Kokesh, Thomusseit & Cox take over top spots in WIN’s rankings

Dec. 8, 2014

NEWTON, Iowa — Minnesota remains WIN’s top dual and tournament team, but the Gophers saw two of their top-ranked wrestlers — 174-pound Logan Storley and 197-pound Scott Schiller — fall from the No. 1 spot after losing in last weekend’s Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. The same can be said of Cornell’s Gabe Dean, who finished fourth in the CKLV Invite last Saturday and gave up the top spot at 184 pounds.

With those losses, Nebraska’s Robert Kokesh (174), Pitt’s Max Thomusseit (184) and Missouri’s defending champ J’den Cox (197) have all moved up to No. 1 in their weight classes in WIN’s Dec. 8 individual rankings presented by Cliff Keen Athletic.

Among the newcomers in WIN’s rankings is Michigan’s true freshman Alec Pantaleo, who finished second as an unseeded wrestler at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at 149 pounds. The Wolverine is rated 14^th.

Minnesota, which earned individual championships from 133-pound Nick Dardanes and 157-pound Dylan Ness in Las Vegas, remains WIN’s top-ranked team in the Tournament Power Index Rankings. Ness maintained his No. 1 ranking when he edged No. 2 James Green of Nebraska, 4-3, in the CKLV Invite final.

Cutting into the Gophers’ lead was Iowa, which continues to be ranked No. 2 but trails Minnesota by a 2.5-point margin (79.5-77). Ohio State, which finished second to Minnesota in Las Vegas, has moved up to No. 3 in the TPI with 70 points.

Point totals associated with individual rankings are as followed: 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); 9th/12th – 2; 13th/16th – 1.5; 17th-20th – 1. TPI points will be lower than the final NCAA tournament points because it does not include bonus points.

WIN’s TPI is based on where a school is projected to finish in next March’s NCAA Division I Championships in St. Louis, based on schools’ ranked individuals and not on a school’s dual-meet record.

Making the biggest move in WIN’s dual-team rankings was Rider, which edged No. 9 Lehigh, 17-16, last weekend and moved from 20th to 16th.

WIN’s Dec. 8, 2014 Tournament Power Index (TPI) Rankings

WIN’s Dec. 8, 2014 Dual Team Rankings

WIN’s Dec. 8, 2014 Individual Rankings

125 Pounds                              

133 Pounds 

141 Pounds

149 Pounds  

157 Pounds  

165 Pounds

174 Pounds  

184 Pounds

197 Pounds 

Heavyweight