NCAA Wrestling: Coaches’ Panel Wrestling Rankings Released

The Division-1 college wrestling coaches’ panel rankings have been released. The Big Ten claims five of the top Ten No. 1 ranked wrestlers in the nation. Five of the ten No. 1 wrestlers in the nation are former national champions. Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State (125 pounds), Isaiah Martinez of Illinois (157), Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State (165), Gabriel Dean of Cornell (184) and Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State (heavyweight).

The additional top-ranked wrestlers at each weight class in the inaugural rankings are: Nahshon Garrett, Cornell (133 pounds); Dean Heil, Oklahoma State (141); Zain Retherford, Penn State (149); Bo Nickal, Penn State (174) and Morgan McIntosh, Penn State (197).

Wrestlers in each weight class will be measured by winning percentage, rating percentage index (RPI) and coaches’ rankings to earn spots in their qualifying tournaments for the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The coaches’ rankings are compiled by a vote of coaches representing each qualifying tournament. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. In order to be eligible for the rankings, wrestlers must have participated in at least five matches against Division I opponents in the weight class and have wrestled within the last 30 days.

The first of four coaches’ panel rankings for the 2015-16 wrestling season were released Thursday out of Indianapolis. The final rankings will be one of the components used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. This year’s event is March 17-19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Rankings are through matches of Jan. 17th, 2016.

174	1	Bo	Nickal	Penn St.	Big Ten
174	2	Zach	Brunson	Illinois	Big Ten
174	3	Ethan	Ramos	North Carolina	ACC
174	4	Kyle	Crutchmer	Oklahoma St.	Big 12
174	5	Nathan	Jackson	Indiana	Big Ten
174	5	Brian	Realbuto	Cornell	EIWA
174	7	Michael	Ottinger	Central Mich.	MAC
174	8	Blaise	Butler	Missouri	MAC
174	9	Bryce	Hammond	CSU Bakersfield	Pac 12
174	10	Cody	Walters	Ohio	MAC
174	11	Alex	Meyer	Iowa	Big Ten
174	12	Jonathan	Schleifer	Princeton	EIWA
174	13	Casey	Kent	Penn	EIWA
174	14	Myles	Martin	Ohio St.	Big Ten
174	15	Jadaen	Bernstein	Navy	EIWA
174	16	Davonte	Mahomes	Michigan	Big Ten
174	17	Micah	Barnes	Nebraska	Big Ten
174	18	Brian	Harvey	Army	EIWA
174	19	Lelund	Weatherspoon	Iowa St.	Big 12
174	20	Rustin	Barrick	Bucknell	EIWA
174	21	Nick	Kee	Appalachian St.	SoCon
174	22	Richard	Robertson	Wisconsin	Big Ten
174	23	Matt	Reed	Oklahoma	Big 12
174	24	Phil	Bakuckas	Rutgers	Big Ten
174	25	Keaton	Subjeck	Stanford	Pac 12
174	26	Te`Shan	Campbell	Pittsburgh	ACC
174	27	Nicholas	Wanzek	Minnesota	Big Ten
174	28	Jack	McKeever	Binghamton	EIWA
174	29	Frank	Affronti	Hofstra	EIWA
174	30	David	Kocer	South Dakota St.	Big 12
174	31	Zack	Hernandez	Columbia	EIWA
174	32	Jacob	Davis	Eastern Mich.	MAC
174	33	Sean	Mappes	Chattanooga	SoCon

Kyle Carroll

Kyle Carroll is a Long Island, N.Y. native and avid MMA and amateur wrestling fan. He has been a part of the wrestling community for nearly 20 years. Carroll has six years of experience coaching high school wrestling. His father coached high school wrestling over 35 years, passing on his strong knowledge. Carroll has been reporting MMA news since January 2011. The former wrestler’s coverage includes the 2012 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials, 2013 & 2016 NCAA D1 Wrestling Championship, and numerous MMA events (Bellator MMA, King of the Cage, North American Fighting Championship, and Glory).

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