SCMAT Exclusive Wrestling Article 1-1-22

The "roll" that halted history

G.O.A.T. - let's talk about it ...

Before we talk about the "roll" that halted history, we should probably talk G.O.A.T. - Greatest Of All Time.

To qualify for the title of GOAT, an athlete must be regarded as not only the best player of their era but of every era before and after them.

Every Pro sport likes to talk about their GOAT ... Tom Brady, Michael Jordan (though some will say LeBron James), Serena Williams, etc.

And college wrestling has a GOAT - Cael Sanderson (Iowa State). Sanderson is the only D1 wrestler to complete a four-year career unbeaten at 159-0 from 1998-2002 - winning 4 NCAA titles and collecting three Hodge Trophies. Cael would also win Olympic wrestling Gold. As a head coach, Sanderson's Penn State teams have won eight (8) NCAA Division I team titles.

During high school in Utah, Sanderson won four state championship titles and compiled a prep record of 127-3.

Sports Illustrated named Cael Sanderson's college career as the second most impressive college sports feat behind the setting of four world records by Jesse Owens in a single hour at the 1935 Big Ten track and field conference championship meet.

Three other D1 collegiate wrestlers have won 4 NCAA titles:
Pat Smith (Oklahoma State) 121-6-2
Kyle Dake (Cornell) 137-4
Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 119-3

The old saying goes, "More men have walked on the moon, than have won four NCAA titles."

So if Sanderson is supreme in college wrestling, who is No. 2?

Many would say Dan Gable. Gable benefits from longevity in wrestling, and winning in the sport decade after decade. In high school, Gable was 64-0 and in college Gable was 117-1 at Iowa State University. His only defeat came in the NCAA finals his senior year. Gable was a two time NCAA National Wrestling Champion and an Olympic wrestling Gold medalist. As a head coach, Gable's Iowa Hawkeye teams won fifteen (15) NCAA Division I team titles.

Others have debated looking at the number of points scored at the NCAA tournament as the primary metric for determining the best (and second best) college wrestler.

Here are the top 10 all-time NCAA point scorers:

RANK	NAME			POINTS
1	Cael Sanderson		107.5
2	Logan Stieber		103.5
3	Ed Banach		102.5
4	David Taylor		99
5	Mark Churella		96.5
6	Pat Smith		96
7	Ed Ruth			94.5
8	Kyle Dake		93
8	Alex Dieringer		93
10	Lincoln McIlravy	90
10	Jake Herbert		90

Some like to add Olympic and World medalist to the conversation of college wrestling stars - so, these wrestlers often get added to the GOAT conversation:
John Smith - 2x Olympic Champion, 4 World titles, 2x NCAA Division I Champion
Bruce Baumgartner - 4 Olympic Medals (2 gold, one silver, and one bronze), 3 World titles, NCAA Division I Champion, 2 runner-up NCAA finishes
Jordan Burroughs - Olympic Champion, 5x World Champion (eight-time medalist), 2x NCAA Division I Champion

Still others look at Undefeated 3 time NCAA Champions prior to 1969. Freshmen were ineligible for NCAA wrestling competition up until 1969, so there are Undefeated three-timers before the 1970's that never had the opportunity to compete as freshmen.

Here are the Undefeated NCAA Champions (with 4 or 3 Titles)

Wrestler	School		Titles	Career		Record	Falls
Cael Sanderson	Iowa State	4	1999-2002	159-0	61
Yojiro Uetake	Oklahoma State	3	1964-1966	57-0	11
Dan Hodge	Oklahoma	3	1955-1957	46-0	36
Keith Young	Northern Iowa	3	1949-1951	43-0	12
Bill Koll	Northern Iowa	3	1943-1948	36-0	15
Rex Peery	Oklahoma State	3	1933-1935	29-0	16
Earl McCready	Oklahoma State	3	1928-1930	25-0	20
David Arndt	Oklahoma State	3	1941-1946	23-0	7
Jack VanBebber	Oklahoma State	3	1929-1931	22-0	9
Conrad Caldwell	Oklahoma State	3	1930-1932	18-0	4

Clearly, the GOAT of college wrestling is at the top of every list.

So, let's move on from college wrestling to our topic on South Carolina high school wrestling.

