Zahid Valencia takes No. 1 spot at 174, Penn State widens the gap

There’s a new No. 1 at 174 pounds and a new team in the Top 10 pack in the latest edition of the Trackwrestling rankings.

But the race at the top of the team leaderboard remains the same: It’s Penn State and everybody else trying to keep up.

The top-ranked Nittany Lions pushed their projected NCAA placement and advancement point total to 115.5, opening up a 24.5-point advantage over No. 2 Oklahoma State. Both are season-high figures.

Penn State won the final seven bouts Sunday during a 27-13 win at Oklahoma State to claim the NWCA Division Dual Championship Series title in a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in Division I.

Hours earlier, Cornell downed Ohio State, thanks to Brian Realbuto’s 3-2 victory at 174 pounds against previously unbeaten Bo Jordan. It was just the second loss this season for a top-ranked wrestler.

As a result, undefeated freshman Zahid Valencia of Arizona State took over for Jordan as the new No. 1 at 174, which helped the Sun Devils surge to No. 9 in this week’s team standings. It’s the highest Arizona State has been ranked this season.

Trackwrestling’s team rankings are based off the number of advancement and placement points each squad would accumulate if its wrestlers finished in those ranking slots at the NCAA Championships. Top-ranked wrestlers earn 20 points, followed by 16 for second, 13.5 for third, 12.5 for fourth, 10 for fifth, 9 for sixth, 6.5 for seventh, 5.5 for eighth, 2 for spots 9-12, 1.5 for spots 13-16 and 1 for 17-25.

The individual rankings are compiled by David Mirikitani.

1	Penn State	115.5
2	Oklahoma State	91
3	Ohio State	80.5
4	Iowa	76.5
5	Virginia Tech	71
6	Nebraska	62
7	Missouri	52.5
8	Cornell	49
9	Arizona State	37.5
10	Lehigh	37
11	Illinois	36.5
T12	Minnesota	35
T12	Wisconsin	35
14	Michigan	27.5
15	North Carolina State	24
T16	South Dakota State	22.5
T16	Stanford	22.5
18	North Carolina	17.5
19	Princeton	17
20	Rutgers	16.5
21	Northern Iowa	16
T22	North Dakota State	15.5
T22	Virginia	15.5
T24	Edinboro	13
T24	Rider	13
26	Central Michigan	12.5
27	West Virginia	12
T28	Duke	11
T28	Indiana	11
T28	Wyoming	11
31	Oklahoma	9.5
32	Pittsburgh	8.5
33	Old Dominion	7
34	Iowa State	6
T35	Bucknell	5
T35	Drexel	5
T35	Oregon State	5
39	Northern Illinois	4.5
40	Appalachian State	4

 

125 pounds

1	Thomas Gilman	Iowa	Senior
2	Nick Suriano	Penn State	Freshman
3	Joey Dance	Virginia Tech	Senior
4	Josh Rodriguez	North Dakota State	Senior
5	Tim Lambert	Nebraska	Senior
6	Darian Cruz	Lehigh	Junior
7	Ethan Lizak	Minnesota	Sophomore
8	Jack Mueller	Virginia	Freshman
9	Sean Russell	Edinboro	Sophomore
10	Josh Terao	American	Sophomore
11	Nick Piccininni	Oklahoma State	Freshman
12	Gabe Townsell	Stanford	Freshman
13	Drew Templeman	Wyoming	Senior
14	Sean Fausz	North Carolina State	Sophomore
15	Dylan Peters	Northern Iowa	Senior
16	Nathan Kraisser	Campbell	Senior
17	Noah Gonser	Eastern Michigan	Freshman
18	Jose Rodriguez	Ohio State	Freshman
19	Johnny Jimenez	Wisconsin	Junior
20	Brent Fleetwood	Central Michigan	Junior
21	Conor Youtsey	Michigan	Senior
22	Shakur Laney	Ohio	Sophomore
23	Christian Moody	Oklahoma	Freshman
24	Kyle Akins	Buffalo	Sophomore
25	Freddie Rodriguez	SIU Edwardsville	Senior

