College wrestling’s biggest weight class has produced some of the sport’s biggest stars during the past 25 years. 

With high-scoring Tommy Rowlands and heavy-handed Steve Mocco ushering in the quarter century and Gable Steveson leading a slew of Hodge Trophy-winning heavyweights in recent years, there’s been no shortage of big guys generating big headlines since 2001. 

The 285-pound class has produced five Hodge Trophy winners during the past quarter century, tying 165 pounds for the most during that span. Additionally, seven heavyweights have been multi-time NCAA champs since 2001. 

Ultimately, we had to pare this group of heavyweight greats down to four finalists for the Flowrestling All-Quarter Century Team presented by Defense Soap. First, though, let’s take a look at some of the top heavyweights who just missed the cut. 

Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State) — Rowlands was an outlier as a highly skilled, athletic heavyweight during a time when big pummelers occupied most of the spots in the 285-pound bracket at the NCAA Championships. He set Ohio State records for career wins (164), team points (702) and takedowns (705), reached the NCAA semifinals four times, made the finals three times and won a pair of titles. He lost in a tiebreaker in the NCAA finals as a freshman in 2001 and won a title with tiebreaker rideout as a sophomore in 2002. His bid for a second straight title ended in the 2003 semifinals when he suffered an ankle injury that forced him to injury default out of the tournament, but he bounced back with another national title in 2004 when he went 44-1. 

Cole Konrad (Minnesota) — An all-time Gopher great who ranks second on Minnesota’s career wins list with 155 and third in pins with 50. Konrad placed fourth at the NCAA Championships as a freshman, lost to Steve Mocco in sudden victory in the finals as a sophomore and then won titles each of the next two years, knocking off Mocco in a tiebreaker in 2006. He finished his career with a 76-match winning streak and was named the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year in 2007. 

Tony Nelson (Minnesota) — A wrestler with Nelson’s credentials would be the undisputed heavyweight king at most schools. At Minnesota, he was another product off the heavyweight championship assembly line. Nelson earned All-America honors four times, made three NCAA finals appearances and won two titles. He racked up 131 career victories with a gritty style that also netted him three Big Ten championships. 

Mason Parris (Michigan) — The 2023 Hodge Trophy winner capped his career with a 33-0 season that included 21 bonus-point victories. For his career, Parris went 124-18, earned All-America honors three times and reached the NCAA finals twice. He also had a 28-1 sophomore season cut short in 2020 by the pandemic. 

Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force/Oklahoma State) — Hendrickson compiled a 100-11 record in four seasons at Air Force, where he was one of college wrestling’s most dynamic heavyweights. Then he transferred to Oklahoma State and produced a season for the ages. He went 27-0, notched wins over nine All-Americans, registered 22 bonus-point victories and finished his career with an iconic victory over Olympic champ Gable Steveson in the NCAA finals. 

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. 

Now you can cast a vote for the top heavyweight from the past quarter century. 

Who was the best heavyweight wrestler of the Quarter-Century?

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) August 4, 2025

(Finalists listed in chronological order)

Steve Mocco (Iowa/Oklahoma State) 

Mocco stepped into college wrestling as a ready-made star after a decorated high school career and highly publicized courtship as a recruit. He lived up to his billing by making four NCAA finals appearances, winning a pair of titles and losing the other two in tiebreakers. He compiled a 137-6 career record with 56 pins, including 48 during his final three seasons. He went 34-0 as a sophomore at Iowa, took an Olympic redshirt in 2004 and transferred the following season to Oklahoma State, where he went 37-0 as a junior. 

Nick Gwiazdowski (Binghamton/North Carolina State)

Gwiazdowski was the nation’s top-ranked high school heavyweight after a 50-0 senior season that included 43 pins and seven forfeits. He followed that up by winning 30 matches as a true freshman at Binghamton and placing eighth at the 2012 NCAA Championships. He transferred the following season to North Carolina State, redshirted in 2013 and then stopped Tony Nelson’s bid for a third straight NCAA title in the 2014 national finals. Gwiz went 35-0 on his way to a second straight title in 2015 and reached the NCAA finals again in 2016, where he lost an overtime decision against Kyle Snyder in a clash of heavyweight titans.  

Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) 

Months after losing in the 197-pound NCAA finals in 2015 as a true freshman, Snyder became the youngest American to win a men’s freestyle World title. He initially planned to take an Olympic redshirt in 2016 but instead rejoined the Ohio State lineup midway through the season and moved up to heavyweight, where he toppled Gwiazdowski in the NCAA finals and ultimately became the first three-time heavyweight national champion since Carlton Haselrig in 1989. He went 45-1 during his three seasons at heavyweight and won three Big Ten titles. 

Gable Steveson (Minnesota)

The Big Ten’s first four-time heavyweight champion and the lone Gopher to place third or better four times at the NCAA Championships. Steveson placed third at the NCAA Championships as an 18-year-old true freshman in 2019. He didn’t lose another college match until his final bout when he upset by Wyatt Hendrickson in the 2025 NCAA finals. In between, he reeled off 70 consecutive victories, won two NCAA titles, a pair of Hodge Trophies and an Olympic gold. He finished his career with a 103-3 record — a .972 winning percentage that ranks first in Minnesota history — and 76 bonus-point victories.