In one of the most bizarre finishes, former Cyprus High wrestling star Matt Brown captured the NCAA 174-pound national championship in St. Louis Saturday night. Brown, wrestling for Penn State, had talked about wanting to be the first LDS returned missionary to achieve such a feat.
“This is pretty cool,” Brown said. “I didn’t expect the match to end like that, but that’s how the ball bounces and it landed my way this time.”
Brown trailed Tyler Wilps of Pittsburgh with just 20 seconds remaining in the match when Wilps was hit with his second stalling violation, awarding one point to Brown. Brown was in the bottom position, and with two seconds left in the match, Wilps locked hands, giving Brown another point and a 5-4 lead. The second violation was challenged twice, giving Brown plenty of time to think about the situation at hand.
“Once the challenge started, I felt comfortable. I knew he locked hands,” Brown said. “The coaches were saying to be ready for overtime, and I felt confident because we were both sweaty and if we went into overtime I was just going to go after that take-down.”
As for winning the title as a returned missionary, Brown said, “I set this goal when I left for my mission five years ago. I spent those two years away from the sport of wrestling preaching my faith in Mozambique, Angola. We have had some great returned missionary wrestlers who have been All-Americans, but no one has ever won it all.”
Brown’s coach, Cael Sanderson, is also a native of Utah. Sanderson is a legend in the sport, having never lost in four years of college wrestling and an Olympic gold medalist. Brown gave credit to his coach when he was being recruited out of high school.
“(It) was commitment to be my best and I saw that in a Cael-run program.”
Brown finishes his college career as a three-time All-American and national champion.