Takedown Report

New College Rankings

TDR Editor’s Notes; There are many different rankings to view and here are just a few from Intermat, The NWCA, WIN Magazine, and The NCAA Coaches. There are rankings for teams and wrestlers in Divisions I, II, and III, the NAIA, Junior Colleges, the NCWA and the growing number of Women’s teams. So read on, enjoy, discuss and disagree, in a polite manner of course.
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NCAA DI Rankings Updated (1/23/2024) from Intermat
It sounds like a broken record, but we have a new number one at 125 lbs…again. And again, it’s Purdue’s Matt Ramos. Ramos was previously ranked number two and defeated then-number one Drake Ayala in a dual Friday night. His notable wins this year are now Ayala, Dean Peterson, Tanner Jordan, Anthony Molton, Diego Sotelo, and the unofficial All-Star Classic major decision over Anthony Noto. 
The decision for #1 this week came down to Ramos or freshmen Luke Stanich and Braeden Davis. Stanich has notable wins over Eric Barnett, Cooper Flynn, Brett Ungar, and Sotelo. His only loss is to Troy Spratley, who was pinned over the weekend. Davis is unbeaten with wins over Michael DeAugustino and Brandon Kaylor. Each of the three have huge matches remaining on their respective schedules, so this could certainly change before the conference tournament season.  157 is another weight that has been difficult near the top. Levi Haines continues to win but the previous Michael Blockhus has recent wins over … story at … Intermatwrestle.com/NCAA-di-rankings-updated-1232024

And …

Little Rock breaks into rankings for first time in school history from NWCA
Trojans fastest Division I men’s start-up to reach Top 25 in poll history
Manheim, Pennsylvania – Growing pains have been apparent for Little Rock’s five-year-old wrestling program. With just one NCAA qualifier in school history and nine total dual wins coming into this season, Coach Neil Erisman’s path to success has been a slow one.
But it’s also apparently pretty steady.
Little Rock’s first ranked win in school history last week against then-No. 24 Arizona State vaulted the Trojans (10-4) into the NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll for the first time in program history, coming in at No. 25 in the most recent poll released on Tuesday. It’s also the quickest a Division I men’s start-up program has hit the Coaches Poll since the poll was first published by Amateur Wrestling News in 1960. The NCAA’s divisional structure began in 1973-74.
The Top 10 remained unchanged with Penn State remaining the unanimous No. 1 after a pair of weekend wins over Michigan State 35-0 and No. 11 Michigan 27-9. The Nittany Lions improved to 6-0 on the season and won their 50^th dual in a row, which ranks 13^th all-time. Penn State’s previous dual win streak was 60, which ran from 2015-2019.  
Third-ranked Iowa (8-0) beat Purdue 34-6, while fifth-ranked Oklahoma State (8-0) also stayed unbeaten after topping No. 16 Oregon State 27-6. No. 6 Nebraska won a back-and-forth affair with No. 9 Minnesota 19-14. The Cornhuskers (7-1) also beat Purdue 27-14 over the weekend. Ohio State improved to 11-1, topping then-No. 22 Wisconsin 27-15 and Maryland 38-4.
No. 10 South Dakota State won a pair of home matches, beating California Baptist 39-3 and Northern Colorado 26-16. Arizona State, despite dropping an 18-15 match to Little Rock, did rebound to pick up an unusual 21-20 criteria win over then-No. 15 Pittsburgh. The Sun Devils ended up getting the deciding criteria from an injury default win from heavyweight Cohlton Schultz in the dual’s final bout. The win tied the dual at 20, but after the teams were split in the first criteria (bouts won), the default carried the weight for the second criteria.
Lehigh moved up two spots after beating then-No. 18 Navy 24-15 and … story at … NWCAonline.com/National-wrestling-coaches-association-little-rock-breaks-into-rankings-for-first-time

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Minnesota’s Blockhus makes big jump in WIN Magazine’s Jan. 22 rankings
NEWTON, Iowa – Fewer NCAA Division I wrestlers had a better week last week than Minnesota’s Michael Blockhus. The Gopher senior turned in a pair of upset performances against All-Americans Jared Franek of Iowa and Nebraska’s Peyton Robb at 157 pounds, which moved Blockhus from No. 17 to No. 3 in WIN Magazine’s Jan. 22 rankings, presented by Cliff Keen Athletic.
Penn State, meanwhile, held its grip as the top-ranked team in both WIN’s dual rankings and Tournament Power Index. The Nittany Lions used a pair of road victories over Michigan and Michigan State to improve to 6-0 on the season. Penn State also has wrestlers ranked at all 10 weight classes. This includes four No. 1-rated wrestlers: Levi Haines (157), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (197) and Greg Kerkvliet (Hwt) and added freshman Braeden Davis (125) as a newcomer to the weekly rankings.
Missouri and Iowa also remain the No. 2 and No. 3 teams, respectively in both the dual and TPI rankings. The Tigers (7-0) feature nine ranked wrestlers, including the top-ranked wrestler at 165 pounds: Keegan O’Toole. The Hawkeyes (8-0) feature eight ranked wrestlers, including No. 1 Real Woods at 141.
WIN’s TPI predicts how high a team would finish in this year’s NCAA Division I Championships based on a point total associated with individual placement and advancement points that could be scored at the 2024 NCAAs. … story at … WIN-magazine.com/Minnesotas-blockhus-makes-big-jump-in-win-magazines-jan-22-rankings