 

133 pounds

1	Nathan Tomasello	Ohio State	Junior
2	Seth Gross	South Dakota State	Sophomore
3	Kaid Brock	Oklahoma State	Freshman
4	Eric Montoya	Nebraska	Senior
5	Cory Clark	Iowa	Senior
6	Zane Richards	Illinois	Senior
7	Stevan Micic	Michigan	Freshman
8	Dom Forys	Pittsburgh	Junior
9	Scott Parker	Lehigh	Sophomore
10	Josh Alber	Northern Iowa	Sophomore
11	Earl Hall	Iowa State	Senior
12	Kevin Devoy	Drexel	Senior
13	John Erneste	Missouri	Sophomore
14	Bryan Lantry	Buffalo	Sophomore
15	Connor Schram	Stanford	Junior
16	Jamal Morris	North Carolina State	Sophomore
17	Mitch McKee	Minnesota	Freshman
18	Joey Palmer	Oregon State	Senior
19	Scott Delvecchio	Rutgers	Junior
20	Korbin Myers	Edinboro	Freshman
21	Colby Smith	Appalachian State	Freshman
22	Mark Grey	Cornell	Senior
23	Anthony Tutolo	Kent State	Sophomore
24	Cameron Kelly	Ohio	Sophomore
25	Luke Welch	Purdue	Junior

 

141 pounds

1	Dean Heil	Oklahoma State	Junior
2	Kevin Jack	North Carolina State	Junior
3	Joey McKenna	Stanford	Sophomore
4	Matt Kolodzik	Princeton	Freshman
5	Anthony Ashnault	Rutgers	Junior
6	George DiCamillo	Virginia	Senior
7	Joey Ward	North Carolina	Senior
8	Bryce Meredith	Wyoming	Junior
9	Jaydin Eierman	Missouri	Freshman
10	Jimmy Gulibon	Penn State	Senior
11	Tommy Thorn	Minnesota	Sophomore
12	Randy Cruz	Lehigh	Senior
13	Luke Pletcher	Ohio State	Freshman
14	Topher Carton	Iowa	Senior
15	Colton McCrystal	Nebraska	Junior
16	Tyler Smith	Bucknell	Junior
17	Jared Prince	Navy	Freshman
18	Logan Everett	Army	Senior
19	Brock Zacherl	Clarion	Sophomore
20	Javier Gasca III	Michigan State	Junior
21	Mike Longo	Oklahoma	Junior
22	Jack Hathaway	Oregon State	Junior
23	Russell Rohlfing	CSU Bakersfield	Freshman
24	Ronnie Perry	Lock Haven	Junior
25	Cole Martin	Wisconsin	Freshman

 

149 pounds

1	Zain Retherford	Penn State	Junior
2	Anthony Collica	Oklahoma State	Senior
3	Lavion Mayes	Missouri	Senior
4	Brandon Sorensen	Iowa	Junior
5	Micah Jordan	Ohio State	Sophomore
6	Solomon Chishko	Virginia Tech	Sophomore
7	Max Thomsen	Northern Iowa	Freshman
8	Patricio Lugo	Edinboro	Sophomore
9	Sam Speno	North Carolina State	Senior
10	Justin Oliver	Central Michigan	Sophomore
11	Laike Gardner	Lehigh	Senior
12	Ken Theobold	Rutgers	Senior
13	Alfred Bannister	Maryland	Sophomore
14	Steve Bleise	Northern Illinois	Sophomore
15	Alex Kocer	South Dakota State	Senior
16	Davion Jeffries	Oklahoma	Sophomore
17	Matt Cimato	Drexel	Senior
18	Andrew Crone	Wisconsin	Junior
19	Matt Zovistoski	Appalachian State	Sophomore
20	Jordan Laster	Princeton	Senior
21	Josh Maruca	Arizona State	Freshman
22	Joey Delgado	Oregon State	Senior
23	Cole Mendenhall	Wyoming	Senior
24	Eric Barone	Illinois	Freshman
25	Sahid Kargbo	George Mason	Senior

 

