Konrad, Dake, Dean stand tall among Southern Scuffle four-time champs; Askren most dominant among three-timers

The Southern Scuffle emerged in 2003 and has annually been one of the most compe in-season college wrestling tournaments. What have been some of the best team and individual performances of all time?

Back in December of 2003, the Southern Scuffle launched in Greensboro, North Carolina by then-head coach Tom Shifflet at UNC Greensboro. At the time, the two major holiday tournaments were the Midlands, hosted by Northwestern in suburban Chicago and the Wilkes Open, hosted by Wilkes University in central Pennsylvania.

The impetus behind starting the Scuffle was to create a quality Division I-only tournament that would draw some of the nation’s top teams and allow competitive events for the Southeast, where budgets were typically smaller but the weather was typically better that time of year.

Some schools, disenfranchised by the then-selective nature of the Midlands and looking for an exclusively Division I field found it to be the perfect balance between cost, competition and relative warmth.

Top 10 All-Time Southern Scuffle Team Scores

1. Penn State 216.5 (2019)
2. Oklahoma State 198 (2017)
3. Penn State 197 (2018)
4. Minnesota 192 (2005)
5. Penn State 191.5 (2012)
6. Penn State 189 (2014)
7. Oklahoma State 188.5 (2019)
8. Missouri 185 (2003)
9. Penn State 183 (2016)
10. Minnesota 182 (2007)

Penn State’s 2019 team has the tournament record with most points and also is the clubhouse leader with eight finalists, although unlike the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the Southern Scuffle does allow multiple entries in a weight class. Penn State had finalists in seven weights with an all-Penn State final at 157 pounds between Jason Nolf and Bo Pipher.

On two occasions, teams have put seven in the finals - Cornell in 2004 and Penn State in 2018. Neither of those instances saw teams with two finalists in a weight class.

Oklahoma State’s second-place finish in 2019 is the only non-championship team score that’s in the Top 10 all-time.