College wrestling: NCAA releases updated award standings

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA has released the updated standings for the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Awards that will be awarded in March at the respective Division I, II and III Wrestling Championships.

The inaugural NCAA Wrestling Awards were presented at the 2012 wrestling championships. The three awards, given in each division, honor the Most Dominant Wrestler as well as the student-athletes that have accumulated the most falls and the most technical falls throughout the course of the regular and postseasons.

For falls and tech falls to be counted they must come against opponents in the same division. Ties in the two categories are broken based on the aggregate time.

In Division I, Penn State 149-pounder Zain Retherford raised his top average to 5.61 team points per match in the race for the Most Dominant Wrestler. Three other wrestlers are also averaging over 5.25 team points per match with Nittany Lions’ Jason Nolf (5.44) and Bo Nickal (5.29), along with the national leader in falls, Gabe Dean, of Cornell (5.43).

Francis Mizia, of Mercyhurst, the 2015 champion for most technical falls, leads the Division II Most Dominant Wrestler standings with an average of 4.89 points at 165 pounds for a sliver of a lead of .01 over Wisconsin-Parkside 184-pounder Montrail Johnson.

Three-time national champion and the 2016 Division III Most Dominant Wrestler Riley Lefever, of Wabash, is in position to win the award again with an average of 5.81 points. Wartburg heavyweight Lance Evans is second with an average of 5.28.

The Most Dominant Wrestler standings are calculated by adding the total number of points awarded through match results and dividing that number by the total number of matches wrestled. Points per match are awarded as follows.

• Fall, forfeit, injury default or DQ = 6 points (-6 points for a loss)
• Tech falls = 5 points (-5 points for a loss)
• Major decision = 4 points (-4 points for a loss)
• Decision = 3 points (-3 points for a loss)

This week’s Most Dominant Wrestler standings are calculated with a 16-match minimum against wrestlers from the same division.

Dean has 15 falls this season to lead Division I, while Retherford and Rider 165-pounder Chad Walsh have each tallied 13 falls.

Western State 125-pounder Ronald Wardleigh has taken the lead in Division II with 13 falls to lead Tiffin heavyweight Garrett Gray with 12.

Hunter Harris, of Messiah, has pulled ahead in Division III with 26 falls this season at 141 pounds, four more than his nearest competitor.

True freshman Jack Mueller, of Virginia, leads Division I in tech falls with 10 this season at 125 pounds, but is only holding off two-time national champion Isaiah Martinez, of Illinois, by aggregate time. Mueller’s 10 tech falls have come in 38:47, while Martinez has 10 in 53:24.

Nic Goebel, of Findlay, has surged to the lead in Division II tech falls with 10 at 157 pounds, three ahead of Martin Ramirez, of Adams State, and Nicholas Fiegener, of California Baptist.

Stephen Jarrell, of Johnson & Wales (Rhode Island), has 17 tech falls at 174 pounds to hold a lead of five over three wrestlers with 12.

NCAA STAT LEADERS - MOST DOMINANT
Division I
Rank	Name	School	Weight	Avg. Team Points
1	Zain Retherford	Penn St.	149	5.61
2	Jason Nolf	Penn St.	157	5.44
3	Gabriel Dean	Cornell	184	5.43
4	Bo Nickal	Penn St.	184	5.29
5	Thomas Gilman	Iowa	125	4.72
6	Isaiah Martinez	Illinois	165	4.64
7	Seth Gross	South Dakota St.	133	4.63
8	Zahid Valencia	Arizona St.	174	4.59
9	Mark Hall	Penn St.	174	4.44
10	Chad Walsh	Rider	165	4.31
Division II
Rank	Name	School	Weight	Avg. Team Points
1	Francis Mizia	Mercyhurst	165	4.89
2	Montrail Johnson	Wis.-Parkside	184	4.88
3	Carmine Ciotti	Gannon	133	4.56
4	Garrett Gray	Tiffin	285	4.48
5	Nick Becker	Wis.-Parkside	174	4.44
5	Nic Goebel	Findlay	149	4.44
7	Ronald Wardleigh	Western St.	125	4.41
8	Payton Tawater	Colorado Mesa	157	4.26
9	James Lehman	Wis.-Parkside	197	4.18
9	Chance Helmick	Chadron St.	174	4.18
Division III
Rank	Name	School	Weight	Avg. Team Points
1	Riley Lefever	Wabash	197	5.81
2	Lance Evans	Wartburg	285	5.28
3	Troy Stanich	Stevens	133	4.94
3	Lucas Malmberg	Messiah	125	4.94
5	Devon Carrillo	Wesleyan (CT)	197	4.83
6	Alec Donovan	Centenary (NJ)	157	4.78
7	Jake Evans	Waynesburg	285	4.77
8	Dan Del Gallo	Southern Me.	149	4.72
9	Christoper Chorzepa	Williams	184	4.64
10	James Bethel	SUNY Oneonta	285	4.59
Most dominant rankings are based off of a minimum of 16 matches