157 pounds

1	Jason Nolf	Penn State	Sophomore
2	Michael Kemerer	Iowa	Freshman
3	Tyler Berger	Nebraska	Sophomore
4	Jordan Kutler	Lehigh	Freshman
5	Joey Lavallee	Missouri	Senior
6	Dylan Palacio	Cornell	Senior
7	Joe Smith	Oklahoma State	Sophomore
8	Colin Heffernan	Central Michigan	Junior
9	Clayton Ream	North Dakota State	Junior
10	Josh Shields	Arizona State	Freshman
11	Clark Glass	Oklahoma	Senior
12	Brian Murphy	Michigan	Senior
13	Russell Parsons	Army	Senior
14	Jake Short	Minnesota	Junior
15	Kyle Langenderfer	Illinois	Junior
16	Victor Lopez	Bucknell	Senior
17	Sal Mastriani	Virginia Tech	Junior
18	Archie Colgan	Wyoming	Junior
19	Andrew Atkinson	Virginia	Junior
20	BJ Clagon	Rider	Junior
21	May Bethea	Pennsylvania	Junior
22	John Van Brill	Rutgers	Sophomore
23	Alex Griffin	Purdue	Senior
24	Colin Holler	South Dakota State	Junior
25	Aaron Walker	The Citadel	Senior

 

165 pounds

1	Isaiah Martinez	Illinois	Junior
2	Logan Massa	Michigan	Freshman
3	Isaac Jordan	Wisconsin	Senior
4	Vincenzo Joseph	Penn State	Freshman
5	Chad Walsh	Rider	Junior
6	Anthony Valencia	Arizona State	Freshman
7	Chandler Rogers	Oklahoma State	Sophomore
8	Daniel Lewis	Missouri	Sophomore
9	Bryce Steiert	Northern Iowa	Sophomore
10	TeShan Campbell	Pittsburgh	Sophomore
11	Branson Ashworth	Wyoming	Sophomore
12	Dylan Cottrell	West Virginia	Senior
13	Austin Matthews	Edinboro	Junior
14	Nick Wanzek	Minnesota	Junior
15	Yoanse Mejias	Oklahoma	Junior
16	Mitch Minotti	Lehigh	Senior
17	Lorenzo DeLaRiva	CSU Bakersfield	Freshman
18	Joey Gunther	Iowa	Freshman
19	Keaton Subjeck	Stanford	Junior
20	Brandon Womack	Cornell	Sophomore
21	Luke Zilverberg	South Dakota State	Junior
22	Drew Hughes	Michigan State	Freshman
23	Andrew Fogarty	North Dakota State	Freshman
24	Tyrel White	Columbia	Junior
25	Keilan Torres	Northern Colorado	Junior

 

174 pounds

1	Zahid Valencia	Arizona State	Freshman
2	Brian Realbuto	Cornell	Senior
3	Bo Jordan	Ohio State	Junior
4	Zach Epperly	Virginia Tech	Junior
5	Ethan Ramos	North Carolina	Junior
6	Mark Hall	Penn State	Freshman
7	Ryan Preisch	Lehigh	Sophomore
8	Kyle Crutchmer	Oklahoma State	Senior
9	Myles Amine	Michigan	Freshman
10	Zac Brunson	Illinois	Senior
11	Alex Meyer	Iowa	Senior
12	Lelund Weatherspoon	Iowa State	Senior
13	Taylor Lujan	Northern Iowa	Freshman
14	Casey Kent	Pennsylvania	Senior
15	Jim Wilson	Stanford	Senior
16	Jadaen Bernstein	Navy	Junior
17	Christian Brucki	Central Michigan	Sophomore
18	David Kocer	South Dakota State	Junior
19	Jordan Pagano	Rutgers	Sophomore
20	Trace Engelkes	Northern Illinois	Senior
21	Josef Johnson	Harvard	Junior
22	Jonathan Schleifer	Princeton	Junior
23	Devin Skatza	Indiana	Freshman
24	Connor Bass	Duke	Senior
25	Micah Barnes	Nebraska	Senior

