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.