Cornell’s Arujau among top-ranked wrestlers; Penn State No. 1 team in WIN preseason poll

Photo: These three wrestlers all won individual championships at last March’s 2023 NCAAs: Cornell’s Vito Arujau, and Penn State Carter Starocci (middle) and Aaron Brooks. (Photos by Tony Rotundo)

NEWTON, Iowa — Cornell’s Vito Arujau, fresh off a World championship in freestyle wrestling, is one of 10 wrestlers who have been tabbed No. 1 at a weight class in WIN Magazine’s 2023 preseason NCAA Division I national rankings, presented by Cliff Keen Athletic.

Arujau, a senior, is the top-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds, the weight at which the Big Red wrestler captured his first NCAA title last March in Tulsa, Okla.

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Meanwhile, Penn State features four top-ranked wrestlers, including Carter Starocci (174 pounds) and Aaron Brooks (197 pounds), who each will be shooting to win a fourth national championship at the 2024 NCAA Division I Championships next March in Kansas City, Mo. The other No. 1-ranked Nittany Lions are Levi Haines (157) and Greg Kerkvliet (Hwt), who each finished second last March.

Overall, Penn State features eight returning All-Americans, who played a big part in the Nittany Lions earning the No. 1 spot in WIN Magazine’s 2023-24 Preseason TPI (Tournament Power Index) and individual rankings. Shooting to win a third straight team title and 11th since 2011, Penn State is the only school to have all ten wrestlers ranked in the preseason rankings and tallied 149 TPI points. The other returning Penn State All-Americans are Beau Bartlett (141) and Shayne Van Ness (149), while the other two are transfers: Aaron Nagao (133/Minnesota) and Bernie Truax (184/Cal Poly).

WIN’s TPI is based on a point total associated with individual placement and advancement points that could be scored in the 2024 NCAAs if wrestlers finish where they are ranked in the preseason poll. The following is a breakdown of those points: 20 for 1^st place, 16 for 2^nd, 13.5 for 3^rd, 12.5 for 4^th, 10 for 5^th, 9 for 6^th, 6.5 for 7^th and 5.5 for 8^th. Wrestlers ranked 9-12 earn two points each, followed by one and a half points for wrestlers ranked 13-16 and one point for those ranked 17-20.

Missouri (70.5 points), which features two-time defending national champ Keegan O’Toole, who is table No. 1 in WIN’s preseason rankings, and four other All-Americans Brock Mauller (149), Peyton Mocco (174), Rocky Elam (197) and Zach Elam (Hwt).

Coming in third place in WIN’s TPI is Virginia Tech (64.5) with returning All-Americans Eddie Ventresca (125), Sam Latona (133), Caleb Henson (149), Bryce Andonian (157) and Mekhi Lewis (174).

Rounding out the top-10 in Tournament Power Index is NC State, Nebraska, Arizona State, Michigan, Cornell and Iowa (tied for eight) and Oklahoma State.

The other top-ranked wrestlers are Purdue’s Matt Ramos (125), Iowa’s Real Woods (141), Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett (149) and Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen (184). All have finished second in the past two national tournaments.

These rankings are subject to change as wrestlers finalize what weight class they will wrestle this winter. WIN Magazine, which will update its rankings on Nov. 1, will announce it dual-meet rankings in December.

After November 1, WIN Magazine will release weekly NCAA Division I Rankings. To get all of WIN’s college and high school rankings releases this season and WIN’s 12 monthly issues, subscribe to WIN in print or digitally at www.WIN-magazine.com.

WIN’s 2023-24 Preseason Tournament Power Index (TPI)                                                                  

WIN’s 2023-24 Preseason Individual Rankings                                                                                    

125 pounds                                                                                                                                      

133 pounds                                                                                                  

141 pounds                                                                                                  

149 pounds                                                                                                  

157 pounds                                                                                                  

165 pounds                                                                                                  

174 pounds                                                                                                  

184 pounds                                                                                                  

197 pounds                                                                                                  

Heavyweight