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National College Wrestling News

Editor’s Notes; News of a broader national scope. Check out the sources for updated news.
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NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 16 Roundup: Is It State or States?
The world’s finest collection of noteworthy happenings from the 16th week of the 2024-25 NCAA D1 wrestling season.
Welcome to the recap of the penultimate regular season week of collegiate wrestling, in which we will settle the age-old wrestling debate of what to call the end-of-the-year high school championships: ‘state’ or ‘states”? Box Scores | Rankings | Last Week’s Roundup
As winter gives way to spring we approach the end of the road for so many teenage wrestlers. Around this time, high school gyms and arenas are full up with postseason tournaments. In some parts of the country, this process ends with high schoolers winning ‘state’. In other parts, they say they won ‘states’. That minor difference of one letter is still capable of igniting a firestorm in the social media comment sections of the wrestling community.  Which is the correct way to say it? Keep reading and I will tell you. But first, a thorough recap of all the noteworthy happenings of the 2024-25 NCAA D1 wrestling season! The Dual of the Century of the Week
Panthers Shellack Cyclones In McLeod Center Roof-Ripper, 26-10
They’ve been the DotCotW before, but there’s also no denying the most electric environment of the week was inside the the McLeod Center. And we love nothing more than electrified crowds.  Northern Iowa is the rightfully ranked #4 program in the nation. … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/13736792-ncaa-d1-wrestling-week-16-roundup-is-it-state-or-states
And …

#2 Iowa vs. #3 Oklahoma State dual set; 2023 champ Alirez new No. 1 at 141
NEWTON, Iowa — Heading into the final major dual-meet weekend of the 2024-25 season, all eyes will be on the star-studded matchup between the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes and the undefeated No. 3 Oklahoma State Cowboys on Sunday, Feb. 23 in Iowa City. The top-three teams in each poll remained the same as last week, with Iowa and Oklahoma State tabbed as No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in each poll, following top-ranked Penn State. WIN’s Tournament Power Index compiles a point total with each team’s ranked wrestlers similar to NCAA tournament scoring, whereas the Dual Rankings rates teams based on full line-ups. The following is a breakdown of those individual TPI points per ranking: 20 for 1st, 16 for 2nd, 13.5 for 3rd, 12.5 for 4th, 10 for 5th, 9 for 6th, 6.5 for 7th and 5.5 for 8th. Wrestlers ranked 9-12 earn two points each, followed by one and a half points for wrestlers ranked 13-16 and one point for those ranked 17-20. The clash between Iowa and Oklahoma State will feature 19 individually ranked wrestlers of the possible 20 lineup slots and will presumably boast four matchups of wrestlers ranked within the top 10 (165, 174, 184 and 197). The only other clashes between Top-20 dual-meet teams slated to take place this weekend are dual meets between No. 8 NC State at No. 11 Virginia Tech and No. 16 Stanford vs. No. 18 North Carolina, both on Friday, Feb. 21. … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2025/02/17/2-iowa-vs-3-oklahoma-state-dual-set-2023-champ-alirez-new-no-1-at-141/
And …

NCAA releases midseason coaches’ rank and RPI for 2025 Division I wrestling championships
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA has announced the second coaches ranking and first Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) for the 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
The coaches’ rankings are determined by a vote of 16 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the eight 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.
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The RPI is a calculation that consists of three factors: winning percentage, opponent winning percentage (strength of schedule) and opponent’s opponent winning percentage (opponent’s strength of schedule). Only matches against Division I opponents at the designated weight class count towards the RPI and a wrestler needs to have wrestled 15 matches to be ranked. … more at … https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2025-02-13/ncaa-releases-midseason-coaches-rank-and-rpi-2025-division-i-wrestling-championships
And …

NCAA DI Rankings Updated (2/11/2025)
This edition of the national rankings features more movement in the top ten than many of its predecessors. At 133 lbs, we had a significant jump from Braxton Brown who moved from #11 to #6. Brown defeated the returning Big Ten champion and now only has losses to the second (Romney) and fourth (Byrd) ranked 133 lbers. 
At 149 lbs, Ethan Stiles continues his meteoric rise with his first career top-ten ranking. Stiles started the season at 157 lbs and showed some promise, but he’s been lights-out at 149 lbs. Over the last three weeks, Stiles has picked up wins over #9 (Lamer) #10 (Abas), and #13 (Williams). I generally like to be conservative with some like Stiles, who doesn’t have much of a track record; however, it’s hard to ignore three big wins like those.  Up a weight, we chose to hold with what we had at 157 lbs … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/ncaa-di-rankings-updated-2112025-r100001/
And …

