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Nick Lee of Penn State moves to No. 1 at 141 in new Trackwrestling rankings

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by Andy Hamilton, Trackwrestling

College wrestling’s dual season is nearing its end with the postseason quickly approaching. A big weekend of rivalry duals led to a new No. 1 at 141 pounds, some subtle shifts in the team rankings and more movement through the 10 individual weight classes in the latest edition of the Trackwrestling Division I Rankings presented by Resilite.

Penn State junior Nick Lee became the third wrestler of the season to occupy the top spot in the 141-pound rankings when he downed previous-No. 1 Luke Pletcher during the Nittany Lions’ dual victor against Ohio State. It was part of a shakeup near the top of the rankings at 141, where Iowa’s Max Murin surged three spots to No. 4 after defeating Minnesota All-American Mitch McKee.

Those results helped the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions move further out in front of the pack in the team standings.

Iowa continues to pace the field. The Hawkeyes are up to 138.5 projected NCAA placement and advancement points. Penn State is second with 84.5, followed by Ohio State (68.5), Arizona State (53), Wisconsin (51), Princeton (46), Minnesota (45.5), Oklahoma State (41), Northwestern (40.5) and Nebraska (39.5).

Among other key developments from the weekend:

— Virginia Tech All-American David McFadden dropped eight spots at 165 after losing Friday night to North Carolina State’s Thomas Bullard.

— Northern Iowa All-American Bryce Steiert held onto the No. 5 spot at 174, despite losing Sunday to Iowa State’s Sam Colbray, who checks in this week at No. 16. It was the first loss of the season to someone outside the top 5 for Steiert, who owns a win this season against No. 6 Mike Labriola of Nebraska.

— Cornell All-American Ben Darmstadt dropped three notches to No. 6 at 197 after losing to unranked Brandon Whitman of North Carolina.

The Trackwrestling team rankings are based strictly on 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. Team dual outcomes are not factored into the team rankings.

The Trackwrestling rankings go out to 33, representing the number of wrestlers who will qualify for the NCAA Championships at each weight class.

The rankings are coordinated by David Mirikitani and Mark Ostrander.

Do you have questions or comments on the Trackwrestling rankings? Email us with feedback at rankings@trackwrestling.com.

Rank School Points
1 Iowa 138.5
2 Penn State 84.5
3 Ohio State 68.5
4 Arizona State 53
5 Wisconsin 51
6 Princeton 46
7 Minnesota 45.5
8 Oklahoma State 41
9 Northwestern 40.5
10 Nebraska 39.5
11 North Carolina State 36
12 Lehigh 33
13 Northern Iowa 32.5
14 Purdue 32
15 Stanford 29.5
16 Michigan 26.5
17 Virginia 24.5
18 Virginia Tech 23.5
19 Iowa State 23
20 Missouri 21
21 Cornell 19
22 Central Michigan 17.5
T-23 Pittsburgh 16
T-23 West Virginia 16
25 North Carolina 14
26 Utah Valley 13.5
27 Pennsylvania 12
28 Binghamton 11.5
29 Rider 11
T-30 Illinois 10.5
T-30 Oklahoma 10.5
T-32 Army 8.5
T-32 Campbell 8.5
T-32 Michigan State 8.5
T-32 Wyoming 8.5
36 North Dakota State 8
T-37 Rutgers 7.5
T-37 South Dakota State 7.5
39 Northern Colorado 6.5
40 Navy 5.5

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