Does S.C. wrestling have a GOAT yet?

Given the qualification for the title of GOAT - a wrestler must be regarded as not only the best of their era but of every era before and after them - I am not sure we have that wrestler yet. When talking with former SC wrestlers and coaches, there may be 10-15 names that come up in the conversations for GOAT, but no "one" wrestler appears to be "The" GOAT.

I have a favorite SC wrestler (undisclosed for this article) ... he was a standout in high school and college ... and in my opinion, he is the Greatest Of All Time, so far ... but, I think when I have to asterisk a statement with "so far", it means I believe a greater GOAT will wrestle in SC one day. Each fan reading this article likely has their own favorite SC wrestler, and it's probably different for each us!

What if there is a Undefeated 4x SC State Champion one day? ... would that be the swing vote? In my opinion, a perfect high school career does not mean a wrestler is automatically the GOAT.

There are many worthy metrics besides a win-loss record. Such as: quality of competition, classification, contribution to Team Titles, pins, number of weight classes in which you won titles, National Tournament placements, Collegiate & International accomplishments, etc.

QUICK TRIVIA - in the college section above, we looked at the top 10 all-time NCAA point scorers. If we wanted to look at something similar for SC high school wrestling, we would need to look at both State Duals and State Individuals. Luckily we have a Recordbook entry for Individuals that were 4x State Individual Champions as well as 4x Team State Champions. That short list of four wrestlers is:
J.C. Oddo, Eastside (2004-2007) - 3A
Corbin Martin, Eastside (2005-2008) - 3A
Eddie Coles - Eastside (2006-2009) - 3A
Ian Harper - Chesterfield (2007-2010) - 2A-1A

J.C. Oddo (Eastside) was the most dominating SC wrestler, earning team points, during State Championships - out of 16 total matches (12 at State Individuals and 4 at State Duals Finals), Oddo won all of them - and way more convincingly than the other wrestlers in our list - winning with 13 falls, 1 DQ, 1 tech.fall and 1 maj.dec. If you are wondering who the wrestler was in 2006 that did not give up a pin twice to Oddo, it was Jon Silverberg of North Myrtle Beach.

Let's take a look below at the SC high school wrestlers that had 100+ wins in their career and had minimal losses - let's go with single digit losses to keep the list from getting too big. Some wrestlers in our Recordbook do not have losses listed, so we may be missing a few wrestlers that had single digit losses. We will sort the list by losses.

SC wrestlers (not active) with 100+ wins and 5 losses or less

Career wins, Wrestler's name, School, Years wrestling		Career Record, State Placements, Classification

191 - Gage Cervenka, Emerald (2012-2015) ______________________ 191-1	(2015 285 1st, 2014 285 1st, 2013 285 1st - 3A, 2012 285 1st - 2A-1A)
116 - Andy King, Fort Mill (1998-2002) ________________________	116-1	(2002 140 1st, 2001 135 1st - 4A, 1998 103 1st ['98 at East Henderson, NC - 3A])
190 - Zack Clary, Dorman (2013-2016) __________________________ 190-2	(2016 126 1st [Dorman], 2015 120 2nd, 2014 113 1st, 2013 106 1st - [Gaffney] 4A)
171 - Jordan Wigger, Summerville (2009-2012) __________________	171-2	(2012 120 1st, 2011 119 1st, 2010 112 1st, 2009 103 1st - 4A)
119 - Dan Wirnsberger, Greer (1987-1990) ______________________	119-2-2	(1990 152 1st, 1989 152 1st, 1988 132 1st [Blue Valley North, Kansas - 6A], 1987 112 1st - 3A-2A-1A)
187 - KeSean Brown, Bamberg-Ehrhardt (2016-2019) ______________ 187-3	(2019 195 1st, 2018 195 1st, 2017 182 1st, 2016 170 2nd - 2A-1A)
192 - Cody Fleming, Ninety-Six (2017-2020) ____________________ 192-3	(2020 220 1st, 2019 220 1st, 2018 220 1st, 2017 220 2nd - 2A-1A)
162 - Zane Newton, Emerald (2006-2009) ________________________ 162-3	(2009 160 1st, 2008 152 1st, 2007 145 1st, 2006 135 3rd - 2A-1A)
118 - Robert Quinn, Fort Dorchester (2005-2008) _______________	118-3	(2008 285 1st, 2007 285 1st, 2006 275 1st, 2005 215 3rd - 4A)
105 - Marshall Williams, Dutch Fork (2007-2010) _______________ 105-3	(2010 285 1st, 2009 285 1st - 4A)
101 - Chris Burns, Summerville (1986-1989) ____________________	101-3-1	(1989 135 1st, 1987 105 1st, 1986 98 2nd - 4A
261 - Ian Harper, Chesterfield (2007-2010) ____________________	261-4	(2010 135 1st, 2009 125 1st, 2008 119 1st, 2007 112 1st - 2A-1A)
102 - Asa Addison, Pendelton (2016-2020) ______________________	102-4	(2020 120 2nd, 2019 120 1st, 2017 106 3rd - 3A)
101 - Scott Will, Riverside (1985-1988) _______________________	101-4	(1988 132 1st, 1987 119 2nd, 1986 112 2nd - 3A-2A-1A)
142 - Ben Connell, Lugoff-Elgin (1997-2000) ___________________	142-5	(2000 275 1st, 1999 215 1st, 1998 215 1st, 1997 215 1st - 3A)
115 - Carlos Champaign, James Island (1991-1994) ______________	115-5	(1994 135 1st, 1993 130 1st - 3A, 1992 125 4th, 1991 119 3rd - 4A)

