The NCAA Championships wrapped up over a week ago, which has afforded myself and the inimitable Andy Hamilton enough time to compile a substantial list of stats, stories, facts, and findings from the tournament that may have escaped your attention. Some statistical information from the Mat Talk Online 2024 NCAA Wrestling Guide was used in this report. 

We've got a lot of them, an even hundo, so we're going to break them up into four more easily digestible articles. If you think we missed anything, or have anything for the corrections departments, please don't hesitate to let us know!

Part II - Part III - Part IV

3 Facts About The 2024 NCAAs

1) Eleven wrestlers entered the tournament unbeaten on the season and four won titles — Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen and Penn State’s Levi Haines, Aaron Brooks and Greg Kerkvliet.

2) Four wrestlers came back to capture NCAA titles this year after suffering a loss at their conference tournament — Cornell’s Vito Arujau (133), Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson (149), Iowa State’s David Carr (165) and Penn State’s Carter Starocci (174) 

3) The 72.5 points scored by second-place Cornell were the fewest by a runner-up team since Arizona State finished second in 1989 with 70.5. 

4 Facts About Cael Sanderson at the 2024 NCAAs

1) Cael Sanderson’s 11th NCAA title ties him with former Oklahoma State coach Edward Gallagher for the second-most in Division I history. 

2) Sanderson is now four titles from matching former Iowa coach Dan Gable’s record of 15. 

3) Sanderson coached four champs and eight All-Americans, running his Penn State totals to 38 champs and 86 All-Americans at 14 NCAA Championships. 

4) Sanderson also guided his athletes to 15 podium finishes during his three seasons as Iowa State’s head coach from 2007-09. Two Cyclones won titles during his tenure in Ames — Trent Paulson in 2007 and Jake Varner in 2009.   

3 Facts About Arizona State at the 2024 NCAAs

1) The last four years have been fruitful for the Sun Devils. They’ve averaged 4.5 medalists per year during that stretch.

2) Richard Figueroa won the first NCAA title for Arizona State since Zahid Valencia became a two-time champion in 2019. 

3) Figueroa is the second Sun Devil to win a title at 125, joining 2011 champ Anthony Robles. 

3 Facts About Ohio State at the 2024 NCAAs

1) Ohio State has had an All-American every year since 2006 and at least three AAs every year since 2015.

2) Jesse Mendez became Ohio State’s first NCAA champ since 2018 when he won the 141-pound title. In 2018 it was Kyle Snyder winning his third NCAA title at 285. 

3) All three of Ohio State’s All-Americans are underclassmen. That’s the most Young Bucks on the podium since 2016, when four freshman or sophomores from Ohio State made the podium.

Speaking of Young Bucks… 

6 Facts About Cornell at the 2024 NCAAs

1) Cornell became the first team since 1962 to finish second in the team race with three All-Americans. 

2) Vito Arujau’s second NCAA title gives the Cornell Big Red at least one individual champ in each of the last five NCAA Tournaments in which they’ve wrestled (Cornell did not participate in the 2021 tournament). Four-time champ Yianni Diakomihalis did most of the heavy lifting for that stat. 

3) Cornell had two other All-Americans (Meyer Shapiro at 157 and Jacob Cardenas at 197). The Big Red have had at least one All-American in every NCAA Tournament they’ve competed in since 2001. They’ve had multiple All-Americans every year since 2002.  

4) Since 2001, Cornell has amassed 79 All-American honors, and no fewer than four All-Americans in every weight class except 285, where the Big Red have never had a placer in program history. The weight where the Big Red have had the most AAs during that time: 184 with 15.

5) The runner-up performance matched the best finish for the Big Red in program history. Cornell has placed third three times. 

6) Arujau is the sixth multi-time national champion in Cornell history, joining a club that includes four-time champs Kyle Dake and Yianni Diakomihalis and two-time winners Dave Auble, Travis Lee and Gabe Dean. 

3 Facts About Iowa State at the 2024 NCAAs

1) Iowa State registered its 45th top-four finish in school history and first since 2010. 

2) David Carr won thrillers in both the semifinals and finals to become the Cyclones’ first multiple-time NCAA champ since Jake Varner won in 2009 and 2010. The last multiple-time champ from Iowa State before that was Cael Sanderson, who famously won four. 

3) Four Cyclones climbed podium steps in Kansas City. In addition to Carr, Evan Frost, Anthony Echemendia and Casey Swiderski earned All-American honors. 

Watch Carr's thriller over O'Toole in the semis:

2 Facts About South Dakota State at the 2024 NCAAs

1) South Dakota State set a school record with four All-Americans. 

2) The Jackrabbits also tied a school record with eight national qualifiers. 

1 Fact About Stanford at the 2024 NCAAs

1) Stanford had two All-Americans, marking the fourth consecutive tournament in which a Stanford wrestler medaled, the longest streak for the Cardinal since 1983-86.