So I got my 16 briggs up and running. It was going great the day before BIG GARBAGE PICK UP.. then 2 days after the stupid thing quit again. I was running it and it started to run crappy and finally died. So I checked for spark and nothin'. Well, thats funny, it was just running 2 minutes ago. Looked at the wires going up under the flywheel and I saw they were pinched when I reassembled the engines casing. I believed this was causing a short and not enough spark was getting to the cylinder...ok so I fixed it right?? nope, turns over and over and over with no fire at all. Getting gas, spark, compression, what else does it need to run??? I'm thinking the coil might be bad but I'm so fed up with the thing I'll probably donate it to the Auto department here at school....

Did you try a new Spark plug?

also check and see if the wire is bare in any places it may be grounding out on the block causing no spark.

I actually had a similar problem where I pinched the spark/magneto wire. I had no visible cuts on the outside of the line but it must have cut or damaged the wire or shielding inside the wire because it wouldn't spark either. my solution was to replace the magneto/ spark plug assembly. It fired right up with no effort. It's not a hard fix so unless your in the market for a new mower anyway I wouldn't give up on it.

It was in fact pinched, most likely grounding out, the battery is too dead to try and start, so I'll keep ya posted.

I had one of these things that did the same thing. I gave her a complete tune up just like you did. Still nothing. Went thru the same tasks thinking that I had screwed up the ignition circuit. Couldn't fix it. Put it to the side for about a year. Finally started taking it apart to see what was wrong. Eventough the engine seemed to have compression it didn't have enough. I found that one valve guide had been drilled crooked at the factory and the exhaust valve burned on me. Had to grind the valve and set the lash to get it to run. Didn't run long and the valve burned again. Hope you don't have this problem. You really have to look close to find it. Mine is now in the junk pile behind the barn.