It is not even remotely realistic that you could put together a Top 10 list and have most agree with you. It just isn't possible. One thing they didn't even do is clarify if it was best career or best PERIOD. What they did was more best career vs. best wrestler.
Going by who was best, AT THEIR BEST, it would be really hard not to put John Smith and Burroughs at the top. By their senior years, they were on different planets. I would argue that Askren would also belong on that list. By their senior seasons, they pretty much toyed with everyone. Dake as well. Gable should be included, but the timing of his 1 loss holds a ton of weight to most people. Sort of like Metcalf winning the Hodge even though he got pinned early in the season by Caldwell. If that happened in March, no chance in hell he wins it.
Still, if I went straight off at their absolute best, this would be my list(Top 6):Modern Era(circa 1970-present) since I was not alive and video is extremely limited.
1. John Smith- After wrestling as a TF and TS, he redshirts in '86 and wins the Goodwill Games in Moscow. He then wins NCAA's at 134 as a RJr. by scores of FALL, 23-8, 22-7, 20-9 and 18-4. He would go on to win a World Gold Medal at 136.4. The following year he would win NCAA's again at 134 by scores of FALL, 21-8, FALL, FALL and 9-2. He would then go on and win Olympic Gold that same year.
2. Burroughs-An injury after his true junior season may have been the best thing for him. His last year, he was on a different planet. His weight class had true talent in guys like Andrew Howe and Tyler Caldwell and he won with relative ease. His NCAA's that year went 23-7, WDF, 23-8, 14-6 and 11-3. Of course, in simlar fashion to Smith, he would go on to win a World Gold Medal that same year.
3. Sanderson- So many stats have been thrown out there that it doesn't need to be listed here again. Simply put, no one really ever put him in danger of losing(don't use some stupid Jenn match from when he was redshirting.). Still, it took him a little longer to transition to Freestyle due to his style, but he would take a Silver at Worlds the following year and then win Gold at the Olympics the year after.
4. Dake- He wasn't a bonus point machine, but if he wanted, he could probably have beat every guy(except maybe Taylor) he wrestled his last 2 years, without giving up a single point. He was just so rock solid in all 3 positions and his will to win was unreal. He would often look dead tired with a guy about to finish on him and somehow he would come out on top. Watching him consistently beat Taylor, makes me have to put him here. Also, if not for Burroughs, he would have a decent amount of World Level Hardware by now. Hopefully, he gets 1 this year!
5. Gable- If not for Owings, he would be #1. The timing of it just can't be ignored. The most unbeatable guy DI wrestling ever had, got beat. Still, with the exception of that match, he was one of the most dominant NCAA wrestlers of all time and did go on to win an Olympic Gold Medal.
6. Askren- If Folkstyle was the Olympic Style, he would probably still be winning Gold Medals. What he did to Jake Herbert as a Jr. was unreal. His last 2 seasons were the most dominant(54 FALLS) I have ever seen!
If Nolf does what I expect him to do next season, I would add him to this list!
Also, I thought about Retherford, but he would still have that occasional match with Sorenson or Collica where you thought he could possibly lose. The above 6 guys, had years where I didn't even think losing was possible and that includes Taylor vs. Dake!
Edited to add: Snyder would probably belong on this list as well, if not for being and undersized Heavyweight.
