21st Century Out of Nowhere NCAA Division I Champions

We're now 18 years and about to be 18 NCAA Division I Championships into the 21st century. Over the past 17 tournaments, most of the NCAA champions crowned have been wrestlers that both fans and seeders/rankers alike, have foreseen as plausible titlists. They may not have been the most popular pick to win the NCAA championship, but their winning didn't exactly shock anyone either.  Matter of fact of the 170 NCAA Division I titles wrestled for, less than a dozen of those were won by wrestlers who truly came out of nowhere to stand atop the award stand.  Who were these wrestlers?

Carl Perry of Illinois
2000 141 lbs Champion

Perry didn't give anyone any reason to think he'd walk out the NCAA champion at 141 lbs, when he entered St. Louis, Missouri as the #8 seed in 2000.  After placing seventh as sophomore in 1998, he had failed to place as a junior in 1999. Two losses at the BIG 10's saw him finish in fourth place. If that weren't enough to see that no one would place there bet on Perry, the fact that he had to go through Iowa's Doug Schwab in the Quarter-finals was.  He had never defeated Schwab before, having lost to him by major decision and 7-5 earlier in the season. A master of the patented Great Bridge Virginia Granby roll, Perry shocked the Hawkeye with a 6-4 tiebreaker victory.  He then defeated Clarion's Mark Angle and Oklahoma's Michael Lightner to win the title.

Rob Rohn of Lehigh
2002 184 lbs Champion

Originally a two sport athlete, that began his career at Clarion also playing baseball, Rohn's NCAA finals match against Josh Lambrecht of Oklahoma is one of the most talked about and continuously reviewed matches in collegiate wrestling history. Yet when he entered Albany, New York as the #8 seed at 184 lbs, there wasn't a soul among those discussing plausible champions that even gave Rohn a thought.  Damion Hahn of Minnesota, Andy Hrovat of Michigan, Jessman Smith of Iowa, Viktor Sveda of Indiana, and Scott Justus of Virginia Tech were the names being thrown around. Rohn had five losses, including one in the EIWA championship finals to Cornell's Clint Wattenberg.  When he upset his way to the finals, many concluded that the senior ought to be happy with this second place finish before the match even started.  His opponent, Lambrecht was on a hot streak having had his way with everyone up to that point. It looked like an all but done deal as Lambrecht with a 14-2 lead went for a final tilt that would have secured a 17-2 technical fall.  Yet somehow Rohn managed to slip out, earn an escape and in one of the most dramatic finishes of all time, stick Lambrecht with only 13 seconds remaining on the clock.   For an interesting trivia question that most people do not know, it was not the only victory Rohn had over Lambrecht that season. He had defeated him earlier in the year 9-5.

*Some might also like to point at Aaron Holker of Iowa State in the 2002 tournament as well. The #5 seed transfer from Brigham Young who had two 7th place finishes, one in 1999 as a true freshman and again in 2003 as a senior.  Inconsistency which Holker seemed to master during his career, may for some put him on this list. However, he had two decisive victories over #2 Eric Larkin of Arizona State coming into the championships, which gave testimony to title run.*

Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State
2003 Champion 184 lbs 

Arguably the most underrated three time NCAA Division I champion of all time. Perhaps the reason he never gets the credit or recognition he deserves is because fans still haven't forgiven him for winning the 2003 NCAA title, "When he wasn't supposed to."   He entered the NCAA tournament his freshman season with a 17-9 record.  Not exactly the type of record that sells that you are going to contend for the NCAA championship.  To add fuel for thought, his quarter finals opponent Greg Parker of Princeton had put in the legs and turned Rosholt multiple times in the Reno Tournament of Champions finals for a 10-2 major decision victory.  This time it'd be Rosholt who would have his way with Parker, completely dominating the match before pinning him in the first period.  Rosholt would again turn the tables on his finals opponent, Scott Barker of Missouri who had manhandled him 9-1 in the BIG 12 finals only two weeks earlier.  Rosholt would dominate to a 13-5 major decision of his own. 

Paul Donahoe of Nebraska
2007 Champion 125 lbs 

When beloved senior Sam Hazewinkle of Oklahoma entered his final NCAA tournament after three consecutive third place finishes, fans simply sat back and waited for the Sooner to take home the gold medal that had eluded him for so long.  Some toyed with the thought that maybe Minnesota's Jayson Ness or Cornell's Troy Nickerson might give him a scare. Hazewinkle quickly put those thoughts to rest as he had Ness spending the majority of a semi-finals match fighting off his back in 10-0 victory.  He was now in the finals and there was nothing to fear as his opponent was a familiar one, Paul Donahoe of Nebraska who Hazewinkle had humiliated in the BIG 12 finals with a 12-3 major decision.  Only this time the takedowns didn't come so easily. This time the turns on top didn't happen so effortlessly.  By the end of regulation the score was tied 1-1 and within mere moments Donahoe had robbed Hazewinkle of the title that so many thought he'd finally win.  A 2012 Olympian, Hazewinkle will forever remain in history one of the greatest to never win an NCAA title.  The ever controversial Donahoe would go on to capture two more All American finishes of third and second, as he ended his career at Edinboro.

