The 2022 college wrestling national championships are over … but the great memories still linger … and WIN Magazine has captured many of those historic moments in its 2022 Nationals Commemorative Issue that is now available for all wrestling fans.
The biggest postseason moments happened at the NCAA Division I tournament in Detroit and no moment was bigger than when Minnesota Gable Steveson wrapped up an incredible career. That included seeing the heavyweight dominate his weight class, win a second NCAA championship and entertain a national audience by executing his high-flying backflip. And to top things off, the future WWE performer won a second-straight Dan Hodge Trophy.
The latest issue of WIN provides features on Steveson and all the NCAA champions, including the five Penn State wrestlers who helped the Nittany Lions recapture their first NCAA title since 2019 and the ninth one in an 11-years span.
No Division I program has featured as many finalists in the past decade as Penn State and over 70 percent of those Nittany Lions finalists have won titles. Coach Cael Sanderson and his latest champs — Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks and Max Dean — talk about their mindset approaching wrestling’s biggest event.
125-pound Nick Suriano won a second NCAA championship but chose to leave Rutgers and travel across the country, finally ending up in Michigan this past year.
Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis, who had not wrestled in a national tournament since 2019, capture a third championship and explain how his love for freestyle wrestling is helping him deal with the demands of college wrestling.
Northwestern’s three-time All-American Ryan Deakin waited five years to win a national championship and had the perfect person in his corner — associate head coach Andrew Howe — to help him overcome past disappointments.
Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole was still considered a freshman this year and already has two All-American honors, including a championship at 165 pounds. The product of former Tiger greats Ben and Max Askren from Wisconsin explains how he rallied to beat 2021 champ Shane Griffith of Stanford.
There were plenty of great moments at the other national championships: Dalton Jensen can now celebrate NCAA Div. II titles as both a wrestler and coach at Nebraska Kearney; Wartburg barely beat Wabash for a 15thall-time title at the NCAA Div. III tournament where the Millikin father-son duo of Ryan and Bradan Birt also celebrated a special moment; Grand View is back on top of the NAIAs after finishing second in 2021; Clackamas Community College won a fourth straight NJCAA title; and both McKendree and Campbellsville won the NCWWC and NAIA women’s championships, respectively.
WIN’s columnists also provide plenty of insight on the past month’s greatest moments, including:
Dan Gable explaining why Penn State’s current dynasty matches what he once accomplished at Iowa;
John Klessinger showcasing the unique All-American Hidlay brothers of NC State;
Mike Chapman sharing his memories about what made Dan Hodge so unique;
Kyle Klingman pointing out how women’s wrestling continues to grow despite the recent pandemic that hurt all sports;
Rob Sherrill looking back at the high school careers of this year’s NCAA Div. I champions and All-Americans.
There are countless other notes and quotes from many of wrestling’s greatest athletes and coaches who have gone through so much over the past two years. Their stories give you both an inside look into the “story behind the story” and provide so many heart-warming moments in the latest issue of WIN. Click here or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe.
Photo: Tristan Warner (left) was a three-time NCAA qualifier (2012, 2014 and...
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