5 current wrestlers with a legit amateur background

WWE's large roster contains dozens of talented professional wrestlers, each unique in their own way. As pro wrestlers, they all put on a great display of character, technical abilities and risks.However, how many of these professional wrestlers come from an amateur background? If you're unfamiliar with what this means, amateur wrestling is not the same as backyard wrestling.Amateur wrestling accounts for competitive wrestling that isn’t storied or scripted. College, high school and even Olympic wrestling count as amateur wrestling, and the following article looks at five wrestlers who have had a documented amateur career, before they headed into professional wrestling, where they made a global name for themselves.Interestingly, two of the entries on this list wrestled together on the amateur stage.

#1 Kurt Angle

Probably the most widely known former amateur wrestler, Kurt Angle has had wrestling in him for a long time.

Initially wrestling from the age of seven, Angle wrestled through high school, and at the Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where he won the NCAA Championship twice. That was only the tip of the iceberg, though, as he had many more accomplishments to boast.

These include:

Three-time NCAA Division I All-American
1987 USA Junior Freestyle Champion
Two-time USA Senior Freestyle Champion

Angle went on to wrestle post-college, and in 1996, he wrestled for the United States wrestling team in Summer Olympics.

There was controversy surrounding his training for it, in which his trainer was murdered, and he had several injury problems along the way, but he secured a gold medal. Before this, he won another gold medal at the Wrestling World Championships, in 1995.

Shortly after this, Angle signed a contract with Extreme Championship Wrestling and hasn’t looked back since.

#2 Jack Swagger

There was a point when Swagger was referred to as the ‘next Kurt Angle’.

Swagger also has a vivid amateur wrestling background. He started wrestling even earlier than Angle – at age five – and wrestled in high school. He was ranked #5 by USA Wrestling in 1999, in the 215-pound category.

In his sophomore year, he won the 215-pound championship.

Swagger attended the University of Oklahoma, where, while wrestling, he met Jim Ross, who asked him to stay in contact and that he might want to look into professional wrestling after graduating.

Swagger didn't have many accomplishments as an amateur wrestler in college, coming in as runner-up or in the top ten of most tournaments. After graduating, Swagger signed a WWE contract.

#3 Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler has a strong wrestling record for Kent State University. Ziggler holds the record for the most number of pins ever in his high school, St Edward High School, with 82. That record still stands today.

In college, Ziggler broke more records. He became the wrestler with the most wins ever, with 121, between 2000 and 2003, which was eventually broken in 2006.

Ziggler has won three amateur wrestling championships, albeit the same one. He won the All-Mid-American Conference Championship in the 165 pounds category in 2000, 2002 and 2003. He is the only Kent State University alumni to have won three amateur wrestling championships.

What a great career.

#4 Shelton Benjamin

Shelton Benjamin does still wrestle, in the independent circuit (and now a recruit for Global Force Wrestling), so he is a current wrestler.

Benjamin is a reputed former amateur wrestler. He began wrestling in his sophomore year in high school, where he ended with a win-loss record of 122-10. Is there really a description needed for how good he was?

He also won the South Carolina state high school heavyweight wrestling championship twice, and went to the University of Minnesota on a wrestling scholarship (which should express his ability), and finished college with a win-loss record of 36-6.

Following this, Benjamin considered training for the 2000 Olympic Games but decided to head into professional wrestling instead.

#5 Brock Lesnar

Come as a surprise? Probably not.

WWE has often mentioned that Brock Lesnar is a two-time NCAA Champion. That isn’t really saying much in comparison to everything that he has achieved in his amateur career though.

Lesnar finished high school with a perfect record of 33-0 (How’s that for a streak?). In college, Lesnar won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) twice and was transferred on a wrestling scholarship to the University of Minnesota. Ring a bell?

Indeed, Brock Lesnar went to the same university as Shelton Benjamin, and wrestled alongside him. Lesnar’s accomplishments can be considered considerably better, however. It’s best if they’re listed out.