NCAA Wrestling Data1928–2026

1974 NCAA Championships

177 lb

Champion Floyd 'Shorty' Hitchcock, Bloomsburg (PA).Original bracket sheet ↗

All-Americans

  1. 1Floyd 'Shorty' HitchcockBLOO
  2. 2Mel RenfroWASH
  3. 3Rob HuizengaMICH
  4. 4Mike HansenBYU
  5. 5Bill HillECU
  6. 6Kurt BlankOHIO

In 1974, a wrestler wrestled back only if the man who beat him reached the semifinal, and places were awarded through sixth, so the consolation bracket is shorter than a modern one. Every bout the tournament recorded is drawn here.

Connected 1974 177-pound bracket

Select a name to highlight their path; select it again to open the profile. Select a score for the bout.

How to read this bracket
  • Tap a name to follow that wrestler; tap it again to open their profile.
  • "Cons →" is where the loser continues in the consolation bracket; tap it to go there.
  • "↩" is where a wrestler arrived from the championship bracket.
  • The score opens the bout.
Final →Placements →

Championship

Consolation

Championship

Opening round · 5 bouts

27 byes into the round of 32

  1. Dave Gaunt, Indiana State over Carl Hoffman, North Carolina — Fall 7:04 · View bout
  2. Ed Janvier, Delaware over John Christensen, Navy (MD) — Sup 13–3 · View bout
  3. Ron Sather, Oregon State over George Howe, Fresno State (CA) — Dec 2–1 · View bout
  4. Steve Jentzen, Colorado State over Pat Rheam, Virginia Tech — Dec 11–5 · View bout
  5. Sythell Thompson, California-Poly over Rick Lagerman, Wisconsin-Milwaukee — Dec 7–6 · View bout

Round of 32 · 16 bouts

  1. Bill Hill, East Carolina (NC) over Bill Hoffman, Nebraska — Dec 3–0 · View bout
  2. Ed Vatch (7), Wisconsin over Buck Davis, Oregon — Dec 4–1 · View bout
  3. Floyd 'Shorty' Hitchcock (6), Bloomsburg (PA) over Russ Casella, Air Force (CO) — Fall 3:16 · View bout
  4. George Calloway, Auburn (AL) over Bob Shamakian, Kent State (OH) — Dec 7–3 · View bout
  5. Jerry White (5), Penn State over Phil Donley, Kansas State — Fall 3:02 · View bout
  6. Kelly Bledsoe, Portland State (OR) over Steve Jentzen, Colorado State — Sup 13–3 · View bout
  7. Kurt Blank, Ohio over Kim Bowman, Utah — Dec 6–4 · View bout
  8. Mark Jones, Boston (MA) over Stu Moyer, Ball State (IN) — Dec 6–4 · View bout
  9. Mel Renfro (1), Washington (WA) over Dave Gaunt, Indiana State — Dec 8–3 · View bout
  10. Mike Hansen, Brigham Young (UT) over Rory Needs, Boise State (ID) — Dec 10–3 · View bout
  11. Rich Binek (2), Iowa State over Ron Sather, Oregon State — Dec 4–0 · View bout
  12. Rick Jones (8), Oklahoma State over Frank Calabria, Brockport (NY) — Dec 4–0 · View bout
  13. Rob Huizenga, Michigan over Sythell Thompson, California-Poly — Dec 4–0 · View bout
  14. Scott Klippert, Northwestern (IL) over Ed Janvier, Delaware — Dec 8–1 · View bout
  15. Steve Bonsall, Rutgers (NJ) over Chris Campbell (3), Iowa — Dec 9–8 · View bout
  16. Terry DeStito (4), Lehigh (PA) over Kevin Fennell, California-Berkeley — Dec 10–3 · View bout