Unbeatens still riding high atop Coaches Poll; Northern Iowa reaches highest mark in 37 years
 Manheim, Pennsylvania – Penn State and Oklahoma State remained unbeaten after weekend wins, staying atop the latest NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.  
The top-ranked Nittany Lions improved to 12-0, extending their school-record winning streak to 68 straight with a 39-0 shutout over No. 19 Michigan and a 35-10 victory over Maryland at Rec Hall. Oklahoma State upped its record to 13-0 after a 25-13 win over then-No. 16 Little Rock. Iowa rallied to win the final two matches of its dual against then-No. 7 Nebraska, securing a 19-17 victory. Meanwhile, then-No. 8 Minnesota edged Ohio State 20-17, dropping the Buckeyes from fourth to eighth in this week’s rankings, while the Gophers climbed two spots to No. 6. 
Northern Iowa (12-1) defeated North Dakota State 33-6, moving up one spot to No. 4, tying the program’s highest ranking in the history of the poll, which dates back to 1956. The only other time Northern Iowa reached No. 4 was on February 8, 1988.
 Despite the loss to Iowa, Nebraska (9-3) moved up to No. 5. … more at … https://nwcaonline.com/news/2025/2/11/ncaa-division-1-men-unbeatens-still-riding-high-atop-coaches-poll-uni-reaches-highest-mark-in-37-years.aspx
And …

February 11 ASICS Race for the Hodge Trophy Update
This March, WIN Magazine, Culture House and ASICS will announce the winner of the prestigious 2025 Dan Hodge Trophy a week after the March 20-22 NCAA Championships in Philadelphia.
Between now and then, WIN Magazine will provide a weekly update at WIN-Magazine.com on this year’s race for the coveted trophy, which was created in 1994 by former WIN publisher Mike Chapman and named after Dan Hodge, the late three-time NCAA champion (1955-57) from the University of Oklahoma. In addition to former Hodge Trophy winners, a retired coach from each region, and national media members, wrestling fans can once again be part of the voting as well. Shortly after the NCAAs, fans will be able to vote online at WIN-Magazine.com with the winner earning five first-place votes. … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2025/02/11/february-11-asics-race-for-the-hodge-trophy-update/
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All-330 Projections (February 2025)
The All-330 projections are back for February of 2025.  The All-330 is a series of educated guesses on who will be the 330 wrestlers who make the trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to compete at the 2025 NCAA Championships. So, how are these different than the national rankings, which go down to #33? There’s a little bit of guesswork, projection, and opinion that goes into these, which is generally frowned upon with rankings. In some cases, we think a particular wrestler is poised for a big last couple of weeks and conference tournament (or not-so-big).
Another factor for these is conference allocations. Right now we can just speculate allocations for each conference and weight, but you can get an idea of how many each league will get based on rankings. For instance, in a Big Ten weight class … more at … Intermatwrestle.com
And …

Three Top-10 matches on tap for major dual-meet weekend
NEWTON, Iowa — Three Top-10 showdowns await college wrestling fans for one of the season’s final weekends of dual-meet action, as No. 1 Penn State will square off with No. 7 Ohio State in Columbus, No. 2 Iowa will take on No. 6 Minnesota in Minneapolis and No. 4 Northern Iowa will clash with No. 10 Iowa State in Ames. Penn State remains the No. 1 team in both the dual-team rankings and in WIN’s Tournament Power Index, which projects where teams could finish in this March’s NCAA Division I Championships … based on individual rankings. Iowa remains No. 2 in both polls, while the Oklahoma State Cowboys, already dubbed the third-best dual team, climbed into sole possession of third place in WIN’s TPI this week. … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2025/02/10/three-top-10-matches-on-tap-for-major-dual-meet-weekend/
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NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 15 Roundup: Carver Combat
The world’s finest collection of noteworthy happenings from the 15th week of the 2024-25 NCAA D1 wrestling season. Now that the National Football League has released the sports world from its vice like grip, the nation turns its full attention to the world’s oldest and most excellent sport: wrestling. 
Box Scores | Rankings | Last Week’s Roundup
And for those whose attention has been turnt, the real super bowl is the many dual meets that occurred during the 15th week of the 2024-25 NCAA D1 wrestling season. 
And as football’s latest season comes to an end, and as I type up this week’s collection of noteworthy happenings in college wrestling , I think of the real heroes of this super Sunday: you, the readers, for giving me, your humble blogger, something to do to distract me from watching a hated NFC East rival win a Super Bowl title in dominant fashion. Thank you for that. 
The Dual of the Century of the Week
Hawkeyes Survive Hellacious Huskers, 19-16 … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/13687669-ncaa-d1-wrestling-week-15-roundup-carver-combat

February 24, 2025 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized