Go Messi! Go Yianni

[AuntAnnie]

I am for Messi, though he lost his first game of the World Cup, and I am for Yianni, though he
lost his first match of the season.

Losing one match does not mean he won’t win the NCAA tournament. In the last two full
seasons (2018-18 and 2018-2019) just six of 20 champs went undefeated. Eight of the 20
champs had two losses or more. (Even Yianni took a loss one year.)

2018   2019  
Champ Losses Champ Losses
Lee 2 Lee 3
Gross 1 Suriano 3
Diakomihalis 1 Diakomihalis 0
Retherford 0 Ashnault 0
Nolf 1 Nolf 0
Joseph 2 Lewis 2
Valencia 0 Valenca 2
Nickal 0 Foster 5
Macchiavell
o 3 Nickal 0
Snyder 1 Cassar 1

While all the previous four-time champs went undefeated as seniors, many three-time champs
took losses in their final championship season. Of the last 20 three-timers, seven had losses in
their year they won their third title.

Champ College Year Losses
Carr Iowa State 1983 1
Schultz Oklahoma 1983 0
Zalesky Iowa 1984 0
Davis Iowa 1985 1
Bonomo Bloomsburg 1987 2
Brands Iowa 1992 1
Jaworsky North Carolina 1995 0
McIlravy Iowa 1997 0
Williams Iowa 1998 0
Guerrero Oklahoma State 1999 0
Abas Fresno State 2002 0
Jones West Virginia 2005 0
Rosholt Oklahoma State 2006 4
Ruth Penn State 2014 1
Cox Missouri 2017 0

Dieringer Oklahoma State 2016 0
Snyder Ohio State 2018 1
Retherford Penn State 2018 0
Nolf Penn State 2019 0
Nickal Penn State 2019 0

So an early loss is hardly the kiss of death.

[Wrestleknownothing]

11 minutes ago, AuntAnnie said:

I am for Messi, though he lost his first game of the World Cup, and I am for Yianni, though he
lost his first match of the season.

Losing one match does not mean he won’t win the NCAA tournament. In the last two full
seasons (2018-18 and 2018-2019) just six of 20 champs went undefeated. Eight of the 20
champs had two losses or more. (Even Yianni took a loss one year.)

2018   2019  
Champ Losses Champ Losses
Lee 2 Lee 3
Gross 1 Suriano 3
Diakomihalis 1 Diakomihalis 0
Retherford 0 Ashnault 0
Nolf 1 Nolf 0
Joseph 2 Lewis 2
Valencia 0 Valenca 2
Nickal 0 Foster 5
Macchiavell
o 3 Nickal 0
Snyder 1 Cassar 1

While all the previous four-time champs went undefeated as seniors, many three-time champs
took losses in their final championship season. Of the last 20 three-timers, seven had losses in
their year they won their third title.

Champ College Year Losses
Carr Iowa State 1983 1
Schultz Oklahoma 1983 0
Zalesky Iowa 1984 0
Davis Iowa 1985 1
Bonomo Bloomsburg 1987 2
Brands Iowa 1992 1
Jaworsky North Carolina 1995 0
McIlravy Iowa 1997 0
Williams Iowa 1998 0
Guerrero Oklahoma State 1999 0
Abas Fresno State 2002 0
Jones West Virginia 2005 0
Rosholt Oklahoma State 2006 4
Ruth Penn State 2014 1
Cox Missouri 2017 0

Dieringer Oklahoma State 2016 0
Snyder Ohio State 2018 1
Retherford Penn State 2018 0
Nolf Penn State 2019 0
Nickal Penn State 2019 0

So an early loss is hardly the kiss of death.

A tip: when copy/pasting a table from Excel or Word, it is best to paste into an empty Word doc using Paste Special>Picture(U) and then copy the picture from Word into this website.

[Wrestleknownothing]

@AuntAnnie I like to look at percentage of titles won rather than just count. There have been 22 wrestlers finish at 100% in the NCAA championships (3 for 3 in the non-freshman eligible eras, and 4 for 4 in the freshman eligible eras).

Of those twenty-two, two took a lose in the year they won their final title: Wayne Martin was 11-1 in 1936 and Larry Hayes was 17-1 in 1961.

So it is not without precedence.