Oklahoma State ranked No. 1 in WIN Preseason Ratings

NEWTON, Iowa — Oklahoma State University, the all-time leader in NCAA team championships, is ranked No. 1 in WIN’s 2016-17 Preseason Tournament Power Index.

The TPI is based on the schools’ wrestlers who are rated in WIN’s individual rankings, predicting possible All-American candidates in the 2017 NCAA Championships, which will be held March 16-18 in St. Louis.

WIN’s TPI point totals are broken down as follows: 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). Additional points for other rankings include: 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.

With eight wrestlers ranked in the top 8 in their weight class, the Cowboys earned 87.5 TPI points. This included 141-pound defending national champion Dean Heil, three returning All-Americans — Anthony Collica (149), Joe Smith (157) and Nolan Boyd (184) — and two other Cowboys — Kaid Brock (133) and Kyle Crutchmer (174) — who were highly ranked last season but were unable to compete in the 2016 postseason because of injuries. Oklahoma State, which has won 34 all-time team titles, is looking to capture its first team championship since 2006.

Ranked preseason No. 2 two months before the season starts is Virginia Tech. The Hokies, who claimed a school-best fourth place in last year’s NCAA tournament, feature six returning All-Americans and ranked in the Top 8 of their weight class in 2016-17: Joey Dance (125), Solomon Chishko (141), David McFadden (165), Zach Epperly (174), Jared Haught (197) and Ty Walz (Hwt.)

The next three ranked teams include Iowa, Ohio State and Missouri.

The Hawkeyes feature three wrestlers who reached the finals of the 2016 NCAAs: 125-pound Thomas Gilman, 133-pound Cory Clark and 149-pound Brandon Sorensen. The Buckeyes return three former champions, two who have moved up a weight class — 133-pound Nathan Tomasello and 184-pound Myles Martin — and Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder (197). The Tigers, who will serve as the host team for the 2017 NCAAs in St. Louis, feature four All-Americans, including Olympic bronze medalist J’den Cox.

Michigan, which returns four returning All-Americans (including 2015 finalist Adam Coon at heavyweight), is ranked No. 6, while Penn State, last year’s team champion, is rated No. 7. The Nittany Lions feature a returning champion in 149-pound Zain Retherford and two 2016 finalists in Jason Nolf (157) and Bo Nickal, who has moved up to 184 pounds.

Two other returning individual national champions return: two-time Illinois champ Isaiah Martinez, who may move up to 165 pounds this winter, and another two-time champ in Cornell’s Gabe Dean at 184 pounds.

These rankings are subject to change as teams finalize their line-ups before the start of the season in November. WIN will also create a dual-team ranking that will begin in December.

WIN’s 2016-17 Preseason Tournament Power Index

125 Pounds

133 Pounds

141 Pounds

149 Pounds

157 Pounds

165 Pounds

174 Pounds

184 Pounds

197 Pounds

Heavyweight