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Central Oklahoma tops Division II Men’s Coaches Rankings
MANHEIM, Pa. – Central Oklahoma held onto the top spot in NCAA Division II men’s wrestling, and is alone atop the rankings in the latest edition of the National Wrestling Coaches Association DII Men’s poll, released Monday afternoon. 
The Bronchos, who have all 10 of their starters individually ranked as well, amassed 93 total points. Lander comes in at #2 with 71 total points behind seven ranked wrestlers, with West Liberty in third with 55 points. UW-Parkside (54 points) and St. Cloud State (52 points) round out the top five. 
A pair of top-ranked wrestlers highlight the 10 UCO wrestlers ranked, with both defending champions Dalton Abney (197) and Shawn Streck (285) topping their respective weight classes. Lander also features a pair of No. 1s, in David Hunsberger (165) and newly-named #1 James Joplin at 125. In addition to the 125 and 285 weight classes, there is also a new #1 at 149 in 2023 National Finalist Christian Small of Lake Erie, while UNC-Pembroke’s Scotty Joll took over the top spot at 174 for the first time this season as well. Super Region 5 again produced more than a quarter of DII’s ranked wrestlers, with 33 coming from SR5. Super Region 4 has 25 ranked wrestlers, while Super Region 2 features the most top-ranked wrestlers with four among its 13 ranked wrestlers. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference has 30 ranked wrestlers competing for its members, while the 
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association has 22 ranked wrestlers representing its institutions.
The next ranking will be released Feb. 22, prior to the NCAA Super Regionals … story at … NWCAonline.com/NCAA-division-2-central-oklahoma-tops-division-ii-mens-coaches-rankings

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Matt Ramos’ domination and 5 other college wrestling storylines from the weekend
With conference duals in full swing, the drama and intensity in men’s college wrestling is heating up. Here’s what we learned after a jam-packed week of action and what these results could mean come March: 
Purdue’s Matt Ramos goes 2-0 on the weekend to claim the No. 1 spot at 125 pounds 

It’s no secret that the 125-pound weight class has been the craziest weight this year. 
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Purdue’s Matt Ramos started the year ranked No. 1 after pinning Spencer Lee in the semifinals of the national tournament last year and ultimately finishing second at the 2023 NCAA tournament behind Princeton graduate Patrick Glory. Without Glory at the weight, this was expected to be Ramos’ year. 
HOW RAMOS BEAT LEE: Complete play-by-play of the history upset
The Purdue Boilermaker, however, took a few early losses, one to high schooler Marcus Blaze, one to N.C. State’s Jakob Camacho, one to Stanford’s Nico Provo and one to Nebraska’s Caleb Smith. These performances dropped Ramos out of the top spot in the rankings and led to a rankings carousel in which Camacho and Provo both, at one point, slid into the No. 1 spot. 
Heading into last weekend, Iowa’s Drake Ayala had overtaken Provo and Camacho for the top spot after wins over Smith and two-time All-American Patrick McKee. This set the stage for another Matt Ramos vs. No. 1 Iowa lightweight battle.  … story at … NCAA.com/news/Matt-ramos-domination-and-5-other-college-wrestling-storylines-weekend

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NCAA releases first coaches’ ranking for 2024 Division I Wrestling Championships
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA has announced the first coaches’ ranking for the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
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The coaches’ rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the seven conferences. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one within the last 30 days.
Of the 10 weight classes, five are led by members of the Big Ten Conference with wrestlers from Iowa leading the way in three classes. Drake Ayala leads at 125, Real Woods at 141 and Jared Franek at 157 pounds.
HAWKEYE HEROS: Full history and championship performances from Iowa’s program
Two-time national champion Keegan O’Toole of Missouri sits atop the 165-pound weight class.
Lehigh’s Ryan Crookham leads at 133 pounds while Ridge Lovett of Nebraska leads 149 pounds.  At 174 pounds, Edmond Ruth of Illinois was ranked first by the coaches and Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen debuts atop 184 pounds. North Carolina State’s Trent Hidlay leads at 197 pounds.  Wyatt Hendrickson at Air Force rounds out the rankings by coming in first for the heavyweights. The coaches’ ranking is one of several criteria that will be evaluated by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee during the at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage.
A full description of the entire selection process for the 2024 Division I Wrestling Championships is available at ncaa.org. The 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships take place March 21-23 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City as the event returns for the first time since 2003. … story at … NCAA.com/news/NCAA-releases-first-coaches-ranking-2024-division-i-wrestling-championships

January 26, 2024 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized