Last night @Jason Bryant pointed out that in Jesse Mendez's corner was newly minted Hall of Famer Logan Stieber (Distinguished Member category). And over the weekend, @Iwrite was kind enough to share with us the bio for the third Banach Brother, Steve, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the "Outstanding American" category.
This got me thinking about who would be the next wrestler to get into the Hall of Fame based primarily on college and international achievements.
I took a quick perusal of the Distinguished Members category by year (https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/awards/Distinguished_Member?page=1) and estimated that in the last 25 years there have been between 50 and 60 honorees who were there based primarily on college achievements, or a combination of college and international with a heavy dose of college. So let's say 2 to 3 get in next year. Who are those guys?
One caveat, a wrestler has to be retired for 5 years to be eligible (and I believe that is five years from any combat type?).
Some ideas:
Cole Konrad - 4x AA, 3x finalist, 2x champ in college (4,2,1,1). Pan Am Gold while in college. World University Gold. Bellator heavyweight champ.
Steve Mocco - this one might come with a caveat. He is already in the HOF as a Glen Brand honoree (for wrestlers from Iowa) and a Dave Schultz honoree (high school). Maybe the Brand and Distinguished Member are mutually exclusive?
Tommy Rowlands - 4x AA, 3x finalist, 2x champ in college (2,1,6,1). University World Champion, Pan-Am Champion, 2x U.S. Open Champion, and 6x U.S. National Team Member.
Ben Askren - No brainer. 4x AA, 4x finalist, 2x champ in college (2,2,1,1), 2x Hodge Award. Olympian, Pan Am Gold, World Grappling Champ, ONE and Bellator Champ.
Who have you got?