Takedown Report

NCAA DI Rankings Updated (1/13/2026)

We mentioned yesterday in our recap, that this was unexpectedly a great weekend of wrestling. What ensued were lots of high-profile changes in the rankings. Here’s a weight-by-weight look at some of the more notable changes: Surprisingly, 125 lbs was a weight where there were very few changes this week. Typically, this weight is full of chaos, but it was relatively normal for a week. Drexel’s Desmond Pleasant makes his debut after a 4-0 weekend at the National Duals and two ranked wins.
Ryan Crookham returns and slots in at #5. Based on his past body of work, it could be higher; however, he had been away for over a year and hasn’t had any massive wins over the weekend. We decided to rank Jax Forrest for Oklahoma State. Ultimately, I think that’s where David Taylor will turn. #15 is conservative. We know his results on the freestyle scene domestically and abroad. Let’s see it on the collegiate mat. His only win thus far is over a non-starter. Inserting those two bumps almost everyone down a spot or two, so that’s why the rest of the weight might look wonky and guys may drop despite winning.
Luke Stanich and Braeden Davis have been inserted here. Stanich gets a higher ranking initially because of his win over a top ten opponent in his debut. Davis has slightly more of a body of work this year, but no wins of the caliber of Stanich, yet.
With Kaleb Larkin moving up to 157 and more upsets this week, we basically started from scratch at 149. Caleb Tyus is the big beneficiary. He’s officially unbeaten and has wins over Ethan Stiles and Casey Swiderski, so he slides into that #3 slot. It looks like Virginia Tech will be going with Collin Gaj at 149 and Ethen Miller at 157. Remember, only four of Gaj’s seven losses have come at 149 lbs.
We have a new #1. It’s probably could have been either Brandon Cannon or Kaleb Larkin, but we went with Cannon. He is still officially undefeated and all of his wins have  included bonus points – even one over returning champion Antrell Taylor. Larkin starts off his time at 157 with wins over the previous #1 and #3. PJ Duke doesn’t necessarily have the high-caliber wins like Cannon/Larkin, but is lurking at #3.
There’s always a question about how we handle injury defaults. The answer is on a case-by-case basis, with more of a lean towards ignoring the result. That was the case with Charlie Millard’s win over Kannon Webster. It was actually quite a scary situation as Webster appeared to be knocked out on his feet.
Ethen Miller reappears at #16 after his win over Dylan Evans. That area is consistent with his prior work at this weight. Kai Owen makes his debut in the 157 lb rankings after pinning DJ McGee.
There wasn’t much work needed at 165 lbs. There was some shuffling after Brock Woodcock’s win over Ryan Burgos and a loss from Cesar Alvan at the F&M Open. With his win in the Bedlam dual over CKLV champion Carter Shubert, Alex Facundo moves into the top ten. His only losses this year have come to opponents in the top six and he’s generally wrestled a tough schedule. Garrett Thompson is reinserted after his perfect weekend at the National Duals. … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/ncaa-di-rankings-updated-1132026-r100754/

January 16, 2026 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | ncaa, sports