Photo of Wyatt Hendrickson, the Air Force heavyweight, courtesy of Air Force Athletics.

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA has released updated standings for the 2022 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 for the awards 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.

This week features the unveiling of standings for the Most Dominant Wrestler award, which features a 15-match minimum to qualify for the standings.

In Division I, Air Force heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson leads the early standings for Most Dominant Wrestler with an average of 5.44 team points per match behind his 16-0 D-I record with 11 falls, which is tied for the second-most in the division. The national leader in tech falls, Sebastian Rivera of Rutgers, is second with a 4.90 average, while two-time national champion Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell is third with a 4.72 average.

A national champion in 2019, Matt Malcom of Nebraska-Kearney leads the Most Dominant standings in Division II with 4.88 team points per match, which is a significant lead over second place Dalton Abney of Central Oklahoma at 4.50, while West Liberty 125-pounder Cole Laya is third at 4.33.

RIT 157-pounder Kaidon Winters leads in the race for Division III Most Dominant with 5.57 team points per match but is followed closely by the tandem of Millikin 165-pounder Braden Birt and Coe heavyweight Kaleb Reeves who are both averaging 5.48 team points per match.

The Most Dominant Wrestler standings are calculated by adding the total number of team 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)

King Sandoval of Maryland continues to pace Division I in falls with 13 on the season as he’s moved two ahead of the pack with four wrestlers holding 11 falls. Based on aggregate time that group is led by North Dakota State 197-pounder Owen Pentz, followed by South Dakota State 165-pounder Tanner Cook, Bloomsburg 141-pounder Josh Mason and Hendrickson.

UIndy 149-pounder Logan Bailey notched another fall and now has the sole lead in Division II with 12 falls, one more than Tiffin’s Nicholas Mason and two more than Augustus Dalton of Colorado Mesa.

Division III has a new leader in falls as Washington & Lee 165-pounder Joe Salerno has reached 19 falls and holds a 1:03 aggregate time advantage over Michael Gonyea of Castleton’s 19 falls. Salerno and Gonyea hold a two-fall lead over the next group which is led by the top two wrestlers in the Most Dominant standings of Birt and Winters.

Rivera has picked up another technical fall to reach 12 and extend his lead to six over the quartet of wrestlers that have six tech falls in Division I.

Nebraska-Kearney teammates Austin Eldridge and Malcom continue to lead the way in Division II tech falls. Eldridge holds the overall lead with 12, while Malcom has 10 as the only two wrestlers to reach double figures in the division.

Johnson & Wales 174-pounder Michael Ross had a dominant start to the season and recently added a 20th technical fall to his new Division III record since the implementation of the awards, moving two ahead of the 18 from Stephen Jarrell of Johnson & Wales in 2017. Augsburg 157-pounder Tyler Shilson is having an excellent season in his own right with his 14 tech falls in second putting him significantly ahead of third-place Cooper Pontelandolfo of NYU in third with 11.

NCAA STAT LEADERS - MOST DOMINANT
15-match minimum in the division required to be ranked

Division I
Rank/Name/School/Weight/Avg. Team Points
1 Wyatt Hendrickson Air Force 285 5.44
2 Sebastian Rivera Rutgers 141 4.90
3 Yianni Diakomihalis Cornell 149 4.72
4 Keegan O'Toole Missouri 165 4.59
5 Daton Fix Oklahoma St. 133 4.47
6 Michael O'Malley Drexel 174 4.44
7 Dean Hamiti Wisconsin 165 4.37
8 David Carr Iowa St. 157 4.33
9 Mekhi Lewis Virginia Tech 174 4.19
10 Austin O'Connor North Carolina 157 4.13

Division II
Rank/Name/School/Weight/Avg. Team Points
1 Matt Malcom Neb.-Kearney 165 4.88
2 Dalton Abney Central Okla. 197 4.50
3 Cole Laya West Liberty 125 4.33
4 Joey Bianchini St. Cloud St. 141 4.20
5 Austin Eldredge Neb.-Kearney 174 4.13
6 Juan Holmes Limestone 285 4.07
7 Christian Small King (TN) 141 4.00
8 Brock Biddle Pitt.-Johnstown 174 3.95
9 Nicholas Mason Tiffin 197 3.91
10 Shane Gantz Wis.-Parkside 165 3.87

