Takedown Report

Amateur Wrestling Reports

2024-25 Preseason National High School Wrestling Rankings: Final Update

Several states have already hit the mats, but the high school wrestling season gets underway in earnest after the Thanksgiving holiday; check out the final update to our preseason national wrestling rankings
By Billy Buckheit, Nov. 26th.
We’re here—the 2024-2025 high school wrestling season is officially underway! Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas have been active for a few weeks already. Illinois has joined them with a few events before Thanksgiving. Following the holiday break, every state in the country will kick off their season, except for New Jersey, which begins in mid-December.
With our final edition of the rankings before things kick off, we’ve narrowed it down to one wrestler per team, per weight. Additionally, we’ve removed Valiant Prep wrestlers since they don’t compete during the regular season. They will be added back in come March when they return to the mats in an official capacity.
The Walsh Ironman takes place next weekend (Dec. 6-7). The Ironman is widely regarded as the most challenging high school tournament in the country. It promises to deliver a ton of excitement and is sure to shake up these carefully cultivated rankings.
We say “carefully cultivated” with all the humility possible. We conduct an incredible amount of research and maintain detailed records on not just every wrestler in our rankings, but also every wrestler on our radar—probably 60 to 70 at each weight class. This level of research and record-keeping allows us to be highly accurate.
Instead of speculating or vaguely remembering results, we always have every match right in front of us. This wealth of data enables us to fine-tune the rankings. We can explain every placement. These rankings are not randomly thrown together; there’s a rationale behind where every wrestler is ranked.
One big win shouldn’t—and won’t—erase a series of bad losses. Similarly, a single bad loss doesn’t necessarily cancel out a string of significant victories. National rankings are always subject to change, as upsets are a constant factor. That’s where our detailed record-keeping comes into play.
Because we document every match for each wrestler, it’s easy for us to compare multiple athletes side by side and arrive at the most logical rankings order based on all outcomes—not just recent ones. Of course, recent results take precedence, but as we mentioned, a wrestler’s past record doesn’t disappear due to one new result, whether it’s positive or negative.
Our next update will come before Ironman. Once we have the seeds for the Ironman and the Dan Gable Donnybrook, which also takes place next weekend, we’ll make any necessary changes to weight classes. While we’ve seen lineups for many of the top teams, we know adjustments will be needed over the first few weeks of the season. … more at … https://www.si.com/high-school/wrestling/2024-25-preseason-national-high-school-wrestling-rankings-final-update-01jdnte76p05

December 3, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

Seventh-Ranked Gophers Trounce No. 17 South Dakota State, 30-3

MINNEAPOLIS – No. 7 Minnesota (4-0) won nine of the 10 matches, including six ranked bouts, as it trounced No. 17 South Dakota State (1-2) by a score of 30-3 Sunday afternoon at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings, S.D.
After the last two duals were decided by a combined nine points, Minnesota left little doubt Sunday as it won the first six matches and ended up holding the Jackrabbits to their lowest point total in the series since 1974 (31-2). 
Minnesota now leads the all-time series with South Dakota State, 29-5, including 13 straight wins. The 13-match win streak ties for Minnesota’s second-longest active streak, along with 13 straight wins over Michigan State. The only streak longer is 19 in a row against North Dakota State. The 29 wins are the Gophers’ second most against all non-Big Ten schools, behind only the 33 wins they have against Northern Iowa. In Brookings, the Gophers are 10-1 all-time and have won the past seven meetings there. Minnesota has also won 10 straight duals dating back to last season. During the current streak, Minnesota has outscored opponents 329-54 and hasn’t allowed more than 12 points in any contest.
The tone was set in the first match of the day at 125 pounds as No. 14 Cooper Flynn upset No. 4 Tanner Jordan, 7-2. Both of Flynn’s takedowns came in the opening period, giving him a 6-1 lead. After no scoring in the second, Jordan gained a point on Flynn’s second stall warning, but riding time improved Flynn to 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in duals.
At 133 pounds, No. 8 Tyler Wells and No. 28 Derrick Cardinal met for the third time in the last two seasons. After splitting the two matchups a year ago, Wells took lead in the series with a 10-2 major decision Sunday. After a scoreless first period, Cardinal escaped to lead 1-0 but Wells got a takedown in the final seconds to lead 3-1. The final period was all Wells as he added an escape and two more takedowns to secure his second major decision of the year.
The first non-ranked matchup came at 141 pounds with No. 5 Vance VomBaur topping … more at … https://gophersports.com/news/2024/12/1/wrestling-gophers-trounce-south-dakota-state-30-3?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

December 3, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment