DII and DIII regionals help shape award standings headed into NCAA championships

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA has released updated standings for the 2019 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 results to be counted they must come against opponents in the same division (i.e. Division II vs. Division II). Ties in the falls and tech falls categories are broken based on the aggregate time. 

Division II and III wrestlers competed in their NCAA regional qualifying tournaments over the weekend to set the standings headed into the NCAA championships.

Chris Eddins, Jr., earned a fall, tech fall and major decision in the 149-pound final on his way to the NCAA Division II Super Regional I championship for Pittsburgh-Johnstown and took the lead in the race for most dominant with an average of 4.58 team points per match. St. Cloud State 197-pounder Vince Dietz grinded out a pair of close decisions in the semis and final to win his weight class in NCAA Super Regional V to fall just .02 points (4.56) behind Eddins headed to nationals in Cleveland. Western Colorado 174-pounder Brandon Supernaw won his weight class in NCAA Super Regional VI and sits third with 4.39 points.

Four wrestlers are closely bunched behind the national leader for most dominant and all are headed to the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships in Roanoke, Virginia. SUNY Oneonta heavyweight James Bethel won the Mideast regional picking up a fall and tech fall to be the leader with an average of 5.29 team points per match. Jake Evans of Waynesburg is second with 5.11 points after two major decisions and a fall in a runner-up finish in the Southeast regional.  Heavyweight Konrad Ernst of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Stevens 141-pounder Troy Stanich are tied for third with 5.08 points, while Rochester Institute of Technology 157-pounder Kaidon Winters has 5.04 points.

Bo Nickal of Penn State needed just 1:19 to pin Brett Perry of Buffalo over the weekend to increase his lead for most dominant in Division I to 5.41 points. Jason Nolf (5.26) and Vincenzo Joseph (5.00) also had falls against the Bulls to keep pace with their teammate. 

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)

A fall on Friday over Michigan State’s Chris Beard gave Central Michigan heavyweight Matt Stencel his 17^th of the season to hold a lead of one over George Mason’s Colston DiBlasi. Nickal maintains his position in third with 15, while Missouri 141-pounder Jaydin Eierman has 14.

Lake Erie heavyweight Evan Loughman had two falls in NCAA Super Regional III over the weekend to hold the Division II lead by one over McKendree’s Ryan Vasbinder and two more than Tiffin’s Nicholas Mason. Newberry heavyweight Patton Gossett is the only other wrestler in double digits with 10.

While chasing James Bethel for most dominant, Waynesburg’s Evans is the national leader in falls with 22, one more than his fellow heavyweight and with a potential meeting at the NCAA Championships on tap next weekend. Da’mani Burns of JWU (Providence) had two falls at the Northeast regional on his way to a runner-up finish at 149 pounds and has 21 falls on his resume to sit third based on aggregate time.

The standings for tech falls in Division I remain the same this week with Lock Haven’s Kyle Shoop holding the lead with 14, over Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix (12) and Nicholas Piccininni (10).

Nebraska-Kearney 125-pounder Josh Portillo and Mercyhurst 165-pounder Logan Grass are both headed to Cleveland with eight tech falls in Division II. Portillo holds a narrow advantage in aggregate time of just 58 seconds. 

Messiah 149-pounder Stephen Maloney had two tech falls on his way to second place in the Southeast regional to increase his national lead in Division III to 17. Northeast regional 125-pound champ Jay Albis of JWU (Providence) had two of his own to keep pace with 15 tech falls, while Jordin James of Mount Union has 13.