WIN’s Jan. 7 rankings feature three new No. 1s

Photo: Northwestern’s Sebastian Rivera is ranked No. 1 in WIN’s Jan. 7 rankings at 125 pounds after beating Iowa’s defending national champ Spencer Lee at the 2018 Midlands in December.

NEWTON, Iowa — The calendar has changed to January and there are three new top-ranked individual wrestlers in WIN’s Jan. 7 Tournament Power Index and Rankings, presented by Cliff Keen Athletic.

Coming off a Midlands championship win over Iowa’s defending champion Spencer Lee on Dec. 30, Northwestern’s Sebastian Rivera is now ranked No. 1 at 125 pounds.

At 133 pounds, South Dakota State’s defending national champ Seth Gross has only wrestled once this year (in November) and an injury has kept him from competing again since that victory. He has been pulled from the rankings until he competes again and Rutgers’ Nick Suriano has moved into the top spot at that weight.

Meanwhile at heavyweight, Minnesota’s true freshman Gable Steveson has taken over the top spot. The young Gopher, who is 18-0 on the season, is ranked ahead of Oklahoma State’s Derek White, Penn State’s Anthony Cassar, and Iowa’s Sam Stoll, who was ranked No. 1 before the Midlands, where the Hawkeye was forced to medically forfeit after winning two bouts.

Penn State, which captured an eighth all-time Southern Scuffle team championship on Jan. 2 with six individual champions, remains the top team in WIN’s Tournament Power Index with 125.5 points. The Nittany Lions, with nine ranked wrestlers, leads No. 2 Ohio State (82.5) by 43 points.

Oklahoma State, which won four Southern Scuffle individual championships and finished second in the team race, has moved to No. 3 in the WIN TPI. Coming off a Midlands team championship, Iowa is ranked fourth with 64 points. The Cowboys made several changes to their lineup, including the return of two-time All-American Joe Smith, who is ranked No. 5 at 174 pounds.

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 2019 NCAA Championships, March 21-23, in Pittsburgh, Pa.

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.

In WIN’s Dual-Team Rankings, the top 11 teams remained the same from previous rankings as the top six schools — Penn State, Ohio State, Iowa, Oklahoma State, Michigan and Missouri — remained undefeated. However, Stanford (3-0) moved into the Top 25 dual rankings in this week’s release.

WIN’s Jan. 7 Tournament Power Index

WIN’s Jan 7, 2019 Dual-Team Rankings

WIN’s Jan. 7, 2019 Individual Rankings

125 pounds                                               

133 pounds                                               

141 pounds

149 pounds

157 pounds                                               

165 pounds                                               

174 pounds                                               

184 pounds                                               

197 pounds

Heavyweight