NCAA STAT LEADERS - FALLS
Division I
Rank	Name	School	Weight	Falls	Time
1	Gabe Dean	Cornell	184	15	35:20
2	Zain Retherford	Penn St.	149	13	42:30
3	Chad Walsh	Rider	165	13	59:15
4	Adam Mackie	Lock Haven	174	12	25:52
5	Ross Larson	Oklahoma	285	12	26:29
6	Bo Nickal	Penn St.	184	12	39:16
7	Jason Nolf	Penn St.	157	11	32:33
8	Mark Hall	Penn St.	174	11	36:00
9	Zahid Valencia	Arizona St.	174	10	28:33
10	Evan Fidelibus	Rider	141	9	25:00
Division II
Rank	Name	School	Weight	Falls	Time
1	Ronald Wardleigh	Western St.	125	13	38:03
2	Garrett Gray	Tiffin	285	12	25:43
3	James Lehman	Wis.-Parkside	197	11	23:52
4	Kevin Barrett	Neb.-Kearney	285	11	32:52
5	Payton Tawater	Colorado Mesa	157	10	17:51
6	Luke Fleming	Findlay	285	9	15:29
7	Austin Goergen	St. Cloud St.	285	9	17:17
8	Bruno Nicoletti	Colorado Mesa	174	9	20:28
9	Andy Welton	Mercyhurst	285	9	22:15
10	Francis Mizia	Mercyhurst	165	9	26:13
Division III
Rank	Name	School	Weight	Falls	Time
1	Hunter Harris	Messiah	141	26	80:40
2	Jake Evans	Waynesburg	285	22	60:20
3	Troy Stanich	Stevens	133	18	59:40
4	AJ Kowal	Stevens	197	17	41:54
5	James Bethel	SUNY Oneonta	285	15	33:29
6	Corbin Bunsold	Otterbein	184	15	40:08
7	Jamiel Stapelton	Johnson & Wales (RI)	149	15	47:30
8	Guy Patron	Loras	197	14	29:03
9	Keajion Jennings	Millikin	184	14	35:52
10	Tom Lynd	Lycoming	285	14	36:42

NCAA STAT LEADERS - TECH FALLS
Division I
Rank	Name	School	Weight	Tech Falls	Time
1	Jack Mueller	Virginia	125	10	38:47
2	Isaiah Martinez	Illinois	165	10	53:24
3	Connor Medbery	Wisconsin	285	9	43:51
4	Kyle Shoop	Lock Haven	149	9	47:43
5	Thomas Haines	Lock Haven	285	9	54:23
6	Te`Shan Campbell	Pittsburgh	165	8	34:01
7	TJ Dudley	Nebraska	184	8	37:39
8	Logan Massa	Michigan	165	8	45:46
9	Nolan Boyd	Oklahoma St.	184	7	38:41
10	Kevin Jack	North Carolina St.	141	7	38:54
Division II
Rank	Name	School	Weight	Tech Falls	Time
1	Nic Goebel	Findlay	157	10	63:11
2	Martin Ramirez	Adams St.	133	7	25:42
3	Nicholas Fiegener	California Baptist	184	7	26:38
4	Francis Mizia	Mercyhurst	165	6	22:39
5	Jason Buhr	Colorado Mesa	165	6	28:29
6	Jacob Waste	California Baptist	197	6	32:25
7	Cody Law	Pitt.-Johnstown	157	6	33:57
8	Tyler Mies	Newman	149	6	35:21
9	Darren Wynn	McKendree	149	6	39:20
10	Austin Petril	Kutztown	125	5	19:33
Division III
Rank	Name	School	Weight	Tech Falls	Time
1	Stephen Jarrell	Johnson & Wales (RI)	174	17	98:11
2	Alex Kramer	Ursinus	149	12	43:15
3	Lucas Malmberg	Messiah	125	12	66:47
4	Jason Lynch	Chicago	197	12	66:57
5	Seth Lansberry	Lycoming	149	10	43:53
6	Connor Brummett	Wabash	165	10	62:55
7	Ben Swarr	Messiah	174	10	67:47
8	Zach Wilhelm	Stevens	149	9	52:31
9	Carlos Fuentez	Wheaton (IL)	125	9	56:02
10	Mason Geary	Wis.-La Crosse	149	8	32:12