Throwback Thursday: Kucala Vs Tannenbaum

[Half Breed]

I have had the opportunity to see Matt wrestle with the Northern Illinois University wrestling team and he was like every other beginning college wrestler who struggled to make the adjustment. He did hit the mills against University of Minnesota with the same results! But for those of you who have wrestled at the college level - especially D1, understand that to make it at that level you need more than one move. You need a level of mental toughness that very few high school wrestlers/athletes have. After that first year or maybe two, many fall by the wayside, they just cant’s handle the grind of what it takes in the practice room to achieve a level that allows them to compete out on the mat. Throw in the hours and stress of academics and you have the reason why Matt called it quits.

I would sincerely like thank you Matt Kukula - from the bottom of my heart for pinning Eric Tannenbaum. Without that one loss, that unbelievable upset in the 2001 State Final match that we all watch year after year after year after year, The Legend of Eric Tannenbaum would not have been born.

[SeekingGlory]

Are we allowed to give suggestions for the matches. I would love to see Ryan Klinger vs. Charlie Manning

[Lawrestling]

TJ Williams and Tim Stringer.

[barzagar]

I would love to see Joe Gomez/A.J. Lavender again. 2003 Finals and a great matchup.

[seanlove22]

While this was a pretty big upset, Kucala was very accomplished wrestler. A 5th, 3rd, and 1st to go a long with 171 career wins is an elite high school career. Not to mention his Mills was lethal.

The quote of the year came from this year's jumbotron video when they interviewed Tannenbaum. His quote was something like, "everyone always asks me about that one match, not about the one hundred (how many ever) that I won. In the end, it was just a match, it didn't define who I was". Now he's a doctor so I'd say everything worked out for him.

Either way, both great wrestlers. Thanks for putting it up.