College wrestling: New NCAA award standings after championship competition

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. Last weekend featured the Pac-12 Championships in Division I, super regionals in Division II and regional competition in Division III.

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 keeps the top average with 5.47 team points per match in the race for the Most Dominant Wrestler, while teammate Jason Nolf is at 5.42 points at 157 pounds.

Austin Goergen of 2015 and 2016 national champion St. Cloud State is the leader in Division II with an average of 5.11 points as a heavyweight, while Pittsburgh-Johnstown 157-pounder Cody Law is second with 4.79 points.

Three-time national champion and the 2016 Division III Most Dominant Wrestler Riley Lefever of Wabash averages 5.58 team points per match to lead all divisions.

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 17-match minimum against wrestlers from the same division.

Two-time Cornell national champion Gabe Dean and Rider 165-pounder Chad Walsh have 15 falls this season to lead Division I, with Dean holding the tiebreaker with a significant time advantage of 35:20 to 71:19.

Tiffin heavyweight Garrett Gray and Western State 125-pounder Ronald Wardleigh each have 16 falls in Division II, with Gray holding the tiebreaker with an aggregate time of 42:53.

Hunter Harris of Messiah has pulled ahead further in Division III with 30 falls this season at 133 pounds, five more than his nearest competitor.

True freshman Jack Mueller of Virginia has led Division I in tech falls all season, but he was surpassed by Wisconsin heavyweight Connor Medbery with 11 tech falls, while Mueller and two-time national champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois each have 10.

Nic Goebel of Findlay has compiled 11 tech falls in Division II, while Nicholas Fiegener of California Baptist has nine.

Stephen Jarrell of Johnson & Wales (Rhode Island) has 17 tech falls at 174 pounds to hold a lead of four over Ursinus 149-pounder Alex Kramer and Messiah 174-pounder Ben Swarr.