WIN’s TPI: Penn State picked to Three-Peat in 2013

Two-time defending NCAA champion Nittany Lions head WIN’s 2012-13 Preseason Tournament Power Index

Sept. 13, 2012

NEWTON, Iowa — Penn State, which has won the last two NCAA Division I championships, is the top preseason team in WIN’s 2012-13 Preseason Tournament Power Index (TPI) and individual rankings.

The Nittany Lions, who return two NCAA champions (Hodge Trophy winner David Taylor and Ed Ruth) from last year and another titlist from 2011 (Quentin Wright) are predicted to produce the most All-Americans (7) this March in Des Moines, Iowa, the site of the 2013 NCAA Division I Championships. While Taylor is expected to remain at 165 pounds, Ruth and Wright are moving up one weight to 184 and 197, respectively. Also picked to finish in the Top 8 for Penn State are 125-pound sophomore Nico Megaludis (2^nd in 2012) and 157-pound Dylan Alton (3^rd), as well as 149-pound Andrew Alton (who redshirted in 2012) and 174-pound Matt Brown.

A total of 2.5 pounds separate the next three teams in Iowa, Oklahoma State and Minnesota.

The Hawkeyes, who finished third in 2012, are led by two-time champion Matt McDonough (125 pounds) and returning All-Americans Tony Ramos (133), Derek St. John (157), Ethen Lofthouse (174) and Bobby Telford (Hwt).

Oklahoma State, which claimed sixth in last year’s NCAAs, returns four All-Americans, including 2011 national champion Jordan Oliver, who is moving up one weight to 141 pounds and rated No. 1. Another Cowboy in the Top 8 is 174-pound Chris Perry, who is picked to win in 2013 after claiming third last March. Other predicted All-Americans for OSU are 165-pound Tyler Caldwell, a transfer from Oklahoma who redshirted in 2012 after finishing second in 2011, and heavyweight Alan Gelogaev, who was ranked No. 1 most of last season but missed the postseason when he was injured prior to the NWCA National Duals.

Minnesota, which won last year’s National Duals and finished second in the NCAA tournament, returns one national champion — heavyweight Anthony Nelson — as well as four other All-Americans: 133-pound Chris Dardanes, 149-pound Dylan Ness (an NCAA runner-up in 2012), Logan Storley (174) and Kevin Steinhaus (184).

Overall, ten former NCAA champions will return in 2013, including Cornell’s 157-pound Kyle Dake, who hopes to become just the third all-time Division I wrestler to win four NCAA titles. Other returning titlists are 133-pound Logan Stieber (Ohio State), 184-pound Steve Bosak (Cornell) and 197-pound Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) who redshirted last winter after becoming his school’s first national champ in 2011.

WIN’s Tournament Power Index and Individual Rankings are subject to change once wrestlers officially decide at what weight they will wrestle in 2013.

The WIN TPI does not rank teams according to dual meet performances. Instead, WIN also ranks teams in a separate Dual Team Rankings, which will be released at a later date.

In working to compile the most accurate rankings possible during the season, WIN seeks to subjectively combine both the most recent week’s and season’s results with past performance and proven records of consistency. Those results, in regards to who’s wrestling well, are balanced against who have proven they can win the big matches towards the end of the year and those who will most likely place high or win the national tournament in March.

The WIN TPI is compiled by awarding points to each team for the ranked wrestlers they have in WIN’s current individual rankings that can be found below in all 10 weight classes. In a sense, it suggests how many points these teams could score at this year’s NCAA tournament, March 21-23, in Des Moines, Iowa. TPI points will not match the final NCAA tournament points because it does not include bonus points for pins, technical falls, major decisions and forfeits/defaults.

Teams are awarded points based on how many potential All-Americans (Top 8 wrestlers) they could have and get advancement points for wrestlers ranked No. 9-20. The order of teams in the TPI vary greatly from dual meet rankings, as some teams have a number of highly-ranked individuals but may have holes in their dual meet line-up.

Point totals associated with individual rankings are as followed: 1st – 20 (16 AA points + 4 advancement points); 2nd – 16 (12+4); 3rd – 13.5 (10+3.5); 4th – 12. 5 (9+3.5); 5th – 10 (7+3); 6th – 9 (6+3); 7th – 6.5 (4+2.5); 8th – 5.5 (3+2.5); 9th/12th – 2; 13th/16th – 1.5; 17th-20th – 1.

