THE LAST WORD
This year’s NCAAs simply had it all
D
ES MOINES, Iowa – I’ve never walked away disap- pointed after any of the 17 NCAA Wrestling Championships I have covered, but this year’s tour- nament may have been the best I’ve ever been to. The 2013 NCAAs, wrestled before sellout crowds all
weekend at Wells Fargo Arena, simply had it all. It featured one of the best fields, one of most compelling sto-
rylines in the event’s history, some of the best fans and an entertaining show put on by the NCAA. Kudos to the NCAA for its superb presentation of the finals on Saturday night. They went all out. It started with the Parade of All-Americans, with announcer Sandy Stevens doing an excel- lent job of reading all 80 names as the wrestlers walked onto the platform in the center of the arena. It was the first time all of the names had been read and it was a very nice way to recog- nize all of the athletes who placed. They had great pump-up music that fired up the fans. The wrestlers came out of tunnels that had a graphic above them with their name and school logo, and they emerged from smoke before running out to the mat. Wrestlers took the mat with multi-talented announcer Todd
Hibbs capturing the importance of the moment with his great voice and his immense knowledge of the sport. The NCAA made a bold, but very smart, move in announcing
before the tournament the 165-pound finals match would be held last instead of starting with the smallest class and ending with the heavyweights. They received the marquee matchup they wanted when
superstars Kyle Dake of Cornell and David Taylor of Penn State advanced to the 165 finals. It was one of the best fields in the 83-year history of the
NCAA Championships and the athletes delivered. It was the closest team race
since 1999, with Penn State and Oklahoma State battling for the gold trophy. There were a record-tying 10 wrestlers in the field who were past NCAA champions. The team drama unfolded perfectly with the finals starting at
Craig Sesker
174. Oklahoma State’s Chris Perry needed to defeat Penn State’s Matt Brown in the first match of the finals to keep the Cowboys’ team title hopes alive. Perry did exactly that, and for the first time in 14 years the team lead changed hands during the finals. Penn State quickly regained the lead for good when the dynamic Ed Ruth prevailed at 184. It was a great scene when normally laid back and reserved Nittany Lions coach Cael Sanderson picked up Ruth and put him over his shoulder in cel- ebration. That was a very cool moment to witness. The team title was still up for grabs until Penn State’s Quentin
Wright scored two third-period takedowns to edge Kent State’s Dustin Kilgore in a battle of past champions in the 197 finals. And then you had a once-in-a-generation match to end the tournament with Dake and Taylor’s epic battle in the finals. It was a great match between two tremendous wrestlers. Dake, facing enormous pressure, surrendered the opening
takedown but came right back with an escape and takedown to regain control. Dake showed amazing composure and resolve. With wrestling fighting to stay in the Olympics, it was refresh-
ing for everyone involved in this great sport to enjoy a tremen- dous weekend of wrestling in Des Moines.
42 USA Wrestler
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