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College wrestler goes 4 years undefeated. The best single athletic accomplishment ever?

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I think it is nearly impossible to cross over sports when you talk about "greatest accomplishments".

That said, hats of to Cael, amazing performance.

I would think that there are probably a handful of 4-time, undefeated champs at the High School level...and before you mock high school wresting, I live in Cleveland, OH, home of St. Ed's high school, which is regarded nationally as one of the top two wresting programs in the country along with Blair Academy in NJ.


I would put Cael's performance just behind Karelin's streak as the best wrestling accomplishment of all time, but I just can't compare it to other sports.
 


<<
I would think that there are probably a handful of 4-time, undefeated champs at the High School level...and before you mock high school wresting, I live in Cleveland, OH, home of St. Ed's high school, which is regarded nationally as one of the top two wresting programs in the country along with Blair Academy in NJ. >>




Going by SI, sanderson is the first college wrestler to finish his career undefeated with four national titles.
 
Lucky, I was just saying that there are probably a few HS wresters that have gone undefeated for 4 years in HS, and they too should be listed up there as far as great accomplishments go.
 


<< Lucky, I was just saying that there are probably a few HS wresters that have gone undefeated for 4 years in HS, and they too should be listed up there as far as great accomplishments go. >>


only problem i have with that is that typically HS wrestlers only wrestle those in their state and conference. it isn't very often that you wrestle in many tournaments outside of your state and even if you do it isn't the constant week in week out of wrestling the best in the nation. they are great accomplishments, but no where near the level of what SI is talking about.
 
I would have to agree that what Cael did has to be one of the top collegiate sports accomplishments. This guy even went up a whole weight level his senior year at ISU. (Supposedly he wanted to eat more junk food 😀)
 


<< Lucky, I was just saying that there are probably a few HS wresters that have gone undefeated for 4 years in HS, and they too should be listed up there as far as great accomplishments go. >>




oops again, didnt see you qualified that statement as HS. Sorry.
 


<<

<< Hell no there have been better! That big guy who lost in the summer olympics last time as a wrestler went many more years for example undefeated. >>

Alexander Karelin if I remember correctly. He was unstoppable. >>


You got that right 😉 I rememver watching his matches on TV. His opponents would just lie down for him in the earlier rounds because they knew they wouldn't have a chance at beating him--and they didn't want to get injured so they'd still have a shot at 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place 🙂
 
Not only was Karelian undefeated, but he hadn't had a point scored on him until he lost 1-0 to Rulon. Karelian is like 6'6" and can do full splits at around 7% body fat (which is incredible for a super heavy weight).

Thomas
 


<< I would think that there are probably a handful of 4-time, undefeated champs at the High School level >>

Actually, its quite common. Not to say it isn't a great accomplishment, but its not rare. We had 3 wrestlers from 1978 (IIRC) to 1990 who went undefeated in their high school careers, plus a few others who only lost 1 or 2 matches, and that's just a little farming town (was Class C then, now Class B). I graduated in 1989, so I haven't paid much attention to what goes on since.

I hope Mr. Sanderson got a decent education at Iowa, since its a shame there really is nothing 'after' college for outstanding wrestlers like him, except for the Olympics which doesn't pay anything. There's "professional" wrestling, but no self-respecting grappler would stoop so low as to do that.
 
This has to be the singest greatest individual sports accomplishment ever

obviously you've never seen the movie COOL RUNNINGS!
 
hope Mr. Sanderson got a decent education at Iowa, since its a shame there really is nothing 'after' college for outstanding wrestlers like him


He majored in Art. LOL, I cant decide which career is worse. :/
 


<< hope Mr. Sanderson got a decent education at Iowa, since its a shame there really is nothing 'after' college for outstanding wrestlers like him


He majored in Art. LOL, I cant decide which career is worse. :/ >>


haha, a friend of mine got a bachelors in art. she now works for a temp service as a secretary/receptionist. 😉
 
Although he played many years ago, I always thought David Thompson of NC State was the greatest college basketball player ever. The guy had a FLAT FOOT 48 inch vertical leap. Legend has it that you could place a quarter on the top of the backboard and he could jump up and grab it. He was the cornerstone of NC State's 1974 NCAA championship team that beat UCLA in double-overtime to stop their streak of NCAA titles. He scored the second-most point in a single game in NBA history: 73 (if I remember correctly). Even Dick Vitale thinks he was the greatest in college ever.


Just my two cents. The wrestling record is incredible.
 
It is,without a doubt, an incredible accomplishment. Greatest ever? Maybe. Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, Edwin Moses and Lance Armstrong are names that immediately come to mind when talking about great individual athletic achievement. JMO
 
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