WIN’s 2012-13 NCAA Division I Preseason Tournament Power Index

As of September 13, 2012

Rank              College                           Top 8             TPI

1          Penn State          7          97.5

2          Iowa          6          79.5

3          Oklahoma State          5          79

4          Minnesota          5          77

5          Ohio State          4          65

6          Illinois          6          64

7          Cornell          3          46

8          Central Michigan          3          40

9          Missouri          3          37.5

10          Northwestern          3          31.5

11          Oklahoma          3          31

12          Kent State          2          30

13          Virginia Tech          2          27.5

14          Boise State          1          26.5

15t          Maryland          2          26

15t          Oregon State          2          26

17          Hofstra          2          25.5

18          Nebraska          2          23

19          Pittsburgh          1          21

20          Northern Iowa          2          18.5

21          Virginia          2          17.5

22          Binghamton          1          16.5

23          Wisconsin          1          16

24          Lehigh          1          15.5

25          Wyoming          1          15

26          Edinboro          2          14.5

27          Harvard          2          13

28t          Clarion          1          10

28t          Penn          1          10

30          Bloomsburg          1          9

31          Ohio          1          7.5

32t          Iowa State          0          6

32t          Michigan          0          6

32t          Rutgers          0          6

35t          Navy          1          5.5

35t          NC State          1          5.5

37t          Purdue          0          5

37t          West Virginia          0          5

39t          North Dakota St          0          4.5

39t          Old Dominion          0          4.5

41t          Citadel          0          4

41t          Indiana          0          4

43t          Air Force          0          3.5

43t          Princeton          0          3.5

45t          Arizona State          0          3

45t          Bucknell          0          3

47t          Columbia          0          2.5

47t          Eastern Michigan          0          2.5

47t          North Carolina          0          2.5

47t          Drexel          0          2.5

51t          Cal Poly          0          2

51t          Buffalo          0          2

53t          American          0          1.5

53t          Chattanooga          0          1.5

53t          Michigan State          0          1.5

56t          Army          0          1

55t          Boston U          0          1

56t          George Mason          0          1

56t          Rider          0          1

56t          Northern Illinois          0          1

56t          Utah Valley          0          1

WIN’s 2012-13 NCAA Division I Preseason Individual Rankings

As of  September 13, 2012

125 Pounds

Rk            Name            ’11-12 Rec.            Yr.            School

1          Matt McDonough          36-1 (1^st)          Sr.            Iowa

2          Nico Megaludis          28-8 (2^nd)          So.          Penn State

3          Jesse Delgado          34-8 (7^th)                     So.          Illinois

4          Steve Bonano          32-9  (8^th)                    Sr.          Hofstra

5          Alan Waters          29-4                       Jr.          Missouri

6          Jarrod Garnett          Redshirted          Sr.          Virginia Tech

7          Levi Mele          31-8          Sr.          Northwestern

8          Matt Snyder          24-5                        Sr.          Virginia

9          Anthony Zanetta          29-6                        Sr.          Pittsburgh

10          Trent Sprenkle          33-12                      Sr.          North Dakota St

11          Joe Roth          35-9            Jr.          Central Michigan

12          Ryak Finch          15-10                      So.          Iowa State

13          Camden Eppert          14-10                    Jr.          Purdue

14          Garrett Frey          27-11             Sr.          Princeton

15          Jared Germaine          24-11           Jr.          Eastern Michigan

16          Johnni DiJulius          19-15             So.          Ohio State

17          Shane Young          24-8          Sr.          West Virginia

18          Shane Gentry          14-10              Jr.          Maryland

19          Vince Rodriquez          18-11          So.          George Mason

20          Jerome Robinson          17-11              So.          Old Dominion

133 Pounds

Rk            Name            ’11-12 Rec.            Yr.            School