Round of 16 · 8 bouts

  1. Bill Hill, East Carolina (NC) over Steve Bonsall, Rutgers (NJ) — Dec 5–4 · View bout
  2. Ed Vatch (7), Wisconsin over George Calloway, Auburn (AL) — Dec 6–2 · View bout
  3. Floyd 'Shorty' Hitchcock (6), Bloomsburg (PA) over Scott Klippert, Northwestern (IL) — Dec 15–7 · View bout
  4. Kurt Blank, Ohio over Rich Binek (2), Iowa State — Dec 6–5 · View bout
  5. Mel Renfro (1), Washington (WA) over Kelly Bledsoe, Portland State (OR) — Dec 4–1 · View bout
  6. Mike Hansen, Brigham Young (UT) over Terry DeStito (4), Lehigh (PA) — Dec 7–2 · View bout
  7. Rick Jones (8), Oklahoma State over Mark Jones, Boston (MA) — Dec 4–0 · View bout
  8. Rob Huizenga, Michigan over Jerry White (5), Penn State — Dec 5–0 · View bout

Quarterfinal · 4 bouts

  1. Floyd 'Shorty' Hitchcock (6), Bloomsburg (PA) over Bill Hill, East Carolina (NC) — Fall 5:56 · View bout
  2. Kurt Blank, Ohio over Ed Vatch (7), Wisconsin — Dec 5–5 (tiebreaker) · View bout
  3. Mel Renfro (1), Washington (WA) over Rick Jones (8), Oklahoma State — Sup 13–1 · View bout
  4. Mike Hansen, Brigham Young (UT) over Rob Huizenga, Michigan — Dec 10–2 · View bout

Semifinal · 2 bouts

  1. Floyd 'Shorty' Hitchcock (6), Bloomsburg (PA) over Kurt Blank, Ohio — Fall 0:25 · View bout
  2. Mel Renfro (1), Washington (WA) over Mike Hansen, Brigham Young (UT) — Dec 7–6 · View bout

Final · 1 bout

  1. Floyd 'Shorty' Hitchcock (6), Bloomsburg (PA) over Mel Renfro (1), Washington (WA) — Dec 10–4 · View bout

Consolation

Consolation round 3 · 4 bouts

  1. Dave Gaunt, Indiana State over Kelly Bledsoe, Portland State (OR) — Dec 8–4 · View bout
  2. Rich Binek (2), Iowa State over Kim Bowman, Utah — Sup 11–0 · View bout
  3. Scott Klippert, Northwestern (IL) over Russ Casella, Air Force (CO) — Dec 9–2 · View bout
  4. Terry DeStito (4), Lehigh (PA) over Rory Needs, Boise State (ID) — Dec 7–3 · View bout

Consolation round 4 · 4 bouts

  1. Bill Hill, East Carolina (NC) over Scott Klippert, Northwestern (IL) — Dec 7–5 · View bout
  2. Ed Vatch (7), Wisconsin over Rich Binek (2), Iowa State — Dec 6–4 · View bout
  3. Rick Jones (8), Oklahoma State over Dave Gaunt, Indiana State — Dec 3–2 · View bout
  4. Rob Huizenga, Michigan over Terry DeStito (4), Lehigh (PA) — Dec 6–4 · View bout

Consolation round 5 · 2 bouts

  1. Bill Hill, East Carolina (NC) over Ed Vatch (7), Wisconsin — Dec 6–2 · View bout
  2. Rob Huizenga, Michigan over Rick Jones (8), Oklahoma State — Dec 5–0 · View bout

Consolation semifinal · 2 bouts

  1. Mike Hansen, Brigham Young (UT) over Bill Hill, East Carolina (NC) — Dec 4–2 · View bout
  2. Rob Huizenga, Michigan over Kurt Blank, Ohio — Dec 2–1 · View bout

Placement bouts

3rd-place bout · 1 bout

  1. Rob Huizenga, Michigan over Mike Hansen, Brigham Young (UT) — Dec 2–0 · View bout

5th-place bout · 1 bout

  1. Bill Hill, East Carolina (NC) over Kurt Blank, Ohio — Dec 12–9 · View bout