Top two teams remain the same & change at 197 as NCAA postseason begins

NEWTON, Iowa — The regular season of NCAA Division I wrestling has finished and Penn State and Ohio State remain the top two schools in WIN’s Feb. 19, 2018 Tournament Power Index and Rankings, presented by Cliff Keen Athletic as the eight national qualifying tournaments begin next week.

Penn State, winners of six of the last seven NCAA Nationals and the last two NCAAs, also finished the regular season undefeated (14-0) and rated No. 1 in WIN’s final Dual Team Rankings. Overall, the Nittany Lions have eight ranked wreslters, all rated in the Top 8 of their weight class, in this week’s individual rankings, to earn 116.5 TPI points.

Ohio State, 14-1 and also ranked No. 2 in the Dual Team rankings, narrowly trails Penn State with 114 TPI points as the Buckeyes feature a ranked wrestler in all 10 weight classes, including a Top 8-ranked wrestler at every weight.

Virginia Tech’s Jared Haught

WIN’s Tournament Power Index (TPI) awards team points for individuals ranked in the respective weight classes based on how many potential All-Americans each school could produce at the 2018 NCAA Championships, March 15-17, in Cleveland, Ohio. WIN’s TPI point totals are broken down by the following individual rankings: 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.

The biggest change in WIN’s individual rankings took place at 197 pounds, where Virginia Tech’s Jared Haught has taken over the No. 1 ranking after last week’s top-ranked Kollin Moore of Ohio State lost to NC State’s Mike Macchiavello in a dual meet between the teams last weekend.

Looking ahead, the following is a chronological listing of the eight national qualifying tournaments, which will eventually send 330 wrestlers to the 2018 NCAA Division I Championships:

• Feb. 25 — Pac-12 Championships, Corvallis, Ore.;
• March 3 — Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships, Chapel Hill, N.C.;
• March 3 — Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Championships, Edinboro, Pa.;
• March 3 — Southern Conference Championships, Charleston, S.C.;
• March 3-4 — Big Ten Championships, East Lansing, Mich.;
• March 3-4 — Big 12 Championships, Tulsa, Okla.;
• March 3-4 — Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships, Hempstead, N.Y.;
• March 3-4 — Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championships, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

WIN’s Feb. 19, 2018 Tournament Power Index (TPI)

WIN’s Feb. 19, 2018 Dual Rankings           

WIN’s Feb. 19, 2018 Individual Rankings

125 pounds                                               

133 pounds                                               

141 pounds                                               

149 pounds                                               

157 pounds                                               

165 pounds

174 pounds                                               

184 pounds                                               

197 pounds                                               

Heavyweight