UNI’s Lujan is new No. 1 at 184 in WIN’s Feb. 25 rankings

Photo: Northern Iowa’s Taylor Lujan, who defeated Iowa’s Abe Assad in this year’s Midlands, has taken over the top spot at 184 pounds in WIN’s Feb. 25 rankings. (Ginger Robinson photo).

NEWTON, Iowa — Northern Iowa senior Taylor Lujan has taken over the top spot at 184 pounds in WIN Magazine’s Feb. 25 rankings, presented by Cliff Keen Athletic.

Lujan, who was a three-time national qualifier at 174 pounds before this year, moved into the top spot in this week’s national rankings after Arizona State’s two-time defending national champion Zahid Valencia was suspended indefinitely and Virginia Tech’s Hunter Bolen lost last weekend.

Meanwhile in the team rankings, Iowa (13-0) earned the top ranking in WIN’s final Team Dual ratings and the Hawkeyes maintained their lead in WIN’s Tournament Power Index. The Hawkeyes feature 10 ranked wrestlers, nine in the Top 8 of their weight class and three No. 1-rated wrestlers: Spencer Lee (125), Pat Lugo (149) and Michael Kemerer (174).

Penn State (12-2) remained the No. 2-rated team in both the Team Dual rankings and TPI (85). The Nittany Lions, which have won the past four NCAA titles, feature eight ranked wrestlers, five in the Top 8 and two No. 1-rated wrestlers: Nick Lee (141) and Vincenzo Joseph (165).

The remaining Top-5 duals team are No. 3 NC State (15-0), No. 4 Nebraska (11-3) and No. 5 Ohio State (10-4). In WIN’s TPI, the other Top 5 schools are No. 3 Ohio State (58 points), No. 4 Wisconsin (46) and No. 5 Princeton.

WIN’s TPI is a prediction of where teams could finish in the 2020 NCAA Division I Championships, March 19-21, in Minneapolis, and is based on teams’ individual rankings and predictions to where wrestlers might place at the NCAAs.

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 remaining top-ranked wrestlers are Wisconsin’s Seth Gross (133), Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin (157), Ohio State’s Kollin Moore (197) and Minnesota heavyweight Gable Steveson.

With the end of the regular season, programs will now focus on one of seven conference or national-qualifying tournaments that will eventually send 330 wrestlers to the NCAA tournament.

The following are dates and locations for those tournaments:

WIN Magazine’s Final 2019-20 Dual Team Rankings

WIN Magazine’s Feb. 25, 2020 Tournament Power Index

WIN Magazine’s Feb. 25, 2020 Individual Rankings

125 pounds

133 pounds                                               

141 pounds

149 pounds           

157 pounds           

165 pounds                                               

174 pounds

184 pounds                                   

197 pounds

Heavyweight