SC wrestlers with 100+ wins and 6-9 losses

217 - Dalton Harper, Chesterfield (2005-2008) _________________ 217-6	(2008 140 1st, 2007 130 1st, 2006 125 1st, 2005 112 1st - 2A-1A)
205 - Eddie Coles, Eastside (2006-2009) _______________________ 205-6	(2009 135 1st, 2008 119 1st, 2007 112 1st, 2006 103 1st - 3A)
199 - Matt Leach, Eastside (2003-2006) ________________________	199-6	(2006 135 1st, 2005 125 1st, 2004 103 1st, 2003 103 1st - 3A)
174 - A.J. Leitten, Fort Mill (2014-2017) _____________________ 174-6	(2017 138 1st, 2016 138 1st, 2015 126 1st, 2014 106 2nd - 4A)
158 - Travis Drake, Cheraw (1995-1998) ________________________ 158-6	(1998 130 1st, 1997 125 1st, 1996 119 2nd, 1997 112 2nd - 3A)
137 - Kelly Revells, Summerville (1992-1995) __________________	137-6	(1995 125 1st, 1994 119 1st, 1993 119 3rd, 1992 112 2nd - 4A)
116 - Chad Stephenson, Summerville (1992-1995) ________________	116-6	(1995 189 1st, 1994 171 1st, 1993 171 2nd [Mauldin] - 4A)
210 - J.C. Oddo, Eastside (2004-2007) _________________________ 210-7	(2007 189 1st, 2006 189 1st, 2005 171 1st, 2004 135 1st - 3A)
171 - John Van Slooten, Summerville (2011-2014) _______________ 171-7	(2014 152 1st - 4A, 2013 145 1st - 2A-1A, 2012 145 1st, 2011 140 1st - 3A)
166 - Corneilius Selke, Dutch Fork (2003-2006) ________________ 166-7	(2006 119 1st, 2005 119 1st, 2004 112 1st - 4A)
143 - Chandler Smalley, Abbeville (2016-2019) _________________ 143-7	(2019 145 1st, 2018 138 1st, 2017 126 1st, 2016 120 1st - 2A-1A)
210 - Chandler Amaker, Fort Dorchester (2018-2021) ____________ 210-8	(2021 170 1st, 2020 145 1st, 2019 138 2nd, 2018 106 2nd - 5A)
192 - Brantley Hooks, Byrnes (2003-2006) ______________________ 192-8	(2006 152 1st, 2005 145 1st, 2004 130 1st, 2003 119 4th - 4A)
178 - Seiji Borja, Fort Dorchester (2007-2010) ________________ 178-8	(2010 152 1st, 2009 140 1st, 2008 140 1st - 4A)
235 - Weston Beck, Rock Hill (2008-2011) ______________________	235-9	(2011 130 1st, 2010 125 2nd, 2009 112 1st, 2008 103 1st - 4A)
209 - Jacob Brasseur, Lexington (2015-2018) ___________________ 209-9	(2018 120 1st, 2017 113 1st - 5A, 2016 106 2nd, 2015 106 3rd - 4A)
183 - J.J. Johnson, Hanahan (2010-2013) _______________________ 183-9 	(2012 120 1st, 2011 112 2nd, 2010 103 2nd - 2A-1A)
133 - Justin Knipper, Socastee (2012-2015) ____________________ 133-9	(2015 120 1st - 4A, 2013 106 1st - 3A)
125 - T.J. Deveaux, Stratford (2012-2015) _____________________	125-9	(2015 182 1st, 2014 182 1st - 4A)
113 - Adam Duncan, West-Oak (1993-1996) _______________________	113-9	(1996 160 1st, 1995 160 1st, 1994 160 1st - 2A-1A)