 

184 pounds

1	Gabe Dean	Cornell	Senior
2	Bo Nickal	Penn State	Sophomore
3	Sam Brooks	Iowa	Senior
4	T.J. Dudley	Nebraska	Senior
5	Nathan Jackson	Indiana	Senior
6	Zack Zavatsky	Virginia Tech	Sophomore
7	Nolan Boyd	Oklahoma State	Senior
8	Jack Dechow	Old Dominion	Senior
9	Myles Martin	Ohio State	Sophomore
10	Pat Downey	Iowa State	Senior
11	Mike Macchiavello	North Carolina State	Junior
12	Emory Parker	Illinois	Sophomore
13	Nicholas Gravina	Rutgers	Junior
14	Drew Foster	Northern Iowa	Sophomore
15	Dakota Geer	Edinboro	Freshman
16	Jordan Ellingwood	Central Michigan	Junior
17	Bryce Carr	Chattanooga	Junior
18	Steve Schneider	Binghamton	Junior
19	Villa Heino	Campbell	Senior
20	Chip Ness	North Carolina	Junior
21	Hunter Gamble	Gardner-Webb	Senior
22	Mitch Sliga	Northwestern	Junior
23	Hunter Ritter	Wisconsin	Freshman
24	Nick Corba	Cleveland State	Junior
25	Alex DeCiantis	Drexel	Junior

 

197 pounds

1	J'den Cox	Missouri	Senior
2	Brett Pfarr	Minnesota	Senior
3	Jared Haught	Virginia Tech	Junior
4	Kollin Moore	Ohio State	Freshman
5	Jacob Smith	West Virginia	Senior
6	Aaron Studebaker	Nebraska	Senior
7	Matt McCutcheon	Penn State	Junior
8	Preston Weigel	Oklahoma State	Sophomore
9	Nathan Rotert	South Dakota State	Junior
10	Ryan Wolfe	Rider	Senior
11	Tom Sleigh	Bucknell	Junior
12	Shawn Scott	Northern Illinois	Senior
13	Brett Harner	Princeton	Senior
14	Ricky Robertson	Wisconsin	Junior
15	Austin Severn	Central Michigan	Senior
16	Kevin Beazley	Old Dominion	Junior
17	Owen Scott	Cornell	Senior
18	Frank Mattiace	Pennsylvania	Sophomore
19	Corey Griego	Oregon State	Sophomore
20	Brad Johnson	Oklahoma	Senior
21	Matt Williams	CSU Bakersfield	Junior
22	Jacob Holschlag	Northern Iowa	Sophomore
23	James Benjamin	Buffalo	Junior
24	Josh Marchok	Stanford	Senior
25	Jacob Berkowitz	Northwestern	Senior

 

285 pounds

1	Kyle Snyder	Ohio State	Junior
2	Connor Medbery	Wisconsin	Senior
3	Nick Nevills	Penn State	Sophomore
4	Ty Walz	Virginia Tech	Senior
5	Jacob Kasper	Duke	Senior
6	Austin Schafer	Oklahoma State	Senior
7	Michael Kroells	Minnesota	Senior
8	Tanner Hall	Arizona State	Sophomore
9	Denzel Dejournette	Appalachian State	Senior
10	Collin Jensen	Nebraska	Senior
11	Jared Johnson	Chattanooga	Senior
12	Nathan Butler	Stanford	Junior
13	Thomas Haines	Lock Haven	Sophomore
14	Billy Miller	Edinboro	Sophomore
15	Doug Vollaro	Lehigh	Senior
16	Ross Larson	Oklahoma	Senior
17	Ryan Solomon	Pittsburgh	Junior
18	Brooks Black	Illinois	Junior
19	Cody Crawford	Oregon State	Junior
20	Joe Goodhart	Drexel	Junior
21	Raymond O'Donnell	Princeton	Senior
22	Gage Hutchison	Eastern Michigan	Junior
23	Garrett Ryan	Columbia	Junior
24	Jeremy Sweany	Cornell	Sophomore
25	Michael Boykin	North Carolina State	Junior