NCAA Championships Q and A: Jay Hammond
Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
03/16/2007

Have a question about something historical during the NCAA Wrestling Championships, Jay Hammond is the man to ask. The noted wrestling historian and author attended his first NCAA Tournament in 1964 and has been to 25 national meets. His book – The History of Collegiate Wrestling – was a big hit among fans of the sport. He works with the National Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla., and writes for Amateur Wrestling News.

TheMat.com: It is pretty rare for a No. 1 seed to lose – it’s only happened 13 times in NCAA Tournament history. Top seed Max Askren of Missouri went 0-2 at 197 on Thursday. Has a No. 1 seed ever gone 0-2 in the NCAAs?

Hammond: To the best of my knowledge, it has not happened. Until 1996, we didn’t have a true double-elimination format. I didn’t see Askren’s second match, but in the first match it just looked like a bad case of freshmanitis.