Jarrod King of Edinboro
2009 Champion 165 lbs 

A career that started off plagued by various injuries, it seemed that Jarrod King was going to have to settle for a career that wasn't even a shadow of older brother Matt who had finished 4th and 3rd at the NCAA's during his. Yet after transferring to Edinboro from Oklahoma, King found himself not only matching his brother's credentials, but surpassing them.  Entering as the #12 seed at the 2009 championships, some toyed with the idea of King making the award stand but no one took the idea of him walking out as champion seriously.  He had kept it close with the likes of Colt Sponseller of Ohio State and Mack Lewnes of Cornell, but he had never managed to beat any of them.  A 5-3 loss in the final dual of the season to West Virginia's Donnie Jones, gave all the more reason to doubt him.  One by one he went through the #4, #8 and #2 seeds to be crowned champion in a miraculous run.  To prove that it was not a fluke, King showed up the next year, having a spectacular season which saw him finish third at the NCAA's.


*Some may wonder why I do not put Cody Brewer of Oklahoma on this list who won the NCAA title despite being the #13 seed in 2015.  The reason why is because on a personal note I feel that his #13 seeding was one of the most unfair in NCAA history.  He had but one loss that season, where he had gotten caught on his back and pinned by Iowa State's Earl Hall. He had avenged that loss in the BIG 12 finals, 10-5.  It was not a shock to me at all that Brewer won the NCAA title. I don't see how it would have shocked anyone that had watched him compete and knew what he was capable of.*

Myles Martin of Ohio State
2016 Champion 174 lbs 

It wouldn't surprise anyone to see Myles Martin atop the award stand at this year's NCAA championships or at next year's in 2019.  Yet when he won the 174 lbs as a true freshman in 2016, there be not a fan in the arena who can honestly say they saw it coming.  His finals opponent was Penn State's Bo Nickal who had pinned him in the first period at the BIG 10 championships. Only this time, Nickal didn't put Martin on his back.  Martin put him on his back, winning the match 11-9.  Some think having seen Nickal handle Martin 10-2 earlier this season that it might mean that Nickal now has Martin's number. Check out the elaborate history between these two and I guarantee you that a Martin victory at either or both the BIG 10's and the NCAA's would not at all surprise you.


And now it begs the question doesn't it!?!?  Are we going to have any "out of nowhere" NCAA champions this season?

Darian Cruz of Lehigh 

It almost seems more fitting to put him on this list for his accomplishments last year, but ironically enough even though he's the returning champion defending his title, he seems more of an underdog this year than he did last. Listening to fans debate who will be the NCAA champion Saturday, March the 17th, the names Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State, Nick Suriano of Rutgers and Spencer Lee of Iowa be the three most spouted. Even Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera gets more mentions than Cruz does. Would it really be an "out of nowhere" title?  Of course it wouldn't, but as Hell bent sold as some seem to be on a Suriano Vs Lee final, Cruz denying both would open up some eyes.

Anyone other than Zain Retherford of Penn State @ 149 lbs 

See the image above? It's of Zain Retherford getting his hand raised. It's as familiar of a sight and as sure of thing as the sun coming up each day.  The idea of us not seeing this five times in a row in Cleveland, Ohio March the 15th through the 17th is preposterous. Yet, I have to mention this astronomical idea because for anyone other than Retherford to win the title at 149 lbs would without a doubt by the most shocking upset of the NCAA tournament.   Minus injury or illness, I cannot see anyone even coming close to Retherford.  Iowa's Brandon Sorensen seems the most likely, but even that's a stretch. It'd be nice to know that Arizona State's Jason Tsirtsis could go in and give Retherford a worthy challenge, but at this point it seems wishful thinking.



I'm not sold on anything at 197 lbs quite yet.  I want to get through the rest of the conference qualification tournaments, and see the final NCAA brackets before I set my heart on who I think will walk out champion.  As for now, based on the rankings I can see an assortment of guys winning the title, but none that I feel would come as a shock to anyone.

Lastly I'll say that if anyone other than Ohio State's Kyle Snyder or Michigan's Adam Coon wins the title at HWT, that will come as a major shock to me as well.  I can see Oregon State's Amar Dhesi or Duke's Jake Kasper getting past one or the other, but not both.

My thoughts, what are your's?