If Gable Steveson wins another title, is he the best NCAA heavyweight of all time?

Three years ago, Gable Steveson said his amateur wrestling goodbyes. He finished his 2021-22 season with the Gophers by winning his second consecutive NCAA heavyweight championship and catapulting himself into a signature backflip as the crowd roared.

Steveson, then 21, had already made a last-second comeback to win an Olympic freestyle gold medal. So that night in Detroit, with his college career seemingly finished, he sat down, took off his wrestling shoes and placed them in the center of the ring — the signal that he was retiring from the sport.

"Every book has to close," Steveson said at the time, "and every next book has to start."

Three years later, after he tried pro wrestling and went through an NFL training camp, Steveson is back with the Gophers and will wrestle his final collegiate tournament Thursday through Saturday in the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia. His aim is not only to win a third national title but also to reach a status that says much more.

"Hopefully, I go out there Saturday night and win that final match and be labeled as best collegiate heavyweight ever," said Steveson, who has an active 66-match winning streak and is 99-2 in his collegiate career. "It's got to be. I don't think any other way around it."

That lofty goal requires five more wins. A third NCAA championship would put Steveson in elite company — and remember that he was the heavy favorite to win his first national title in 2020 before COVID-19 wiped out the NCAA tournament. While opinions throughout the wrestling community will vary, Steveson's success is convincing many that he's the best ever at his collegiate weight class.

"His athleticism at the weight class is apparent right away, and he's become, I think, the best heavyweight I've ever seen," said Jim Gibbons, who coached Iowa State to the 1987 NCAA title and now serves as an analyst for Big Ten Network wrestling broadcasts. "There's no question about it in my mind who the best heavyweight this country has produced, and I know that that will ruffle some feathers. … To win an Olympic title at the age that he won it at — he's still only 24, and he can have a fabulous international career and add to his legacy."

Gophers coach Brandon Eggum looks at the combination of Steveson's quickness, power and experience as a complete package. He wrestles at the 285-pound class but is as quick and nimble as a 125-pounder.

"When I watch him go out and compete — his level of attacks, his offense, the presence he has out there — I don't know if there's another guy in the country that fires as many shots as he does, and this is at heavyweight," Eggum said of the four-time Big Ten champion. "He's just so unique from that side of it. I feel it's clear that he would take the title of the greatest heavyweight in American history."

Of course, the championship isn't a foregone conclusion for Steveson. Even the legendary Dan Gable — after whom Steveson is named – wasn't invincible. Gable, wrestling for Iowa State, entered his final collegiate match with an undefeated career record, pinning 76 of his 117 opponents, but lost 13-11 to Washington's Larry Owings in the 1970 142-pound NCAA final.

Heavyweight history

The wrestler who many — including Steveson — consider the greatest collegiate heavyweight is Kyle Snyder, the three-time NCAA champion (2016-18) from Ohio State who also won a gold medal in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Snyder had a collegiate career record of 75-5 that included four Big Ten championships and an NCAA runner-up finish at 197 pounds as a true freshman.

Steveson is trying to become the sixth heavyweight to win three NCAA Division I titles. The others are Snyder, Oklahoma State's Earl McCready (1928-30), Dick Hutton (1947, '48, '50), Jimmy Jackson (1976-78) and Pittsburgh-Johnstown's Carlton Haselrig. The late Haselrig, who became a Pro Bowl offensive guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers, actually had six NCAA heavyweight titles. He won Division II titles in 1987, '88 and '89 and repeated the feat in the Division I tournament, in which the D-II and D-III champions at the time were allowed to compete.

The Gophers have had a strong run over the past quarter-century at heavyweight, winning seven of the 24 titles awarded, two more than second-place Ohio State. Brock Lesnar started it by winning the NCAA title in 2000, followed by two-time NCAA champions Cole Konrad (2006-07), Tony Nelson (2012-13) and now Steveson.

If you turn back the clock, Verne Gagne, later of pro wrestling fame, won NCAA titles at 191 and heavyweight in 1948 and 1949, respectively.

Prominent two-time NCAA champion heavyweights since the 1980s include Clarion's Kurt Angle, Cal State-Bakersfield's Stephen Neal, North Carolina State's Nick Gwiazdowski, Iowa's Lou Banach, and Steve Mocco, who won titles at Iowa and Oklahoma State.

Challenge awaits

Steveson, a four-time state champion at Apple Valley High School, takes a 14-0 season record into his final collegiate tournament. He's dominated the competition since suffering his only two losses as a true freshman — to Penn State's Anthony Cassar in the 2019 Big Ten final and NCAA semifinals. Steveson has earned bonus points in 13 of 14 matches this season, with two falls, nine technical falls (wins by 15 points or more) and two major decisions (wins by 8-14 points). His only win by decision this season was his 10-3 victory over Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet in the Big Ten final. Kerkvliet, the former Simley standout, is the reigning NCAA heavyweight champion.

The top-seeded Steveson's path to a third NCAA title begins Thursday morning. Possibly waiting in the quarterfinals on Friday morning could be Arizona State's No. 9 Cohlton Schultz, whom Steveson defeated 6-2 in the 2022 NCAA final. Lehigh's Owen Trephan (21-0) would be the semifinal opponent on Friday night if the seeds hold. And should Steveson return to the final on Saturday night, Kerkvliet, the No. 3 seed, and No. 2 Wyatt Hendrickson (22-0) of Oklahoma State are potential opponents.

Kerkvliet and Steveson know each other well, going back to their 2018 prep meeting when Steveson edged Kerkvliet 3-2. Steveson scored an 8-3 decision in the 2022 NCAA semifinals and 9-4 decision in the 2021 NCAA quarterfinals against Kerkvliet. Last time out, Steveson used three takedowns and one point of riding time to win 10-3.

"Greg's an amazing wrestler, one of the best wrestlers in the world, you could say, at heavyweight," Eggum said of Kerkvliet, who originally committed to the Gophers but changed his mind when it was clear he would outgrow the 197-pound weight class with Steveson locked in as Minnesota's heavyweight."He's one of the guys that you'd considered being a medalist if he were wrestling for the U.S."

Steveson's two career losses were by 4-3 scores to Cassar. They serve as motivation.

"If I don't lose those two matches, I definitely have a perfect record," Steveson said. "… It was a good wake-up call."

Options await in the future

Steveson's future after his Gophers career is up in the air. He'll consider continuing his amateur career, especially with the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He'd like to give the NFL another shot after spending last summer with the Buffalo Bills. He's also intrigued by mixed martial arts and has trained with UFC champion Jon Jones. "I'd love to put on the gloves," said Steveson, who also has business and marketing education and communication studies degrees from Minnesota.

Eggum, who coached Steveson to Olympic gold, is impressed with how Steveson has drawn fans to wrestling.

"For wrestling in general, not just here, he's made a lot of people fans of wrestling," Eggum said. "He's just got a really good presence when he's on the mat. He's really fun to watch. He's a showman, and people enjoy being entertained."

That was on display in the Big Ten tournament when Steveson lifted Ohio State's Nick Feldman off the mat and literally threw him out of bounds. "He kind of short-armed him; he didn't launch him," Gibbons joked. "It could have been a lot further."

Steveson might have one last bit of collegiate showmanship ready, should everything go well in Philadelphia this weekend.

"I haven't hit a backflip all year, and I've been avoiding it on purpose," Steveson said. "But it might come back one more time."