Takedown Report

Facts, Trends, and Numbers from the 2023 NCAA Championships (post-Tournament)

by Earl Smith; Photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com

The NCAA Tournament has come and gone, along with the 2022-23 season. With a boatload of results, 80 All-Americans and ten national champions there are plenty of opportunities for me to have fun. And by fun, I mean looking for new facts, trends, and numbers to talk about from the tournament. Here’s the pre-tournament version that focuses on conference results, seeding, and qualifiers.

And I’ll need your help with the fact at the end of this article. It’s rare, I’m just not sure how rare!

NCAA Title Notes

Keegan O’Toole is only the third multi-time champion for the Missouri Tigers (Ben Askren and J’den Cox are the others).

Nino Bonaccorsi won Pittsburgh’s first national title since his head coach Keith Gavin did so in 2008.

With Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) and Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) winning titles, it marked the first time since 1994 that the ACC had multiple national champions. Back in ’94, Sammie Henson (Clemson) and TJ Jaworsky (North Carolina) won titles.

After going ten years between national titles (2012-22), Michigan has had champs in back-to-back seasons (Nick Suriano/21 and Mason Parris/22).

Cornell had multiple champions for the first time since the 2016 tournament (Nahshon Garrett – 133 and Gabe Dean – 184).

Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks’ titles extended Penn State’s streak with at least one national champion, one that dates back to the 2011 tournament.

Penn State’s two national champions are the school’s fewest since they had two in 2016 (Nico Megaludis/125 and Zain Retherford/149).

The 2023 Tournament was the first one since 2013 where a freshman did not capture a title (if you’re counting Keegan O’Toole as a freshman in 2022).

Team-Related Notes

Andrew Alirez’s performance set plenty of records at Northern Colorado. He was the first All-American since future-UFC star Justin Gaethje in 2010 and the first national champion since 1962 when Jack Flasche won the 157 lb weight class. Alirez is also the first NCAA placewinner for the Bears under head coach Troy Nickerson. … rest of story at Rokfin.com/article/Facts-Trends-and-Numbers-from-the-2023-NCAA-Championships-postTournament

March 27, 2023 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized