What's the greatest title match at the NCAA Wrestling Championships?
It's the stuff of spirited discussion on online forums and bars where wrestling fanatics gather. Now you can weigh in with your opinion online, thanks to a poll announced by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and NCAA Friday.
From now through Thursday, Feb. 16, college wrestling fans can vote for their choice of the best title match from the 1980-1984 NCAA championships by visiting the NCAA Facebook page. (There will be separate polls for best bout from the 1985-1989, and 1990-1994.) Video of the three top vote-getters -- one from each era -- will be shown at Fan Fest at the 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis.
Here are the matches in the running for 1980-1984:
1980:
- 131: Randy Lewis (Iowa) vs. Darryl Burley (Lehigh)
- 142: Lee Roy Smith (Oklahoma State) vs. Andre Metzger (Oklahoma)
1981:
- 118: Gene Mills (Syracuse) vs. John Hartupee (Central Michigan)
- 158: Ricky Stewart (Oklahoma State) vs. Dave Schultz (Oklahoma)
- Hwt: Lou Banach (Iowa) vs. Bruce Baumgartner (Indiana State)
1982:
- 150: Nate Carr (Iowa State) vs. Kenny Monday (Oklahoma State)
- 177: Mark Schultz (Oklahoma) vs. Ed Banach (Iowa)
1983:
- 158: Jim Zalesky (Iowa) vs. Lou Montano (Cal Poly)
- 134: Clar Anderson (Oklahoma State) vs. Clint Burke (Oklahoma)
1984:
- 126: Kevin Darkus (Iowa State) vs. Joe McFarland (Michigan)
Now, if we could get the Hall of Fame and the NCAA to cast a wider net, and allow wrestling fans to vote on matches from before 1980, such as Larry Owings (Washington) vs. Dan Gable (Iowa State) at the 1970 NCAAs... and, from the 1962 NCAAs, Jack Flasche (Northern Colorado) vs. Phil Kinyon (Oklahoma State).
Want to know more? Visit NCAA.com to see the entire list of matches from 1980-1994... and check out Roger Moore's article about the epic battle between Mark Schultz and Ed Banach from 30 years ago.
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