Big Ten

The 158-pound Bracket At The 1994 NCAA Championships Defies Logic

The 158-pound Bracket At The 1994 NCAA Championships Defies Logic

The 1994 NCAA tournament bracket is steeped in history. And it's still going strong.

May 16, 2023
The 158-pound Bracket At The 1994 NCAA Championships Defies Logic

How could one NCAA tournament bracket produce so much history? The 158-pound bracket at the 1994 NCAA Championships seems to defy logic.

It yielded five current Division I head coaches and four wrestlers who combined for 10 individual NCAA titles — the most cumulative titles in one NCAA Division I bracket. 

Here is a breakdown of the head coaches and NCAA champions that it produced.

Future Division I head coaches in the bracket

— Dan Wirnsberger (Michigan State) is the current head coach at Bucknell

— Jim Andrassy (Kent State) is the current head coach at Kent State

— Scott Goodale (Lock Haven) is the current head coach at Rutgers

— Sean Bormet (Michigan) is the current head coach at Michigan

— Tony Robie (Edinboro) is the current head coach at Virginia Tech

NCAA champions in the bracket

— Barry Weldon (Iowa State) was a freshman who went 0-2 at the tournament but eventually won a title at 177 pounds in 1997.

— Pat Smith (Oklahoma State) was a senior who won his fourth NCAA championship in 1994 and became the first four-time NCAA Division I champion in history.

— Joe Williams (Iowa) was a true freshman who placed seventh and went on to win NCAA titles in 1996, 1997, and 1998. 

— Markus Mollica (Arizona State) was the returning NCAA champion but placed fifth in the 1994 tournament. He went on to win an NCAA title in 1995 followed by a fourth-place finish in 1996. 

Key facts and figures

— None of the current D1 head coaches in the bracket won an NCAA title.

— None of the NCAA champions from the bracket have ever been D1 head coaches.

— Two of the head coaches lost in the NCAA championship finals to two of the NCAA champions from the bracket. Smith defeated Bormet, 5-3, in 1994 and Williams defeated Robie, 5-3, in the 1997 NCAA championship finals. 

— Pat Smith defeated two current Big Ten head wrestling coaches in the NCAA championship finals: Bormet in 1994 and Ohio State coach Tom Ryan (Iowa) in 1991. 

— Three of the current head coaches reached the NCAA Championship finals and placed second: Bormet in 1994, Wirnsberger in 1995, and Robie in 1997 — all at 158 pounds. 

— Jim Andrassy and Scott Goodale were never All-Americans. 

— Joe Williams is the only wrestler from the bracket to make a World or Olympic team. He made six World teams and the 2004 Olympics.

— Three of the NCAA champions from the bracket faced four of the current head coaches during the tournament. Smith won by technical fall over Andrassy, 23-8, in the first round. Williams won by decision over Goodale, 11-10, in the second round. Mollica defeated Robie, 6-4, in the quarterfinals. Bormet defeated Mollica, 6-5, in the semifinals. Smith defeated Bormet, 5-3, in the finals.