And I will add my Top 5 SC wrestlers below with 100+ wins and 10+ losses,
given their impact Nationally during high school or NCAA D1/D2 Placement(s)

251 - Clay Walker, Eastside (2011-2014) _______________________	251-10	(2014 132 1st, 2013 138 1st, 2012 126 1st, 2011 125 1st - 3A)
132 - Shelton Benjamin, Orangeburg-Wilkinson (1991-1994) ______	132-10	(1994 275 1st, 1993 275 1st - 4A)
191 - T.J. Dudley, Irmo (2009-2012) ___________________________ 191-17	(2012 195 1st, 2011 189 1st, 2010 171 1st, 2009 160 4th - 4A)
147 - Bryant Blanton, Summerville (2003-2006) _________________	147-18	(2006 189 1st, 2005 171 1st, 2004 160 1st, 2003 152 2nd - 4A)
122 - Careef Robertson, Dutch Fork (1999-2002) ________________	122-?	(2002 171 1st, 2001 160 1st, 2000 152 4th - 4A)

The lists above are missing some great SC wrestlers that achieved a lot
after high school on the U.S. and International level - such as
Xavier Johnson, Anthony Brooker and Ike Anderson (see below).

148 - Xavier Johnson, Edisto (2010-2013) ______________________ 148-22	(2012 132 1st, 2011 130 3rd - 2A-1A)
121 - Anthony Brooker, Battery Creek (1993-1996) ______________	121-?	(1996 119 1st, 1995 119 3rd, 1994 112 2nd - 3A)
?   - Ike Anderson, Lower Richland (1972-1975) ________________	?-?	(1975 105 1st - 4A-3A-2A-1A)

The list above has a lot of accomplished wrestlers! In today's SCMAT Exclusive, we will focus on the wrestler at the top of the list - Gage Cervenka (Emerald) with a career record of 191-1

Which brings us to the story of the "roll" that halted history - and how Cervenka ended up with 1 wrestling loss in a career that included winning 4 State Titles.

The Post and Courier wrote a great article a few years ago on Gage Cervenka and the loss to Tre Long (Eastside), so click and read the article below (you should be able to read it for free, I think there is 1 free article a month per device, though you may see a subscription offer pop up):

Gage Cervenka - The guy who beat him still inspires him

In 2012, Cervenka was the HWT National Champion at NHSCA Freshman Nationals.
In 2013, Cervenka was the HWT National Champion at NHSCA Sophomore Nationals.

Gage Cervenka had a standout career in football as well, which made it challenging to accomplish more at a national level in wrestling, as his high school career progressed. Cervenka would be a two year football starter with the Clemson Tigers, earning two National Championship rings along the way. This past year, the Chicago Bears (NFL) signed Cervenka as they looked to bolstered their offensive line.

Gage Cervenka vs. Tre Long - 2013 State Finals

Emerald's Gage Cervenka escaped against Eastside's Tre Long in the third and final overtime period to squeak out a 5-4 win for the 2013 AAA HWT Championship.

Gage Cervenka had an incredible wrestling career - almost perfection! He represented our state well, including the gridiron.

Welcome to the New Year, 2022! One day, I believe there will be a Undefeated 4x SC State Champion ... and SCMAT will write an article about it ... and we will GOAT Talk.

thanks,

Mark Buford

SCMAT