College wrestling’s most-coveted 141-pound property has primarily been available on a two-year lease in recent years. 

That spot atop the podium at the NCAA Championships has only been occupied by 10 different 141-pounders since 2008 with seven of them winning back-to-back titles at the weight during that time. 

First, it was Ohio State’s J Jaggers, who won titles in 2008 and 2009. Then Michigan’s Kellen Russell went back-to-back in 2011 and 2012. After winning 133-pound titles as a freshman and sophomore, Ohio State’s Logan Stieber finished his four-year championship run with titles at 141 in 2014 and 2015. 

That was the beginning of an eight-year stretch in which four NCAA champs — Stieber, Oklahoma State’s Dean Heil, Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis and Penn State’s Nick Lee — each took two-year turns at the top. 

Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez, the reigning champ, won his second 141-pound title in March. 

All of this made for a challenging task in selecting our four 141-pound finalists for the Flowrestling All-Quarter Century Team presented by Defense Soap. 

It became a slightly easier assignment when Stieber won the vote at 133 pounds, opening a top-four spot for another worthy candidate. Still, there were some who fell short in the voting despite massive college credentials.

Teyon Ware (Oklahoma) — High school mega-talents weren’t regularly knocking off past and present college stars during the days when Ware competed for the Sooners. But the four-time undefeated Oklahoma high school state champion made a seamless transition to the college level, earning the #1 seed at the 2003 NCAA Championships before becoming the first true freshman to win an NCAA title since Lincoln McIlravy in 1993. 

Ware reached the NCAA semifinals in each of his four trips to the national tournament, made three finals appearances and won a pair of titles. He compiled a 112-15 career record at Oklahoma. 

Nate Gallick (Iowa State) — It’s hard to mention Ware without also bringing up the biggest thorn in his side. Gallick won seven of the eight college meetings against his Oklahoma rival, though they split two NCAA championship bouts with Ware winning in 2005 and the Cyclone taking the title in 2006. 

Gallick posted a 106-23 record at Iowa State, but 16 of those losses came as a freshman when he moved up to 149 with returning national champ Aaron Holker occupying the 141-pound spot in the Cyclone order. Gallick suffered six more defeats as a sophomore when he placed fifth at the national tournament and then went 64-1 in his last two years at Iowa State. 

J Jaggers (Ohio State) — Jaggers has a college resume filled with odd facts and figures that underscore his ability to find another gear at the national tournament. He won at a 75-percent clip outside of the NCAA Championships but went 15-2 in three trips to the national tournament. He never reached the conference finals, yet he won a pair of NCAA titles. 

A knee injury forced Jaggers to withdraw before the start of the 2006 tournament as a freshman. He placed seventh the next year as an unseeded sophomore and never lost another match at the big show. As a junior, he knocked off the top three seeds in succession to win the title. He dropped nine matches as a senior and entered the Big Ten Championships seeded fifth, but he navigated his way back to the top of the NCAA podium and punctuated his title run with two pins and a 10-4 win in the finals. 

There were several others who worthy of consideration here. Oklahoma State’s Dean Heil won back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017. Cal Davis’ Derek Moore capped his 2007 title run with a technical fall in the NCAA finals. Cornell’s Kyle Dake won the first of his four NCAA titles as a true freshman in 2010. Oklahoma’s Kendric Maple went 31-0 on his way to the 2013 title at 141 and earned All-America honors three times. 

Building The Quarter Century Team

We put together a list with every NCAA champion since 2001 — all 160 of the guys who combined to win the 240 individual national titles during that time frame — and the Flowrestling team pared it down to 40 (the top four at each weight) with a staff vote. Ultimately, we'll cut the list down to 10 with the help of a fan vote on social media. 

Iowa’s Spencer Lee and Ohio State’s Logan Stieber secured the 125- and 133-pound spots. 

Now you can cast a vote for the top 141-pounder from the past quarter century. 

Who was the best 141-pound wrestler of the Quarter-Century?

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) June 16, 2025

(Finalists listed chronologically) 

Kellen Russell (Michigan)

Russell mastered the art of winning close matches, particularly during the second half of his career when he went 71-1 and captured a pair of NCAA titles. He was a four-time Big Ten champion and three times entered the NCAA Championships as the #1 seed at 141 pounds. 

As a junior in 2011, Russell won his first NCAA title by winning 3-3 tiebreaker decisions in the quarterfinals and semifinals before notching a 3-2 win in the finals against Boris Novachkov. The following year, Russell claimed his second national title with a 6-4 overtime win against Montell Marion. 

Russell compiled a 134-12 record during his time with the Wolverines and reached the NCAA podium three times, including a seventh-place finish as a sophomore. 

Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 

Of the seven competitors who have entered college wrestling’s four-time NCAA champ club, only Cael Sanderson posted a higher career winning percentage than Diakomihalis’ 98.3 percent clip. 

The issue with Yianni was whether he belonged at 141, where he won his first two titles, or 149, where he captured his final two. Like we did with Stieber, we let the Flowrestling staff vote dictate where he’d ultimately go for the All-Quarter Century Team and the balloting steered him to 141. 

This is where Diakomihalis burst onto the college wrestling scene, winning his first 19 bouts as a true freshman and finishing a 37-1 rookie season by winning an NCAA title on a torn ACL. His championship run included a quarterfinal win over two-time champ Dean Heil and a semifinal win over Jaydin Eierman, who handed Diakomihalis his first college defeat before he downed Bryce Meredith in the finals. 

Diakomihalis went 29-0 as a sophomore with 17 bonus-point victories, including seven falls. But that dominant season required some clutch takedowns at the end. He scored in the final 30 seconds to break a tie against Eierman in the NCAA semis and then adeptly scrambled for two critical takedowns against Joey McKenna — one in the closing seconds of regulation and another with time winding down in overtime — to secure his second title. 

Nick Lee (Penn State)

Lee got knocked off in the opening round of his first career trip to the NCAA Championships as a true freshman before coming back to take fifth with six wins in seven consolation matches. The 11.5 points he scored along the way proved to be pivotal in Penn State’s 2018 team title run. He placed fifth again as a sophomore in 2019 and went 55-2 over his final three seasons with the Nittany Lions, winning a pair of NCAA titles. He was also the #2 seed at the 2020 national tournament that was canceled due to the pandemic. 

Lee finished his career with a 118-13 record, including a 22-0 mark in his final season at Penn State. 

Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) 

Mendez still has another season to add to his legacy with the Buckeyes and has an opportunity to become the first three-time national champion at 141 since the weight class was introduced in 1999. The three-time All-American has been a clutch performer at the NCAA Championships during the past two years, winning in dramatic fashion against Big Ten rival Beau Bartlett of Penn State in the 2024 title bout and the 2025 NCAA semifinals. Mendez owns a 78-14 career record with the Buckeyes, including a 59-5 mark after moving up from 133, where he placed sixth as a true freshman at the 2023 national tournament.