1          Logan Stieber          33-2 (1^st)          So.          Ohio State

2          Tyler Graff          Redshirted          Sr.          Wisconsin

3          Tony Ramos          33-4 (3^rd)          Jr.          Iowa

4          Scott Sentes          Redshirted          Sr.          Central Michigan

5          Chris Dardanes          28-12 (4^th)           So.          Minnesota

6          Joe Colon          27-4                Jr.          Northern Iowa

7          A J Schopp          39-6          So.          Edinboro

8          Steven Keith          34-11 (8^th)             Sr.          Harvard

9          Cashe Quiroga          22-8               Jr.          Purdue

10          Shelton Mack          23-10               Jr.          Pittsburgh

11          Mason Beckman          31-13             So.          Lehigh

12          Zach Horan          18-13                So.          Central Michigan

13          Nathan McCormick          16-7              Sr.          Missouri

14          Zach Zehner          29-13              So.          Wyoming

15          Nick Soto          26-8            So.          Chattanooga

16          Brian Owen          9-3            Sr.          Boise State

17          Nick Arujau          6-7                      Jr.          Cornell

18          Nathan Pennesi          29-10          Jr.          West Virginia

19          Jordan Thome          28-13              Sr.          Army

20          Jamie Franco          21-13                   Jr.          Hofstra

141 Pounds

Rk            Name            ’11-12 Rec.            Yr.            School

1          Jordan Oliver          28-2 @ 133 (2^nd)            Sr.          Oklahoma State

2          Kendric Maple          32-3  (4^th)             Jr.          Oklahoma

3          Mike Mangrum          38-5  (5^th)            Sr.          Oregon State

4          Hunter Stieber          28-7 (6^th)                 So.          Ohio State

5          B.J. Futrell          30-9 @ 133 (6^th)          Jr.          Illinois

6          Mike Nevinger          33-12 (7^th)                   Jr.          Cornell

7          Tyler Small          32-11          Jr.          Kent State

8          Mitchell Port          30-10                   So.          Edinboro

9          Nick Dardanes          21-10             So.          Minnesota

10          Zach Neibert          22-12          Jr.          Virginia Tech

11          Adam Krop          31-12             Jr.          Princeton

12          Luke Vaith          24-10                 Jr.          Hofstra

13          Justin LaValle          27-16                Jr.          Old Dominion

14          Mike Morales          18-4              Jr.          West Virginia

15          Evan Henderson          28-13          So.          North Carolina

16          Matt Nelson          19-7 @ at 133          Jr.          Virginia

17          Nathan Hoffer          20-11            Jr.          Arizona State

18          Luke Goettl          12-13            So.          Iowa State

19          Nick Hucke          16-14           Sr.          Missouri

20          Kevin Fanta          15-7              Jr.          Northern Illinois

149 Pounds

Rk            Name            ’11-12 Rec.            Yr.            School

1          Jason Chamberlain          Redshirted          Sr.          Boise State

2          Dylan Ness          24-9 (2^nd)                    So.          Minnesota

3          Donald Vinson          40-5 (3^rd)                      Sr.          Binghamton

4          Cam Tessari          28-11 (4^th)                     So.          Ohio State

5          Justin Accordino          26-14 (6^th)                    Sr.          Hofstra

6          Scott Sakaguchi          38-7 (7^th)                       Jr.          Oregon State

7          Nick Lester          23-13 (8^th)              Jr.          Oklahoma

8          Andrew Alton          Redshirted                So.          Penn State

9          Cole VonOhlen          37-4                Sr.          Air Force

10          Derek Valenti          Redshirted          Sr.          Virginia

11          Eric Grajales          20-8          Jr.            Michigan

12          Ian Miller          29-5             So.          Kent State

13          David Habat          36-8           So.          Edinboro

14          Jake Sueflohn          25-11 @ 141           So.          Nebraska

15          Josh Kindig          16-10 @ 141            Jr.          Oklahoma State

16          Steve Santos          26-11                      Sr.          Columbia

17          Taylor Walsh          29-12            So.          Indiana

18          Nick Brascetta          22-6              So.          Virginia Tech

19          Josh Wilson          20-11              Sr.          Utah Valley

20          Mario Mason          19-4              Sr.          Rutgers

157 Pounds

