Ranking the top five U.S. men's freestyle Olympic teams wasn't easy. The United States first competed in wrestling in St. Louis in 1904 and has sent athletes to every Olympic Games except 1980.
Picking fifth place is always the hardest because it leaves out worthy teams. Here's a closer look at the six teams that didn't make the list:
1904 St. LouisThe USA won it all. They won every game, brought home every medal, and lost every game because other countries didn't participate.
1932 Los AngelesThe U.S. won three gold medals and two silver medals in seven weight classes, but some weight classes had fewer than 10 participants. Sweden and Hungary were the top teams, and Russia had not yet invested in the sport.
1960 RomeTeri McCann, Shelby Wilson and Doug Blubaugh won gold medals, but none of the other five participants won a medal.
1980 MoscowThis team had great potential, but the US boycotted the games due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It's hard to pick a team without a medal.
1984 Los Angeles: Even without the Soviets, the U.S. won seven gold medals and two silver medals. With the U.S. team winning one gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and two gold medals at the 1985 World Championships, there's every reason to believe the Eastern Bloc could have made a difference.
So, it's hard to rank a team that hasn't faced the best wrestlers in the world, even though most of them have a lot of experience.
1976 Montreal: This team competed for 5th place, but unfortunately lost in a photo finish. Six of the 10 athletes won medals, including John Peterson's gold medal in the 82kg class. The other four did not place. This was an outstanding team that competed against the Soviet Union at the height of their power.
The criteria used to select and rank the teams are:
1. Results
2. The entire work
3. Impact
4. Historical Significance
5. Seoul, 1988
Oklahoma State's John Smith and Kenny Monday won the gold medal among a strong team that didn't play to their full potential, Bruce Baumgartner won the silver medal, and Nate Carr and Bill Scheer won the bronze medal.
Mark Schultz was a three-time World and Olympic champion, and Barry Davis was a three-time World and Olympic medalist but failed to win a medal in 1988. Jim Scheer, a three-time World medalist, dominated Japan's Akira Ota but was pinned by an Alligator Roll to prevent him reaching the finals.
Smith finished 7-0 and Monday finished 8-0, becoming the first black wrestlers to win an Olympic gold medal.
4. Atlanta, 1996
The team was star-studded, with Kendall Cross, Tom Brands and Kurt Angle winning gold medals, and it was also the last year that the 10-weight division was in place before being reduced to 8, 7 and eventually 6.
Baumgartner won five gold medals, his fourth Olympic bronze medal and his 13th World Championship and Olympic medal. Townsend Sanders won the silver medal, giving him a total of five medals.
Munday was on his third Olympic team at the end of his career, while Les Gutches and Melvyn Douglas were world champions, though they failed to win medals.
3. Munich, 1972
Many Olympians, including Barry Davis, Kenny Monday and John Smith, have cited watching the 1972 Munich Olympics as a turning point in their careers. ABC has provided premier coverage of some of the biggest names in wrestling like no other network in American history.
Dan Gable, Wayne Wells and Ben Peterson won gold medals. Rick Sanders and John Peterson won silver medals. Super heavyweight Chris Taylor took the bronze medal. The team needed four other athletes to perform better to take the top spot.
Iowa State stars Ben Peterson (left), Dan Gable (center) and Chris Taylor won medals at the 1972 Olympics.
2. Barcelona, 1992
This is the highest ten-man Olympic team the U.S. has ever produced. John Smith and Bruce Baumgartner won their second gold medals, Kevin Jackson won his first gold medal, Zeke Jones and Monday won silver medals, and Chris Campbell won bronze medal.
Munday had been seriously injured during training just days before the tournament and was only at 75 percent of his fitness. The team had not conceded a goal until losing 1-0 in the final. Campbell, a 37-year-old lawyer from New York, won a medal 12 years after being selected for the team that failed to qualify for the 1980 Moscow Games.
In 1996, Cross won the gold medal and Sanders won the silver medal. Mark Coleman was a silver medalist at the 1991 World Championships and later became a UFC champion. Tim Vanni finished fifth and became the best 48 kg wrestler the country has ever produced.
1. 2020 Tokyo
The team had just one blemish: it failed to qualify in the 65-kilogram weight class, marking the first time the U.S. did not send a full men's freestyle team.
With only six weight classes to compete, the U.S. team sent five athletes, all of whom won medals. David Taylor and Gable Steveson won gold medals in thrilling final matches. Kyle Snyder, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, won silver. Thomas Gilman (2021 World Champion) and Kyle Dake (four-time World Champion) won bronze medals.
This is the greatest team in U.S. history, and the list of players who didn't make the team is just as impressive as the list of players who did.
