Unprecedented Achievement or Time on the Clock

2013:
Dake (Cornell) over Taylor (Penn State), 4-3

Two talents like Dake and Taylor don’t come around that often, and when they meet in the same weight class (165), with one a three-time champion and the other a two-time champion, anticipation was high. The match reminded many of the Banach-Schultz hype from the 1980s. Dake and Taylor would wrestle last, as the NCAA re-ordered the finals to showcase this match. Dake had beaten Taylor twice earlier in the season, in the All-Star Classic (unofficial) and the finals of the Southern Scuffle. Taylor would strike first with a takedown, but Dake would take a 3-2 lead after a period with an escape and a takedown of his own. Dake extended the lead to 4-2 after an escape in the second. Taylor would escape and draw a stall point to knot the match 4-4, but Dake’s riding time (1:13) would be the difference-maker. Dake became the first wrestler in NCAA history to win four titles at four different weight classes.

2003:
Hahn (Minnesota) defeats Trenge (Lehigh), 5-4

"If there's time on the clock, there's time to wrestle."

Those words uttered by Minnesota 197-pounder Damion Hahn after his dramatic 5-4 victory over Lehigh's Jon Trenge in 2003 have become a mantra for last-second comebacks.

Trenge, who battled vision problems associated with a detached retina, sported protective goggles during the last three years of his career, but it didn't stop him from reaching the finals and leading Hahn 4-3 with 11 seconds remaining.

 On the restart, Hahn attempted a lateral drop, then popped behind Trenge and brought him down to the mat for the winning takedown with only three ticks left.