Rk            Name            ’11-12 Rec.            Yr.            School

1          Kyle Dake          35-0 (1^st)          Sr.          Cornell

2          Derek St. John          21-3 (2^nd)          Jr.          Iowa

3          Dylan Alton          30-6 (3^rd)          So.          Penn State

4          Jason Welch          27-3 (4^th)          Sr.          Northwestern

5          James Fleming          33-4 (5^th)          Sr.          Clarion

6          James Green          34-9 (7^th)          So.          Nebraska

7          Walter Peppelman          30-7 (8^th)          Sr.          Harvard

8          Frank Hickman          31-7          Sr.            Bloomsburg

9          Jesse Dong          Redshirted          Sr.          Virginia Tech

10          Roger Pena          30-9           Jr.          Oregon State

11          David Bonin          30-9          Sr.          Northern Iowa

12          Matt Lester          21-11             Jr.          Oklahoma

13          Drake Houdashelt          28-7           So.          Missouri

14          Josh Kreimer          26-16                 Jr.          Air Force

15          Josh Demas          22-15              So.          Ohio State

15          George Ivanov          22-8               Sr.          Boise State

17          Corey Mock          27-12            Jr.          North Carolina

18          John Nicholson          27-8               Jr.          Old Dominion

19          Aaron Sulzer          20-11             Sr.          Eastern Michigan

20.           Jake O’Hara          28-15          Sr.          Columbia

165 Pounds

Rk            Name            ’11-12 Rec.            Yr.            School

1          David Taylor          32-0 (1^st)          Jr.          Penn State

2          Tyler Caldwell          Redshirted          Jr.          Oklahoma State

3          Peter Yates          28-7 (5^th)          Sr.          Virginia Tech

4          Josh Asper          32-7 (6^th)                       Sr.          Maryland

5          Conrad Polz          24-8 (8^th)                    Jr.          Illinois

6          Mike Evans          26-8                     So.          Iowa

7          Nick Sulzer          27-9                     So.          Virginia

8          Patrick Graham          19-14              Sr.          Oklahoma

9          Corey Lear          18-11                      Sr.          Bucknell

10          Dominic Kastl          14-5                  So.          Cal Poly

11          Cody Yohn          19-11             Sr.          Minnesota

12          Scott Winston          19-8                   Sr.          Rutgers

13          Zach Toal          21-11              Jr.          Missouri

14          Joe Booth          24-7                 Sr.          Drexel

15          Steven Monk          35-9@157          Jr.          North Dakota St

16          Tyler Koehn          19-14@174                Sr.          Nebraska

17          Pierce Harger          22-14          So.          Northwestern

18          Mark Lewandowski          29-8               Sr.          Buffalo

19          Tristan Warner          27-16            Jr.          Old Dominion

20          Mike Ottinger          23-11                    So.          Central Michigan

174 Pounds

Rk            Name            ’11-12 Rec.            Yr.            School

1          Chris Perry          31-1 (3^rd)                 Jr.          Oklahoma State

2          Jordan Blanton          30-9 (4^th)          Jr.          Illinois

3          Nick Heflin          28-10 (5^th)          Jr.          Ohio State

4          Logan Storley          26-9 (6^th)          So.          Minnesota

5          Ethen Lofthouse          29-9 (7^th)          Jr.          Iowa

6          Jimmy Sheptock          30-8          Jr.          Maryland

7          Matt Brown          19-2          So.          Penn State

8          Peter Huntley          24-12          Sr.          Navy

9          Turtogtokh Luvsandorj          32-11          Sr.          Citadel

10          Robert Kokesh          30-7@165          So.          Nebraska

11          Jon Fausey          24-5@184          Jr.          Virginia

12          Ryan LeBlanc          31-16          Jr.          Indiana

13          Mike Dessino          30-11          Sr.          Bloomsburg

14          Lance Bryson          25-16          Jr.            West Virginia

15          Greg Zanetti          31-6          Sr.          Rutgers

16          Lee Munster          24-12          So.          Northwestern

17          Patrick Martinez          35-12          Jr.          Wyoming

18          Dan Yates          24-10@165                   Jr.          Michigan

19          Jim Resnick          19-6          Sr.          Rider

20          Chris Moon          19-15          Jr.          Virginia Tech

184 Pounds