Division III
Rank/Name/School/Weight/Avg. Team Points
1 Kaidon Winters RIT 157 5.57
2 Bradan Birt Millikin 165 5.48
2 Kaleb Reeves Coe 285 5.48
4 Zane Mulder Wartburg 174 5.24
5 Kyle Hatch Wabash 165 5.18
6 Evan Whiteside Thiel 125 5.12
7 Nathan Lackman Rhode Island Col. 157 5.11
8 Matt Lackman Alvernia 165 5.00
8 Dalton Rohrbaugh York (PA) 133 5.00
10 Brett Kaliner Stevens 149 4.94

NCAA STAT LEADERS - FALLS

Division I
Rank/Name/School/Weight Falls/Time
1 King Sandoval Maryland 133 13 26:07
2 Owen Pentz North Dakota St. 197 11 24:12
3 Tanner Cook South Dakota St. 165 11 25:16
4 Josh Mason Bloomsburg 141 11 25:20
5 Wyatt Hendrickson Air Force 285 11 26:54
6 Anthony Sobotker Binghamton 133 10 38:54
7 Michael O'Malley Drexel 174 9 21:30
8 Matt Stencel Central Mich. 285 9 23:34
9 Donnell Washington Indiana 184 8 17:09
10 Grady Griess Navy 285 8 21:51

Division II
Rank/Name/School/Weight/Falls/Time
1 Logan Bailey UIndy 149 12 24:09
2 Nicholas Mason Tiffin 197 11 31:32
3 Augustus Dalton Colorado Mesa 165 10 16:25
4 Jacob Robb Mercyhurst 285 9 23:25
5 Evan Carrigan Newberry 125 9 31:08
6 Juan Holmes Limestone 285 8 15:30
7 Joel Leise Gannon 197 8 19:52
8 Walker Heckendorf Western Colo. 157 8 21:29
9 Logan Branham Belmont Abbey 197 8 22:05
10 Ryan Ripplinger McKendree 133 8 24:23

Division III
Rank/Name/School/Weight Falls/Time
1 Joe Salerno Wash. & Lee 165 19 38:18
2 Michael Gonyea Castleton 133 19 39:21
3 Bradan Birt Millikin 165 17 28:40
4 Kaidon Winters RIT 157 17 35:37
5 Evan Fidelibus New England Col. 149 17 37:40
6 Colin Honderd Cornell College 184 17 45:35
7 Kaleb Reeves Coe 285 16 24:12
8 Javen Estrada North Central (IL) 141 16 24:52
9 Matt Lackman Alvernia 165 16 34:52
10 John Fulmer Lycoming 285 15 19:07

NCAA STAT LEADERS - TECH FALLS

Division I
Rank/Name/School/Weight/Tech Falls/Time
1 Sebastian Rivera Rutgers 141 12 73:18
2 Michael McGee Arizona St. 133 6 25:32
3 Braxton Amos Wisconsin 197 6 27:55
4 Austin DeSanto Iowa 133 6 30:21
5 Devin Schroder Purdue 125 6 31:14
6 Yianni Diakomihalis Cornell 149 5 20:03
7 Cole Urbas Penn 197 5 20:41
8 Cody Howard Virginia Tech 197 5 22:07
9 Derek Spann Buffalo 133 5 22:11
10 Logan Messer George Mason 174 5 22:12

Division II
Rank/Name/School/Weight/Tech Falls/Time
1 Austin Eldredge Neb.-Kearney 174 12 34:27
2 Matt Malcom Neb.-Kearney 165 10 42:36
3 Nicholas Daggett UNC Pembroke 125 8 32:15
4 Brock Biddle Pitt.-Johnstown 174 8 32:57
5 Cole Houser Glenville St. 184 8 36:02
6 Nick Novak St. Cloud State 149 6 20:09
7 Jonathan Andreatta Adams St. 133 6 25:21
8 Nick James Neb.-Kearney 141 5 19:48
9 Darius Parker Lander 197 5 21:14
10 Andrew Sams UIndy 174 5 23:25

Division III
Rank/Name/School/Weight/Tech Falls/Time
1 Michael Ross JWU (Providence) 174 20 84:18
2 Tyler Shilson Augsburg 157 14 61:10
3 Cooper Pontelandolfo NYU 165 11 41:12
4 Nick Rogge Augsburg 184 10 33:04
5 Schuyler Caprella Ohio Northern 157 10 35:16
6 Fox Maxwell Bridgewater St. 174 10 39:10
7 Bradan Birt Millikin 165 9 34:03
8 Quinn Tobin Alvernia 141 9 37:16
9 Albert Xing Williams 157 8 36:54
10 Brock Henderson Coe 141 8 40:44

NCAA updates Wrestling Awards Standings in all three divisions; D-I leaders: Hendrickson (Most Dominant), Sandoval (Falls), Rivera (Tech Falls)

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