Takedown Report

Iowa-Penn State rated No. 1-2 in WIN’s Preseason Ranks

NEWTON, Iowa — With most All-American wrestlers returning this season after the NCAA offered another year of eligibility because of the pandemic, defending national champion Iowa and runner-up Penn State are ranked first and second, respectively, in WIN Magazine’s 2021-22 NCAA Division I Preseason Tournament Power Index.

The Hawkeyes, shooting for a 25^th all-time national championship this March in Detroit, return all ten national qualifiers from last season, including three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee at 125 pounds, as well as past All-Americans Austin DeSanto (133), Jaydin Eierman (141), Kaleb Young (157), Alex Marinelli (165), Michael Kemerer (174), Jacob Warner (197) and Anthony Cassioppi (Hwt).

The Nittany Lions return all four national champs in Roman Bravo-Young (133), Nick Lee (141), Carter Starocci (174) and Aaron Brooks (184) as well as All-American Greg Kerkvliet (Hwt) and welcomes Cornell All-American Max Dean, who was forced to sit out last season when the Ivy League cancelled the season. Dean was an NCAA finalist in 2019.

Cornell’s two-time national champ Yianni Diakomihalis, whose last national tournament was in 2019, is returning and most likely will be moving up to 149 pounds.

The other 2021 national champs returning are North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor, who is expected to move up to 157 pounds, as well as Iowa State’s David Carr (157), Stanford’s Shane Griffith (165), Oklahoma State A.J. Ferrari (197) and Minnesota’s Gable Steveson (Hwt). The Gopher, who also is coming off an Olympic gold-medal performance this past summer, was co-winner of the 2021 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy with Iowa’s Spencer Lee.

WIN’s TPI predicts approximately how many NCAA points a team will score in Detroit in March at the Division I Championships, excluding bonus points, based on numbers associated with individual placements/rankings based on our preseason rankings: 20 for 1^st, 16 for 2^nd, 13.5 for 3^rd, 12.5 for 4^th, 10 for 5^th, 9 for 6^th, 6.5 for 7^th and 5.5 for 8^th. Wrestlers ranked 9-12 earn two points each, followed by 1.5 points for wrestlers ranked 13-16 and 1 point for those ranked 17-20. … rest of story at https://www.win-magazine.com/2021/09/29/iowa-penn-state-ranked-1-2-in-wins-preseason-div-i-rankings/?mc_cid=136ff0dec6&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b#utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=iowa-penn-state-ranked-1-2-in-wins-preseason-div-i-rankings

September 30, 2021 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized