Missouri takes over No. 1 spot in WIN’s Tournament Power Index Rankings

Feb 23, 2015

NEWTON, Iowa — The University of Missouri did more than capture a first-ever NWCA National Duals championship when the Tigers defeated previously top-ranked Iowa on Sunday. Missouri also earned a No. 1 ranking in WIN’s Feb. 23 NCAA Tournament Power Index (TPI) Rankings, presented by Cliff Keen Athletic.

The Tigers now have three wrestlers ranked No. 1 at their weight class as 125-pound Alan Waters — coming off big victories over two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois and Iowa’s Thomas Gilman — has joined teammates Drake Houdashelt (149) and J’den Cox (197) as the “man to beat” at their respective weights.

Overall, Missouri is predicted to have five wrestlers ranked in the Top 8 of their weight class and have a total of 84 TPI points in WIN’s rankings, which is a projection of where schools will finish in this year’s NCAA Championships, held March 19-21 in St. Louis.

Just behind the Tigers are the Hawkeyes (81.5 TPI points), who feature eight athletes projected to finish in the top 8. Minnesota, which saw top-ranked Dylan Ness fall to No. 2 at 157 pounds after losing to Cornell’s Brian Realuto in the National Duals, is rated third in the TPI with 74.5 points.

TPI point totals are broken down by the following projected NCAA placements: 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. TPI points will be lower than the final actual NCAA tournament points because it does not include bonus points.

Missouri, which won all 24 duals this season, also clinched the No. 1 spot in WIN’s final Dual-Meet rankings, while the other top five schools are Iowa (17-1), Cornell (17-2), Ohio State (13-4) and Minnesota (12-3).

WIN’s next updated TPI and individual rankings will be announced on Monday, March 2, which will include results from the March 1 Pac 12 Championships; the first of nine NCAA qualifying tournaments.           

            The other qualifying events, which will help produce an eventually 330 wrestlers — 33 per weight class — for the national tournament are the ACC (March 8), Big Ten (March 7-8), Big 12 (March 7), EIWA (March 6-7), EWL (March 7), MAC (March 7-8), SoCon (March 7) and West Regional/WWC (March 7).

WIN’s Feb. 23, 2015 Tournament Power Index Rankings

WIN’s Feb. 23, 2015 Dual-Team Rankings

WIN’s Feb. 23, 2015 Individual Rankings

 125 Pounds

 133 Pounds 

 141 Pounds

 149 Pounds  

 157 Pounds  

 165 Pounds

 174 Pounds

 184 Pounds

 197 Pounds            

 Heavyweight