Two of the legendary collegiate wrestling coaches went head-to-head for the first and only time on January 8, 1987, when Tony DeCarlo and his Blue Streaks traveled east to face Dave Icenhower and his Trenton State Lions (now known as the College of New Jersey).

The Lions were the elite team at the Division III level in the early to mid 1980's, and had won the NCAA team title three times already in the decade up to that point, the most recent being 1985. Entering this dual meet, Trenton State was ranked second in the nation while John Carroll was ranked third. 

It would be a rare regular season showdown between teams ranked in the top three.

John Carroll dominated.

Tim Jacoutot started the match for the Lions with an 8-4 win over Bill Martin at 118 pounds. Jacoutot would eventually go on to win the national title.

JCU took a 6-3 lead after a forfeit at 126, but Ralph Venuto tied the match with a win at 134 for Trenton State.

The next five bouts featured wrestlers on both teams that would eventually qualify for nationals, and John Carroll won all five to take command of the match. Mike Collica beat Mark Nace, 13-2, at 142 pounds; Tom Bennett outlasted Kevin Jacoutot, 6-5, at 150 pounds; Joe Schmidt handled Dwayne Standridge, 7-5, at 158 pounds; Jason Barnett blanked Joe Tuminelli, 5-0, at 167 pounds; and in the highly anticipated 177-pound dual, Sam Walker used four takedowns to beat Greg McDonald, 10-5.

The Blue Streaks led 22-6 at that juncture.

Carl DiBernardo fell to eventual national runner-up Vince Pozsonyi, 6-1, at 190 pounds, before Mark Sullivan ended the night with a win by disqualification at heavyweight. The final score was 28-9.

JCU would rise to #2 in the national rankings after that win, but Trenton State would rebound from the loss in a big way. Behind national titles by Jacoutot at 118 and McDonald at 177, and runner-up finishes by Venuto at 134, Standridge at 158 and Pozsonyi at 190, the Lions would capture their fifth national championship. John Carroll - which suffered some unlikely early upsets that undermined its title hopes - finished sixth. Sullivan was national runner-up at heavyweight, while Pete Hayek (126) and Barnett (167) placed fourth in their weight classes to lead the Blue Streak effort.

The January 8 dual meet between DeCarlo's Blue Streaks and Icenhower's Lions marked the lone head-to-head meeting between the two Division III Wrestling Hall of Famers who combined for 748 dual meet wins. DeCarlo had already announced during the season that the 1986-87 campaign would be his last as wrestling coach at John Carroll. He was stepping down to take over the reigns of the John Carroll football program.

Both of these two coaches left the world too soon.

DeCarlo had built the Blue Streaks into a national wrestling power. In 1975, he delivered a Division III national championship which still remains the only team national title in JCU history. He led the Blue Streaks to 21 straight conference championships and mentored 14 national champions and 62 All-Americans. When he stepped down as wrestling coach in 1987 to take over the football program at John Carroll, his overall record was 213-65-1 in dual meets. He was the Division III national coach of the year in 1974. DeCarlo passed away after years of failing health on April 19, 2018, at the age of 77.

Icenhower coached for 35 seasons before retiring in 2011. He died on October 25, 2014, after a long battle with cancer at the age of 66. He took over the wrestling program at Trenton State for the 1976-77 season and guided the Lions to unprecedented heights. His teams won five national championships (1979, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987). He is one of only four coaches at any NCAA level to surpass 500 wins. Icenhower finished his career with a 535-80-4 dual-meet record and ranks second in career wins at the Division III level.