Rk            Name            ’11-12 Rec.            Yr.            School

1          Ed Ruth          31-0 @ 174 (1^st)              Jr.          Penn State

2          Steve Bosak          33-4 (1^st)          Sr.          Cornell

3          Robert Hamlin          33-3 (4^th)          Sr.          Lehigh

4          Kevin Steinhaus          32-6 (5^th)             Jr.          Minnesota

5          Ben Bennett          34-6 (6^th)          Sr.          Central Michigan

6          Josh Ihnen          26-7 (8^th)                Sr.          Nebraska

7          Ryan Loder          35-6                     Jr.          Northern Iowa

8          Tony Dallago          25-13            So.          Illinois

9          Mike Larson          24-6           Sr.          Missouri

10          Grant Gambrall          12-12                 Sr.          Iowa

11          Jacob Swartz          21-6            Jr.          Boise State

12          Nathan Schiedel          30-10                 Sr.          Binghamton

13          Braden Atwood          22-15             So.          Purdue

14          Casey Newburg          30-13            Sr.          Kent State

15          Max Thomusseit          Redshirted           So.          Pittsburgh

16          Boaz Beard          10-7            Jr.          Iowa State

17          Victor Avery          24-15             So.          Edinboro

18          MacKain Stoll          24-14           Sr.          North Dakota St

19          Ryan Garringer          18-15               Jr.          Ohio

20          Ty Vinson          20-17               Sr.          Oregon State

197 Pounds

Rk            Name            ’11-12 Rec.            Yr.            School

1          Dustin Kilgore          Redshirted          Sr.          Kent State

2          Quentin Wright          30-4 @ 184 (2^nd)          Sr.          Penn State

3          Matt Wilps          34-5 (4^th)                Sr.          Pittsburgh

4          Alfonzo Hernandez          40-8 (6^th)          Sr.          Wyoming

5          Micah Burak          24-6 (7^th)            Sr.          Penn

6          Mario Gonzalez          26-9               So.          Illinois

7          Brent Haynes          25-8                     Sr.          Missouri

8          Blake Rosholt          19-3          Jr.          Oklahoma State

9          Andrew Campolattano          23-14              So.          Ohio State

10          Christian Boley          32-5                  Jr.          Maryland

11          Scott Schiller          26-4          So.          Minnesota

12          Richard Perry          33-12               Jr.          Bloomsburg

13          Brent Chriswell          14-4          Sr.          Boise State

14          Taylor Meeks          20-8              So.          Oregon State

15          Dan Mitchell          21-13               Sr.          American

16          Dan Rinaldi          26-8              Sr.          Rutgers

17          Max Huntley          15-14             So.          Michigan

18          Cody Reed          25-18             Sr.          Binghamton

19          James Fox          21-13               So.          Harvard

20          Brandon Palik          25-15          Jr.          Drexel

Heavyweight

Rk            Name            ’11-12 Rec.            Yr.            School

1          Anthony Nelson          32-2 (1^st)          Jr.          Minnesota

2          Alan Gelogaev          24-1          Sr.          Oklahoma State

3          Dom Bradley          Redshirted          Sr.          Missouri

4          Jarod Trice          Redshirted          Sr.          Central Michigan

5          Michael McMullan          29-11 (3^rd)                      So.          Northwestern

6          Bobby Telford          30-9 (5^th)                   So.          Iowa

7          Jeremy Johnson          35-7 (7^th)                       Jr.          Ohio

8          Nick Gwiazdowski          30-9 (8^th)          So.          NC State

9          Levi Cooper          28-12                  Sr.          Arizona State

10          Odie Delaney          29-4                     Sr.          Citadel

11          Ben Apland          23-11                  Sr.          Michigan

12          Zac Thomusseit          Redshirted             Sr.          Pittsburgh

13          Spencer Myers          22-9                Jr.          Maryland

14          Michael McClure          Redshirted          So.          Michigan State

15          Matt Gibson          27-10            Sr.          Iowa State

16          Peter Capone          15-17            Jr.          Ohio State

17          Peter Innis          22-7               Jr.          Boston U

18          Keldrick Hall          22-12 @ 197          Jr.          Oklahoma

19          Blayne Beale          28-13          Sr.          Northern Iowa

20          Adam Chalfant          24-13           Jr.          Indiana