2023 NCAA Championships: Georgia's Quinn rallies from the brink for D1 men's title

Quinn's comeback was all the more impressive when considering how he got to that point. He led 5-2 in the opener, only to see Styler rally. He later won the match's last four games after Styler pegged him back to 2-2 from a 2-0 defici in the decider. 

"There are not that many freshmen that go through this tournament with success," Georgia head coach Manny Diaz said after the match. "A lot of great players have come and gone. This is a very difficult tournament to win. You’ve got to survive several matches, as Ethan did. You just gotta take it one point at a time. I thought, you know, while Ethan was playing great, I think he maybe just started looking at the finish line there in the first set and maybe tried to force things a little bit, just rushed a little bit. He didn't have to play quite as big as he did, and it got away from him.

"But at the same time, what won the match for him was his ability to just find a way to just rope-a-dope a little bit and just stay in the match while he was frustrated and somewhat angry. It makes it even more admirable or just impressive what he did, staying in there long enough to kind of just give himself a chance."

"He's a big hitter, so I was just trying to suppress his power [while] still playing my type of game," Quinn added. "Early on, it was working very well. Honestly, once I got up, I started changing the way I was playing, which the coaches helped me recognize on the changeover in between sets. Once I was kind of able to get back on my game plan, I got down an early break in that second set, but I was kind of able to find my game and do what I've been doing so well throughout the entire week. Once I was able to find that, I was kind of able to succeed again."

The 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year finishes his season on a 17-match winning streak, and with 22 wins in his final 23 matches of the season. He also joins illustrious company. Two of those four men to previously win the NCAA title as freshmen? Hall of Famers Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe.

"It's pretty incredible," Quinn said after being told that piece of trivia. "I didn't even know that, honestly, so hearing that, I don't know how to respond. Definitely those guys had pretty impressive careers, so I'm hoping my career could be the same."