potential to win a world or Olympic title. He just needed more experience and seasoning at that level. Askren went on to win a Bellator world title and remains undefeated in MMA.
Garrett Lowney
Lowney stormed onto the scene as a 20-year-old competing at his first major international tournament in the 2000 Olympic Games. Lowney knocked off five-time world champion Gogui Koguouachvili of Russia, scoring a five-point throw late in the bout, en route to winning an Olympic bronze medal in Greco. Lowney battled injuries for most of his career after that, in part because he wrestled as an undersized college heavyweight. Lowney did come back to land a spot on the 2004 Olympic team, but he wasn't the same wrestler after being hampered by injuries.
Jamill Kelly (far left) with his Olympic silver medal in 2004Jamill Kelly
Kelly was one of the surprise stories when he made the U.S. world team in 2003, and many observers didn't believe he could follow suit by making the Olympic team in 2004. Kelly proved all of them wrong, and went on to reach the Olympic finals in Athens before settling for a silver medal. Kelly was just 26 years old when he retired after Athens. Kelly looked like a guy who had another Olympic quad left in him. He has gone on to be a successful college assistant coach.
Kurt Angle and Tom Brands
Angle and Brands were members of the loaded 1996 U.S. Olympic team that turned in a superb showing on American soil in Atlanta. Angle was 27 and Brands was 28 when both won gold medals in 1996. Angle (1995) and Brands (1993) had also won world titles. Both wrestlers were on top of the world when they retired from international competition. Brands' twin brother, Terry, a two-time world champion, won an Olympic bronze medal in 2000. Angle, of course, went on to fame and fortune in professional wrestling while Brands went into coaching where he has led Iowa to three NCAA titles.
Aaron Pico after defeating Reece Humphrey at the Olympic Team Trials (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Aaron Pico
Pico has long been considered the future of American wrestling as he progressed through the age-group ranks, winning a Cadet world title before collecting Junior world silver and bronze medals. Pico nearly made the Olympic team last year at age 19, being narrowly edged by eventual Olympic fifth-place finisher Frank Molinaro in the finals at the Trials. Now 20 years old, Pico has jumped into mixed martial arts and is scheduled to make his Bellator debut this summer. Pico's days as a wrestler may have unfortunately come to an end.
Ed and Lou Banach
The Banach brothers, standout wrestlers at the University of Iowa, became the first set of American twins to capture wrestling gold medals in the same Olympics. Ed and Lou Banach were just 24, and just a year out of college, when they both struck Olympic gold in 1984 in Los Angeles. The twins stepped away from competitive wrestling after that. Health was a consideration for Ed Banach, who had battled concussion issues during his career.
Cael Sanderson after winning Olympic gold with other Olympic medalistsCael Sanderson
Sanderson's international wrestling resume doesn't quite reflect it, but he's as gifted and skilled as any wrestler who has ever put on an American singlet. Sanderson made the 2001 and 2002 world teams, but did not compete either year at the World Championships. He didn't wrestle at the 2001 Worlds after it was delayed following the 9/11 attacks and he did not compete in 2002 when the U.S. pulled out of the event in Iran. Sanderson did win world silver in 2003 before turning in a tremendous, dominating performance to win Olympic gold in 2004. Sanderson was just 25 when he retired, but he was clearly at his peak. If he wrestles another cycle, he could've won four more gold medals (three world, one Olympic). He was that good. Sanderson had become frustrated with rough, bullying strategies and tactics employed by overmatched opponents. He also was getting into coaching, and now has led Penn State to a remarkable six NCAA team titles.
Dan Gable
The most dominant Olympian in American history, Gable didn't allow a point in steamrolling to the 1972 Olympic gold medal in Munich, Germany. Many people forget Gable won a gold medal at his only World Championships performance the previous year in 1971. Gable never lost a match in the two biggest wrestling tournaments he competed in. He stepped away from wrestling after Munich at age 23. He went on to become a legend in coaching as well, winning 15 NCAA titles at Iowa. But imagine what he would've done if he would've wrestled another four years after Munich.
Henry Cejudo with his Olympic gold medal in 2008 (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Henry Cejudo
Like Gable, Cejudo only wrestled in one World Championships and one Olympics. He was just 20 when he made his first world team in 2007. A year later, Cejudo turned in a magical and surprising performance by rallying to win his first three matches before powering to a win in his gold-medal bout at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. He became the youngest Olympic wrestling champion in American history at age 21. Cejudo, a slick, fast, skilled and very young wrestler, looked poised to become one of the best wrestlers in U.S. history. But Cejudo walked away from competition in 2008, made a brief comeback in 2012 and then went on a highly successful mixed martial arts career where he has fought for the UFC title. We can only wonder what Cejudo would've done if he would've kept his focus on wrestling for one more Olympic quad.
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